This site documents the construction of our off-grid cabin and projects surrounding it. I am no expert in just about any projects I cover so do not use my site as gospel. It’s just what worked for me. If it doesn’t work for me I will let you know that too 🙂
Hi, i was just checking out the youtube and your video about an amish built off-grid cabin caught my attention.
I would like to know who built your cabin and how much was the total cost for it. Is it possible for you to give me that information?
I am very much interested to see if it is feasible to go that route instead of buying a mobile home or a on-site built home (stick built).
I look forward to your reply. thanks.
I would love to visit with you about a few things. Im very impressed with everything youbhave been doing. Do you have any plans on the construction that you would be willing to share, ie barn. Very cool and the quality, I’m guessing you two are carpenters on the side. Thanks for all you are doing and sharing. It gives us preppers a good name other than the cooks theyve been showing on tv. Some seem cool but others are way out there, you come across as a regular hard working guy.
Hi Chris,
I’d like to respond to the comment you made on my blog, “you sir are a moron… the 7 round magazine limit had everything to do with creating a back door ban on 90% of the handguns out there. You can not buy nor are the manufactures planning to make 7 round magazines for most firearms. My ar-15 is my hunting rifle. I harvested the first deer I took this year with one. I also hunt with my legally owned handguns. What makes the ar-15 inherently unsafe but does not make the mini-14 safe and legal and not an assault weapon under this law. Or the SKS rifle also not an assault rifle You know why the majority of legal gun owners get upset when you talk about enactly reasonable gun laws? Because this is the tripe you call reasonable. …
Your dad’s and your father-in-law’s Weatherbys are still legal under the NY SAFE ACT. I presume it would be an easy matter for Weatherby to modify the SA-459 TR from 8 to 7 rounds. I can’t imagine that you hunt with an AR-15 — if so, I’d be interested in understanding how that can be considered “sport.” Really, I’d like to understand that one. You may change my view. As for handguns, there are MANY available on the market for 7 rounds or less. The Taurus Model 617 or an S&W Model 386 Revolver 7, just for examples. Don’t you think that if the federal government would finally start enforcing the existing gun control laws on the books, create a national database worth its mettle, and adopt the NY SAFE Act limits on 7 rounds or less, that the death toll to innocent people would be reduced signficantly? Most folks who are in favor of stricter gun controls want the right to continue to own guns and hunt to continue. We just want to see no more Newtowns or West Nickel Mines or Auroras. And particularly folks like you and I should be able to find common ground. We both love nature, we both enjoy amateur radio, we both enjoy blogging. We have a lot more in common than in disagreement. I’m convinced folks like you and I can find common ground on the issue of gun control.
Bob
First an apology. I should not have called you a moron. It was uncalled for.
A second apology for my delay in replying. The email notification on my blog is broken and I did not see the comment.
I never said the Weatherbys I own were covered by the safe act and your presumption that it is easy to convert any firearm to from 8 to 7 rounds in a way that would meet the law “THAT CAN BE READILY RESTORED OR CONVERTED TO ACCEPT, MORE THAN SEVEN ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION” shows that you know very little about firearms. In order for it to not be easily restorable you would have to basically ruin the rifle.
My Winchester Model 1892 has a 15 round internal tube magazine. Mine is 110 years old and falls under the curio and relic provision which means I get the honor of having to register it just waiting for the law to be tighten again to the original text which called for confiscation. Then I can either hand it over and maybe sell it out of state depending on the law.
That rifle has had clones made for the last 50 years. Those would not fall under the C&R exemption and must be sold out of state or destroyed.
My Ithaca M37 police edition from 1974 is a pump shotgun with an 8 round tube mag when using standard 2 3/4 12 gauge rounds. If you instead use 1 3/4 inch 12 gauge rounds it has a capacity of 12. The fact that you can load 12 rounds in the magazine makes the shotgun an illegal high capacity magazine. Ithaca went out of business in 2005. Any suggestions on what I should do? The law that you approve of means I probably have to sell my grandfathers shotgun out of state to stay legal.
Now my sks, which is a semi-auto with a fixed 10 round magazine, is legal and not an assault rifle under this law.
