Pick a skill and do it.
Choose a badge bit (BB) from one of 22 categories, from gardening and rocket heaters to textiles and tool care. Then go do the work.
SKIP · SKILLS TO INHERIT PROPERTY
Get land.
Skip the rat race.
A free framework that connects industrious people with landowners. Prove your practical skills, one badge at a time, and earn the trust of someone looking for a worthy heir to their land.
The framework is free · The book: $19.50 print, $9.99 eBook · 22 badge categories
Earn your place on the land.
A free frameworkNo fee to take part, and no fee to connect
Real, proven skillsBadges earned by posting proof of the work
A path to landMeet landowners looking for someone worthy
01 / WHAT IS SKIP?
Skills to
inherit property.
SKIP is Paul Wheaton’s term for a way to skip the rat race and start homesteading and permaculture sooner. It is a free curriculum of experiences you complete to prove you can do permaculture. A PDC teaches design and analysis. SKIP is hands-on: you are making things.
proof of real work.
Post your proof.
Share photos or video on the permies.com forums. Each approved BB counts toward your PEP badges.
Get noticed by an Otis.
Your badges appear on your profile and on the leaderboards, so landowners looking for a worthy heir can get to know you.
PEP is where most SKIPpers start. Permaculture Experience according to Paul is a free curriculum to learn through doing. And with PEX (Permaculture Experience according to X), any Otis can build their own curriculum around the skills they want to see.
How BBs and badges work02 / SEE IT IN ACTION
Hard work.
Proven skills.
Watch the introduction to SKIP, the free framework that connects people who want land with the people who have it.
WATCH THE VIDEO
03 / TWO SIDES OF SKIP
Someone has land.
Someone has skills.
SKIP brings together two kinds of people who need each other, and gives them a fair way to build trust.
THE AGING LANDOWNER
Otis
Otis is a fictitious person representing all the hardworking farmers who have no one to care for their farm after them, and wish they had someone responsible to inherit it and manage it well.
THE INDUSTRIOUS HOMESTEADER
SKIPper
SKIPpers, or PEPpers, are folks pursuing badge bits in the SKIP framework. They may or may not be looking for an Otis. Either way, they are building skills they can prove.
04 / FIVE LEVELS OF PEP BADGE
From your first BB
to iron.
Every badge category has five levels. Each one asks for more experience, measured in the hours a skilled person would need.
Air
You’ve completed one BB in that category.
1 BB
Sand
All the BBs required for the sand badge.
~5 hours
Straw
All the BBs required for the straw badge.
~40 hours
Wood
All the BBs required for the wood badge.
~220 hours
Iron
All the BBs required for the iron badge.
~1,250 hours
05 / THE BADGE CATEGORIES
22 ways
to prove yourself.
From gardening to electricity, each category covers skills an Otis would want to see from whoever takes over the homestead.
Gardening
Use permaculture techniques to grow delicious food: hugelkultur, chop and drop, Ruth Stout style composting, saving seeds, polyculture, starting perennials from seed, food forests.
Natural Building
Build big things in styles that work in a cold climate: cob, plaster, straw bale, wofati, natural paint, adobe, natural roofing, dry stack foundations, cob floors, wattle and daub.
Woodland Care
Move from using a forest to a symbiotic relationship with it: junkpole fences, firewood, coppicing, living fences, roofing shakes, edible mushrooms, skiddable sheds, rock jacks, berm sheds.
Round Wood Woodworking
Build from logs, branches and sticks with zero glue and rarely metal: three-log benches, spoon carving, shaving horses, pole lathe bowls, Proenneke hinges, door latches.
Tool Care
Maintain and repair tools of all sizes: sharpening and handles, chainsaws and power tools, trucks and tractors, appliance and bicycle repair, tool and materials sheds.
Dimensional Lumber Woodworking
Construction, cabinetry and fine woodworking with no plywood or particle board, and good joinery over more nails: bird houses, decks, shelves, picnic tables, porta cabins.
