70+ Essential Survival Projects You Should Build ASAP

What It Does: Provides a stable food supply for the long haul
Est. Cost: $2-$8 per item*

When disaster hits, you never know when things will get back to normal. You could be stuck without electricity for days, meaning that refrigerated and frozen food will be the first to go. Luckily, there are many survival foods that have a shelf life of twenty years or more. Stock up on these items to have food for the long haul.

Survival Food You Can Make at Home (20+ Years Shelf Life) @ehow/Pinterest

These shelf-stable foods include baking soda, cocoa powder, bouillon cubes, dried beans, corn, dehydrated vegetables and fruits, freeze-dried perishables, honey, instant beans, oats, pasta, maple syrup, instant coffee, powdered milk, potato flakes, salt, sugar, white rice, and wheat. Remember, keep these foods stored in dry conditions to maximize their longevity. Most of these foods can be picked up at your local Kroger or other local grocery stores.

What It Does: Heats water even if you’re off-grid
Est. Cost: $1,000-$4,000*

If you’re off the grid or don’t have power, it can be hard to obtain hot running water. Rather than sacrifice a hot shower, you can learn how to heat your water in a way that will keep it from being frigid. Maximum Off Grid says to consider three energy sources when heating water.

FREE Hot Running Water (Heater) @lisahd13/Pinterest

These sources include solar, wood, and propane. Solar hot water heaters are available for $1,000 to $4,000. Some, like the Heliatos, cost just $500. Wood, though a viable opinion, tends to be very time-consuming. Propane is a common off-grid source that people use to heat water, though prices have increased enormously due to inflation. For example, a twelve-pack of 16.4-ounce Coleman propane bottles cost about $105.

What It Does: Provides cooling using a fan, ice, and foam chest
Est. Cost: $30*

It doesn’t get much simpler than this, as far as a homemade air conditioner goes. This DIY project will let you cool off, even when you don’t have regular central air conditioning. You need a foam ice chest, twelve-volt fan, PVC pipe, and a block of ice.  You can get the ice from any Sunoco or other convenience or grocery stores.

DIY No-Grid Air Conditioning Unit @instructables/Pinterest

Place a block of ice in the cooler and attach a PVC pipe and fan onto the chest. The fan will blow warm air over the ice. Then, the air will blow back out into the room from the PVC pipe. The air leaving the pipe will be a brisk 40 degrees Fahrenheit, providing cooling at any temperature.

What It Does: Harvests water from even low-humidity air
Est. Cost: TBD 

The University of California has researchers working on a project that could turn air into water. This water harvester can pull 1.3 liters of water from even air that is low humidity. Using a metal-organic framework, the water harvester turns even the driest desert air into refreshing water. 1.3 liters is more than the minimum required for human survival.

How to Make Water out of Thin Air @motherearthnews/Pinterest

The researchers, led by Omar Yaghi, conducted three-day tests in the Mojave Desert, one of the world’s most arid places. They found that the harvester was very reliable, producing water from thin air repeatedly. It’s unclear when this invention will go on the market, but it is easy to see how it would be vitally important in a survival situation. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see water harvesters line the shelves of Walmart one day.

What It Does: Alerts you when someone has breached your backyard/home
Est. Cost: $10-$20*

Let’s say, worst-case scenario, society devolves to the point that there is open looting of peoples’ homes. In an apocalyptic situation, things can turn into a Netflix dystopian movie quickly. If you’re a property owner, you’re going to want some type of alert system that will let you know when intruders have breached your backyard. This trip-wire alarm, developed by No Grid Survival Projects, is just one example of how to protect you and your family.

Backyard Traps and Alarms for Looters and Intruders @sophia971922/Pinterest

Hidden razor blade wires, camo spike trips, and more are all ways to DIY a home security system, even when the electricity powering your ADT is off. Safety and security are two of the most important things to plan for in a survival situation, in addition to shelter, water, and food.

What It Does: Catches waste that you can use for compost to make fertilizer
Est. Cost: $100-$200*

Sunrise Specialty has a step-by-step tutorial for those who want to compost their waste. A composting toilet is an eco-friendly, sustainable way to go to the bathroom, and it saves money on both water and energy. Though it won’t be as fancy as a Toto you’d buy at Bed Bath & Beyond, it’ll do the job.

Build a Composting Toilet @family_handyman/Pinterest

You’ll need a bit of hardware know-how for this project, but, essentially, this is a toilet with a clay urn or plastic bucket under the seat full of water-absorbent materials like sawdust. The waste produced can be composted to create fertilizer for your plants. This invention comes in handy in a situation where water is scarce or plumbing is infeasible. In some situations, a composting toilet could be the only option.

What It Does: A DIY off-grid smokehouse that can smoke a lot of meat at once
Est. Cost: $100*

If you have a minimal budget and a bunch of pallets lying around, you could build a smokehouse for under $100. DIY Projects came up with this structure, which is large enough to smoke either an entire animal or a few massive trays of meat.

Build a Smokehouse @instructables/Pinterest

You’ll need between twenty and thirty pallets that have been deconstructed, aluminum flashing, an aluminum screen, corrugated tin roof, heavy-duty Reynolds Wrap foil, handle, hinges, and screws. This project takes a lot of know-how and carpentry skills, but DIY Projects has an entire step-by-step tutorial that will help you make a smokehouse that will serve you even in an off-the-grid situation.  

