The Siege of New Hampshire

A special episode: an audio walk-around during this year's maple syrup harvest, from donning snowshoes to go out to install the taps, to collection and boiling the sap down to syrup. Along the way are a couple of diversions. Posts are uploaded to Buy Me A Coffee and Patreon with photos to accompany this audio experience. Photos on Buy Me A Coffee Same post on Patreon (same photos) Support this podcast! Consider becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the episodes coming. One-time coffee at Buy Me A Coffee are a great way show Mic you enjoy this podcast content.

After leaving the village of Sawyer, the "tax men" tried shaking down Abi for food too. Matt's arrival warns them away. Abi prevails upon Matt to teach Steve and Miles how to shoot -- which they've never done before -- in hopes of putting up a better defense against the next demanding beggars. Matt reluctantly agrees, but only after completes some of his pressure canning chores. The shooting lessons are square-one basics. While there was still much more training needed, the first lesson was, at least, not a failure. Enjoying Refuge Mountain? Your gift of a virtual coffee can keep Mic alert and at the keyboard. Go to Buy Me A Coffee and buy him a cup of virtual coffee. Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 10 of the Refuge Mountain story. If you'd like to read ahead, become a member too!

The War in Iran has already had an effect on life here in the US home front. Higher gas prices is the first to be felt. What other effects might be looming on the horizon? What might the prudent prepper do to be positioned to handle those effects? Mic and Jeff discuss the ramifications of potential supply chain disruptions or higher food and supply prices. A wildcard is the possibility of Iran-linked sleeper cells getting activated and causing outages, disruptions, or even mayhem. What, if anything, can be done about that? Help this podcast! Since you're enjoying these topical consider showing your support by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the Doom coming. One-time coffee at Buy Me A Coffee are a great way show Mic you enjoy this podcast content.

Matt has his new (and not particularly wanted) guest, Nicole, help with his harvesting chores. While digging potatoes, his garden fork breaks. He takes that and a few other broken steel things down to Gus's shop to be welded. He brought his extra battery and inverter to power Gus's welder. A truckload of men arrive in Sawyer soliciting food "donations" for what they describe as a state relief program. Matt and Gus aren't buying it. Neither are the other residents of Sawyer. A noisy standoff ensues, broken up by Richard Haff's arrival with armed men. The tax men depart, but could be headed for Abi's house. Be Bold! Show your appreciation. Encourage Mic to keep writing. Coffee is a great encourager. Go to Buy Me A Coffee and buy him a cup of virtual coffee. Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 7 of the Refuge Mountain story .If you'd like to read ahead, become a member too!

As if part of the World Economic Forum's agenda, the business world is embracing the Subscription Model for just about everything. You will own nothing and instead rent it from corporations. What's so bad about that? Mic, Brian, and Jeff get a hot rant going over what's wrong with everything -- from clothing to friendship -- becoming a subscription. For one thing, the more of your life you outsource to others, the more dependent you become and the less skills you retain. Like Borsodi's "wage slave", you become a subscription slave. Can anything be done about it? Links: Brian's Article: Subscriptions Are Unsustainable (the opinion blog) Subscriptions Are Getting Out of Control (YouTube video) Support this podcast! Consider becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the Doom coming. One-time coffee at Buy Me A Coffee are a great way show Mic you enjoy this podcast content.

Chores resume as Matt feels less beat up. He encounters some needy but fussy folks in an SUV. Matt visits Abi's house to trade eggs for salt. She laments that her son and family don't help out. While Matt helps Abi haul in firewood, the woman who the three thugs had assaulted walks up Abi's driveway hoping to find a place to stay while her car gets fixed. Abi says her house is full, so she volunteers Matt's unused first little cabin. He objects strenuously. Coffee. The perfect gift! Encourage Mic to keep writing with a virtually steaming cup of virtual coffee. Go to Buy Me A Coffee and buy him a cup of virtual coffee. Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 8 of the Refuge Mountain story .If you'd like to read ahead, become a member too!

A developing trend, particularly among younger preppers goes by the name Homesteading 2.0. This hybrid of self-sufficiency and yet continued engagement with "the system" runs counter to the "old prepper" idealized vision of the totally off-grid, remote, self-sufficient homestead. An ideal that very few actually attained. So, why was it held up as the ideal? Some historical light helps explain why. Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss this new prepper model and the old. Links: Ralph Borsodi's "This Ugly Civilization," (1929) Highlighting the wage-slavery of the modern economy that traps people into a system of wages and consumerism that is actually more costly than DIY. (archive.org) Ralph Borsodi's "Flight From the City" (1933). His book about his quest for a more self-sufficient life as a route to an improved personal economy. (archive.org) Support this podcast! Consider becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the Doom coming. One-time coffee at Buy Me A Coffee are a great way show Mic you enjoy this podcast content.

Matt goes about his daily chores, still suffering from the injuries he sustained in the fight the day before. Abi persuades him to attend a town meeting in the village of Sawyer, to learn more about the outage. Matt reluctantly agrees. At the meeting, in Gus's two-bay repair shop, the residents learn that the outage is widespread. When they worry about their futures, a tall man named Richard Haff tells of his shelter compound: Cliffhaven. He shares MREs and other supplies with the residents. Don't be shy. Show your appreciation. Encourage Mic to keep writing. Coffee is a great encourager. Go to Buy Me A Coffee and buy him a cup of virtual coffee. Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 7 of the Refuge Mountain story .If you'd like to read ahead, become a member too!