This guide was compiled in 2025 as a comprehensive technical manual for rebuilding modern technology from a post-apocalyptic scenario. It assumes technological civilization has collapsed, supply chains are down, and survivors must rebuild from salvaged materials and basic resources.
The guide is designed to be practical and achievable, progressing through realistic stages from immediate survival technology to advanced computing and artificial intelligence over a span of 150-300+ years. Yes, that long. This is a multi-generational project.
DO NOT read this linearly from start to finish. Technology rebuilding is not a straight path. Instead:
- Read Chapter -1 FIRST: Immediate Survival. You cannot build technology if everyone is dead.
- Assess your situation: What resources do you have? What salvage is available? How many people can you mobilize?
- Establish foundations: Water, food, shelter, security, knowledge preservation (Chapters -1, 0.5, 0.7)
- Build in parallel: Work on multiple technologies simultaneously as resources allow
- Follow dependencies: Some technologies require others (you need electricity before electronics)
- Accept the timeline: Semiconductors take centuries. Tube computers work fine. Don't rush.
- Document everything: Add your own notes, discoveries, and modifications. Copy this guide immediately (Chapter 4.5).
Each chapter is written to be as self-contained as possible, with cross-references where dependencies exist.
Chapter -1: Immediate Survival
- Water purification (boiling, sand filters, solar distillation)
- Food preservation (smoking, salting, drying, fermentation, root cellars)
- Sanitation and disease prevention (latrines, waste management)
- Shelter construction (before you can build a forge, you need a roof)
- Security and governance (social stability is prerequisite to specialization)
- Do not proceed to technology chapters until these systems are stable
- Purpose of this guide
- Who this is for
- How to use it
- Technology tiers and progression
- Critical success factors
Chapter 0.5: Agriculture and Food Production
- Why food surplus enables technological specialization
- Seed saving and preservation (genetic diversity)
- Crop rotation and soil management
- Animal husbandry (draft animals, protein, leather)
- Irrigation systems
- Tool making for agriculture
- Food storage and pest control
- Timeline: Year 1 subsistence → Year 10 stable surplus
Chapter 0.7: Libraries and Knowledge Preservation
- Why this is not optional (knowledge dies without preservation)
- Immediate actions: Salvage all books, create climate-controlled storage
- Book preservation science (temperature, humidity, pests, light)
- Copying protocols (copy this guide FIRST)
- Index systems and cataloging
- Training librarians and scribes
- Distributed backup (never one library)
- Digital preservation (print to paper ASAP - digital is temporary)
- "One copy is no copies. Copy it. Now."
Chapter 1: Salvaging the Old World
- Why salvage matters
- Safety hazards in ruins
- Priority materials (copper, steel, aluminum, glass, electronics)
- Geographic salvage priorities
- Storage and organization
- Testing salvaged materials
Chapter 2: Metallurgy and Metalworking
- Understanding metals and their properties
- Heat sources (forges, furnaces)
- Basic metalworking (cutting, forming, joining)
- Welding techniques
- Casting processes
- Heat treating steel
- Precision metalworking (lathe, mill)
- Mining and refining from ore
- Fiber production (cotton, wool, flax, hemp)
- Spinning and weaving
- Leather tanning
- Dyeing
- Sewing and clothing construction
- Timeline and labor requirements
Chapter 2.6: Mechanical Systems
- Power transmission fundamentals
- Gears (spur, helical, bevel, worm) - design and manufacture
- Bearings (plain, ball, roller, needle)
- Shafts, couplings, and universal joints
- Linkages and cam mechanisms
- Springs, clutches, and brakes
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
- Failure modes and troubleshooting
Chapter 2.7: Standardization
- Why standards matter (interchangeability, collaboration, trade)
- Units of measurement (length, mass, volume, temperature)
- Screw threads (choose ONE standard and stick with it)
- Electrical standards (voltage, frequency, plugs, wire gauges, color coding)
- Fasteners, tools, and materials standards
- Communication standards (Morse, radio frequencies, data encoding)
- Establishing and enforcing standards (standards bureau, gauge distribution)
- Without standards, communities become isolated islands unable to collaborate
Chapter 2.8: Lubricants and Seals
- Why this mundane topic kills more machinery than anything else
- Natural lubricants (animal fats, vegetable oils) - limitations
- Salvaged petroleum (HOARD THIS - liquid gold)
- Grease making (calcium grease recipe)
- Petroleum salvage and simple refining
- Seals and gaskets (rubber, leather, cork, fiber, rope, felt)
- Bearing design for available lubricants
- Maintenance practices
- "Machines die without lubrication. Don't skip this chapter."
