3 Reasons to Stay Away From DIY Projects

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, especially about how I approach prepping. I’ve been re-thinking many things I do, from how I ensure I’m not neglecting things or better use of checklists and one area that I’ve been on the fence about is the DIY aspect of prepping… until recently.

Now, I’ll be among the first to tell you to “knock yourself out” if you want to tackle a certain project. After all, a large part of reThinkSurvival.com are DIY videos and many hundreds of how-to articles. So, how in the world can I be against DIY projects?

Well, let me clarify my definition of a DIY project. First, I don’t see it being the same thing as making your own homemade cleaners or laundry soap; much of that was common knowledge not so long ago. Second, I don’t see a project as being the same as repairing something that’s already broken or mending a pair of jeans. A project, in my opinion, is attempting to make your own version of something that already exists, such as a lawnmower generator.

With that in mind here’s my thoughts on three reasons to stay away from DIY projects:

1. They can be unsafe or dangerous. I’m sure there are plenty of examples of things that went terribly wrong with any number of DIY projects but it’s doesn’t have to rip your arm off to be unsafe. For example, I remember when I was trying to make my DIY Rocket Stove where I was working with tins cans that produced plenty of sharp edges and I’m sure I tried to cut myself a few times before I was done. I recall that in a follow-up video to the one referenced in the rocket stove post above, the man had mentioned that the stove got so hot that some of the glue that held the labels on could have burned his hand. My point here is that there are myriad of small, possibly unexpected, issues like this that could cause you problems you don’t need. If I had chosen to purchase a manufactured rocket stove instead, these potential problems would not have been there. Again, this was just a small example, though, I’m sure you can find more glaring ones.
2. Your time IS money. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before. I can tell you that the older I get the more valuable my time is to me and I would suspect that it is to you as well. As such, one of the things I like to do is to value my time. For example, if I say that my time is worth $25 per hour and I spent two hours on something, then I’ve effectively “spent” $50 of my time. Make sense? So, when I was making my failed attempt at a Passive Solar Heater I actually wound up “spending” quite a bit of my time not getting anywhere. This could have been time better spend on something else. Obviously, I didn’t know that at the time and certainly I didn’t spend any actual money but if I had to do it over again, I would have either followed a design better, spent money on something already made, or maybe even scrapped the whole idea altogether.
3. DIY projects don’t quite work so well. While I could have used the “passive solar heater” post as a glaring example here I wanted to point out a subtlety about DIY projects: they may seem to work ok but not quite as well as what you need them to. As an example, I absolutely enjoy my Global Sun Oven and am looking forward to dusting it off and getting outside to cook a weekly meal. But, it is an investment (at a cost of a few hundred dollars). Therefore, it’s only natural to look for cheaper alternatives, and that’s where solar oven plans come into play. Don’t get me wrong, I think these solar oven plans are cool and I’ve seen plenty of awesome, working examples of solar ovens that people have built and modified. The thing is that when you try to do it ULTRA cheaply then you’re opening yourself up for disappointments. I wrote a guest post a while back on DoomAndBloom.net titled The $5 Solar Oven I Wish I Had Built Years Ago which, at the time I had considered a success. The thing is that the more I worked with my Global Sun Oven I realized that the makeshift solar oven I had built wasn’t going to work nearly as well as its commercially-made counterpart nor would it be as durable, easy to use, etc.

Does any of this, therefore, justify spending hundreds of dollars on a commercially-made product? Yes and no. I understand money is tight for all of us and, like I said, it’s only natural to try and save money if you can. My point is that there are productive ways to save money (such as making your own household cleaners) and potentially unproductive ways to save money (such as building a lawnmower generator). Last, I haven’t even tried to mention your mechanical aptitude or whether or not you have the tools necessary to do the work and do it safely. Keep all of these thoughts in mind before you decide to tackle your next DIY project.