I saw you subscribed to my youtube channel ( I rarely post over the winter). Here is the video where I mention the rifle I used for my first deer this year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKfVqhhumM0&list=UUXMBYMhDLTkMwablVVn8–Q&feature=player_detailpage#t=23s). If you search youtube for ar-15 and hunting you will find thousands of videos of hunters using them afield.
I need to know why you think the ar-15 is un-sporting for hunting before I can respond properly. I do not know what you mean here.
I should note the law that you approve of will not cause me to register my AR as an assault weapon. If I remove the current upper and replace it with one lacking a gas system I will make it a straight pull bolt action rifle. The reason I like the AR platform is it is easily modified. I can change the caliber from 22lr to 50bmg in minutes. No other system offers the same level of configurability.
I may be mistaken but it looks like you only want revolvers to be legal ( I’d never own a Taurus as I think they are an inferior product). Is that correct?
This law leaves one Glock model legal for purchase. Basically 90% of the handguns available for the last 100 years are made illegal for new purchase. I can pass them down to my kids but I can not give them the magazines. My Grandfathers CZ Model 27 from WWII came with an 8 round magazine. No 7 round magazine exists for it. If 10 round magazines are so incredibly dangerous why grandfather them in? C&R Magazines are also grandfathered in but not for transfer. So I can have 15 round m1 carbine magazines and that is safe but not 15 round ar-15 magazines that are pre-ban.
The Federal Government is not looking at a 7 round mag limit. Only NY. Why was 7 chosen? why not 3 surely that would save more lives. 7 was chosen just to create a backdoor ban and many firearms. It will be overturned by the courts in time as it clearly bans arms that are in common use for legal purposes.
This law will have no affect on mass shootings. Joe Biden was on tape admitting as much and the Governor said the same. This law was not about safety it was entirely political.
The last thing I want to see are mass shootings or any shootings for that mater. This law will in no way affect crime just those like myself who have followed the law their entire life.
Hello Buffcleb,
I am a big fan of yours when it comes to Off Grid Cabin – Solar Electric Power System.
You made Off Grid Solar Electric Power system so simple and easy to understand. Thanks for your educative videos.
Please I would like you to advice me on what I would cost me to have a solar Electric power system that would power a three bedroom apartment with lounge, toilet and kitchen. How many solar panels and batteries that we would need? Wiring components, switch board and box etc.
Till I hear from you.
Cheers,
Richard.
[email protected]
Hello Chris,
My name is Michael and I came across you via your solar panel youtube vid [your handiwork is very tidy btw].
I have a sticking point on a project and I hope you can help me find the solution.
I have wired up two devices [homemade ‘windmills’] so that one [in parallel] generates 1.5amps and the other [in series] generates 200volts.
Would you know how I connect them correctly so that I keep the 1.5a and the 200v [and hopefully generate 300watts]? I have tried following the simple online diagrams [usually just two pair of batteries, but my setup is dozens of small fans] but my results show a minor [@ 0.01] increase in amps and a huge reduction [@ 90%] in the volts.
I am aware of your ‘just a guy who tinkers’ status, so I won’t hold you to any suggestions that don’t work ;p But, if you can help me figure the correct connection of these two devices my project will be off and running again! And that would be cool.
Thanks,
Michael
Chris,
Just preparing to install solar electric on small cabin. Found your video very helpful.
Installing 3, 100 watt. panels into a 40 watt charge controller. Still unclear how to protect the controller, batteries & inverter. What kind of breakers/fuses did you use between panels & controller – controller & batteries, batteries & inverter? and how do you know what size to use?
John
I basically and watched a lot of videos…
For things like wire I looked at the charts and for the number of amps I was going to pull over the length then went up a size or two… for the breakers I used breakers sized smaller then the wire load limit and rounded to what was available…
Thank you very much for sharing about the Amish steel oven which you placed on top of your wood stove. Would you know where it is available for sale? (not the painted one from Lehman). Thanks!
I have yet to see them for sale anywhere… if you have local Amish or Mennonites I would check with them. I have thought about buying a couple of them and seeing if they would sell on ebay… I need to check in with the steel shop and find out about current pricing…