Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills (Back to Basics Guides)
Product ID: 8782036
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Over 1,500,000 copies sold—an international bestseller! NATIONAL BESTSELLER! #4 BALTIMORE SUN BESTSELLER #7 desertcart WEEKLY BESTSELLER Fully updated—Dye your own wool, raise chickens, make your own cheddar cheese, build a log cabin, and much much more. Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills—the kind employed by our forefathers—and adapt them for a better life in the twenty-first century need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. Countless readers have turned to Back to Basics for inspiration and instruction, escaping to an era before power saws and fast-food restaurants and rediscovering the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle. Now newly updated, the hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations in Back to Basics will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. The truly ambitious will find instructions on how to build a log cabin or an adobe brick homestead. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers—even if you live in a city apartment, you will find your imagination sparked, and there’s no reason why you can’t, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. Complete with tips for old-fashioned fun (square dancing calls, homemade toys, and kayaking tips), this may be the most thorough book on voluntary simplicity available. Review: One of the more useful books that exist - Holy cow, this book has way more in it than I expected. I haven’t read through all of it yet, but there’s a ton of useful information packed into it. Definitely a great addition to a bugout kit or just a good book to have around. Review: Wow! This is comprehensive! - I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this book! If you are a DIY person, or have a large property with animals and a garden, this will get you through times when money is tight but fixing and creating needs are plenty. I'm in my 70s so I didn't expect to be surprised by the content. I have lived on farmsteads and in rural communities and I learned a lot from my parents about "making do" because they grew up in the Great Depression. My Dad's family was very poor but the kids didn't know because they lived on a farm and ate well. Thay also traded milk, eggs and such. My mom's family was extremely impacted. Grandpa had to leave the family, trying to find work. Grandma often received her neighbor's roast pan drippings to make gravy for her family. Thay really struggled. So, I wanted to have tools in case we had to deal with similar finances. Most of the things in this book are meant for high quality purposes, using what nature provides. If you are applying for the television program, Survivor, get this first! ;) Everything in this book is useful. It was well illustrated and contains pictures with extensive directions. I found things that I never could have imagined, but I would try them, if necessary. And I'll be glad I bought this book! I actually couldn't put it down!
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,284 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Energy Efficient Remodeling & Renovation #2 in Garden Design (Books) #2 in Herb Gardening |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 5,448 Reviews |
C**P
One of the more useful books that exist
Holy cow, this book has way more in it than I expected. I haven’t read through all of it yet, but there’s a ton of useful information packed into it. Definitely a great addition to a bugout kit or just a good book to have around.
J**S
Wow! This is comprehensive!
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this book! If you are a DIY person, or have a large property with animals and a garden, this will get you through times when money is tight but fixing and creating needs are plenty. I'm in my 70s so I didn't expect to be surprised by the content. I have lived on farmsteads and in rural communities and I learned a lot from my parents about "making do" because they grew up in the Great Depression. My Dad's family was very poor but the kids didn't know because they lived on a farm and ate well. Thay also traded milk, eggs and such. My mom's family was extremely impacted. Grandpa had to leave the family, trying to find work. Grandma often received her neighbor's roast pan drippings to make gravy for her family. Thay really struggled. So, I wanted to have tools in case we had to deal with similar finances. Most of the things in this book are meant for high quality purposes, using what nature provides. If you are applying for the television program, Survivor, get this first! ;) Everything in this book is useful. It was well illustrated and contains pictures with extensive directions. I found things that I never could have imagined, but I would try them, if necessary. And I'll be glad I bought this book! I actually couldn't put it down!
L**A
Loads of information
This book is a great resource for learning how to do many things. There are not just descriptions and instructions but also diagrams and photographs which I find helpful. Great to have on hand if you want to learn traditional skills and maybe lose access to your Internet.
H**W
Very thorough and well written
High quality paper and useful instructions on a thorough list of projects, but it often assumes you have access to a supply chain. Eg you need alum and rendered animal fat to make a candle but I wouldn’t know how to make aluminum potassium sulphate or how to render animal fat with this books information
K**N
Super interesting book
I did not expect to love this book as much as I do… it’s a great coffee table book that you can flip through. It has so much information on how to do things you wouldn’t even think of doing. I have learned so much from this book. It is super good quality and looks nice. Bigger than you would think
E**M
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills (Back to Basics Guides)
useful, good price, easy to read interesting, great for off the grid, home, good information, camping
R**B
great
great book
R**J
A lot of info.
This is a very encompassing book should one need such a thing.
S**Y
Nice
Really cool compilation of articles, great illustrations.
C**N
Good enough!
The book is good, but its content is extremely focused on the american peculiarities. Some parts are difficult to extrapolate to other countries.
R**Z
Must have for what’s coming
If you ate preparing for the apocalypse that is coming in less than 20 yr and want to be at least a minimum skilled person to live on the land and you own work you need to start reading and memorizing this book as soon as possible. My goal is to know everything by heart in some years. Cheers
M**E
Lot of thing you will never use
Out of date information
C**H
Savoirs oubliés
Un livre très complet sur les savoirs perdus qui va de l'élevage à la vannerie, parfait si on souhaite récupérer un peu d'autonomie . Ce livre donne de très bonnes bases dans une foule de domaine comme les clôtures ou le travail du métal mais aussi des règles de jeu traditionnel. Chaque chapitre est clair concis et donne des sources pour aller plus loin. Je recommande vivement .
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