Mega-List of FREE Resources for Preppers, Survivalists & Homesteaders

Mega-List of FREE Resources for Preppers, Survivalists & Homesteaders

By Timothy Gamble

The following is a huge list of free resources available to preppers, survivalists, and homesteaders. Many of these are websites and other web-based materials. Others are available in real life from the government and other organizations. All links were checked and working as of Dec. 28, 2019. If you find a dead link, please leave it in the comments section below and I’ll try to correct it as soon as possible.

1) The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival (link opens as a ,pdf). The 1978 classic by Sir John Glubb explains why all empires eventually fall. Recommended reading for those concerned with the fate of the American empire.

2) FEMA - Are You Ready (opens as a .pdf) - This 204-page book by FEMA is a treasure trove of information on preparedness for many disasters - natural and man-made.

3) The Art of Manliness (website) - Traditional masculinity has been under serious assault for generations now, leading to the rise of metrosexuals and pajama boys lacking in the skills of self-reliance. This website takes a fun and humorous approach to the lost art of manliness, and has lots of articles on self-reliance, traditional manly skills, and other items useful to preppers, survivalists, and homesteaders, be they male or female.

4) The CIA World Factbook - This is a very informative resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. A good aid when trying to understand world events.

5) Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny - The 1987 edition of this classic nuclear survival guide is available for free download as a .pdf file or .html documents.

6) Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation (link opens as a .pdf) - This 135 page report by the National Security Staff (a whole bunch of government alphabet departments + the American Red Cross) came out in 2010.

7) Backwoods Home Magazine - Many articles from back issues of this self-reliant living magazine are available online for free in their archive.

8) Prager University (Dennis Prager) - A great resource for homeschoolers or those just wanting to better understand the world. Contains hundreds of five-minute videos explaining topics ranging from history and economics to politics and science, without the “progressive” ideological spin found in most schools and universities today. Pro-Capitalism. Pro-Traditional Values. Pro-Western Civilization. So refreshing.

9) Gardening and Seed Saving How-Tos - Seed Savers Exchange has a section on their website devoted to teaching folks how to save seeds and grow food.

10) A Plan for Food Self-Sufficiency - This article is available for free on the Mother Earth News website. You can find other free articles on self-reliance, organic gardening, renewable energy and other topics by browsing the website.

11) LDS Preparedness Manual (you’ll have to give them an email address to download) - The Mormons have taught/required preparedness and self-reliance of their members for generations, and have accumulated much practical knowledge on the subject, much of which is presented here.The link is to the current edition, but if you don’t want to give them your email address, you can get the 2011 edition at this link (link opens a .pdf).

12) The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (link opens a .pdf) by John Seymour. I found the link to the 1976 book edition of the book on the City Farmer News website, so check them out.

13) Veteran’s Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 Website: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

14) The Complete Outdoorsman’s Handbook A guide to outdoor living and wilderness survival by Jerome J. Knap. Available for free download in several formats.

15) Back To Eden Organic Gardening FilmBack to Eden Film shares the story of one man’s lifelong journey, walking with God and learning how to get back to the simple, productive organic gardening methods of sustainable provision that were given to man in the garden of Eden. The food growing system that has resulted from Paul Gautschi’s incredible experiences has garnered the interest of visitors from around the world. Never, until now, have Paul’s organic gardening methods been documented and shared like this!” You may have to give them an email address to watch it for free. A DVD is also available for purchase.

16) Bee Basics: An Introduction to Our Native Bees (link opens a .pdf) - a publication of the US Forest Service. Bees are, of course, very important to the pollination process, and our gardens depend on them. Its important to understand their role, and how to protect them.

17) Plans For a Complete Beekeeping System (several downloading options available) - Again, bees are important for your garden and fruit trees. Besides, I love honey.

18) Where There is No Doctor - A Village health Care Handbook (link opens as a large .pdf, so it may take a minute or so depending on your connection) - “The manual provides practical, easily understood information on how to diagnose, treat, and prevent common diseases. Special attention is focused on nutrition, infection and disease prevention, and diagnostic techniques as primary ways to prevent and treat health problems.

19) Military Medicine - This website has over 20 different military field manuals for first aid and medicine available for free download in .pdf format.

20) Basic Physical Health with Limited Resources (.pdf automatically downloads) - an LDS publication. Maintaining good health before, during, and after a SHTF event is extremely important.

21) Surviving The New World Order (several downloading options available) by B.A. Brooks. I’m typically not one to buy into grand conspiracies, but this 20-page booklet has a lot of really usefully prepper and survivalist information.

22) LDS Nutrition and Diet Manual (link opens a .pdf) - another LDS publication dealing with health and nutrition.

23) The Alpha Strategy: The Ultimate Plan for Financial Self-Defense for the Small Investor (link opens a .pdf) - a famous, but now out-of-print, book from 1980. The Alpha Strategy presents a plan to protect your assets from both high inflation and depression, as well as high taxation and political manipulation.

24) The Xerces Society is an insect conservation group which provides a variety of fact sheets and plant lists for promoting native bee and butterfly populations, which are VITAL to gardening and agriculture.

25) Permaculture - Sustainable Farming, Ranching, Living - by Designing Ecosystems that Imitate Nature (link opens as a .pdf) is a excellent six-page introduction to the concept of permaculture.