Chapter 3: Electricity Generation and Storage
- Understanding electricity basics
- Generating electricity (hydro, wind, solar, steam)
- Storing electricity (batteries, mechanical storage)
- Electrical distribution systems
- Transformers and inverters
- Power system sizing
- Safety
Chapter 3.3: Timekeeping and Calendars
- Why timekeeping matters (navigation, coordination, science, agriculture)
- Calendar systems (solar, lunar, lunisolar, leap years)
- Simple time measurement (sundials, water clocks, sand timers)
- Mechanical clockmaking (pendulum clocks, escapements, gear trains)
- Precision clocks (temperature compensation, marine chronometers)
- Synchronization (time balls, telegraph, radio signals)
- Watchmaking (portable timepieces)
- Accurate timekeeping is ESSENTIAL for navigation and coordination
Chapter 3.4: Mapping and Navigation
- Why mapping matters (trade routes, resources, coordination)
- Basic surveying (pacing, chain, compass, triangulation)
- Compass making and use
- Theodolite construction
- Celestial navigation (latitude, longitude, sextant)
- Mapmaking (projections, scale, contours, symbols)
- Map reproduction (hand copying, printing)
- Navigation techniques (dead reckoning, pilotage, celestial)
- "You can't rebuild what you can't find"
Chapter 3.5: Medicine and Public Health
- Disease prevention and sanitation
- Herbal medicine and traditional remedies
- Wound care and basic surgery
- Penicillin production (achievable with basic chemistry!)
- Childbirth assistance
- Dental care
- Common diseases and treatment
- Medical tool making
- Sterilization techniques
- Human-powered transport (bicycles, carts)
- Animal-powered transport (draft animals, harnesses, wagons)
- Water transport (boats, navigation)
- Roads and bridges
- Wheels and axles manufacturing
- Maintaining salvaged vehicles
- Steam engines for transport
Chapter 4: Essential Chemistry
- Safety protocols
- Basic equipment (glassware, heating, filtration)
- Essential chemicals (acids, bases, solvents, salts)
- Materials synthesis (glass, ceramics, plastics, rubber)
- Semiconductor purification
- Electrochemistry
- Explosives (handle with extreme care)
Chapter 4.5: Paper and Printing
- Paper production from plant fibers
- Ink making (carbon ink, iron gall ink)
- Printing press construction (Gutenberg-style)
- Movable type casting
- Bookbinding
- Critical priority: Copy this guide! Books decay.
- Establishing a print shop
Chapter 5: Basic Electronic Components
- Passive components (resistors, capacitors, inductors)
- Diodes and rectifiers
- Vacuum tubes (construction and circuits)
- Transistors (operation and circuits)
- Integrated circuits (salvage and use)
- Circuit construction techniques
- Test equipment
- Why optics are essential (chemistry, medicine, biology, astronomy)
- Lens grinding from salvaged glass
- Microscopes (essential for chemistry and medicine!)
