The internet is full of apocalypse craft projects, and a surprising number of them would get you killed or simply not work. So here is our list of DIY projects worth starting now, while the hardware store is still open, each with an honest note on what it actually does. At the end are a few crowd favorites that look great on a post-apocalyptic mood board and do very little else.
Worth making
1. A rain barrel. A food-grade barrel under a downspout, with a screen on top to keep out leaves and mosquitoes, will collect a startling amount of water: a little over half a gallon (about 0.6) per square foot of roof per inch of rain. Treat it as garden and washing water by default. Before you drink it, filter it and then boil or disinfect it, because roofs collect bird droppings and whatever the shingles are made of.
2. A layered water filter. Gravel, sand and crushed charcoal in a cut-down bottle will clear out sediment and improve taste and smell. It will not reliably remove bacteria, viruses or parasites. Use it as the first stage, then boil the water for a full minute (three minutes at high altitude) or treat it with disinfecting tablets.
3. A first aid kit you actually understand. Building your own kit is better than buying one, because you learn what everything is for. Start with adhesive bandages, gauze, medical tape, an elastic wrap, antiseptic, tweezers, pain relievers, any prescriptions you depend on, and a card listing everyone’s allergies. Then take a first aid course, because a kit is only as good as the hands using it.
4. An upgraded go-bag. A backpack packed with water, a filter, food for three days, a flashlight with spare batteries, a multi-tool, a rain layer, copies of important documents and some cash. The craft part is fitting it to you: pack it, wear it for a long walk, then take out everything you resented carrying.
5. A reinforced safe room. A closet or interior room with a solid-core door, long screws in the hinges and strike plate, and a supply of water and light inside. The best upgrades are boring ones: three-inch screws that reach the wall stud make a door far harder to kick in.
6. A dehydrated food stash. A dehydrator (or an oven on its lowest setting) turns surplus fruit, vegetables and lean meat into food that lasts months. Vacuum sealing extends that further. Label everything with the date, and rotate it into your normal meals so nothing quietly goes bad.
7. A beginner’s garden. Start with things that forgive mistakes: radishes, lettuce, bush beans, zucchini and potatoes. Food-safe containers work fine on a balcony. The real skill is learning your own growing season, and that takes a year or two, which is why you start now.
8. Paracord gear. Standard 550 paracord has seven inner strands you can pull out for thread, fishing line or snare wire. A bracelet or belt woven from it is a convenient way to carry ten to twenty feet of strong cord everywhere you go.
9. A needle compass. Stroke a sewing needle along a magnet in one direction twenty or thirty times, lay it on a leaf floating in still water, and it will turn to point north and south. You will need the sun or stars to tell which end is which. Practice it now, because a craft you have never tried is a craft you cannot do under stress.
10. Soap. Cold-process soap is made from oils and lye, and it is genuinely useful for hygiene. Lye is caustic, though, so learn from a proper soap-making guide, wear gloves and eye protection, and never improvise the measurements.
Popular, but don’t count on them
- Can-tab chainmail. It looks fantastic and protects you from almost nothing. Wear it for style.
- Garden-light phone chargers. The tiny panels on solar garden lights are made to trickle-charge a small battery. They cannot meaningfully charge a phone. A real folding solar panel made for devices is cheap and works.
- The solar still. The classic dig-a-pit-and-cover-it-with-plastic still produces somewhere between a few spoonfuls and a cup or two of water a day in most conditions, often less than the sweat you lose digging it. It’s a fun experiment and a poor water plan.
- Home distilling. Building a still to make alcohol without a permit is illegal in the US, and a badly run still can concentrate methanol, which causes blindness. Store a few bottles of something you like instead.
What projects have you actually built and tested? Tell us in the comments, especially the ones that failed. Those are the most useful stories.