The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness

Excellent Rated 4.7 out of 5 by homesteaders, preppers, and families who refuse to be caught unprepared.

The practical knowledge that used to be passed down from parent to child — until we forgot it all. Now it's back.

The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness

ARE YOU READY FOR ANYTHING LIFE THROWS AT YOU?

When supply chains fail and power goes out — most people have no idea what to do. Because the 200 practical skills our great-grandparents relied on every day have almost completely disappeared. Growing food. Making natural remedies. Storing water. Repairing a home. Handling any emergency without depending on anyone else.

Claude Davis spent years recovering every one of them. The Lost Skills of Independence delivers all 200 in a beautiful spiral-bound hardcover — full-colour illustrations, step-by-step instructions, complete tool lists. No experience needed. Just open it and start.

200 skills across every category of self-reliance

Illustrated step-by-step — no experience needed

Covers 8 categories of self-reliance

Spiral-bound hardcover built to last a lifetime
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Jason M.
Jason M.

I've read a lot of survival books over the years. This is the one I actually use. The illustrations make every skill immediately clear and the organization means I can find anything in under a minute. Worth every penny.

The Knowledge They Stopped Teaching — And Why You Need It Back.

There are two kinds of people when something goes wrong. The first kind calls someone. A contractor, a doctor, a delivery service, a repairman. They wait. They pay. And they hope the system that usually works keeps working. The second kind handles it. Not because they're tougher or more resourceful by nature. But because somewhere along the way — from a parent, a grandparent, a neighbour — they learned the skills that make modern dependence optional.

The Lost Skills of Independence was written for everyone who wants to be the second kind of person.

200 skills. Full-colour illustrations. Step-by-step instructions anyone can follow. Everything from making water out of thin air and preserving food for years without refrigeration — to repairing your home, building natural remedies, and staying safe in any emergency.

Your great-grandparents knew all of this. It kept their families alive and independent through wars, depressions, and every kind of crisis. It will do the same for yours.

Rated 4.7/5 based on 500+ Total Ratings

From People Who Stopped Waiting to Be Rescued.

Real readers share how to bring back the skills everyone forgot.

Melissa C. Verified

"I genuinely think every single household needs a copy of this. It's a library of over 200 forgotten skills in one book — and I'm not talking about random trivia. Food preservation, herbal remedies, emergency preparedness, home projects, survival skills — practical things most of us were literally never taught. What I love most is how easy it is to use. The table of contents feels like a map. Every section has step-by-step instructions, illustrations, a tool list, and common mistakes to avoid. No more searching the internet hoping you find a decent answer — you just flip to the exact page you need. Every household needs one of these."

Ashley R. Verified

"I started flipping through the self-sufficient home projects section and the first skill I tried was building a water filter using a pot. I honestly couldn't believe how simple it was — we really do overcomplicate things. The knowledge packed into this one section alone is insane. Food storage, natural remedies, building survival essentials — it's all in here. If you want to be less dependent on the system, this is the book. Brand new release and already everything I wanted."

Michelle K. Verified

"I wasn't expecting the psychology section to hit as hard as it did. How to kill disrespect instantly. How to become so confident it terrifies people. How to negotiate when you have no leverage. How to gain an unfair advantage even if you're a people pleaser. How to deal with a narcissist. And that's just a handful — there are 195 more skills covering everything else you can think of. All inside a beautiful spiral-bound hardcover with full colour illustrations and step-by-step instructions for every single skill. This is the only book I've found that makes you truly independent on your own terms."

Sandra M. Verified

"I was home alone one evening and started asking myself the simplest questions — could I put out a fire if I had to? Would I even recognize a stroke if it happened to someone in front of me? The honest answer was no. That's what led me to The Lost Skills of Independence. Over 200 skills covering exactly these kinds of real-life situations — the things nobody ever taught us but that matter most when it counts. I keep it within reach now. Highly recommend."

HELPS WITH

  • Emergency Prep
  • Food Storage
  • Natural Remedies
  • Self Reliance
  • Home Skills

200 Skills. One Book. A Lifetime of Independence.

Things The Lost Skills of Independence changes — permanently.

200 Skills. One Book. A Lifetime of Independence.

Things The Lost Skills of Independence changes — permanently.

TOTAL COVERAGE

From water sourcing and food preservation to home repair, herbal medicine, emergency preparedness, and social psychology — every category of practical self-reliance in one place. Organised with an illustrated 200-card index so you find exactly what you need in seconds, not minutes.

BEGINNER FRIENDLY

Every one of the 200 skills includes a full-colour illustration, a complete ingredient and tool list, and clear step-by-step instructions written for someone doing it for the first time. You don't need prior knowledge. You don't need specialist equipment. You just need the book open in front of you.