- Telescopes (navigation, timekeeping, astronomy)
- Spectroscopy basics (chemical analysis)
- Eyeglasses (vision correction)
Chapter 6: Telegraph and Radio Communication
- Telegraph systems
- Telephone principles
- Radio fundamentals (electromagnetic waves, antennas)
- Radio transmitters (spark gap, CW, AM, FM)
- Radio receivers (crystal radio, superheterodyne)
- Broadcasting
- Emergency communication
Chapter 7: Vacuum Tubes and Early Computing
- Vacuum tube fundamentals
- Building vacuum tubes
- Tube circuits (rectifiers, amplifiers, oscillators, logic gates)
- Early computer architecture
- Relay and tube-based computers
- Core memory
- Practical projects
Chapter 8: Transistors and Semiconductors
- The hard truth: Modern semiconductors may take 200-300 years
- Phase 1: Salvage and preserve ICs (Years 10-50)
- Phase 2: Point-contact transistors and germanium (Years 20-60)
- Phase 3: Discrete transistor manufacturing (Years 40-100)
- Phase 4: The long road to ICs (Years 100-200+)
- Phase 5: Why vacuum tubes remain viable
- "Tube computers work fine. You will use them for a very long time. That's success."
Chapter 9: Building Your First Computer
- Digital logic fundamentals
- Computer architecture (von Neumann, Harvard)
- ALU design
- Control unit and instruction set
- Memory implementation
- Building a minimal computer (4-bit or 8-bit)
- Assembly and debugging
- Programming your computer
Chapter 10: Integrated Circuits and Microprocessors
- Realistic timeline: Microprocessors are 200-300 year goal
- Phase 1: Relay and tube computers (Years 10-50) - Your reality
- Phase 2: Transistor hybrids (Years 50-100) - Gradual improvement
- Phase 3: Small Scale Integration/SSI (Years 100-150) - If you're lucky
- Phase 4: Medium Scale Integration/MSI (Years 150-200) - Still not microprocessors
- Phase 5: Microprocessors (Years 200-300) - Multi-generational aspiration
- Alternative paths to consider (maybe semiconductors aren't optimal)
- "Success is a room-sized tube computer solving real problems, not reaching 2025 tech."
Chapter 11: Memory and Data Storage
- Memory hierarchy
- Volatile memory (SRAM, DRAM, core memory)
- Non-volatile memory (ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash)
- Magnetic storage (tape, floppy disk, hard disk)
- Optical storage (CD, DVD)
- Data encoding and error correction
- File systems
Chapter 12: Computer Networks and the Internet
- Network fundamentals (topologies, protocols, OSI model)
- Local area networks (Ethernet, WiFi)
- Wide area networks (telephone modems, packet switching)
- Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)
- Building an internet (small to large scale)
- Services (web, email, DNS, file sharing)
- Network security
Chapter 13: Programming Languages and Software Development
- Machine code and assembly language
- High-level languages (BASIC, C, Forth, others)
- Interpreters vs. compilers
- Operating systems (minimal OS, modern OS)
- Development tools (editors, debuggers, version control)
- Applications (word processors, spreadsheets, databases)
- Software engineering practices
Chapter 14: Displays and Human-Computer Interfaces
- Visual displays (LEDs, seven-segment, CRT, LCD, OLED)
- Input devices (keyboard, mouse, touchscreen)
- Voice input
- Printing and physical output
- Audio output
- Graphical user interfaces (GUI)
- Accessibility
Chapter 15: Cellular and Wireless Networks
- Cellular network fundamentals
- Cellular generations (1G through 5G)
- Building a cellular network (stages)
- Wireless data networks (WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa)
- Satellite communication
- Spectrum management
- Practical wireless network deployment
Chapter 16: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- AI fundamentals (symbolic vs. learning approaches)
- Early AI (expert systems, planning, search)
- Machine learning (supervised, unsupervised, neural networks)
- Deep learning (CNNs, RNNs, Transformers)
- Practical AI for post-collapse scenarios
- AI infrastructure (datasets, compute, software)
- AI ethics and safety
- Roadmap for rebuilding AI
Chapter 17: Governance and Organization
- Community organization models (guild, collective, council, federation)
- Roles and responsibilities for technology rebuilding
- The apprenticeship system
- Resource allocation frameworks
- Knowledge management and documentation
- Trade and inter-community relations
- Conflict resolution
- Long-term sustainability and generational transition
- Scaling up (village to town to city)
Appendix A1: Master Materials List
- Consolidated materials from all chapters
