About

FloridaHillbilly started as a place for me to write down what I was actually doing, learning, building, growing, catching, cooking, breaking, fixing, and occasionally screwing up.

That is still what it is.

I’m db. I was born in Detroit, raised in West Virginia, and somehow ended up in South Florida. Along the way I’ve been an Air Force computer operator, laborer, photographer, locksmith, computer repairman, IT security admin, mortgage broker, carpenter, pool guy, and probably a few other things I’ve forgotten. I’ve always been interested in knowing how things work and figuring out how much of life I can handle myself.

FloridaHillbilly is the field journal that came out of that.

What you’ll find here

There isn’t a neat little niche. You’ll find gardening, fishing, food, preserving, tools, gear, preparedness, DIY projects, Florida living, reviews, experiments, local finds, and whatever else I’m neck-deep in at the time.

Some things work. Some don’t. I try to tell you which is which.

I’m not interested in turning this into a content mill full of articles written because a keyword tool said somebody might click them. Most of what you see here exists because I actually did the thing, used the product, cooked the food, grew the plant, went to the place, or had a question I wanted answered.

The old stuff stays

FloridaHillbilly has been around a long time. Some of the older articles show their age. Prices change. Links die. Products disappear. I learn things and occasionally discover that younger me was full of shit.

I’m not going to erase all of that and pretend the site sprang into existence yesterday. Those old posts are part of the record. When something needs an update, I’d rather add what I know now than rewrite history.

Reviews and recommendations

If I review something, the useful question is simple: did it actually earn its keep?

Sometimes I buy the product. Sometimes a company sends something for review. Sometimes links on the site may earn FloridaHillbilly a commission. Those relationships are disclosed, and none of them buy a favorable opinion.

If something sucks, free doesn’t make it suck less.

FloridaHillbilly today

The site is active again, but the point hasn’t changed much: learn useful things, try them in the real world, keep what works, and pass the useful parts along.

FloridaHillbilly is also part of DockLight Labs, the company behind the software, media, products, and other projects I build. Different name on the door, same habit of making things and seeing whether they actually work.

If that’s your kind of rabbit hole, welcome.

Peace,
db