BUILT TO LAST

Thick, high-quality pages. Durable hardcover construction. Spiral binding that keeps the book flat and open while your hands are busy following a skill. This lives on your workbench, in your kitchen, and in your emergency kit — and it's built to handle exactly that.

The Skills That Could Save Your Life. Or Just Save You Money.

From emergency preparedness to everyday self-reliance — 200 practical skills for whatever life throws at you.

How to Make Water Out of Thin Air

How to Make Water Out of Thin Air

I will also show the 100-year old way to make water out of thin air. This backyard project can help you pull moisture from the atmosphere and turn it into water, even in desert-dry conditions. So even if the tap runs dry, you have an endless supply of water on your property.

How To Make An Off-Grid Refrigerator That Works Without Electricity

How To Make An Off-Grid Refrigerator That Works Without Electricity

This old school project is perfect for long-term blackouts, if you want to live more self-sufficiently and of course if you're just trying to cut down on your power bills.

How to Recognize and Deal with a Narcissist

How to Recognize and Deal with a Narcissist

The biggest mistake I see people make when dealing with a narcissist is calling them out. The only way to win with a narcissist is to stop playing their game and do this!

How To EMP-Proof Your Car

How To EMP-Proof Your Car

While other cars will be completely useless, you'll be able to get around like nothing happened. The secret is a simple tweak that shields your car from total shutdown.

Off-The-Radar Military Loopholes That You Can Use During Lockdowns, Civil Unrest And Martial Law

Off-The-Radar Military Loopholes That You Can Use During Lockdowns, Civil Unrest And Martial Law

These are the kind of secrets you find out from a Navy Seals who has operated behind enemy lines, that you can use to avoid detection, bypass checkpoints, outsmart digital tracking, and the behavior that instantly puts you on watch lists when authorities start watching everyone.

How To Build a Hidden Food-Growing Fence In Your Backyard With Pallets

How To Build a Hidden Food-Growing Fence In Your Backyard With Pallets

This way, your idle fence can grow 150 pounds of fresh, chemical-free and utterly delicious foods under your neighbor's nose. If folks had a food-growing fence like this one, everyone would be healthier, more prepared and keep more money in their pocket.

Grandma's Great Depression Foods We Will All Need Again Soon

Grandma's Great Depression Foods We Will All Need Again Soon

Survival foods are good to have but are expensive, taste bland, are unhealthy and deprived of nutrients and protein. I prefer the foods of our grandparents, from a time when there was no refrigeration, so they needed to last. And if these meals sustained American families through one of the toughest times in our history--be sure they can do the same for you when the time comes.

How to Kill Disrespect Instantly

How to Kill Disrespect Instantly

What I'm about to tell you will CANCEL everything you've been taught; even your instincts will probably tell you not to do it. But here's the thing: when someone insults you… they're actually measuring you, testing you to see what you're made of. And the first five seconds of your response decide how they'll treat you from then on. Just think about where you could use this -- at work, with your family, in your social group, with strangers, in traffic, or wherever it is with that person who constantly bullies you!

The Most Valuable Inheritance You Can Pass Down.

Not money. Not property. The skills that kept every generation before yours alive and independent — now in one book.

The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness
Excellent 4.7 | 525

The Lost Skills of Independence — 200 Life-Saving Skills for Home, Family & Emergency Preparedness

Get It By
Get It By

The Mind Behind the Skills.

About the author

Claude Davis is one of America's most respected voices in survival, homesteading, and independent living. A firm believer in practicing what he preaches, Claude has personally built a log cabin where he lives with his wife and two children — cooking on an open flame, making his own clothes, and stockpiling home-preserved foods as a way of life, not a hobby.

His fascination with the old ways began with a simple question: how did people survive — and thrive — before electricity, supermarkets, and modern medicine? The answer, he discovered, was a deep knowledge of practical skills that most people today have completely forgotten. Skills that kept families alive through wars, depressions, droughts, and every kind of crisis that life threw at them.

Claude spent years recovering, documenting, and field-testing those skills. The result is a catalogue of books — including The Lost Ways, The Lost Book of Remedies, and The Lost Skills of Independence — that have reached over 16,000 readers on Goodreads alone, making him one of the most widely read authors in the American self-reliance movement.

The Lost Skills of Independence is his most comprehensive and accessible work yet — 200 skills, beautifully illustrated, written for anyone who is ready to stop depending on systems that can fail.

Hear From Those Who Reclaimed The Skills

Excellently rated 4.7/5 based on 500+ verified reviews

Fixed things myself for the first time in my life

I always called someone when something broke. Last month I fixed a leaky pipe, patched a hole in the wall, and preserved my first batch of eggs. Using this book. My wife doesn't recognize me lol

Marcus T.
Marcus T. Verified customer

This book sits on my workbench not my bookshelf

Most survival books are interesting to read but you never actually use them. This one I use constantly. Already done 11 skills from it. The off-grid fridge project alone was incredible.