26) Popular Mechanics has both DIY Projects and Home How To sections on their website, with lots of greats ideas, projects, and information**.**

27) Countryside and Small Stock Journal has a free online library of articles (well over 200) relating to gardening, homesteading, livestock, poultry, and self-reliance. They also have a series of free guides to topics including vegetable gardening, beekeeping, dairy goats, raising ducks, and so forth. To get the free guides, click on the “Free Guides” tab on their menu. You may have to register (for free) with them to get access to the free guides.

28) Article Archive of The Backwoods Home Magazine - 100s of free articles on homesteading, gardening, raising food, self-reliance, and other topics of interest to preppers and survivalists.

29) Local Parks and Greenways offer lots of opportunities for free exercise, recreation, and family time. My local parks have walking/jogging trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, softball fields, and even a lake for fishing at one one of the parks. Some offer free programs on weekends or during the summer. Hiking greenways is great exercise. Bring along some nature identification guides and turn it into a learning experience.

30) The Public Library - Use your library card. Libraries are a great source of free entertainment and free information. You can check out a wide range of books on gardening, country skills, food preservation & canning, sewing, health & first aid, home improvement, auto repair, small engine repair, fishing, hunting, nature field guides, edible wild plants, wilderness survival, personal finance, and so forth. Entertainment, too, can be had for free at your local library, and not just books to read. Many libraries today have movie DVDs, music CDs, board games, puzzles, and other types of entertainment that you can check out for free, as well as story times for kids and lectures for adults.

31) Cooperative Extension Offices are an agency of the US Agriculture Department, with local offices in every county in the United States. They are a great resource of free information, and free or low-cost services. Local offices can provide garden planting times specific to your area, soil testing, canning classes, and other information and services. Visit https://extension.org/ to find your local office and contact them to learn of the specific services offered in your county. They can also help you get into touch with 4-H clubs, gardening clubs, bee keeper associations, and other related organizations in your area.

32) USGS Disease Maps tracks disease outbreaks and epidemics in the US on a county-by-county basis.

33) ProMED-mail - the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases - is an Internet-based reporting system dedicated to rapid global dissemination of information on outbreaks of infectious diseases and acute exposures to toxins that affect human health, including those in animals and in plants grown for food or animal feed. Electronic communications enable ProMED-mail to provide up-to-date and reliable news about threats to human, animal, and food plant health around the world, seven days a week.

34) RSOE EDIS - Emergency and Disaster Information Service - provides maps and information on man-made and natural disasters worldwide. It tracks almost everything - droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, chemical spills, biological hazards, nuclear events, and more.

35) Exploit FREE blogs and You Tube channels on preparedness, survival, and homesteading. If you are reading this, you’re on the Internet anyway. There are a lot of great blogs, websites and YouTube channels full of useful information for you to read or watch. This website, Dystopian Survival, is full of prepping & survival information. Other blogs and You Tube channels I like include:

  • PrepperWebsite - Daily links to the best prepper, survivalist and homesteding articles on the web
  • SurvivalBlog.com - James Wesley Rawles’ website is the “Granddaddy” of all prepper/survival websites
  • Survival Medicine - the website of Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton
  • Dr.Bones/NurseAmy - You Tube channel of Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton
  • PrepperRecon - The website of Mark Goodwin, where you can get the new episodes of the Prepper Recon Podcast. He no longer posts episodes to his You Tube channel, but you can still listen to his old shows there.
  • The Patriot Nurse - Great YouTube channel for medical preparedness
  • VikingPreparedness - You Tube channel of Pastor Joe Fox. He only posts there occasionally now that he has a Patreon channel, but there is still lots of his free videos on You Tube.
  • SouthernPrepper1 - Great preparedness You Tube channel

There are, of course, lots of other great blogs, websites and video channels. The above list is just a few of my favorites.

36) Spiritual Preparedness - Getting right with God costs nothing. I encourage everyone to pray, read the Bible, and attend the church of your choice. Don’t have a Bible? Many translations are available for FREE online at BibleGateway.org (many audio versions are available, too).

37) Whatfinger News is a fantastic news aggregate site similar to The Drudge Report, but without the anti-Trump bias that Drudge now exhibits regularly. Does a better job than Drudge in allowing independent journalists and alternative media a voice. They often link to my news-related articles.

38) TimGamble.com is now the home of my independent journalism and news commentary. I focus on what I consider the Three Existential Threats to America and Western Civilization (Internal Elites, Islam, China), as well as on the persecution and genocide of Christians around the world.

39) The Drudge Report is a constantly updated collection of links to news stories in the mainstream media and even some alternative news media. It has drifted more mainstream and anti-Trump over the last few years, but it is still an important source of news for what is going on in the world.

40) The Liberty Mill is a great source of alternative news headlines aggregated from over 35 alternative news outlets.

41) Mother Earth News - There are a large number of articles available for free on the website of Mother Earth News.

42) #HistoryHub - a part of TimGamble.com, #HistoryHub has the texts of over 40 primary historical documents, and over a dozen secondary sources. Whether you homeschool or just want to understand real history (not the ideological propaganda taught in public schools), you should check it out.