Resources:
Knowledge Publications: Solar Energy Books
Combo Deal $66.95: Sunshine to Dollars, Solar Air Heating Systems, Movable Insulation
Steve Harris Website Projects: https://steven1234.com/
The title of this article is 100% not BS. In his $15 book Steven Harris takes you through his personal exploits in aquiring dozens of free electric solar panels, tons of solar glass, and other supplies to make extremely simple and functional systems to power and heat your home. At the top of the article there is a bundle for all of these books for $66.
As many of my regular readers know by now, this column is about actually surviving a complete collapse of our infrastructure. Headlines titled “Bug Out Bags” and “Which Gun is Best for SHTF” get a lot of clicks, but compared to food, water, shelter, and keeping warm in the winter, they are virtually immaterial. Those who survive are going to be those who sat tight and waited for everyone else to kill each other. If you live in the northern climes, it is coming to be that time of year again where you’ll have to consider keeping warm in the winter, without city gas, or an oil or propane delivery. I have covered a simple and cheap woodstove, a military heater that burns home heating oil and gasoline without a pump, and even a cookstove that would also heat your home. If you live where firewood is plentiful and you don’t have worry about people shooting you for taking wood off their land, a woodstove can be a long term solution, but if not, you probably should think about the sun.
Most people think about traditional electric solar panels when they consider the sun, and to heat your home you would need a heck of a lot of solar panels. It isn’t feasible. Direct heat to heat solar systems however are feasible. The sun heats a surface, that surface is trapped under glass, and the trapped heat is funneled with air or liquid to where you want it, heat to heat. This method can heat your home, at least to liveable conditions, and it can heat your water, and even cook your dinner. You have to build these things of course, and that is where your survival budget comes in.
The headline of this article is not a bunch of BS. You can get get free electric solar panels, and you can get free tempered glass to build your heat to heat solar heating system. You can make a giant sun oven out of free materials, and you don’t have to steal anything or dumpster dive. A few weeks ago I ran across an old guard survivalist publisher called “Knowledge Publications,” owned and run by Steven Harris, who is something of a legend in the disaster preparedness community. He is also probably the most widely known name in the field of hydrogen generation, but don’t get too excited about hydrogen. Steve would be the first to tell you that from a long term survival energy perspective, there is no replacement for the good old sun.
Sunshine to Dollars
This is Steve standing next to his free solar array, and my guess is that you could do the same thing he did today.
Most of the books that Steve publishes are out of print and mostly lost old books that he purchased the right to republish. That is where he got the name “Knowledge Publications,” as in lost knowledge. This book, about getting free stuff for solar projects, Steven wrote himself, and it is mostly a “look what I did” kind of book. For $15, I’m not going to spill the beans on Steven’s “secrets” that he details at length. What I can tell you is that I have the book, and it is for real. If you are not afraid to get out of your computer screen isolation box and go talk to people about stuff they would otherwise throw away, Steve tells you exactly the places where you will find all the free materials you’ll need for comprehensive solar projects.
Solar Air Heating Systems
Most of the books published by Knowledge Publications were long out of print and somewhat dated resource books on what today would be survival knowledge. This book was written in the 80s, at the height of Ronald Reagan euphoria, to save people money on home heating. Today it is a goldmine of surviving hard winters with no wood or fossil fuels to burn.
If you live in the cold, this is the first of two books you must own. It was written in 1984, which if you think back was 4 years into Ronald Reagan, where people still remembered the energy crunch of the late 70s. There was a pretty big “off the grid” movement back then, because everyone knew that energy prices were going to continue to increase. At the time, electric solar panels were still a new technology and they were very expensive. Today the panels are much cheaper, but the battery tech has not improved, and the long term sustainable costs are prohibitive. Again, to heat your home, electric solar power probably isn’t going to be a reality, but the book outlines both passive and active hot air and hot liquid systems that are not hard to build yourself with hand tools, and they will probably keep you warm enough to melt water and live in reasonable comfort without an absolute need for wood or fossil fuels.
The book also explains how to analyze your region, your area, and your home for how much success you’ll have with solar, down to the actual BTUs. It explains how to read your oil, gas, or propane bill to figure how much heat your home loses in the winter per day, and how to compare that to how many BTUs of heat a solar system can generate per square foot. Don’t be surprised if you would need a total of several hundred square feet of solar space to live. That is why I started this article with Steven’s “free stuff” book.
