All field guides

Free, practical guides to getting through catastrophic events and rebuilding afterwards. Each one lists its sources and shows how far it has been checked. Preparing for the worst case? Start with our doomsday survival guide.

Immediate survival

• The first 10 minutes
  A calm sequence for active danger, severe bleeding, fire, utilities and accounting for people.
• Control the first five minutes
  Use a repeatable mental reset to interrupt panic, find the real threat and set the next achievable goal.
• Evacuate early with a grab bag
  Decide your triggers, pack a grab bag before you need it, and leave while roads are still open.
• Floodwater: stay out
  The most common cause of flood deaths is entering floodwater. Leave early, stay out of water and stay safe afterwards.

Health & medicines

• DRSABCD: someone has collapsed
  The basic life-support sequence for an unresponsive person: Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation.
• Clean wound care
  Low-risk wound cleaning, covering and infection monitoring.
• Medication continuity plan
  Prepare for prescriptions, cold-chain medicines and powered medical devices.

Water & sanitation

• Treating uncertain water
  A treatment train covering how much to store, source choice, settling, filtering, disinfection and clean storage.
• Emergency toilet and hygiene
  Prevent sewage failure from becoming a disease outbreak.
• Plan a rainwater system
  Estimate capture, protect the catchment, separate dirty first runoff and maintain covered storage.

Shelter & climate

• Choosing and stabilising shelter
  A six-step sequence for dry, ventilated, insulated and structurally safe shelter.
• Carbon monoxide prevention
  Safe operation of generators, stoves, heaters and other combustion devices.
• Extreme heat and heatstroke
  Keep people cool through a heatwave and know the signs that make heatstroke a medical emergency.
• Cold exposure and hypothermia
  Prevent dangerous heat loss and recognise and manage hypothermia safely.
• Use fire without creating a second disaster
  Decide whether fire is necessary, select a safe site, control fuel and extinguish completely.

Food & agriculture

• Managing food after power loss
  Which food to use first, preserve or discard when refrigeration stops.
• Plan food for 30 days
  Convert pantry stock into a transparent meal and work plan that protects nutrition, fuel and morale.
• Preserve food safely
  Choose drying, freezing, fermentation or canning by food type—and know when not to improvise.
• Starting a resilient food garden
  Balance fast nutrition with staple calories, soil protection and seed saving.

Communication

• Make yourself findable
  Build a signalling plan using registered beacons, two-way communication, contrast, repetition and written movement records.
• Navigate without phone service
  Use paper maps, compass, terrain, pacing and conservative turn-back rules instead of following a failing blue dot.
• PACE communications plan
  Primary, alternate, contingency and emergency methods for staying connected.
• Rumour and information control
  Verify reports before scarce resources or people are put at risk.

Energy & tools

• Small solar power system
  Match panels, controller, battery and loads without wasting scarce energy.
• Build a repairable hand-tool system
  Create a compact workshop that still functions when batteries, suppliers and specialist parts disappear.

People & animals

• Animals in evacuation and shelter
  Identification, restraint, food, medication, transport and stress management.

Community

• De-escalation and site security
  Relationships, routines, distance and accountability before confrontation.
• Emergency community governance
  Roles, transparent decisions, stock controls and reviewable authority.

Recovery & rebuilding

• Preserving knowledge and skills
  Keep records, manuals and apprenticeship alive across generations and outages.