Off Grid Survival | Living Off Grid

Finding old fashioned products for self-sufficient off grid survival is easier than many may think.  You can find all kinds of vintage old fashioned products all online at the www.cottagecraftworks.com self-sufficient lifestyle general store.

Cottage Craft Works specializes in finding USA old fashioned non-electric products still being manufactured and used with the Amish self sustaining communities. 

The Amish still use the same simple human powered gadgets and appliances that were being used at the turn of the century before electricity was commonly available. 

The Amish build things to last for a lifetime and many are finding that the Amish products are actually easier to use and maintain than the newer complex electric appliances.

This is an important factor when considering the investment into something that might sit on the shelf for years just in case there’s a major grid outage.

The hand crank Little Dutch Maid mixer is a good example. Considering the initial investment for something to have as a backup is a bit hard to comprehend. Compared to the equivalent electric mixer many have found that the Little Dutch Maid Mixer is actually more user friendly and end up using it daily in place of their cumbersome electric mixer.

Life expectancy also needs to be considered.  Let’s face it an electric mixer these days comes with planned obsolesces built in. With motor brushes, plastic housings, and manufactures making it more difficult to find replacement parts down the road a person might be looking at needing to replace it within 8- 10 years depending on usage.

The Little Dutch Maid mixer base uses no plastic parts and is built like a tank for heavy long term use.  It was designed by an Amish gentleman for large batch cooking and cranking out bread dough on a daily basis.

Many non-Amish ladies are rediscovering the old fashioned treadle sewing machine.  Yes Janome makes the 712-T treadle brand new for the Amish communities.  Many non-Amish claim they find it easier to control than their electric sewing machines.

Many other Amish products are less expensive like the Country Egg Beater.  It’s a reproduction of the popular egg beaters once used in every kitchen before the larger mixers were invented.  It is still triple the price of a cheap imported copy but a side by side comparison will soon reveal why.  The Country Egg Beater cranks smoothly while the imported model is hard to turn.

This brings up another important consideration.  There’s a huge quality time gap from what was once made compared to the cheap imported copies of those products of today.  

As products have been copied over the years the quality just hasn’t been maintained the same. Imported copies use cheaper metals that just will not hold a cutting edge. Even though the product may look the same as the one that granddad used, people using a cheaply made import copies quickly become fatigued and just give up.

In contrast the Amish products are made to be used by the people who still depend on them to grow food and process it for the family table.

So if you’re looking for basic durable products for the potential need to live or survive off grid consider these old time favorites shipped directly from the Amish featured at www.cottagecraftworks.com