The Vault — Research
Recovery research
What it takes to rebuild after collapse. Public entries are open here; the full database backs the books.
23 entries
Making water safe without power
The order of operations for drinkable water when the tap stops: source, settle, filter, disinfect — and the failure modes at each step.
Holding heat through the first winter
Shrinking the heated envelope, insulating with what you have, and why ventilation is not optional even when you are freezing.
Seed saving and rotation after year one
Which crops let you keep your own seed, which betray you in a generation, and how to rotate beds without a soil-test lab.
What actually works when the pharmacy is gone
Separating the wound-care basics that genuinely save lives from the folk remedies that quietly cost them.
Wood gas generators from scrap
Running an engine on wood when the fuel stops coming — the real efficiency, the real danger, and when it is not worth it.
Radio and mesh when the towers go dark
Re-establishing communication past line-of-sight: licensed radio, off-grid mesh, and the tradeoffs between reach and secrecy.
Rebuilding trust in small communities
The collapse problem that has nothing to do with gear: how small groups decide who is in, who is out, and how that goes wrong.
Greywater reuse without poisoning your soil
Which household water is safe to route onto crops, which soaps quietly salt your ground, and the simple settling step most guides skip.
Root cellars: cold storage with no electricity
Using the ground's stable temperature to hold a harvest through winter — siting, humidity, and the ventilation that stops rot.
The hand tools worth salvaging first
When the power tools die, a short list of manual tools does 80% of the work — and how to sharpen and rehang them.
Latrine siting and the 30-metre rule
The single most life-saving decision after collapse is where the toilet goes relative to the well. Get this wrong and everything else fails.
A realistic off-grid solar starter
What a small panel, a charge controller, and one battery actually run — and the loads that will disappoint you.
Reliable fire when the matches run out
The three ignition methods that actually work in bad weather, and why tinder preparation matters more than the spark.
Foraging: the small safe list, not the big risky one
A short list of hard-to-misidentify wild foods beats a long list you can die from. Start narrow.
What holds value when money doesn't
The goods that become currency after collapse, and why the obvious hoards (gold, ammo) aren't always the ones that trade.
Finding your way when GPS is gone
Map, compass, sun, and stars — the redundancy that keeps you found when the satellites don't answer.
Temperature-sensitive medicine without a fridge
Evaporative cooling, buried storage, and honest shelf-life — extending critical medications when the power is gone.
Catching and storing rain you can trust
Roof, first-flush, and storage — turning a rainstorm into weeks of water without breeding what lives in a warm barrel.
Closing a wound when stitches aren't an option
When to close, when to leave open, and the closure methods that don't trap infection under the skin.
Keeping chickens alive through the lean months
Protein on the hoof — the shelter, feed, and predator basics that keep a small flock laying when feed stores close.
Being heard without being found
The tension at the heart of post-collapse comms: reaching allies while staying invisible to everyone else.
Reading a ruin: what to strip and what to leave
Abandoned buildings are supply depots and death traps at once. A fast triage for structural risk, useful materials, and time cost.
Defusing the confrontation before it turns
Most post-collapse violence is avoidable posturing. The read-and-defuse skills that keep a tense encounter from becoming a fatal one.