We are collecting the most effective how-to websites and resources available online and taking them offline, and even OFF-GRID, so we will have this knowledge after a SHTF or EOTWAWKI event. We call it our Off Grid Survival Library.
This entire project started with the question “What are we going to do once our existing survival supplies are used up?” We (the oldest generation in the family) grew up farming, so we know a bit about growing food, hunting, and how to fix things with whatever is laying around. We love our kids and grandkids, but they have never had to do any of those things. It reminded us of the quote:
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.
G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain
While we worry about the younger generations being able to be self-sufficient, we also believe in the concept of “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” These resources are our attempt to teach people to fish if it becomes necessary to feed themselves.
To be included in our personal library, these how-to websites must be free to download, readily available to anyone, and useful in a situation where modern-day utilities like electricity, internet, and water were not available. Some of the things we chose to put in our personal off-grid survival library were:
Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia: www.wikipedia.com This collection of over 6.5 million articles covers everything from gathering/filtering water, building survival shelters, hunting, trapping, and safely foraging for food. The upper-level categories are nice for browsing, and the direct search for articles ensures that you can find what you need quickly.
WikiHow: www.wikihow.com This website may seem a bit cartoonish, but it is a valuable how-to resource. The information available includes how to desalinate water, build a tent/shelter, stay healthy, and many other topics. There is no direct searchability within the off-grid resources to find things quickly, but the categories help you get what you need pretty quickly.
Low-Tech Magazine – This magazine doesn’t hold itself out to be a Doomsday Prepper guide, but it absolutely does a great job of providing directions on how to do all the things we will have to be doing if the SHTF. It covers everything from how to turn a bicycle into a generator to land/water management projects that provide fresh water, food sources, and a means of processing waste. It is an absolute necessity for off-grid living!
Ted Talks: www.ted.com/talks This website is a collection of videos/lectures by some of the most brilliant people on the planet about issues that matter. We chose to include ten of the most relevant “talks” about things like ten ways the world could end, making filthy water drinkable, creating shelter out of scrap materials, lowering the amount of water needed for crops, and turning trash into toys for learning and entertainment.
We are always looking for new sources of information and will update this list of how-to websites as we discover additional resources that will be useful in an off-grid situation.