Free Downloads When Technology Fails: A Manual For Self-Reliance, Sustainability, And Surviving The Long Emergency, 2nd Edition
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.
Paperback: 493 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing; 2nd edition (August 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933392452
ISBN-13: 978-1933392455
Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 8.5 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (199 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #85,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #52 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Survival Skills #72 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Disaster Relief #124 in Books > Reference > Survival & Emergency Preparedness
This is a great book about preparing for short-term societal or environmental crises - how to conserve water when the water's not running (after a hurricane, say), how to stay warm and safe when the ice-storm of the century wipes out your natural gas and electricity, or an earthquake shakes your house down around your ears in the middle of the night.The true beauty of this book is the wealth of information for longer-term "doing without," or slow erosion of a situation of plenty we now take for granted. Here is information on dealing with medical problems when no doctor is forthcoming, growing food organically and with your own saved seed, how you might store food over the winter with no refrigerator.If we lost the luxury of the machines that run our world, would we find ourselves back in the stone age, having lost the knowledge handed down for generations beyond count of how to shelter, clothe, feed and doctor ourselves? These skills are all touched on in this book, with voluminous resource lists so that the reader can learn more about any of these subjects.Technology, too, is given its due - renewable energy sources like solar and wind are discussed and the best water filters on the market.Change is coming. That's apparent. If you're worried, wary - this is a good book, a jumping-off place to learn skills you may some day be very thankful for, or at least gather a library of relevant information against the day when it is needed. Survivalist paranoia not required.
Matthew Stein has written a clear, concise book on the subject of survival that, while educating, also does what few others have managed to do - entertain and engage the reader.Throughout the book you'll find personal stories accompanying the text to further illustrate or drive home a point. The use of these asides brings you into Matthew Stein's life, as he recounts personal stories of survival and tells the stories of others who have managed to overcome the odds to survive.Not just a survival book, Matthew also covers topics like alternative therapies; how to create a survival mindset; survival strategies; renewable energy; companion gardening; prophecies etc. as well as all the regular topics found in such books - edible plants; first aid; making a survival kit; growing, hunting and foraging; making tools; creating shelters; spinning/weaving/tanning etc.The book has some great illustrations that make plant identification and first aid that much easier to understand and each chapter finishes with a reference section listing books (along with a short review) and resources (with web addresses where available).This book is supposed to have been 15 years in the making - and the time and effort taken by the author to research his topic really shows. When Technology Fails belongs in your survival library - as the publisher says, "it's a user-friendly manual for the 21st Century".
Most of this book is very good. It is a good survey of many issues related to self-sufficiency. It has great references that make it easier to find the materials needed for a more in-depth understanding of most of the topics.However, I had the feeling while reading the book was that it was written by Abby (Dharma's mother from Dharma & Greg). Great, pragmatic information is tainted with pseudo-science nonsense and newage garbage. Most of which is harmless, but some of it may be downright dangerous.For example, there is a half page editorial on the moral issues of hunting followed some pages later by a long discussion of tanning. There is a story of how blessing water turned undrinkable swill into sweet healing water. There's enough folk and eastern medical advice to make your head swim.If you believe everything you read, this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you can discern the likely from the silly, you might find this book useful.
"when technology fails" is misleading to the content of the book. It had a few good ideas but is was more about the author's philosophy. To give you a better idea of what I am speaking of before you decide to buy this book;this is chapter 16 Making the shift to sustainability.Plan B1. change the tax structure - cap & trade2. rebuild our cities3. rebuild our railways, waterways, and mass transit systems4. rebuild our homes, office buildings, and factories5. rebuild our industries6. fund and support renewable energy development7. eliminate population growth (I had to write the whole caption under this one)Reduce global population to the point where the population of our planet levels off, followed by a decline in world population. On a planet where the estimated long-term carrying capacity is on the order of 1 to 2 billion people, if we can't control our own population growth, nature will do it for us. Most people would agree that it is much more humane to provide family-planning eduction and birth control materials for all people on earth than for the population to find its natural level through starvation, plagues, and wars. "when technology fails" page 461.8. share the wealth9. reach out to developing countries10. replace coal-burning power plants11. global relocalization12. make decisions based on sustainabilityDO YOU NOW UNDERSTAND WHY IT WASN'T EXACTLY WHAT I EXPECTED FROM THE TITLE.WHY DID I TYPE THIS? IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SURVIVAL OR BACK TO NATURE BOOK FOR CAMPING, THIS IS NOT IT. EVEN THOUGH THE TITLE MAY PUT IT IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS "THE SAS HANDBOOK" OR "HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT" YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK.IF YOU BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING AND GOING GREEN ALL THE WAY, BY ALL MEANS BUY THIS BOOK. IT IS VERY WELL WRITTEN.
When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Edition Sheehy's Manual of Emergency Care, 7e (Newberry, Sheehy's Manual of Emergency Care) The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century Self-Reliance and Other Essays (Dover Thrift Editions) Parenting Your Child with ADHD: A No-Nonsense Guide for Nurturing Self-Reliance and Cooperation Self-reliance and Other Essays Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law Master Self-Discipline: Simple and Effective Steps to Develop Self Discipline, Get Organized, and Make Things Happen! (Willpower, Stress Management, Self ... (Self Improvement And Motivational Book 1) Emergency Care and Transportation of Sick and Injured (Emergency Medical Services) Emergency Nursing Bible: Principles and Practices of Complaint-based Emergency Nursing Comprehensive Emergency Management for Local Governments: Demystifying Emergency Planning Emergency Medical Responder: Your First Response in Emergency Care (Orange Book) The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (Rhee, The Wills Eye Manual) The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else What They Do With Your Money: How the Financial System Fails Us and How to Fix It American College of Emergency Physicians First Aid Manual (Acep First Aid Manual) Obstacles to Deliverance: Why Deliverance Sometimes Fails (The Frank Hammond Booklet Series) Bad Software: What To Do When Software Fails What to Do When the Power Fails: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-191 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin) Everything Is Obvious: How Common Sense Fails Us