Earthworks
Use large equipment to change the landscape: roads, trails, terraces, ponds, berms, ditches, natural swimming pools, dry stack walls, passive garden heaters.
Rocket
Build and maintain wood-burning contraptions that cut energy and wood use by 90%: rocket mass heaters, rocket ovens, cooktops, water heaters, outdoor kitchens.
Food Prep and Preservation
Cook with energy-saving methods like hay box cooking and solar dehydration. Cast iron care, canning, drying, pickling and fermenting the harvest.
Animal Care
Care for chickens, pigs, cattle, rabbits, sheep, goats, bees and fish, and build homes for birds, bats, pollinators and garden-friendly wildlife.
Foraging
Harvest and preserve food from the wild: fruits, berries, nuts, greens, teas and mushrooms. Care for and improve the places you harvest from.
Community Living
Create community experiences: public art, group meals, workshops, community holidays, tours, maps, swap meets and labor investment collectives.
Textiles
Mend and make clothing and useful textiles: weaving, knitting, spinning, sewing, basketry, leatherwork, and growing fiber plants to make cloth.
Greywater and Willow Feeders
There is no “waste” in nature. Greywater-friendly soaps, reusing wash water in the garden, and planting “poop beasts” like willow, poplar and cottonwood.
Metalworking
Build and repair metal things: welding, cutting, blacksmithing, casting, bending and grinding, from farm equipment to small projects.
Plumbing and Hot Water
Pressurized and non-pressurized systems in metal and plastic: install and repair pipes, stop leaks, fix drains, toilets, faucets and garden hydrants.
Electricity
Maintain and build AC and DC systems, on grid and off grid: battery maintenance, outlets, breaker panels, repairing and building solar systems.
Commerce
Prove you can earn money in several ways, so you would arrive with your own income streams rather than depending on Otis’s savings.
Natural Medicine
Harvest healing herbs from the garden and the wild. Identify plants, keep records, and make teas, tinctures, oils, salves and poultices.
Nest
Show Otis you will take care of that second house: cleaning, shoveling snow, laundry, and simple house maintenance.
Homesteading
Known homesteading experiences that don’t fit into the other categories.
Oddball
Unpredictable, unique and creative experiences worthy of PEP, earned through a point system rather than BBs.
06 / THE BENEFITS OF SKIP
Good for you.
Good for everyone.
SKIP helps the person doing the work, the person with the land, and the planet they share.
For the SKIPper
- A free framework, and a way to connect with an Otis
- The chance to inherit land you otherwise would not
- Real skills and a sense of accomplishment
- A path out of the rat race, or a way to avoid it
For the planet
- A smaller carbon footprint
- A smaller petroleum footprint
- A smaller toxic footprint
For Otis
- A free way to find industrious, worthy people
- Will your property to someone you trust
- Or hire or rent to someone you find worthy
“He’s getting calls from folks who want to inherit their place to a worthy young person. But how do you test worthiness? Wheaton has come up with his plan, which is a community-audited accomplishment list… However you can express mastery, that’s what counts, and there aren’t shortcuts… If you’re looking for a next-gen replacement, don’t look for college degrees. Look for mastery.”
SKIP BUNDLE / BOOK + EBOOK + 3 MOVIES + 4 PLANS
READ THE BOOK. WATCH THE BUILDS.
START YOUR FIRST BADGE.
RECOMMENDED / EVERYTHING TO GET STARTEDGo from curious
Go from curious
to your first badge.
Paul Wheaton and Mike Haasl compiled the SKIP book as a one-stop resource for the program. The bundle pairs it with the eBook, three movies and four sets of step-by-step 3D plans, so you can watch SKIP skills in action and start building.
- SKIP book1 physical copy
- SKIP eBookePUB
- 65 Low Tech Things: Tour of Wheaton Labs movieHD streaming
- Building a Cob Style Rocket Mass HeaterHD streaming
- Hugelkultur Micro DocumentaryHD streaming
- Pebble Style Rocket Mass Heater3D plans
- Hugelkultur3D plans
- Giant Log Stairs3D plans
- Log Picnic Table 3.03D plans
$35
Get the SKIP bundle
Checkout through Permies.com.