From a survival perspective, this book isn’t going to give you hard any answers. It was written for people who wanted to save money, to offset their fuel bill by a percentage, and it assumes that you will have to live within building codes and a nice looking framework. I don’t think you can discount their designs based on the “acceptable in my neighborhood” factor, but as I explained in my first article on water, a hoop greenhouse next to your home may be the cheapest and easy to erect survival heat generator you can buy right now. Running some of those free solar panels and a couple sealed lead acid batteries on 12 volt squirrel fans to blow some of that heat into your indoor living area would be a great idea too, as would all of the designs in the book for adding solar walls to your home with tempered glass.
Running the numbers is a big deal if you live in the Northeast or upper Midwest. The book assumes that you will be using solar for a percentage of your heating, but the math can also be used to calculate your projected temperature above outside ambient using square footage of collector approximations. Hey I live in Florida it’s fun to talk about the math anyway lol.
They also cover heat retention, and even if you don’t think that you would ever build something specifically to retain solar generated heat, I would check it out at the very least. They have a basic plan to use the dirt floor of a crawlspace as a heat storage media. I assume that would also work for a basement floor. They explain that you are better to circulate colder air underneath your living space and let the overall heat radiate up rather than blow warmer air directly on yourself.
It all comes down to what you can plan for now, and this book will give you a really good overview of just how much heat you can get from the sun, with the actual plans to make systems to convert it to heat for your home. If you get Steve’s book on free stuff, there is no reason why you can’t start filling up your garage or shed with free large panels of glass. Add some wood, black paint and Liquid Nails and you’ll be all set for the collapse. This isn’t a joke at this point. If you live in the cold, you better think about heat now.
I must admit that I thought this book would be a joke when I first saw it. There are great and tested ideas. It will surprise and impress you.
Moveable Insulation
This is the other no nonsense lost knowledge book that I strongly recommend. The difference between this one and Solar Air Heating Systems is that I originally thought this one was silly. I meant who can’t figure out that if you cover your windows you will retain more heat? But the book goes into far more useful concepts than that. They explain the actual numerical benefits of extra layers of glass (assuming you want to see out of your windows), and they show you actual designs of proven systems that you can easily raise at night and lower during the day, for both warmth and security. As I’ve explained in this column a few times, and the comments many times, it is a lot different to say to yourself “oh yea I could just…,” and actually doing it. In this insulation book you’ll see dozens of actual designs that have been implemented on solar heated homes and tested over a number of years. Depending on where you live, this could be really useful information.
The Solar Cookery Book
I reviewed a product called “The Sun Oven” a while back, and it did actually work, to my absolute surprise. After further research, I’ve found that sun ovens are commonplace all over the globe, except, ahem, in the West, (ie people who have too much fake prosperity to have to worry about being able to cook). Africa and South America have been able to buy an umbrella style sun oven for decades. It isn’t a fringe product.
Steve explains how to get the insulation for this type of pop in design for free in his Sunshine to Dollars book.
That Sun Oven product appears to be a product of this book, or a few like it that came out at the same time. The idea is a sealed box with foldable reflector fins that make the oven heat to over 300 degrees, while keeping it portable. If you want to see a bunch of solar oven options, I found this place that has about a dozen of them. I found that resource by Googling the suppliers in the appendix of this book, and I also found a $59.99 option from a scientific projects company. I don’t have a lot of time for construction projects, and I figure most of you don’t either. This is a learning experience for me, so I ordered a few of the cheap ones to see how they stack up to the $329 Sun Oven.
This book is mostly a recipe book, and they do have a lot of good ideas for survival food type recipes. They also keep things real and share experiences with the recipes cooking at 300 and sub 300 degrees, because more than that is tough on most days, even if you track the oven to the sun.
There is plenty of free information on how to make a solar oven online if you just want that, but if you are ordering from Steve anyway, you’ll like this book and it is well worth the price.
More Sun or Less Sun in our Future?
The Solar Cookery book is much more than just a cookbook. They include designs for a solar oven that has since been implemented in 3rd world countries all over the globe.