What It Does: Pumps water into your home even in a power outage
Est. Cost: $150-$200*

Fresh water is a major must-have in a survival situation, and it should be one of your top imperatives if you find yourself in fight-or-flight mode. With this hack, you can turn a PVC pipe into a water pump to transport water, even if there is no electricity to pump the supply into your house.

PVC Handpump for Tapping into the Fresh Water Under Your Property @motherearthnews/Pinterest

Self Sufficient Projects developed this DIY hack, where you can join two PVC pipes (or more) together and connect them with PVC cement. With some extensive construction that will cost between $150 and $200, you can build a solid water transportation system from materials you can find at a hardware store like Home Depot.

What It Does: Catches pests without hurting them
Est. Cost: $20*

Pests are annoying, but that doesn’t mean you automatically want to kill the little critters when they get on your property. Mice can be persistent, and you need to trap them before they spread and you have a true infestation. In a survival situation, mice, rats, and other pests are a huge danger to your food supplies. Life isn’t the Disney movie Ratatouille; we can’t have rodents sneaking about the place, no matter how friendly.

DIY Harmless Pest Traps That Actually Work @Quora/Pinterest.com

To make this trap, you’ll need a bucket. Drill dual holes at the top, one on each side. Then, take an empty soda can and drill holes in the center of each flat side. Put a dowel through the bucket and soda can holes. Add a ramp for the pests to climb up and bait your trap with peanut butter. Rodents will fall in, unharmed, and you can evict them promptly after catching them. 

What It Does: Builds a compact fire quickly
Est. Cost: $15*

Credit for this wood rocket stove project goes to Man Made DIY, who advertised it as a great way to start a fire quickly. Essentially, this is a variation on the classic Swedish Flame. You’ll need a chainsaw and drill and bits. As for your wood, Man Made recommends using madrone and oak.

Build a Wood Rocket Stove @survivaltek.com/Pinterest.com

Cut a square log of wood (or round, as long as it is stable). Then drill holes halfway from the top of the log and through the center of the top, joining the holes together. To get your fire started, just use something simple, like cotton balls doused in Vaseline (both materials you can find at {{CVS:CVS]] or Rite Aid).

What It Does: Gives you pesticide-free, cost-free produce over time
Est. Cost: $140-$200* (Setup Cost)

There are a lot of benefits to growing your own food. Though you have to invest some money into getting your garden going, once you’re producing, you can have pesticide-free, cost-free vegetables and fruits right on your table. Gray Wolf Survival recommends starting a vertical garden, as it is easiest to set up.

Grow Your Own Organic Grocery Store prepperpins/Pinterest.com

Home gardening was in vogue for a while, but, when mass chains of grocery stores came about, people chose the easier route. Nowadays, with inflation surging, more and more people are going back to the old ways. Some of the easiest produce to grow on your own include staples like lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, strawberries, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, and cabbage. Once you get more advanced, you can try the more tentative, complex fruits and veggies. 

What It Does: Lets you revive so-called “dead batteries” to run your electronics
Est. Cost: $50*

Gray Wolf Survival joked that this is called the “Joule Thief.” It is a way to run electronics on dead batteries. What a lot of people might not know is that a 1.5-volt AA battery, for example, is considered dead when it’s down to 0.9 to 1.3 volts. This means that there isn’t a complete lack of charge in the battery, and you can still get something out of it.

How To Run Electricity On Dead Batteries: The Joule Thief @Roberto Sorin /Unsplash.com

The Joule Thief Circuit is complicated to build, but, according to G.W.S., it’s worth it. There is a video tutorial on Gray Wolf’s page that will take you through building this Circuit using a ferrite toroid core, homemade batteries, 2N3904 NPN transistor, 1k Ohm resistor, LED, multimeter, 22-gauge magnet wire, and an AA battery holder.

What It Does: Cheap way to make a shelter that will keep you alive outdoors
Est. Cost: $5*

A lot of preppers and survivalists are on short budgets, so having a hack on building a shelter with just $5 is very useful. Developed by BlackScoutSurvival (who has a step-by-step tutorial on his YouTube page teaching this DIY project), the materials required for this cheap shelter are duct tape, a paracord, an emergency mylar, fifty-five-gallon drum liner, and a cutting tool.

Make a DIY Survival Shelter With $5 ©ronstik/Shutterstock.com

Assuming you already have the blanket, this hack is pretty cheap. Essentially, you’ll end this project with a tube tent suspended between two trees using a paracord and duct tape. The mylar, when placed between the tube tent and top ridge line, will keep you warm.

What It Does: Makes biscuit-like, hard bread that can be stored for years
Est. Cost: $10*

Preparedness Advice painted a grim picture behind why you’d want to keep a stockpile of shelf-stable “survival bread” handy, hypothesizing that it could save your life if an apocalypse hit, the power grid went out, and you were forced to flee from your home. The bread pictured here is called hardtack, a biscuit-like bread that is baked, hardened, and stored for years.

How to Make Shelf-Stable Bread primalsurvivors/Pinterest.com

You need two cups of all purpose flour (not self-rising), 1.5 teaspoons of salt, and ¾ cup of water. Preheat the oven to 375° and mix your ingredients into a bowl, adding flour if you need to prevent stickiness. Roll it flat, cut it in squares, and poke holes in the biscuits. Bake the hardtack for thirty minutes, then flip the squares over and bake for another thirty minutes. Allow them to cool completely and then store.