Welcome to DK Preppers: A place to discuss practical ways to get through emergencies, both short term and long. Topics may include skills for growing, storing and sharing food, lost and historical skill sets, sustainability issues, living and leaving safely, and growing community. Everyone is welcome, and the comments are open. We have open threads on Saturday (noon eastern time) and Tuesday evenings (7 eastern time).
One of my interests is historic skills, and that interest ties in nicely with this Prepper series. I thought I would share some of my favorite books and videos that deal with historic skills as they pertain to preparation.
I like the whole set of BBC Farm videos, but the best one from a prepper standpoint is the Wartime Farm.
Wartime Farm explores what it was like for British farmers during WWII. Farms had been in recession for at least a decade before the war broke out. Most of England’s food had been shipped in, but the German blockade meant that the British farms had to increase food output enough to keep the country from starving. With imports of goods being few to none, everyone learned to use what was at hand; to make do and mend.
If you like this series, don’t forget to watch the bonus Christmas Specials when you’ve finished. Here is the Wartime Christmas bonus video:
If you are like me, you won’t want to stop after watching the Wartime farm. You’ll want to seek out the other BBC Farm shows: The Victorian Farm, The Edwardian Farm, The Tudor Monastary Farm, Secrets of the Castle, Full Steam Ahead, Victorian Pharmacy, and the first one in the series, Tales From the Green Valley. I think they can all be found on Youtube.
One of my favorite books, and the one that made me feel like I could survive if I left the city, is the Encyclopedia of Country Living, by Carla Emery. Here is a link to download it, or read it online. It is over a thousand pages of helpful hints, recipes and ways to do things. It may not take a deep dive into any one subject, but after reading it, you feel like you would be conversant on most subjects, and know what to look for to learn more on specific areas. Its an interesting read, too, because she puts in her own personal experiences.
Another great book is How To Do Things: A compendium of new and practical farm and household devices, helps, hints, recipes, formulas, and useful information from the Farm Journal. Here is a link to download the book in several formats. This is a DIY book for farm living from 1919. Its a valuable resource for doing things in creative ways, by hand. There are sections for almost every part of farm living, as well as recipes, household hints, party ideas- just so much. Even if you don’t ever plan on living in the country, the book is interesting.
In the comments, folks have mentioned the Foxfire books. Foxfire started as a class project at an Appalachian high school. Students interviewed family and neighbors and wrote a series of articles, which turned into a quarterly magazine, and then the first book in 1972, with other books to follow soon after. The lifestyles described in the books were starting to die out, and these books helped renew interest in lost skills and old ways of living. There were 12 Foxfire books, and then in the 80’s more books with specific interests (cookbooks, toymaking) were published. Here are links to download the first five books in the series. They are largish files, each about 17 MB.
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Another interesting read is from the Boy Scouts. In 1962 they published a booklet about pioneering, called Pioneering Principles. You can download it here. My favorite chapters are “Using Junk” and “Unorthodox Materials”.
Where There Is No Doctor is not necessary a historical skills book, but it is still and invaluable resource. I’ll let this review tell about it:
The Hesperian Foundation has been selling (this) Third World medical manual at a brisk pace for more than 25 years...(This) classic public-health text has meant survival for thousands in the Third World since the early 1970s, according to officials from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Peace Corps...it stands as arguably the most widely use public-health manual in the world, according to WHO...WHO officials noted that since 1978, it, too, has adopted the kind of community-based approach to health care exemplified by (Where There Is No Doctor). Both WHO and UNICEF now buy (the book) for their field offices... --Monica Eng, Chicago Tribune
I consider Where There Is No Doctor my health bible. I carry it with me on every trip I take, and refer to it often. The information provided in this book is simple, straight forward, and easy to read. I would highly recommend that any person planning to serve overseas have a personal copy for reference. --Anita Good, Mennonite Central Committee, Honduras
The publisher, Hesperian, has a page for downloading its health books. You can access for free, and a donation is requested.
This last book is one I just found, and I haven’t had a chance to look through it in depth. It is The Household Cyclopedia from 1881. You can download it here. A quick read through of the chapters makes me want to drop everything and explore it. The subtitle is : General Information containing over ten thousand receipts in the the useful and domestic arts; constituting a complete and practical library relating to ...and then a long list of topics from angling to wines.
So, if you have a rainy day and some time on your hands, I hope you’ll enjoy the videos and books. Happy exploring!
--To the best of my knowledge, all the books I’ve linked for download are in the public domain or have the permission of the publisher, and the BBC Farm Series is accessible on Youtube, or if you are in the UK, from the BBC website.
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In the comments, let us know your plans for being more prepared, and the measures you have taken to get there. Anything about getting yourself to a place where, in an emergency, you can care for yourself, your family, and your community is great to talk about.
If you would like to do a story for DK Preppers, I try to have a discussion on Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evenings. The stories can be about your experiences, or just a topic to discuss. Let me know if you are interested.