SKIP Book Kickstarter (April 2021)

I work 3rd shift now. This kickstarter was funded before I even woke up!

Yay! Does the book provide references for where we can learn the skills? (e.g. website, books, people, places, etc. that could teach the skills)?

No, the book doesn't tell you where to learn the skills but there are some great ideas here: How to learn this SKIP stuff

I was number 130 - and shared the ks link on my fb. Crossing my fingers!

$22,148!

We're already at

$22,178!

(I'm always amazed at how the amount goes up in the time it takes to post!)

Pledged!

Best wishes 😊

So awesome!

$23,010!

Sleep...  need to go to sleep.....

I'm adding in the next stretch goal just in the hopes we get there while I'm in bed.  Thank you everyone!!!

If we hit $30K, folks at the $65 level or higher will get Mike Oehler's "The $50 and Up Underground House" eBook.



Summary

The $50 & Up Underground House Book tells how to build the lowest cost, best ventilated, most sunshine-filled and driest underground houses of all. It teaches how to incorporate greenhouses, fallout shelters and root cellars into an underground home. Covering both hillside and flat land design it explains how to use dependable gravity to solve drainage problems rather than expensive failure-prone building materials. It also details ways to pass or otherwise deal with the building codes. This book explains in detail, author Mike Oehler’s revolutionary Post/Shoring/Polyethylene (PSP) building method which cuts building materials to the bone.

Oh, and a gratuitous big blue number:

 $24,044!

$24,735!

Less than $300 to go until the next stretch goal. Aaaand 669 people have backed it so far. Amazing!

Eeep, getting so close! We're at $24,896!

Make that $24,977!!!

And now $25,162!!!

Now everyone at the $65 and up levels get:


And if we hit our next goal, they'll also get:


Ooooooh look, a shiny button!

Wow, so many stretch goals in less than 24 hours! Well done!

The hobbit house image for the underground house book makes me smile : )

I guess I am not going to sleep next time :)) wow congrats!

This does not have to be just rural.  I have a friend who is almost ready to walk away from a big, full house in a city.  She can't even cope with selling on e-bay, and is having trouble with daily life.  Surely, she could get someone off the street.  Another friend had a wonderful machine shop, library, and rare-parts collection but couldn't find an heir who could use it.  I'm in a similar situation.  I have a house in a small town, but I'd rather be off-grid.  I think an adopted grandfather would be a fine asset to young pioneers.  I come with tools, know-how, and a steady income that works anywhere.

paul wheaton wrote:We added a new stretch goal!




Lots of deets here:

https://permies.com/wiki/137967/ebooks/Wood-Gasifier-Builder-Bible-Ben

This one got me, I had to up my pledge to the $65 level. Congratulations on another great kickstarter!

Just now waking up ...  

oh my ...

checking ....


yup, that's a new record for us for the first day on a kickstarter.  

I think Mike and I need to start talking about more stretch goals.

For the past several years, kickstarter had a bug where if you tried to raise your backer level, about half the people ended up paying the higher price, but their backer level didn't go up.  

Can anybody tell me if that has been fixed?

just for giggles ... trying to see if i can get this to work ...

paul wheaton wrote:For the past several years, kickstarter had a bug where if you tried to raise your backer level, about half the people ended up paying the higher price, but their backer level didn't go up.  

Can anybody tell me if that has been fixed?

I raised my backer level this morning and kickstarter now shows I have backed this project at the new level.

B Henry wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:For the past several years, kickstarter had a bug where if you tried to raise your backer level, about half the people ended up paying the higher price, but their backer level didn't go up.  

Can anybody tell me if that has been fixed?

I raised my backer level this morning and kickstarter now shows I have backed this project at the new level.

That's good news.

In previous years, it seems that about a third to half the people had no trouble.  It was the half to two-thirds that did have trouble that was the issue.  Maybe if a dozen people sound off that they had no trouble, then the problem will be fixed.  Here is the video we made last year:

paul wheaton wrote:For the past several years, kickstarter had a bug where if you tried to raise your backer level, about half the people ended up paying the higher price, but their backer level didn't go up.  

Can anybody tell me if that has been fixed?

It worked fine for me.  Congratulations on a successful kickstarter, Paul and permie people!

$27,650!

Bob Stuart wrote:This does not have to be just rural.  I have a friend who is almost ready to walk away from a big, full house in a city.  She can't even cope with selling on e-bay, and is having trouble with daily life.  Surely, she could get someone off the street.  Another friend had a wonderful machine shop, library, and rare-parts collection but couldn't find an heir who could use it.  I'm in a similar situation.  I have a house in a small town, but I'd rather be off-grid.  I think an adopted grandfather would be a fine asset to young pioneers.  I come with tools, know-how, and a steady income that works anywhere.

I totally agree Bob!  So many people out there have "estate plans" and they usually involve giving their house and assets to kids and charities.  Now that there are a bunch of homesteaders trying to prove their mettle, they might want to direct some of that capital at these aspiring homesteaders.  Or even established homesteaders that are struggling to "stay on the land".  There are so many different situations of benefactors and heirs that could materialize from the basic premise of this system.

    $28,024!

    $29,061!

Just raised my pledge right now, and had no issues.

Just received this question:

Keeps changing my offer of $15 to $25

Could it be that it's adding the shipping onto your $15 pledge?