To me this is the million dollar question. As I explained in my May article on the real purpose of Jade Helm, the fact that we are all living in the middle of a top secret weather control program is not a conspiracy theory anymore. All you have to d is look up. Those white trails behind the planes are called Solar Radiation Management, and the trails are made up of sub-micron sized particles of aluminum and a few other heavy metals. They are trying to reflect the sun off of the planet, and it is happening worldwide. The trails are over China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Africa, South America, friends, enemies, it doesn’t matter. The oligarchs of the world have turned us all into a global science experiment in the hope of stopping what is a very real global warming that is well past the hockey stick point. You’ll find a lot of information at https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org.
The past couple weeks, as I predicted in my article, have seen the arctic ice thin to a point where there will most likely be blue water by the end of this month, if it isn’t all melted already and they are trying to hide it. I follow the Arctic News Blog, and he seems to have gone dark on the thickness of the ice at this point. That researcher, Sam Carana, is a proponent of Solar Radiation Management, along with other man made answers to the runway climate chaos that is coming, so you won’t see him exposing anything about fully operational geoengineering programs today.
This is a “hot plate” design that I have seen for sale for hundreds of dollars, and that you can make yourself.
So the question becomes, what is in our future? We have asked this time and again in this column, and we are no closer to an answer. The planes are still flying as of this week. I took a picture of one just the other day. We had a Hurricane Erika squashed here in South Florida last week by their HAARP style atmospheric heaters. It is funny when you remember 10 years ago like it was yesterday, and you can remember when a record number of hurricanes came to Florida. Then nothing for ten years. No hurricanes at all, and not even close. It used to be that the weather chicks (we don’t have hardly any men on any news in South Florida) would say that the hurricane might lose some strength over land in Puerto Rico, or Haiti, or the Dominican Republic, and now they say that it might just break up and dissolve. Then lo and behold, it does just that!
What is in our future? Are they going to be called to the carpet? Are we going to see a leadership crisis when that happens in the US? Are they going to start a war to cover it all up? A worldwide financial crisis?
Will the planes stop and will the sun shine like never before? We are used to cloudy days, worldwide. Rarely have you seen a pure blue sky anywhere in a decade. Will they blow Yellowstone to try to block the sun with 10 years of ash clouds? Solar Radiation Management has already killed solar panel uptake by up to 80%, and that would go for home heating as well.
This image is from the Arctic News Blog, Sam Carana, who is a geoengineering enthusiast. The thickness of the sea ice is at record lows, much thinner than it was in 2012 when the square footage of the top ice shrunk to its lowest recorded level. They are using ice nucleation chemicals to keep the surface of the arctic frozen today, but with the ice this thin there is little chance we will make it to winter. See GeoEngineeringWatch.org for updates. Those who have worked hard to convince us that global warming was an Al Gore carbon credits scam can’t prevent the arctic ice from collapsing, if it hasn’t already. Who knows what they will try next, and how much sun plus or minus we’ll have when this charade burns down, literally. They are going to be held accountable, but we’re probably all going to die anyway.
Eh, who knows. Maybe it’ll just all work out right? Maybe the minds of man can find an answer after all. But if you want to learn some genuine lost knowledge about how to heat your home without wood or fossil fuels, check out these books from Knowledge Publications. I wouldn’t waste your time with the hydrogen books for anything other than brain food.
This picture is from August 28th in South Florida (click to see it larger). The way I see it, as long as we see the planes still flying, there is more time to put away food, figure out water, and learn communications…and get free solar glass!
Most likely I’ll be back with an overview of Steve’s How-To videos. But from what I have seen, my articles that cover things like solar generators and Rocket Stoves are much more comprehensive, and I of course don’t sell anything. After poking around Steven’s sites I did find some good info. But the products are not always the cheapest you can get them, nor are they always the most recent and best option. For example, his radio page mentions the SDR radios that I tested for last week’s article, but he doesn’t show you how they work or explain the limits of the VHF/UHF bands as compared to HF. His $60 Rocket Stove can be found for about a third of that on Ebay, even though there seems to be only a few of everything he has to sell left to buy. But if you like what you find and want to support his efforts, he uses an Amazon affiliate link to link his suggestions on some of the articles and podcasts (we do not).
The material is geared toward temporary local disasters, not long term off grid survival, but hey, a medical pack is a medical pack. My next medical pack article will steal a few of his ideas actually, and I bought some of the Pri fuel storage products he suggests on his fuels podcast interview. I didn’t know, for instance, that diesel fuel actually collects mold in storage cans without treatment. You can learn something from everyone.
