New Releases From HOPS Press, LLC!
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Build Your Own Masonry Fireplace DVD
With Builder and Author Thomas J. Elpel
Video Companion to
Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction
Released May 2012
Build an authentic masonry fireplace with the efficiency of a masonry
stove! The baffle system in this fireplace extracts heat from the
exhaust, warming up the thermal mass of brick and rock. The masonry
fireplace can radiate heat for three days after the fire is out!
In this instructional video, Thomas J. Elpel demonstrates the step-by-step process of building a masonry fireplace, starting from the foundation and ending with the chimney. Elpel shows how to lay up the brickwork for the core of the fireplace, how to build the arch, and how to build the baffle system. With the brickwork complete, Elpel demonstrates freehand stone masonry, using natural rock to lay up the stonework around the brick core. DVD. 2012. Read More...
Living Homes
Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction
Building Your High-Efficiency Dream Home on a Shoestring Budget
by Thomas J. Elpel
6th Edition, Released May 2010
The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. The key is all in the planning. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is--all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. A little extra time in the planning process can save you tens of thousands of dollars in construction and maintenance. That is time well spent!
Living Homes was completely re-organized and revised for the new sixth edition, based on five additional years of building experience with low-cost, high efficiency construction methods. Get the latest ideas on how to build a high-performance house that will stand the test of time! The sixth edition includes fifteen pages of new material covering the latest stone masonry tips, plus revised and expanded tips and techniques throughout the book. Living Homes is 245 pages, including an incredible 300+ drawings and grayscale photos. 6th Edition. 2010. Read More...
Classroom in the Woods
Primitive Skills for Public Schools
DVD with Thomas J. Elpel and the Harrison Junior High Kids
Released June 2010
Amid a growing awareness of the need to reconnect kids with nature, Classroom in the Woods vividly demonstrates the power and promise of hands-on, immersive experiences to put kids in touch with the real world. In this enlightening video, author and educator Thomas J. Elpel brings a class of junior high students out into the woods for three days and two nights of hands-on wilderness survival and primitive skills experience.
Leaving textbooks behind, the kids revel at the opportunity for hands-on learning, as they build a shelter, forage for wild edible plants, make a bow and drill fire set, stalk and observe wildlife, and bake bread in a stone oven. The students create fire from wood, and then use that fire to shape bowls and spoons and cook their food. In the process, they learn about themselves building self-confidence, problem-solving skills, teamwork, and attunement to their surroundings. Read More...
I'm a Medicine Woman, Too!
A Tale of Herbal Wisdom and Personal Empowerment for Budding Healers and Daydream Believers
Written and illustrated by Jesse Wolf Hardin
Released June 2009
I'm a Medicine Woman, Too! is a colorful and soulful book of self discovery and personal empowerment for budding healers, as well as every kid heeding a calling or pursuing a dream.
Rhiannon is the inspiration and model for this tale of realization and growth, as she first resists believing she could ever be a Medicine Woman like the herbalists and healers she's met... but then realizes the ways in which she is already the woman of power she hopes to be. Included are thirty-five full color illustrations, including eleven frame-worthy depictions of various Medicine Woman archetypes including an Apache with her mano and metate grinding stones, a Hispanic curendara in her adobe Botanica herb shop, and an Anglo teacher, gardener and herb chef. I'm a Medicine Woman, Too! is a wonderful book to connect children with herbal traditions. The story role-models an ethic of healing and caring for other people and honoring our elders. The delightful illustrations touch the reader at an emotional level, compelling us to become healers too Read More...
Participating in Nature
Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills
6th Edition. Released January 2009
Get in touch with your wild side! Primitive living is a way of learning about nature by participating in it. Instead of merely camping in the wilderness or passing through it, you can become part of the process. You learn about nature by using it to meet your needs for shelter, fire, water, and food. You set aside the trappings of modern culture and step directly into nature with little or nothing, to experience nature on its own terms.
Tom's guide gives you a direct, hands-on experience of the world around you. With this book you have the opportunity to discover the thrill of staying warm and comfortable without even a blanket! Experience the magic of starting a fire by friction. Butcher your own deer and braintan its hide to make warm buckskin clothing. Learn about edible plants of the Rocky Mountain region, plus processing techniques and "primitive gourmet" skills like making wild strawberry ashcake pies or stir-fry cooking without a pan. Read More...
Roadmap to Reality
Consciousness, Worldviews,
and the Blossoming of Human Spirit
Released May 2008
What if our entire experience of reality were based on an assumption that could be proven false? In Roadmap to Reality, Thomas J. Elpel tests the assumption that we are a sentient (self-aware) species, and finds evidence suggesting otherwise. Like automatons, we copy beliefs and behaviors from generation to generation without consciously evaluating why we do what we do. We absorb a definition of reality and act on it, without ever questioning the source of that definition. In short, we don't act; we react.