We just hit the $30K stretch goal!   $30,132!!!

We're rolling out the next stretch goal.  This one is very much on-topic for a SKIP book.  It's 6 tickets to the SKIP event this summer at Wheaton Labs.  Who will be guiding people through the SKIP badges you ask?  Well it will be me with a bunch of help from other folks.  This Stretch Goal is also for $65 and up backers.  The 6 people are chosen from the six highest contributing people who want to attend.  So you might want to bump up your pledge by a bit so you outrank the other people at your pledge level

Here's a link to check out the awesome event: 2021 SKIP Event at Wheaton Labs Montana

Hi Paul!

I was trying to up my contribution to $65 and it seemed to work fine, but I didn't because of the shipping costs.

It says, "6 Physical Books, or 18 eBook Gift Codes, or a mix of each!" , I would go for 18 ebook gift codes, as I do not want to pay $45 for the shipping to Spain.

The problem is, I have to choose a country to continue. Is there a just ebooks no shipping option?

Thank you very much!

Jaizki

Hi Jaizki, that's a great question!  We just drafted an answer for a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on Kickstarter for it.  Here is what we came up with:

We have about 30 hours invested in getting the price down this much. Frankly, that’s about 29 more hours than we ever wanted to spend learning about international shipping. It’s nuts. We got it to be cheaper - but all we can do is pass our pain onto you. I think your government and our government are punishing you for something.

If you only want digital content (NO physical books/cards) we came up with a cheat that we think is mighty clever. If you select US Virgin Islands as your location, the shipping will be zero. Select that if you’re SURE you don’t want physical books. If you actually live in the US Virgin Islands, congratulations, you do get free shipping on your physical books.

Mike Haasl wrote:

Bob Stuart wrote:This does not have to be just rural.  I have a friend who is almost ready to walk away from a big, full house in a city.  She can't even cope with selling on e-bay, and is having trouble with daily life.  Surely, she could get someone off the street.  Another friend had a wonderful machine shop, library, and rare-parts collection but couldn't find an heir who could use it.  I'm in a similar situation.  I have a house in a small town, but I'd rather be off-grid.  I think an adopted grandfather would be a fine asset to young pioneers.  I come with tools, know-how, and a steady income that works anywhere.

I totally agree Bob!  So many people out there have "estate plans" and they usually involve giving their house and assets to kids and charities.  Now that there are a bunch of homesteaders trying to prove their mettle, they might want to direct some of that capital at these aspiring homesteaders.  Or even established homesteaders that are struggling to "stay on the land".  There are so many different situations of benefactors and heirs that could materialize from the basic premise of this system.

The example in the trailer had over a hundred unsuitable applicants.  I'm looking more for values, attitude, and enthusiasm than current ability.  I've had a few apprentices that worked out well, but can't find anyone now.  I was looking at the Intentional Community news, but not seeking a group.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of climate refugees around soon, but the trick will be to find one who can continue my work, or require the same tools for something good.  On-line and/or robot-building skills would be a good compliment to my own, for an initial win-win.  I'm interested in vehicles, structures, passive solar, etc,, human power, advanced wood burners, and robotic permaculture tools, and am vegan.  

I try to support the $15 category but when I click on it, it boosts the amount up to $30, which I can't afford. What am I doing wrong?

I don't think you're doing anything wrong.  It's just adding on the shipping.  I'm guessing you selected Canada as your country which tacks on $15 to get the book to you.  Here's what my screen looks like when I pretend I'm in Canada.

Thank you very much, Mike!
Sorry I didn't check the FAQ first, I was not aware of it.
It worked like charm!
And yes, no doubt my government is punishing me, is their thing.

I upgraded my pledge to $65. Does this mean I might win a ticket to a SKIP event? (Trying to ensure I have the correct idea. A first glance I thought “everybody” was going to get six tickets... each... I wondered how the heck y’all were gonna manage that!) So I logged into permies and read more. Maybe it’s a Blonde Moment...

Anybody else misunderstand as well?

paul wheaton wrote:For the past several years, kickstarter had a bug where if you tried to raise your backer level, about half the people ended up paying the higher price, but their backer level didn't go up.  

Can anybody tell me if that has been fixed?

What a good excuse to double my pledge amount!
Yep,  it seems to work for me according to my screen. I'll double check later to make sure it stays that way.

Congrats on the super successful first day!

I was talking about printing out or making some kind of spiffy looking thing to track and share PEP and SKIP stuff just a few months ago to teach for homeschool kiddos on our land, as well as the workshops and rotating work parties we plan to have.
Also last year when we renovated and sold our house in town we wished we could find an older person to pair with to lend out hands and hearts to, learn with, and continue their vision instead of the current way things go. We didn't find anyone that fit, though we looked at Oregon Farm Link and asked around. We need to have more discussions on this in a wide group so that the Otises of the world know there is hope to not just have their land sold to a developer or become fallow. We wondered how to make this more real more than once.
Poof! Here you all are already on it. So of course we'll throw down with ya. It's how I wish the world worked and I do truly believe that voting with my dollar is the most effective way to make that happen.

Heidi McPherren wrote: ...of course we'll throw down with ya. It's how I wish the world worked and I do truly believe that voting with my dollar is the most effective way to make that happen.

Well said!  I have just been on permies.com about a week.  I am so excited to see the awesomeness of the people.