How to Survive Off the Grid: From Backyard Homesteads to Bunkers (and Everything in Between)

by Tim MacWelch, Editors of Outdoor Life

The survival expert and New York Times bestselling author of Prepare for Anything offers a comprehensive, practical guide to self-reliant living.   Whether you want to “go green” or live the life of a modern-day pioneer, survival expert Tim MacWelch teaches you the knowledge and skills you need in order to unplug successfully. Written from a hands-on perspective, this guide covers everything from raising chickens in your urban backyard to going totally off the grid in your solar-powered log cabin.   A guide for the modern homesteader, How to Survive off the Grid contains essential information on energy efficiency, finding and pumping your own water, being your own doctor, keeping chickens, goats, bees, and other critters, and much more.

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction, Self Help, Reference

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2020

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Informative and lots of cool pictures!

[Amanda Lackey Delaluz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a little bit of everything and is a good starting point if your interested in living off the grid or just want to be more prepared to survive if things went bad in our country. Has a lot of good material and learned a lot.

[Rita Arens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this at Tractor Supply along with horse treats. Thought it might come in handy.

[Tom Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read and very informative.Pretty much everything in the book would work and is practical.I got this as it was not your tired old survival manual with the usual snares and lean to shelter diagrams .It has a section on gardening and permaculture ,solar energy as well as many forgotten skills only your great granny knew. America is descending rapidly into a third world state, get this book and educate yourself on how to survive and thrive in it.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look on how to survive if humanity comes to an end. A lot of tips on gardening and basic survival that is more like on how to survive without the modern amenities. Not much on how to survive a hostile populace though.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably never going to live off the grid - at least by choice - but something about the notion holds my attention. Maybe it's because we all imagine scenarios where things go south - a civil war, a zombie apocalypse, etc. - and like to imagine how we'd fare in those situations. Or maybe it's because we all secretly long for a day when we don't have to be glued to our phones, knowing in our heart of hearts that the way we're living isn't the optimal way.

My motivation for picking up this book was a mixture of both. Even for someone who doesn't live off the grid, there's interesting information. I learned, for example, how best to organize a garden by putting plants together that can coexist in harmony. I learned the best way to start and keep a fire going. It also talks about how to survive if you're trapped in a blizzard, how to build a rough shelter using local vegetation, and the different ways to fish using available materials. And it can't hurt to know that stuff.

[Richard Blackwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like school, you go there and learn the basics of stuff and if you want a more in-depth look at a specific subject you go to university or in this case read a more specific book. It’s good to get you started and makes you want more. The illustrations are reminiscent of a post apocalyptic world and fit with the book. The only downside was there were a lot of grammatical errors throughout the book.

[Alaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved loved this book! My family and I are huge off the grid people! We live to be as self sustaining as possible! This book was a great reminder of how hard it can be if you aren’t prepared! So while all those people who called us crazy are panicking when the world ends, we got this!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covering a wide range of basics, this book is easy and enjoyable to read, but it is limited by it's depth of instruction for any one skill. A good primer to inspire you to read more about subjects encountered here in other, more in-depth works.

[Eleanor Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of practical information on survival and living self-sufficiently. The author has an amusing writing style and the illustrations are really cool which made this book quick and easy to read. Not that I want to live off the grid, but I was interested in knowing how others do it.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

super concise starter book on how to live in the boonies if shit hits the fan. wish there had been slightly more detail on some methodologies (trap building troubleshooting etc) but really great overall

[Heydi Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is wonderful. The information is helpful, logical, but very basic.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great over view of what it takes to surivie off grid. Gives me an appreciation of what my ancestors went through generations ago before electricity and other modern miracles.

[Jeffrey W Brigham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very interesting stuff in this book. Can't hurt to give it a read!

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched book. It makes me want to buy a piece of land and start homesteading. Lots of interesting facts in here.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustration in these books. The info is succinct and easy to read, with good graphics and a wide range of topics.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on how to live 'off the grid - OTG'. As a writer , I'm learning as much as I can about living OTG to include OTG elements in a story. This book was a good introduction to OTG living.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info that briefly touches on most of the important things that you'd need to know WAY prior to living off grid. Nice for someone that likes additional research.

[Raul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freakin loved it

[Kady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more details. Most of the information was quite general, though very entertaining.

[Sherry]

I chose this book sight unseen from the online library catalog. I thought it would be a book about solar energy. Well, the book is about survival. It covers information I would have never thought of like how to make different kinds of animal traps, the need to learn to tie different kinds of knots and how to make soap. It has a chapter on creating a BOB (Bugging Out Bag) in case there is some kind of disaster. While the book is written in some detail as a "how to" book, if you don't have prerequisite knowledge and skills it can pretty confusing. What I ended up with is a list of things to explore further and a vague sense of fear/doom. (For example, if there are people out in remote areas putting out dozens of traps....it could be easy to be out hiking and find yourself very hurt. Some useful advice but anyone reading this book would have to take a bunch of courses to learn the things he believes you should know or be an outdoorsy handy person already.