When Technology Fails

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Edition is my favorite book on this subject. It is super thick and stuffed full of anything and everything that you might need to know in a SHTF situation. Almost 500 pages of awesomeness! My hubby loves this book and even bought a second copy for him to keep in his rig. When he is on the road he will be prepared.


FROM THE PRODUCT PAGE:

There’s never been a better time to “be prepared.” Matthew Stein’s comprehensive primer on sustainable living skills—from food and water to shelter and energy to first-aid and crisis-management skills—prepares you to embark on the path toward sustainability. But unlike any other book, Stein not only shows you how to live “green” in seemingly stable times, but to live in the face of potential disasters, lasting days or years, coming in the form of social upheaval, economic meltdown, or environmental catastrophe.
When Technology Fails covers the gamut. You’ll learn how to start a fire and keep warm if you’ve been left temporarily homeless, as well as the basics of installing a renewable energy system for your home or business. You’ll learn how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing. You’ll learn alternative techniques for healing equally suited to an era of profit-driven malpractice as to situations of social calamity. Each chapter (a survey of the risks to the status quo; supplies and preparation for short- and long-term emergencies; emergency measures for survival; water; food; shelter; clothing; first aid, low-tech medicine, and healing; energy, heat, and power; metalworking; utensils and storage; low-tech chemistry; and engineering, machines, and materials) offers the same approach, describing skills for self-reliance in good times and bad.
Fully revised and expanded—the first edition was written pre-9/11 and pre-Katrina, when few Americans took the risk of social disruption seriously—When Technology Fails ends on a positive, proactive note with a new chapter on "Making the Shift to Sustainability," which offers practical suggestions for changing our world on personal, community and global levels.

EMP SURVIVAL

I have had this book, EMP Survival: :How to Prepare Now and Survive, When an Electromagnetic Pulse Destroys Our Power Grid, on my survival book shelf for a while now. I pull it out every so often to reread it. It is a great book that is full of some very simple ideas on what to do after an EMP happens.

From the Back Cover

An EMP attack might cost $20 billion and a lot of inconvenience or- it might cause significant mortality.
The power grid failure could be repaired in days or- it could take years.
It could happen today or- next decade.
While Congress hears testimony of our nuclear armed enemies with enhanced EMP weapons- our electric power grid is more vulnerable than ever.
Political leaders and scientists encouraged Americans to prepare for a long term power outage in Congressional testimony. They admit to doing so themselves.
This book describes our personal preparation, survival research and purchasing experience to prepare for an EMP attack.

About the Author

This book is based on our reading of survival preparation texts and congressional testimony of EMP-related hearings, combined with our experience and training.  We have had careers in electrical engineering, holistic nutrition and public health sanitation. The intent is to describe our preparation, research and purchasing experience so that readers can benefit from our effort. The EMP survivalist must have some expertise in areas of communication, medicine, first aid, wild foods, solar energy, and electronics.  We hope that readers will further research and enhance these plans and options for their situation.

What To Do If An EMP Takes Out The Electrical Power Grid

Whether you are a prepper or survivalist, preparing for an economic collapse, or merely a fan of the TV show "Doomsday Preppers" you have probably thought about a major power outage. An EMP attack, where a rogue nation or terrorist entity takes out the electrical power grid, is really one of the 'worst case scenarios' for our country, as we would be plunged into darkness, worse than the 19th century.

The reason it would be worse than the 19th century is because people back then were accustomed to a life without electricity; we are not. Not having electricity in your home is one thing, but if all of society lacked lighting, it would be utter chaos.

The first thing you would want to do is to stay home, as the streets would not be safe for a variety of reasons. If it was merely the power grid that failed, then streetlights and traffic signals would be out. If the EMP fried all electrical circuitry, then your vehicle wouldn't even start.

Either way, the safety of your home would be the best place to be. Hopefully you have had the foresight to put together a family emergency communications plan and anyone who was caught away from home knows exactly what to do.

The first thing you would want to do is immediately fill the bathtub and all available containers with water, since the tap will be dry as soon as the water towers are emptied.

The second thing you'd want to do is to ready your emergency lighting, and prepare blackout curtains for your windows so that all of the neighbors don't see how much light you have. The problem with being prepared is that it attracts the attention, and jealousy, of those who have chosen not to prepare.

Since the neighborhood will be very dark, any homes that have any lighting will be very obvious, and without blackout curtains someone could easily be spying in your window to see if they want to come and help themselves to your supplies.

The third thing to do after the power grid goes down is to make a plan for using up your perishable goods from your refrigerator and freezer. Cooking on a barbecue grill, either yours or a neighbors, may be your only option.

Rehearsing what to do if an EMP takes out the electrical power grid can be a fun way to spend a weekend, if you are committed to shutting off the electricity and really sticking with it. You don't have to be a prepper or a survivalist to appreciate the confidence that comes from having taken steps toward emergency preparedness.

By the way, do you want to discover the 3 steps you can take RIGHT NOW to prepare for a power outage? If so, download my free MP3 HERE.
And to learn what 5 things you should always have in your car, you can go HERE.
Mike Kuykendall, Prepping Consultant

Byron's Prepper Humor and Survival Guide

Byron's Prepper Humor and Survival Guide was a free Kindle book when this post was written.

Do you consider lead a precious metal? Do your favorite numbers include 5.56 or 7.62? Do you chop down trees with your survival knife? Then you might be a prepper.

Byron’s Prepper Humor and Survival Guide takes a strategic and positive approach to prepping. It provides specific short-term and long-term goals for your Personal Prepping Plan. It promotes physical fitness, learning new skills, creating community, and reconnecting with nature. It covers the basics of Kalashnikovs and armored cars too.

Byron’s Prepper Humor and Survival Guide is for people who want to enjoy a couple laughs with their prepping hobby. 

Cooking with Home Canned Foods

Cooking with Home Canned Foods (Frugal Living Academy) was a free kindle book when this post was written.

How To Save Money and Time By Cooking With Pantry Items Canned at Home

Are you on the search for canning recipes? How about recipes to cook with the foods you've canned?

Each of the 30 recipes in this cookbook provides you with an interesting and tasty way to use up those canned goods in your cupboard. Whether you use goods you've canned yourself in the pressure canner, or name brand canned goods purchased at the grocery store, there is something here for everyone. From Soups to Cobbler, all of these recipes are made with easy to find, inexpensive ingredients you can keep on hand and ready for even your busiest weeknight dinner.