Roadmap to Reality is the quest to unravel the illusions to discover what reality really is. The journey follows the link between technology and thought, showing how hunter-gatherer, agricultural, industrial, and informational societies define reality in predictable ways. In essence, production technology dictates how we perceive cause and effect, how we solve problems, and how we approach parenting and governing. Read More...
Stone Age Living Skills
Video Classics Series on DVD
Released July 2007
The Stone Age Living Skills Video Classic Series brings back to life on DVD some of the best primitive skills videos ever produced on VHS video. Our first three discs in this series feature seven great movies from four top instructors: Jim Riggs, Brian James, Robert Earthworm, and Melvin Beattie. Topics covered include: friction fire with the handdrill and bowdrill, plant fiber cordage, the primitive lifestyle, hide tanning with both wet-scrape and dry-scrape techniques, plus knapping arrowheads and making primitive arrows. Read More...
Canoe Camping
on a song and a paddle
Released January 2007
With two water bottles and a flute in their canoe, Thomas J. Elpel and intern Kris Reed go survival camping at the local lake. Amidst the abundant waterfowl, wildlife, and intermittent rain showers and thunderstorms, they camp for three days and two nights and demonstrate all of the skills required to meet their basic needs, including: Read More...
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See a pattern?
Shanleya's Quest
Patterns in Plants Card Game
By Thomas J. Elpel. Illustrated by Gloria Brown
Photos by Thomas J. Elpel and Mary Ellen Harte
March 2006
Read the book. Play the game! The Patterns in Plants Card Game is a fun way to test your skills at identifying the family patterns described in Shanleya's Quest. Learn to see the patterns in the game. Then you will be able to recognize them in the real world! ISBN: 1-892784-23-8 March 2006. $12.50 Read More... |
The Art of Nothing
Wilderness Survival Video Series
With Thomas J. Elpel and special guests
DVD Version Released January 2006
Have you ever dreamed of being able to walk out into the woods to survive with nothing but the clothes you have on? You are not alone. In a society that is very disconnected from the natural world, many individuals find themselves wondering about what lies beyond the pavement. We know that our ancestors lived by their bare hands and wits alone, but how did they do it? How would you do it? What would it be like to be so connected with the natural world that you could just leave everything behind and walk away into the woods? It is easier than you might expect. Read More...
Shanleya's Quest
A Botany Adventure for Kids Ages to 99
By Thomas J. Elpel, author of Botany in a Day
Illustrated by Gloria Brown
March 2005
In a mythical world where time is a liquid that falls as rain upon the land, young Shanleya paddles her canoe out to the tree islands to learn the plant traditions of her people. Each island is home to a separate family of plants and an unforgettable Guardian with lessons to teach about the identification and uses of those plants.
Shanleya's Quest is a truly unique educational book that presents botanical concepts and plant identification skills in an easy and fun metaphorical format for children as well as for adults who are young at heart. Read More...
A Bear's Tale of the Lewis & Clark Expedition
By Julia Faircloth and Judy Nansel. Illustrated by Judy Nansel.
March 2005
Lewis and Clark are bear explorers who set out to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Follow along with them as Lewis and Clark (and fellow bears Sacajawea, Pomp, and Charbonneau) travel up rivers and over mountains along the historic Lewis and Clark route. The easy reading and expressive illustrations tell a complex story in a simple and exciting way. This delightful book is bound with real suede fringe that gives it an authentic appeal. It is a "must-have" for Lewis and Clark collectors of all ages. This fun little book was written and illustrated by Renee Elpel's mother and aunt. Read More...
Living Homes
Integrated Design and Construction
5th Edition, January 2005
The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. The key is all in the planning. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is--all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. A little extra time in the planning process can save you tens of thousands of dollars in construction and maintenance. That is time well spent! Read More...
Slipform Stone Masonry Video
With Builder and Author Thomas J. Elpel
DVD Version Released August 2004
Want to build a stone house? It's easier than you might think! Slipform Stone Masonry brings to life the nuts-and-bolts of the slipforming process featured in Tom's book Living Homes.
Slipforming is the process of using forms on both sides of the wall as a guide for the stonework. The forms are filled with stone and concrete, then "slipped" up the walls to form the subsequent levels. Slipforming makes stone work easy even for the novice. Now Available on DVD! Read More...
Botany in a Day
The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
5th Edition. Released January 2004
Botany in a Day is changing the way people learn about plants! Tom's book has gained a nationwide audience almost exclusively by word-of-mouth. It is now used as a text and recommended by herbal and wilderness schools across North America. Instead of presenting individual plants, Botany in a Day unveils the patterns of identification and uses among related plants, giving readers simple tools to rapidly unlock the mysteries of the new species they encounter throughout the continent. Read More...
Go to Books & Videos by Thomas J. Elpel.
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