James W.
James W. Verified customer

After the last power outage I had to do something

We lose power every winter here and last year was the worst. After this book I now have preserved food for months, rainwater collection set up, and herbal remedies stocked. Completely different situation now.

Nathan R.
Nathan R. Verified customer

Never thought I'd be the "prepared" type

I'm a city person. Always thought prepping was for people in the countryside. But this book isn't really about prepping — its about just being less helpless. Which I was. Not anymore.

Ryan P.
Ryan P. Verified customer

My grandfather would have known all of this

Every time I learn a new skill from this book I think — my grandfather knew this. His father knew this. We lost all of it in one generation. This book gives it back.

Anthony M.
Anthony M. Verified customer

The social skills section surprised me most

Wasn't expecting the psychology chapters. How to deal with disrespect, how to read people, how to stay calm under pressure. Just as useful as the survival stuff honestly. More practical than I expected.

Rachel H.
Rachel H. Verified customer

The illustrations make everything so clear

I've tried following other guides before and always got confused. Every skill here has a picture that shows exactly what to do. Even my 16 year old can follow them. Really well put together.

Chris B.
Chris B. Verified customer

Best gift I've ever given my husband

He opened it Christmas morning and didn't put it down for two days. He's been trying a new skill every weekend since. Says it's the most useful book he's ever owned. High praise from him.

Karen J.
Karen J. Verified customer

30 Days. Zero Risk. Keep the Book.

We stand behind every copy of The Lost Skills of Independence completely. If you receive your book and you're not satisfied for any reason — contact us within 30 days of delivery and we'll refund your purchase in full. No complicated process. No difficult questions. And you keep the book. The skills inside have kept families independent through every kind of crisis. We're confident they'll do the same for yours.

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30 Days. Zero Risk. Keep the Book.

We stand behind every copy of The Lost Skills of Independence completely. If you receive your book and you're not satisfied for any reason — contact us within 30 days of delivery and we'll refund your purchase in full. No complicated process. No difficult questions. And you keep the book. The skills inside have kept families independent through every kind of crisis. We're confident they'll do the same for yours.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is this book suitable for people living in cities or suburbs? +

Absolutely — and this is one of the most common misconceptions about this type of book. The majority of The Lost Skills of Independence's 200 skills are immediately applicable in urban and suburban settings. Food preservation, home repair, herbal remedies, water storage, and the psychology skills all work regardless of where you live. You don't need a farm or large property to benefit from the vast majority of what's inside.

Can I buy this as a gift? +

It makes an exceptional gift — particularly for parents, grandparents, adults who want to become more self-reliant, homeowners, or anyone interested in preparedness and independent living. The spiral-bound hardcover format with beautiful full-colour illustrations makes it a physical object people are proud to own and display, not just another paperback. Many buyers purchase multiple copies for family members. See the bundle options above for savings on multiple copies.

How is this different from other survival or homesteading books? +

Most survival and homesteading books focus narrowly on one area — food, or wilderness survival, or herbal medicine. The Lost Skills of Independence is the only single-volume reference that covers all eight major categories of self-reliance in one place with 200 illustrated skills. The 200-card illustrated index at the front is unique — it lets you navigate the entire book by skill type in seconds rather than hunting through a table of contents.

What level of commitment does it take to use this book? +

As much or as little as you choose. The book is specifically designed to be picked up and used casually — one or two new skills a week over your morning coffee adds up to over 100 skills in a year. You don't need to read it cover to cover or master everything at once. Most readers start with the skills most relevant to their current situation and expand from there. It's a reference for life, not a course with a deadline.

Are the materials and ingredients easy to find? +

Yes. Claude Davis specifically designed every skill to use materials and ingredients that are either already in most homes or easily available from local stores. There are no obscure specialist supplies or expensive equipment requirements. For every skill, a complete ingredient and tool list is provided upfront so you know exactly what you need before you start — no surprises halfway through.

Is there an online community or support for readers? +

Yes — Claude Davis has an active online community at askaprepper.com and across social media where readers share their skill progress, ask questions, and connect with other people on the same journey toward self-reliance. Many readers describe the community as one of the most genuinely helpful and supportive they've found online. The official website also offers support at support@lostskillsofindependence.com for any questions about the book itself.

Do you ship internationally? +

We currently ship to select countries (US, CA, UK, AU & NZ). International shipping times may vary and could take longer than 7-14 business days. 

Note: International orders may be subject to import duties and taxes (including VAT), which are incurred once a shipment reaches your destination. If you have any questions about your specific country or order, feel free to reach out to us via the contact page.

What is your return policy? +

We offer a 30-day return policy. If you're not satisfied with your order for any reason, contact us within 30 days of delivery and we'll arrange a return or replacement. Items must be in original condition.