Home Buying Guides
An unbranded household research workbench with a reference handbook and practical gear components.

Buyer's Guide · 45 handbooks · 13 domains

Buying Guides

Understand it before you buy it. Each handbook explains how a type of gear works, what to look for, and what to skip. Search every handbook and the products we review, or browse by domain below.

By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival

Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources

Find your way in

Start with the right handbook.

Start here

  1. 1 Water Filters & Purifiers
  2. 2 Portable Power Stations
  3. 3 Generators
  4. 4 First Aid Kits
  5. 5 Weather Radios

Recently reviewed

Jump to a domain

  1. 01Water
  2. 02Food
  3. 03Energy
  4. 04Shelter & Home Security
  5. 05Communications
  6. 06Medical Readiness
  7. 07Transportation
  8. 08Tools
  9. 09Fitness
  10. 10Land
  11. 11Avocations
  12. 12Planning
  13. 13Recovery

Every handbook

The full directory.

45 handbooks across 13 domains. Each one teaches how the gear works before it compares anything. Categories still in progress are listed under their domain.

02

Food

Cooking without the usual kitchen, and keeping food safe and stored for longer.

Camp & Emergency Stoves

Off-grid cooking, with attention to indoor-use and carbon monoxide risk.

Cast Iron Cookware

Durable cookware that works on any heat source.

Dehydrators

Drying food for compact, shelf-stable storage.

Pressure Canners

Equipment for safely home-canning low-acid foods.

Also in Food

  • Emergency Food Supplies comparison
  • Grain Mills planned
  • Home Freeze Dryers planned
  • Manual Can Openers comparison
  • Mylar Bags & Oxygen Absorbers planned
  • Pantry Staples planned
  • Solar Ovens planned
  • Vacuum Sealers planned
  • Water Bath Canners planned
03

Energy

Power, light, and heat for the hours or days the grid is down.

Battery Banks

Rechargeable packs for phones and small devices.

Disposable Batteries

Single-use alkaline and lithium primary cells for emergency lights, radios, smoke alarms, and standby kits.

Emergency Candles

Candles and flameless alternatives for household emergency lighting, organized by type, burn time, and safety profile.

Emergency Lighting

Flashlights, lanterns, and headlamps for when the power is out.

Generators

Fuel-powered backup electricity, with placement and carbon monoxide safety front and center.

Pellet Stoves

EPA-certified pellet stoves for supplemental and primary home heating, with attention to electricity dependency, venting requirements, and pellet fuel standards.

Portable Power Stations

Battery units that keep essentials running through an outage.

Portable Solar Panels

Recharging power stations and batteries off-grid.

Rechargeable Batteries

AA, AAA, and larger cells for everyday and standby use.

Solar Power Banks

Power banks with integrated solar panels and optional hand cranks for off-grid recharging.

UPS Systems

Uninterruptible power supplies that bridge millisecond switchover gaps to keep computers, routers, and medical-adjacent gear alive through flickers and short outages.

Also in Energy

08

Tools

The hand tools that take care of most household repairs.

Hand Tools

The core hammers, wrenches, and pliers a household needs.

Also in Tools

  • Axes & Hatchets planned
  • Folding Saws planned
  • Knife Sharpeners planned
  • Multi-Tools planned
09

Fitness

Gear for the strength and stamina that make everything else easier.

No handbooks here yet. The categories below are on the build schedule.

Categories

  • Rucking Gear planned
10

Land

Fencing, irrigation, seeds, and soil for growing on your own ground.

No handbooks here yet. The categories below are on the build schedule.

Categories

  • Fencing planned
  • Garden Irrigation planned
  • Garden Seeds planned
  • Soil Test Kits planned
11

Avocations

Equipment for the hobbies that also build self-reliance.

Aquaponics Equipment

Water pumps, air pumps, backup aeration, heaters, test kits, oxygen meters, and starter kits for home aquaponics systems.

Also in Avocations

  • Beekeeping planned
  • Fermentation planned
12

Planning

Ready-made kits that pull a household plan together.

72-Hour Kits

A grab-and-go kit for the first three days.

Also in Planning

13

Recovery

Cleanup and drying gear for the days after water or storm damage.

No handbooks here yet. The categories below are on the build schedule.

Categories

  • Cleanup Tools planned
  • Drying & Dehumidifiers planned
  • Mold Remediation PPE planned

How this section works

Handbooks first, comparisons second.

A handbook is the complete guide to one product category. It explains the technology, decodes the certifications, walks through what goes wrong, and only then points you to the comparisons. Read one and the ranked lists start making sense on their own.

Categories without a handbook yet link straight to their comparison roundup where one is published. The rest are planned, and this page updates as each one ships.

New World Survival earns a small commission on qualifying Amazon purchases at no cost to you. This helps us cover operating costs and keep building new content. Commission never decides what we recommend.

About the author

Dan Whelan is the founder of New World Survival. He and his wife Vicki rode out Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and spent the week after sorting donations at a relief center in Homestead. More than thirty years of household preparedness later, he built this site to pass on what works. Read their story