INSIDE THE SKIP BUNDLE
Three movies.
Four sets of plans.
On top of the SKIP book and eBook, you get these to watch and build from. Many of them line up with SKIP badge categories, from Rocket to Round Wood Woodworking.
Movies
MOVIE · HD STREAMING
Tour of Wheaton Labs: The Movie
The next best thing to trekking to Montana. See the projects, experiments and collaborative events of Paul and the bootcamp. You’ll be inspired to crack on with SKIP.
MOVIE · HD STREAMING
Building a Cob Style Rocket Mass Heater
“The old reliable.” Meet the couple who spent their first winter in a tipi heated by a cob rocket mass heater, and hear how comfortable they were at 26 below zero.
Details on Permies
MOVIE · HD STREAMING
Hugelkultur Micro Documentary
A short, garden-focused documentary on hugelkultur, including how to shape your beds. Made for backyard growers rather than big acreage.
Details on Permies3D plans
3D PLANS · 29 PAGES
Pebble Style Rocket Mass Heater
Step-by-step plans for the pebble-style heater built at the 2021 Rocket Mass Heater Jamboree at Wheaton Labs, featured in the Free Heat movie.
Details on Permies
3D PLANS · 44 PAGES
Hugelkultur
A step-by-step guide to a 7-foot-tall hugel bed, built by Opalyn Rose at the 2022 Permaculture Technology Jamboree.
Details on Permies
3D PLANS · 35 PAGES
Giant Log Stairs
All-wood stairs from giant logs: a sturdy, elegant design built with traditional woodworking techniques.
Details on Permies
3D PLANS · 32 PAGES
Log Picnic Table 3.0
An all-wood picnic table from giant logs, showing off the strength and beauty of natural timber.
Details on Permies07 / CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT
Print, digital,
or the whole bundle.
The SKIP framework is free. The book is your companion guide for the journey, in print or as an eBook.
HOLD IT IN YOUR HANDS
SKIP book
- Companion guide to your SKIP journey
- Hard copy, 190 pages
- US shipping only
$19.50
Get the book READ, WATCH & BUILD
SKIP bundle
- SKIP book (1 physical copy)
- SKIP eBook (ePUB)
- 3 movies: Tour of Wheaton Labs, Cob Style Rocket Mass Heater, Hugelkultur Micro Documentary
- 4 sets of 3D plans: Pebble Style RMH, Hugelkultur, Giant Log Stairs, Log Picnic Table 3.0
START READING TODAY
SKIP eBook
- Instantly available
- ePUB format, 562 pages
- Read on the go
$9.99
Get the eBook A FEW GOOD QUESTIONS
Before you
start your journey.
A clearer picture makes
the next step easier.
Is SKIP really free?
Yes. The SKIP framework and the PEP curriculum are free. You complete badge bits and post your proof on permies.com. The book, eBook and bundle are optional companions that explain the program in one place.
What is a badge bit (BB)?
A BB is one specific, hands-on task in a badge category, like building a hugelkultur bed or sharpening a tool. You do the task, post proof on the permies.com forums, and once it’s approved it counts toward your PEP badges.
Who is Otis?
Otis is a fictitious landowner representing all the hardworking farmers with no one to care for their land after them. Real Otises can register on permies.com and look at SKIPpers’ badges to find someone worthy to inherit, hire or rent to.
Does finishing badges guarantee I’ll get land?
No. SKIP gives you a way to prove your skills and connect with landowners, but any arrangement is up to you and the Otis. There is a thread on permies.com about the legal side of the Otis and PEPper relationship.
Do you ship the book outside the US?
The printed book ships within the US only. The eBook is instantly available wherever you are.
How do I get my purchase?
Checkout is handled on Permies.com. Use the same account and email you want to use to return to your digital items.
SKIP THE RAT RACE
Start earning badges.
Start toward land.
Read the book. Pick a badge.
Show what you can do.