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Friday, June 12, 2026
The OGLS Newsletter
Your dose of self-reliance: what's new in homesteading, survival, and off-grid power.
SunForge 12kW Off-Grid Kit (Sponsored)
Power your entire homestead off the grid with the SunForge 12kW system. High-efficiency panels, a 20kWh LiFePO4 battery bank, and a hybrid inverter keep the lights on through any outage. Pre-wired, expandable, and backed by a 12-year warranty. This week only: 30 percent off the complete kit plus free shipping.Off-Grid
The Yama Vans Taiyō: A Sprinter Camper Built for Biking, Skiing & Paddling (4 minute read)
The Taiyō by Yama Vans is a Robson01N Mercedes Sprinter 144 built for two physicians who bike, ski, and paddle, with a warm orange-and-teal interior, a lengthwise bed, a bike-loaded gear garage, an expanding galley counter, and off-grid, off-road capability.Solar
The Yama Vans Fitz: A Grasmere-Green, Pop-Top Sprinter Camper for Four (4 minute read)
The Fitz by Yama Vans is a Teton01N Mercedes Sprinter 144 with a custom Grasmere Lake-green exterior, built for a UK-born couple into cycling, wild swims, and ski touring. It seats four, adds a pop-top, and has an induction galley, a gear garage, and solar.HVR Solar to set up 1.2 GW TOPCon cell factory in India (7 minute read)
From pv magazine India HVR Solar, a Delhi-based solar module manufacturer and EPC services provider, plans to set up a 1.2 GW TOPCon solar cell manufacturing facility in the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh. The company has signed memorandums of understanding with several technology and equipment partners for the project, including Shenzhen Han’s Photovoltaic Equipment Co., Ltd., Gentech Technology (Huzhou) Co. Ltd., and IndyGreen Technologies. Shenzhen Han’s Photovoltaic Equipment Co., Ltd. isEnergy density up 25%, site footprint down 20% (7 minute read)
CRRC Zhuzhou Institute will debut its 6.X Liquid-Cooled Energy Storage System to the European market at The smarter E Europe 2026, held June 23-25 at Messe München, where the company will exhibit at Booths B2.540 and B2.640 in Hall B2. The launch is backed by the company’s 200 MWh Bohot BESS project in Bulgaria, which reached full grid connection in April 2026. As of May 2026, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute’s energy-storage business spanned more than 25 countries and regions. At the show, the company wiSurvival & Prepping
How Humans Created Genetic Bottlenecks Inside Threatened Species (9 minute read)
Graft a patch of skin from one wild cheetah onto another, unrelated cheetah, and the recipient’s body will not reject it. Researchers documented this in the 1980s, and the result told them something unsettling: the world’s cheetahs are so genetically alike that, to an individual’s immune system, every other cheetah reads as a twin. We’ve written recently about the species that have disappeared, both the confirmed extinct and populations crashing toward genetic oblivion. There is a quieter loss happening inside animals that are still here. The North Atlantic right whale, the vaquita, and the chHow to Make a Survival Keychain (9 minute read)
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes Disasters don't wait and hit when it's convenient. They don't care if you're miles from your car, halfway through a hike, or just grabbing lunch with nothing on you but your wallet and phone. Whether it's an earthquake, a sudden storm, or some other emergency, your bug out bag won't do you much good when all you have is whatever's in your pockets. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(629); }); That's the idea behind the survival keychain. It's a collection of small, lightweight tools you can carry with you wherever you go. Obviously, it's nRainKeeper Gravity Filter (Sponsored)
Clean, safe drinking water anywhere with no power, no plumbing, and no chemicals. The RainKeeper gravity filter removes 99.999 percent of bacteria, parasites, and microplastics from rain, creek, or well water at up to 12 gallons a day. Built for homesteads, cabins, and bug-out kits.Camping & Hiking
HHH Chapter 28 Through Ireland without thru hiking. (8 minute read)
I have been oddly tired since being in Ireland. Some of this is definitively a physical thing. I have been mostly hiking for a month and the last day in Wales was taxing. I have not been feeling that this was the full explanation somehow. I have had a general sense of unease, a lessening of motivation, a disinclination to explore. 400km and me. I reckoned I had reached the 400km mark visiting Our Lady’s Island near Rosslare. ... The post HHH Chapter 28 Through Ireland without thru hiking. appearHunting & Fishing
