I am a survivalist by nature and always am looking for ways to prep myself for the worst. Even though I know a lot it is always good to have a reference around just in case you forget something. This book can give you all that you need for survival in North America and many other locations with little effort, great detail, and lots of pictures for easy to understand explanations. This is an older book that was recommended to me by another mountain man here on Amazon.com rather than some of the other self-sufficiency books. I found all the information here to be well documented and referenced and most importantly VERY accurate. Though this book is certainly no field guide (you can't stick in easily in your pocket) it is also VERY thorough. I would also recommend as a companion that you get the SAS survival guide only because that does fit in your pocket and was written by a well-known former British Special Ops member.
Many of the books you will see hear will try to tout all the pictures they have, the wide variety of topics they cover, or some other third thing but none of them will tell you the overall quality of the knowledge provided. Some are better than others such as The Guide to Self-Sufficiency published by DK Books but all of them seem to be lacking short concise answers and explanations. Others just ramble and others worse yet have irrelevant information. The chapters of this book are as follows:
1) Land: Different types of homes that can be built, how to prepare/cut wood, use building tools/supplies, preparing land for a home, etc.
2) Energy Sources: This explains how to use the natural world for a variety of tasks from grinding grain (water wheel) to using the sun and or earth for natural and continuous heating and cooling. Other topics include wind, solar, etc.
3) Raising Food: This covers the care of and maintenance of livestock, plants, gardens, fish, bees, pests, etc.
4) Keeping and storing food/harvest: Making cheese and other diaries, gathering maple sugar, bread making, recipes, etc.
5) Home crafts and skills: Covers everything from basket making to metal/blacksmithing. Others include leather tanning, soap making, weaving, coloring, etc.
6) Recreation: This is where the authors have a bit more fun in going over the old activities people used to enjoy such as the may pole, marbles, and tons of other oddities. It will even teach you to make dolls, board games, canoe, and more.
Now keep in mind this is a abridged version of everything in the book. It has other things that include first aid, weather forecasting, edible plants, well making and more. It is again VERY thorough and with out any unnecessary fluff as some other books may have. Just because something is 30 years old (the book was published in the 1980s) doesn't mean the information is not relevant. The information provided is quite relevant and has not really changed at all even over the last 300 years in American history. This is a great survivalist book and guide to self-sufficiency, so don't wait and buy this great book.
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LIFE'S ESSENTIAL TOOLKIT: Back to Basics Book Review
Makenzie
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Great Book on Basics for Home Library
Just received this book last night and opened this morning. My head is swimming with so many ideas and useful things to know. Great addition to the home library.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2010
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
Great Book on Basics for Home Library
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
Just received this book last night and opened this morning. My head is swimming with so many ideas and useful things to know. Great addition to the home library.
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
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Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2012
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2013
Top reviews from other countries
Victoria Ayres
Very informative book on how to do things with very minimal tools.
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2020
HeavyMetal
Entspricht genau der Beschreibung + pünktlich!
Reviewed in Germany on February 8, 2014
R. E. Hunt
Everything you need to know
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2012
