book review-makeshift skills

BOOK REVIEW-MAKESHIFT SKILLS

Today’s book review is on “Makeshift Workshop Skills For Survival And Self-Reliance” by James Ballou. His previous book was “Long Term Survival In The Coming Dark Age” which I reviewed about two years ago. My, time flies fast when you are desperately planning for the apocalypse. Okay, first, before I allow you bask in the glory of my opinion ( contrary to the iron clad rule that everyone has an opinion and it usually stinks, just like their bungs, my opinions are always right, correct and just, and smell like a lily field on a warm spring day- although at this time I decline to give the same guarantee to any part of my anatomy ), I am going to start my lawyer like weaseling. I like to be different. I know this comes as a great shock to most of you. But if the crowd up ahead turns right into a tree shaded park with ponds and ice cream vendors, I am going to turn left into the cracked pavement strewn with drug vials and used condoms parking lot of a decaying housing project. Why? Because as soon as the ice cream runs out, that crowd is going to get ugly and riot. I’ll be relatively safe all by myself in the ghetto. Anyway, part of being different is that you get to have a lot of fun disagreeing with everyone and everything. The bad part of being different is that it is a heck of a lot of work. I have to do twice as much research studying both sides of an argument, defend the unpopular side, then keep repeating the argument until at least one percent of you get it. Another bad thing is I have to submerge my ego.*Every other survivalist writer acts like a Guru King, his wisdom unassailable. If he doesn’t act correct constantly, there might be the danger of falling into the pit of humanity from his throne. So, naturally, I have to take the opposite track. I try to owe up to any idiocy on my part. I admit my mistakes, correct them, and try to not make them again. After all, the process of learning largely is about making mistakes. I think this makes for me being a better teacher, not a worse one. Of course, right now some foul troll is building up blood pressure, ready to blast me for that statement. And I will get all pissed and write a whole article with lots of insults and name calling involved. So, in advance, thanks for the article idea. My sin, in reviewing the last book by Ballou, was a subtle one. I tried to be clear in that while I loved the book and its concept, I didn’t care for the huge price tag. I still think that is correct. But what I failed to take into account was that this should have been one of instances where a higher price was a necessary evil we must endure. For instance, if you were to buy the first six volumes of the Foxfire series ( don’t waste your money on the last six, they contain almost no low tech skills ) you would roughly spend fifty bucks. Money well spent. So, while I might be correct in judging the $22 price tag on one padded book too high, I didn’t stop to consider that it didn’t matter.
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Look, I shouldn’t begrudge other authors monetary success. Just because I only self publish out of an irrational fear of rejection doesn’t mean the conventional publishing route is wrong. I might make two bucks and change from a $3 e-book , just the same amount of payment an author gets at ten percent loyalties on a $20 paper book, but my customer base is a thousand while theirs is in the hundreds of thousands. If not millions. The author is not making much money off of a high price book, the publisher is ( because perhaps one day I’ll try to publish with a certain firm out of Colorado, I won’t burn any bridges mentioning the need to pay for lawsuits where they turned pussy and pulled a crappy book and then ceased to publish lots of cool books that had the same information as the public domain military manual on improvised weaponry- I can actually see the business side of publishing even though I’m firmly in the creative camp ). I’m pissed about the lack of discount most Amazon books see, and usually I’m right in cautioning against these high priced illustrated militia stroke books. But in the instance of James Ballou’s books, you are simply going to have to suck it up and pay the higher price. His books are worth the extra extortion, because they will prove to be invaluable after the collapse.
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Having shamelessly plugged his work, let me add a proviso or two. First, these books are not for those that tinker around a workshop. Well, they might be, I can’t really judge how well the mechanically inclined can improvise. I do know for sure that for the mechanically challenged individual such as myself, these books are a godsend. Okay, the first one might have been more theory and principle than detail. Although it did cover the metal aspect of post collapse survival quite well. To recap, you are pretty much facing a post-industrial existence with making your own cordage and skinning rabbits. But by salvaging metal you can replace the conventional stone age material with modern material. So, an improvement in the caveman existence, but fitting in with a primitive survival strategy. Of course, to clarify, that is my own take on the philosophy behind the first book, not the authors. I think the author simply delights in improvising costly goods, as any frugal genius would. Do you really need/want the first book? If you suck working with your hands, if the extent of your knowledge of metal ends with cutting up a coffee can for a stove, yes, I would recommend it. Two years ago, I was intellectually preparing for a collapse. But I had yet to really feel it in my gut. Today, my gut tells me that this book is much more important than the dollars you are spending on it. My sense of panic and fear is ratcheted up much higher than it was. Before, it was smarter to spend frugally. Now, while still being frugal, there are going to be investments you simply must spend the money on because money is losing its value much quicker. At the same time, the information in books such as these are gaining in importance as the collapse stays on schedule.