- Priority classification (1-4) for salvage
- Properties and uses
- Salvage sources and natural sources
- Material substitution guide
- Annual consumption estimates
Appendix A2: Master Tools List
- Bootstrap sequence (tools to make tools)
- Tool tier classification (0-4)
- Minimum viable toolkit by technology level
- Making your own tools (files, drill bits, taps/dies)
- Tool maintenance and repair
- Consolidated timeline from all chapters
- Technology dependencies (what requires what)
- Critical path analysis
- Phase breakdown (0-4) with milestones
- Community size vs. timeline estimates
- Length, area, volume, mass conversions
- Temperature conversions
- Pressure, force, torque, power, energy
- Quick reference card
- Historical units
- Memory aids for mental conversions
Appendix A5: Standard Specifications
- Wire gauges (AWG, SWG, metric)
- Sheet metal gauges
- Pipe sizes (NPS, copper, metric)
- Thread standards (UNC/UNF, metric, NPT, BSP)
- Fastener specifications and bolt grades
- Drill bit sizes
- Keys/keyways, bearings, O-rings
- Electronic component values
- 200+ technical terms A-Z
- Abbreviations table
- Symbols reference
Appendix A7: Climate and Geographic Variations
- Climate zone characteristics (tropical, arid, cold, coastal, etc.)
- Technology adaptations by climate
- Regional resource availability
- Timeline adjustments by climate
- Community assessment checklist
Appendix A8: Cross-Reference Index
- Alphabetical topic listing with chapter references
- Topic clusters for multi-chapter subjects
- Cross-references between related topics
- "Where to find it" quick lookup
Appendix A9: Quality Control and Testing
- Testing procedures by technology area
- Visual inspection, dimensional checks, functional tests
- Pass/fail criteria
- Documentation templates
- Establishing a quality system
Appendix A10: Scaling Guidance
- Minimum viable community sizes for each technology
- Scaling thresholds (50, 150, 500, 2000, 10000 people)
- Technology-specific scaling guidance
- Economic analysis for scaling decisions
- Organizational scaling requirements
- Decision framework
- Water purification and storage
- Food preservation
- Sanitation and waste management
- Shelter construction
- Basic medicine and hygiene
- Security and governance
- Goal: Stay alive and establish stability
- Agriculture and food surplus (enables specialization)
- Textiles (clothing wears out)
- Paper and printing (preserve and copy this guide!)
- Libraries and knowledge preservation
- Standardization (establish early!)
- Lubricants and seals (machines die without them)
- Salvaging materials
- Basic metallurgy and smithing
- Simple chemistry
- Mechanical power (water, wind)
- Transportation (bicycles, draft animals, boats)
- Timekeeping and calendars
- Mapping and navigation
- Medicine and public health (penicillin production!)
- Optics (microscopes, telescopes, lenses)
- Electricity generation and storage
- Basic electronics (diodes, resistors, capacitors, simple circuits)
- Telegraph and radio communication
- Precision metalworking
- Glass and chemical production
- Relay computers (achievable, reliable)
- Vacuum tube computers (ENIAC-level capability - this is your main computing for decades)
- Magnetic core memory (very achievable)
- Magnetic tape and drum storage
- Point-contact transistors (germanium, crude but educational)
- Telephone networks
- Basic displays (CRT, electromechanical)
- Mainframe-level tube computers
- Discrete germanium/silicon transistors (individual components)
- Transistor-tube hybrid computers
- Magnetic disk storage
- Early networking (local)
- Minicomputer-level capability (PDP-8, PDP-11 equivalent would be extraordinary achievement)
- Assembly language, BASIC, early high-level languages
- Simple ICs: Gates, flip-flops (10-100 transistors per chip)
- This is monumental achievement if reached
- Building systems from many simple IC chips
- Think: 1970s minicomputer era
- Simple microprocessors MAYBE (4-bit, very crude)
- Floppy disks, better hard drives
- Simple operating systems
- More complex ICs (100-1000 transistors)
- Early microprocessors (Intel 4004/8008 level)
- This requires mature semiconductor industry
- Computer networks (regional internet)
- Think: Late 1970s-early 1980s technology
- 8-bit and 16-bit systems
- Cellular networks maybe (1G)
- Advanced microprocessors (32-bit, 64-bit)
- VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)
- Modern computing as we know it
- Advanced networks, internet, cellular (2G, 3G, 4G)
- AI and machine learning
- This may take 300+ years. That's realistic, not pessimistic.