I don’t know about the aluminum and whatnot trailing behind high flying aircraft reflecting the solar radiation, but a quick study about dewpoint and the effects of an aircraft on condensation at the low temperatures found at high altitude might debunk that idea. As far as contrails reflecting solar radiation- yes that’s a real thing that was studied by several major universities following the nationwide airspace closure immediately following 9/11. There was a marked rise in surface temperature during that brief period, so yes air traffic is keeping us artificially cooler and without it we’d see an elevation in average temperatures.
Seem like another “watch my free video ” teaser story to me
The article is clearly and concisely telling us where we can purchase books on the subjects described, as well as other books that have similar subjects…. Your comment is neither useful nor accurate, if these subject do not interest you there is little if anything here for you.
Well let me see here… 24/7 pro 45acp, 3 PT1911′ s in 45acp, 1 PT1911 38 super, two 24/7 OSS models, one in 45 ACP and 1 in 9mm, one PT 101 40 cal And a gen 2 24/7 in 9mm for my daughter. Never a FTF or FTE with any of them. Shot the center out of the target with my first PT1911 in my CHL class without previously firing it. The guys that I was taking the course with literally thought that I was shooting a Kimber or some other high value 1911 due to how well it was shooting. They, in fact, had Kimber 1911s. Not ashamed to own and shoot Taurus along with the other brands I own. Just my two cents. And yes I had a backup firearm with me if needed when shooting the CHL course. Guess what brand it was? I loaned it to another participant that needed a firearm to shoot the course. He had no issues. Nine Taurus’ semi autos and no issues. Man, I’m a lucky guy considering the odds.
Wrong post. Sorry. Should have been under the Taurus Curve article..
Might be the wrong thread but glad I caught it. I also have a PT1911. Most accurate pistol I have besides my Beretta. Almost sold it due to some feedback I had gotten from “high end” owners. Glad I don’t follow the herd.
Yup your a lucky guy I had a 24/7 g2 for about 6 mags. The first 180g jhp I put through that gun shattered the internal components of the frame. Catastrophic failure at less than 100 rounds that’s what I call quality. I sold it and bought a Glock which I should’ve done to begin with
“fear of losing the fake prosperity that we don’t deserve”
What is fake prosperity? What is it we don’t deserve?
FWIW, we have had at least 4 for 4 absolutely clear blue skies here in N Tx the last 4 days (and I can’t remember beyond that)/ We do have our share of ones like you shot, including the non vapor trails.
Search the archives here for “the biggest scam”. You’ll see part of what I am talking about. Look on Amazon for a book called “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”. Our entire prosperity is based on a fallacy of debt and military enforcement, led by giant corporations that will chew us up and spit us out just like everyone else when it is our time. Our time is soon.
We have to worry when they give up and the planes stop flying. I means that they are off to their bunkers, and something big is coming.
The sooner we pile up all the money and burn it, the sooner we can all get along. Money is what holds you slave. You would not be trading your time for it if you didn’t need it to survive in this made-to-their-advantage-world. We could all be doing something more important with our time if we weren’t held slave by that little piece of green paper. Strength in numbers. It is the $$$$ that divides us.
No, these days it is fear of losing the fake prosperity that we don’t deserve that divides us, and it is so strong that it will hold this fake reality up until it collapses under its own weight. The love of money, yes, that is the core of it. But money itself is just a medium of exchange, because you can’t always find someone to swap for what you have right now, especially if what you have can spoil. It also allows you to save some of the value you have brought to the world for another day when what you what you do can’t bring any value at that time. Money itself is innocuous. Greed and fear are not.
Thanks much for your efforts in this prepping series, Paul. Very much appreciated.
Pathetic! Guns America publishing a bullshit article to mask a bullshit ad to sell books.
Because you think everyone should help you for free? Do you work for free you horses ass?
Hey there, instead of getting bent out of shape to type up your anger, you could have easily gone to google and read this book for ‘free’ and downloaded the pdf of it for nothing. I did and got it from google books.
You should cancel your subscription and demand your money back.
Oh no! Don’t give the poor freak any ideas…. he’s probably just ignorant enough to try it! Good introduction to solar based heating and energy needs by the way…… probably the best industry news source I have access to… Thanks for an outstanding news source folks…..
the sun , some rocks and magnets and mirrors ; works for me .
And don’t forget that wood stove for those days when the sun doesn’t shine.
And wood…cords of good seasoned split hard wood.
Remember, wood heats you three times, cutting it, splitting and stacking it and finally burning it.