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Having gone through all that, blathering about what a great guy I am and slightly altering my previous recommendation for the first book, can we please just get to the friggin point after almost 1200 words and review the book in question? Sorry, the asshats at the post office failed to deliver this weekends DVD’s from Netflix ( again! ) and I haven’t had anything to write about and I kind of just started babbling away in my excitement to get back to the keyboard ( plus, writing this on the weekend allows me much more time ). The new book, Makeshift Skills, is far superior to the first book Long Term Survival. As good as the first one was ( great concept, good metal working section ), even with its flaws ( padded, overpriced, a bit shy on details ), the second one is far and away much better. Oh, I detest the new and increased price. $30 is a very huge chunk of change. To put it into perspective, I loved “Unintended Consequences” for $30, since I read it several times and it taught you a lot while entertaining you. Yet, the $30 I spent on Paladins book on military rifle reviews was a waste. The author liked every military rifle ever made, even the Italian crap ( if I’m not mistaken, this was almost all bolt actions ). I wanted the book to tell me what surplus guns to buy, so I invested the cash. Instead, it didn’t review as much as stage a love fest. On the other hand, buying “Caveman Chemistry” for almost $30 was a great investment. I can’t follow a lot of it, but it is an invaluable reference book on homemade chemistry for after the apocalypse. So, spending the $30 isn’t the problem. It is getting your monies worth that is problematic. With the book “Makeshift Workshop Skills”, you are definitely getting your monies worth. Not because the overpriced book is worth it, not because Paladin deserves these kinds of profits off of huge margins, large type and too many illustrations, but because what is taught in this book is unavailable for the same price elsewhere. And the information will prove to be invaluable. I’m going to even say that one page alone, that on making your own plastic, will pay for this book all on its own. Again, if you are the type that can take a coffee can and a pile of dog crap and make your own cannon, this book might not be for you. But for most of us, those stuck in crap jobs in suburbia rather than one of Baby Jesus’ Chosen Ones living in the boonies, this book is chock full of ideas that you didn’t know about.
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Now, while there might be a few sections in here that seem unneeded, such as stone tools and cordage, the beauty of this book is that pretty much everything is covered. The subtitle is “Expedient ways to make your own tools, do your own repairs, and construct useful things out of raw and salvaged materials”. And it is covered in such a way that you can take a subject you knew nothing about and using the information here, muddle through with trial and error and get the job done. For instance, the section on tanning leather. In a couple pages, you get the basics on tanning that while of course not being as detailed as a complete book on the subject, it will see you through in a pinch. Should the apocalypse occur before you got around to that book. Same with the clay and pottery section. But those are just a few pages. The main thrust of the book is of makeshift tools and repairs. Makeshift forge, blower and anvil. Makeshift forge tools. The composition of different metals. Makeshift saws. Makeshift files and rasps. Homemade knives. Improvised wrenches. Thread cutting tools. Improvised vise and clamps. Glue repair, homemade glue. Repairing with tape, cord, wire. Rawhide repairs. Riveting. Wood and clothing repair. A homemade welding machine. Reusing saw blades and rebar. Fishhooks from nails.
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There are a bit more than covered above, but the main point for me was that I had a great reference book. I didn’t have to concern myself overly much about my lack of a giant tool chest and an extensive library on hands on skills on tools or repairs. This book would be enough that I could muddle through creating a lot of things I would need in the future, after Home Depot was overrun and burned down. No, there is no substitution for hands on experience. But the next best thing is a great book on how to do something. Almost none of us have the time to learn all the lost skills of yesteryear. The skills were lost because they no longer paid. In the near future we will need those skills. The only realistic alternative to having those skills is to know how to learn those skills. In other words, you can have a list of needed skills you learn one by one with a lot of money and time you don’t have. Or you have a good library with all the skills you need. A teacher on tap. 99% of us are too busy earning a living and supporting families to get first hand teaching. The rest of us need libraries. This book needs to be in your library. It will allow you to improvise and repair. I know of no other book with the scope of this material in such an easy to read and follow manner.
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Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I did receive this book at no charge. But from the examples given before, hopefully you can tell that I treat all books the same. If the thing is useless, I tell you. It doesn’t matter if it cost a little or a lot. Sometimes, the extra cost pushes the book into the “don’t buy” category. And sometimes, such as here, the cost is irrelevant. It is a must have, needed reference book. Would I buy the authors next $30 book? More than likely. If he comes out with an improved plastics book, I might even think about paying the $30, plus driving up to Idaho and giving him a big wet sloppy kiss. I can’t promise tongue. If he did a book on improvised metallic cartridges, I would pay $40. If someone came up with an improvised catalyst for turning ammonia from stale urine into nitric acid, I would pay $50, and guarantee a French kiss ( although you might have to pay for transportation if it‘s out of my area ). It’s here in writing folks. Get it before the collapse, or before I turn too old and kissing my disease ridden mouth is no longer so exciting. And before we close, a reminder to buy this book through my Amazon pages. If I don’t get the link posted in time ( my last addition to my web page took 24 hours to show up, some times it’s only seconds ) just visit Amazon.com through any of my other links, then find this book without logging out and I’ll get my commission. Yah! Sucker. He has to devote thousands of hours to research and writing for ten percent, and I get 4-6% just for reviewing the thing! God, it’s good to be me.
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