I like the book. I need to download and print out some copies, and stash them.

I'm with the idea of learning how to make things, especially using the older methods of production. Soap and toothpaste would be nice things to be able to make, if we face TEOTWAKI. Armed with such knowledge, I could see one making such materials in bulk and trading them for other necessities and comforts.

I hope never to face such a situation that requires me to heat my home with wood, harvest my food and find a way to make my own clothes. However if TSHF, I think the first generation survivors will be in large part scavengers. No need to make a new knife by mining and smelting ore, when I can grab a piece of scrap and grind it into a serviceable blade. No need to learn how to weave when I can scavenge carpet from office buildings.

Rome was not built in a day, nor did it fall in a day. It did not suddenly change from a thriving civilization into a lost one with the sacking by the Vandals. No, it had a long slow decline. Same with the Maya. No reason to expect that our civilization will be any different. The knowledge you save will ultimately benefit the generatiosn that follow those who see TEOWAKI.