Trying to find a "how to" type book

[drmeow]

I'm not sure if this should go in GD or belongs somewhere else. I would like to get a book that is a cross between a survival book, a disaster preparedness book, and a get back to nature type book. Something that talks about how to do the things we have become completely reliant on our infrastructure to provide (making soap, for example). I had the name of a book I was going to buy but I've lost it. I did find this book on Amazon but I'm not sure if there are better books out there:

Country Wisdom and Know-How Everything you need to know to live off the land

Does anyone have a recommendation?

[Dem2theMax]

1. We have a forum -

The 'Frugal and Energy Efficient Living' forum. It's under the heading of the 'Lifestyle, Peer Support & Self-Help' forums.
Click on LOBBY tab to see them all and it will get you there.

If the folks in that forum don't know how to do it, make it, find it, it hasn't been invented yet! ;)

[drmeow]

8. Thanks

I didn't know where to look (I thought DU MUST have something like that).

-M

[Speck Tater]

2. I seriously doubt that just ONE book could possibly cover

"everything" you need to know to live off the land.

Are you talking about long-term subsistence farming, or hunter-gatherer, living on grubs and termites and dandelion greens? In either case, that information would be VERY specific to each geographic area. How to survive in Greenland will be a very different task than how to survive in the Australian outback, or the Amazon basin.

If you are talking about "country crafts" then try the Mother Earth News website. If you're talking about holding up in a fortified mountain cabin, try Survival Blog. If you're looking for general do-it-yourself, try My Web Page.

First find the specific community of people who are talking about the specific subjects you are interested in, and then ask THEM for their recommendations.

[drmeow]

12. Your website

looks like it has a lot of the stuff I'm talking about ... but I'm concerned that I won't have web access.

[Venceremos]

3. Try this site

I always use this site for how-to type books: http://chestofbooks.com/index.html

It's a free site with e-books reproduced in full from regular books. Alot of the books are old, but have excellent information I couldn't find anywhere else. I'd try the "reference books" category first for what you need. Hope this helps.

[Mojambo]

4. Tom Brown does some great books on this

Most of them are wilderness oriented, but there is one on city and urban survival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brown_(naturalist)#Books_and_film

[Fumesucker]

5. You're going to want something closer to a library than one book.

At this URL is a list of books that Robert Heinlein thought would be appropriate for a library in a fallout shelter.

http://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/books/ff_hc.htm

[Frank Cannon]

6. Try this one

It's one of the most amazing books I've ever seen.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Shen-Ku-Travelers-Intergalactic/dp/0399527257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219922957&sr=8-1

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I have a variety. The "Foxfire" books are still available. I have a full collection of

"Mother Earth News" magazines. And a how-to-book from Readers' Digest called, "Back to Basics".




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_books
http://www.motherearthnews.com/
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Back_to_Basics-ISBN_9780895779397.html?isrc=b-search

[seemslikeadream]

9. "Back to Basics".

I have that book it's the first thing that came to mind, I've had it for probably 35 years!

[kitkat65]

10. I have a really old one called Back to Basics from Reader's Digest

Copyright 1981 and I don't know if they did more editions. It's a little bit of everything from farming, developing land, alternative energies to skills and crafts for the household such as soapmaking, tanning leather, etc.

[drmeow]

11. Thanks everyone

for your responses. All of your suggestions are very helpful. Let me clarify a bit better what I'm looking for. My concern is that something will happen that will bring the infrastructure we rely on to a grinding halt resulting in stuff not making it to grocery stores, power shortages, but not a complete shutdown (so not something where I would have to survive eating grubs, etc). In particular, the web won't be available (loss of power to run my computer). I'm looking for something that will provide me with information about how to provide substances that I/people would want to have so that if my local grocery store can't get soap or olive oil or something, I can make my own and potentially barter. I know how to sew. I could knit in a pinch. I can cook. But those aren't as easy to barter as products. It sounds like the Back to Basics book and fiziwig's website are what I'm looking for. I didn't know about the forum (didn't know where to look :).

The book I wrote down was a relatively recent book (I think published in the past year or so) which may have been discussed here or at Alternet.org or on the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. It was written by a young guy. Like I could track it down with that info :)

Thanks again!