Favorite Remote Cabin Purchases under $50

 Favorite Purchases under $50 for our Remote Home

 

(no compensation for any of the following testimonials) 

Living far from any store means that any rural or remote property owner relies on supplies on hand.  Some of our least expensive purchases have been worth their weight in gold because we use them over and over, or in a variety of ways, or they specialize in increasing our safety or comfort in a way that no other item can do as well.

IceTrekkers.com cleats

I have purposely NOT included obviously important items, like matches or an axe, that anyone should know.   

 

 Here, I just wanted to illuminate some of the “unsung” products that we rely on to great advantage in the categories of attire, home, yard, tools, and communications devices.  Perhaps this list will be of interest to readers considering a move to a rural location, particularly in a four season locale.

 

I encourage readers to respond with their own "best"purchase lists for various eco-systems and climates.

 (Prices vary by quality and vendor.  The ones listed are either what we paid or samples on Amazon).

ATTIRE:

In Alaska, we have a saying: “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.”

·        *   Silk head/neck gaiter: $20     Light and small, they really warm up head, face, and neck and are easily stashed in a pocket.

·         *  Ice cleats:  $40     We wear them over our boots when our snow paths are icy, often.  Since falling accounts for 1/3 of all injurious trips to the emergency room for people under 65 (and ½ over that age), these purchases have surely saved us pain and expense many times over.

·         *  Mosquito head net:  $3      Mosquitoes do not bother me much but they torture my husband.  They are light, cheap, easy to store, and an alternative to chemical sprays.

·         *  Rubber boots: $10      All summer long, I live in what are considered to be “one time only” concrete boots.  They  are firm enough that they slip on and off quickly, with no hands, as I go in and out of my cabin a gazillion times per day, and they protect my lower pant legs from damp foliage and prickers.  They last about two years.  For their step in and out convenience, I actually prefer them to XTRATUFFs.  However, XTRATUFFs are longer-lasting and lighter-weight.

HOME:

·       *  Mosquito netting over the bed.  (See above)  $20

·         * Battery powered bug swatters that look like tennis racquets (See above)  $16  (entertaining as well as satisfyingly effective)

·        *  Toilet seat that fits over a generic 5 gallon bucket: $13      (to avoid midnight trips to the outhouse)

·        *   Plastic/bamboo blinds for porch shade:  $25 for 10 ftw  x 6 ft long.      Living without powered heat and cooling, we move in and out of sunny, breezy, or cool spots for comfort.  These simple shades have enhanced the “outdoor room” of our front porch, summer and winter.     The string pulls broke about the 6^th year.

·        *   Mason jars:  About a dollar each, I use these sturdy glass jars not just for canning and storing food but also for other items, like toiletries.  They are stronger than regular glass jars.  I recommend the wide mouth jars for easy pouring/access, rather than the narrow mouth jars.  They come in cup, pint, and quart sizes.  About 3/4 of mine are quart sized.
- - Fake hornet nests: 3 for $9 to $12.  (your front yard picnic will be much more pleasant.  We have started putting them on many of our buildings.  Hornets can fly 200 feet and are territorial, so anything within this range deters not only them but also yellow jackets and other wasps, whom they hunt!  A win/win for humans.

Garant snow roof rake

TOOLS:

* Moisture meter: $40    We use this every time we haul logs back from the woods for firewood to separate dry logs we can use right away and damp ones that need to age a year.  Readers in humid locations would find other uses for it, too.

*  Infrared thermometer:  $40    We use this speedy device every day to measure the temperature of our outdoor soaking tub, and also when we make beer. 

·         *  Ice spade:  $40    We use it not only to pry ice off decks and stairs and to prod for overflow sandwiched between the ice and snow on the lake, but also as an occasional pry bar, for example, to wiggle our plane’s skis loose.  Our current one has a wooden handle, but with the prying value, we plan to buy another with a metal handle.