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Survive First, Technology Second: Read Chapter -1 before anything else. You cannot rebuild electronics if everyone is dead from dysentery. Water, food, sanitation, and shelter come before metallurgy.
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Preserve Knowledge: Protect this guide and all technical documentation. Copy this guide immediately using the techniques in Chapter 4.5 (Paper and Printing). Books decay. Store copies in multiple locations. Digital and physical.
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Organize Systematically: Technology requires specialization. But specialization requires food surplus (Chapter 0.5). You cannot have blacksmiths if everyone must farm. Agriculture enables everything else.
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Salvage First, Manufacture Second: The ruins contain refined materials and functional components. Never mine what you can salvage. The energy cost has already been paid.
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Document Failures: Failed attempts teach as much as successes. Record what doesn't work and why.
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Think Generationally: You probably won't see AI or modern computing rebuilt in your lifetime. You're laying foundations for your children's children. That's okay. This is a multi-generational project.
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Build Communities: No one person can rebuild technology. This requires cooperation, coordination, and knowledge sharing across communities and regions.
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Copy This Guide: This cannot be stressed enough. The first major technological project should be establishing a print shop (Chapter 4.5) and creating multiple copies of this guide. Distribute them widely. Books decay. Fire destroys. Redundancy saves civilization.
Many processes in this guide are dangerous:
- High voltage electricity can kill instantly
- Chemical processes can cause fires, explosions, and poisoning
- Molten metals cause severe burns
- Radiation from some salvaged materials is deadly
- Vacuum tube CRTs contain high voltage and can implode
Each chapter includes specific safety warnings. Take them seriously. Rebuilding technology is worthless if you kill your craftspeople. Patience and care will serve you better than speed.
This guide represents the collective knowledge of thousands of engineers, scientists, and craftspeople accumulated over centuries. The technologies described here—from simple metallurgy to artificial intelligence—are humanity's greatest achievements.
You have a profound responsibility: to preserve this knowledge, to build upon it, and to pass it forward. The collapse was a setback, but not an end. With this knowledge, with determination, and with cooperation, technological civilization can be rebuilt.
It will be hard. Progress will be slow. There will be setbacks. But humans built this civilization once from nothing but curiosity and persistence. With knowledge as your guide, you can build it again—and perhaps build it better.
The path forward is clear. Start with salvage. Build your foundations. Progress in stages. Document everything. Teach others. Work together.
Civilization is counting on you.
Good luck.
Compiled in 2025 For the preservation of human knowledge In hope of humanity's continued flourishing
- Version: 2.0
- Date: 2025
- Status: Comprehensive technical guide for post-apocalyptic technological recovery
- Intended Audience: Survivors with basic literacy and mathematical understanding
- Time Horizon: Immediate survival through 300+ years of technological development
- Coverage: 21 chapters (survival through AI) + 10 appendices (reference materials)
- Total Content: ~40,000+ lines of technical guidance
This guide will inevitably contain errors, omissions, and could be improved with additional detail. If you're using this guide:
- Add notes and corrections in margins
- Document your own discoveries and modifications
- Share knowledge with other communities
- Create addendums for technologies not covered
- Update based on what works in practice
Knowledge is most valuable when shared.
This guide synthesizes knowledge from countless sources:
- Historical technological development
- Engineering handbooks and textbooks
- Scientific papers and patents
- Practical experience of builders and makers
- Open-source hardware and software communities
To all those who documented their knowledge and shared it freely: thank you. You may have saved civilization.