Ping
What skill do you want to read about? Look on Google Books for it. Everything before 1920 is no longer copyrighted, and the books are free. Either print them out, or store on an e-book reader and keep the reader in a faraday bag in case of EMP event (I use Tech-Protect's faraday bags, good price, great construction, meets MIL-B-81705-Rev-C)
I have hundreds of free books on my e-reader, and add about 10 a week.
/johnny
I lived for about a year at a mid 1700s tech level, and it sucks. Out loud.
/johnny
Anything by David Gingery.
May I suggest “Back to Basics” I own this book, and have given away a few copies. I also own a few other books by her also. I have also heard that the encyclopedia of COuntry living is good, too. I own many books, on many topics and I have to say, if you don’t know enough (or anything) about a particular subject you will run into two scenarios, you’ll find books writen for the “average Joe” that give a good overview but will definitely not answer all of your questions, or you’ll find a great in depth book, that may be difficult to understand, or overwhelm you like reading an encyclopedia. I suggest owning both and winging it. I have found that I like to get ideas from the overview books (Like “Back to Basics”) that give me an idea or a vision of what it is I should be building/doing. Then I can 90%+ of the time do something myself. If I can’t, then I will buy/refer to a more exhaustive book on the subject. Some things in life are really simple once we understand them, and easy to understand if shown. But “Book knowledge” is important, but nothing like an experience.
For example, before I began raising animals, I read as much as I could about the subject and talked to some folks. Then I decided it was time to go out and get some. Some (in the case of chickens), happened to be a friend said to me, “I have to get rid of so many chickens, and they have to be gone within 4 hours, do you want them?” I said “Sure” and had no idea what to do with a chicken. But, I did read through some books, and found them to be helpful, but then what happens when a chicken lays down and pants. Or what if my rabbit sticks its head up on a hot day? What if a doe (girl rabbit) starts pulling out her fur? Well, I would never know that these situations would come up, and never know that I even would look out for them.
You may know all of this, but I’m just saying that experience is the best teacher. There are millions of books on millions of subjects, and I can’t say that I can recommend a “best book.” But, I can recommend “Back to basics” that has a little bit of just about everything, from making a chicken coop, to dressing an animal, to making a mini hydro electric dam, to knowing where to dig a well. But, it doesn’t take the place of an exhaustive reference. So I want to give you the caveat. It’s hands down one of the best books I own (like I said, it’s many), and it’s the one I like to give away. So, I hope that helps, and be sure to ask if you ever have any questions, that’s what we’re here for, there are some really knowledgable Freepers on many of these subjects, and I have found them all polite and willing to share their thoughts.
“Back to Basics” book:
http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Complete-Traditional-Skills/dp/1602392331
Note that as of now, per the 96 reviews on Amazon:
74 are five stars, 19 are four stars, 2 are three stars, and 1 is two stars. That means over 75% of people loved it, with only 3% not thinking it was good/great. That’s a pretty good rating, in my opinion.