·        *   Snow roof rake: $40   Looking more like a shallow and wide shovel than a rake, this extendable tool protects our shallower roofs (such as the greenhouse)  from too much snow weight which could collapse a valued building  (depending on density, a cubic foot of snow can weigh 20 lbs). 

·        *   Diamond/steel blade sharpener: $20     Better than any electric knife sharpener (which I promptly donated).  Dull tools and knives are ineffective and dangerous.

·        *   Chain and claw “grabbers”: $10    To lift logs from the ground without having to bend down.

·         *  Heavy duty 5-6 gal plastic jugs for water:  $20    The tall, thinner ones are easier to carry and store than the short chunky ones that bang against one’s leg.  We position these by the burn barrels, the chicken coop, and in the cabin in winter to top off the hot tub water level and wash water in case the line from the well pipe freezes. 

·        *   Every cheap replacement part we ever bought in advance of a problem, especially anything rubber or plastic, which degrades fast in our winter temperatures:  rubber gaskets, electric male plugs for A/C  electrical equipment,  drive belts, weed whacker string, pressure cooker gaskets, generator pull cords.

·        *   Lots of five gallon buckets: $5     We use these for everything: weeding, harvesting, watering, our indoor commode (see above), storing food, ash,  tinder,  tools.  NEVER ENOUGH OF THESE

·        *   Propane powered flame thrower:  $20 + propane   Let’s face it: there are times when a match just won’t do.  Ours attaches to both a 1 lb propane can for close ignition or a 20 lb propane can with a long hose attachment for bonfires.

·        *   Flagging tape: $5   For marking dead trees for cutting the following winter, marking trails, discouraging animals or people from low wires/branches,  finding tiny saplings after the ferns and weeds cover them, laying out dimensions of future structures, distinguishing packages, revealing wind movement, and, when hunting:  marking blood trails on grasses and plants.

·        *   Sturdy plastic sleds (best with vertical, high sides): $50    We use these in both summer and winter to haul groceries from the plane, wood to the house and tub, rabbit poop and hay around the gardens, weeds or herbs and vegetables that I collect.  These are just about the only plastic products that have NOT degraded within three years.  In fact, they have lasted now for 10!

·        *   Pocket knife or multi-tool: $50:  Handy almost every day for numerous projects.

Jet Sled

GARDEN/YARD:

·        *   Every seed packet suitable to my USDA planting zone that I have ever bought: $1-5 for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of seeds, depending on plant.  I am particularly enthusiastic about perennial flowers, herbs, and vegetables that produce year after year.

·        *   Passive net drying racks for preserving herbs and flowers: $10 – 30 depending on size.

·        *   Every berry plant and fruit tree I have bought suitable to our location. $5-50    3 years later, lots of fruit.
- _- A soil thermometer since many seeds require a particular range to do well.  Several purchases were worthless.  Keep trying.  $12 

* *  Bright red paint to color tool handles so I do not lose the wooden tools the same color as birch leaves and mulched soil.

Midland USA X-Talker

COMMUNICATION DEVICES:

·      *   Walkie-talkies:  $50.    We use these EVERY DAY to communicate as we go about our tasks throughout our property: a moose or bear sighting, time for dinner, two person tasks in two different locations.

·       *  APRS.org  Free.      For safety, I can monitor my husband’s vehicle positions (plane or snowmachine) on the Internet after we have entered them into the system. 

·        *   Ham radio:  (Prices vary by quality and vendor.  These are samples on Amazon). BaoFeng:   dual band/dual watch/dual PPT launch key: $26     (works with APRS)  The ham radio test costs $15 and training materials are free and on-line).  Once you have this set up, you can listen to emergency response traffic relating to regional wildfires, floods, etc.  Useful.

·        *  Short wave antenna kit: $26 , string it between trees.  Buy a used short wave radio

 I am sure that every home owner has his or her favorite list of "can't do without" items. 

These are ones I have come to value highly for enhancing our quality of life out here in the boonies of Alaska.