Reference library
Repair, Skills & Comms
18 guides, every one legally redistributable and traceable to its source.
131 HMMWV Technical Manuals collection
Complete operator + maintenance documentation for a real vehicle platform — demonstrates the depth possible with PD military manuals; popular with surplus-vehicle owners and preppers.
U.S. Army et al. (compiled on Internet Archive; TM 9-2320-280-10 also at liberatedmanuals.com) · Multiple GB for full collection; individual TMs 5-50 MB
47 CFR Part 97 — Amateur Radio Service Rules
The actual legal rules for amateur operation, including 97.403/97.405 emergency-communications provisions — authoritative companion to the question pools.
FCC via eCFR (ecfr.gov) · <1 MB
AUXFOG — Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide v1.1
Training and reference for volunteer/amateur emergency communicators (AuxComm): equipment, nets, message handling — bridges ham radio and official disaster response; CISA's own offline app validates the exact use case.
DHS CISA / Office of Emergency Communications · 3.4 MB (verified)
Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Training Course — Student's Guidebook
Authoritative chainsaw and crosscut saw safety, felling, bucking, limbing, and saw maintenance — the highest-risk common post-storm task, from the agency that trains wildland crews.
USDA Forest Service, Missoula Technology & Development Center · ~200 KB/chapter; full book a few MB
CPSC Safety Alert: Portable Generator Hazards (Pub. 5123) + CO 'Invisible Killer' toolkit
Consumer-grade CO and generator placement guidance with graphics, including Spanish-language versions — good for a bilingual safety section.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission · 220 KB (verified); toolkit a few MB
Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia + Practical Blacksmithing
Genuinely PD deep-skill texts: forge work, welding at the anvil, wheelwrighting, early engine repair — fits the 'grid-down artisan skills' theme and is fully redistributable, including commercially.
Pre-1930 trade publishers; hosted by Internet Archive / Library of Congress / Project Gutenberg · 20-100 MB per scanned volume; Gutenberg EPUBs <5 MB
FM 10-16 General Fabric Repair
The redistributable sewing manual: hand and machine stitches, seams, darns, patches, zippers/fasteners, canvas and webbing repair — directly applicable to repairing clothing, tents, packs, and tarps.
U.S. Department of the Army (hosted on Internet Archive) · ~40 MB (scan); smaller text versions available
FM 3-34.471 Plumbing, Pipe Fitting, and Sewerage
Pipe repair, fixtures, water supply and waste systems with field methods — pairs with Carpentry for a redistributable home-systems repair set.
U.S. Department of the Army / USMC (mirror: constructionknowledge.net) · ~10 MB
FM 5-426 Carpentry
Practical framing, layout, concrete forming, roof framing, and finish carpentry from scratch with hand tools — directly applicable to post-disaster repair and rebuilding.
U.S. Department of the Army (mirror: constructionknowledge.net; also archive.org/details/FM5-426) · 4.7 MB (verified)
Homeowner's Guide to Going Solar + Solar Energy Resources for Consumers
Current, consumer-level solar PV guidance (system basics, batteries, resilience) directly from DOE, cleanly public domain per DOE's published copyright policy (verified 2026).
U.S. Department of Energy, Solar Energy Technologies Office (energy.gov) · <5 MB as text
NCVEC Amateur Radio Exam Question Pools
Enables a built-in offline ham-license study/practice-exam feature — a major differentiator; commercial exam apps already rely on the same PD pools.
NCVEC Question Pool Committee (ncvec.org) · ~0.5 MB per pool (Technician PDF verified 477 KB)
NIFOG — National Interoperability Field Operations Guide v2.02
THE disaster-communications reference: nationwide interoperability channels, frequency tables, standard channel names, rules for emergency use — precisely the thing people need offline when infrastructure is down.
DHS CISA (SAFECOM) · 6.7 MB (verified)
OSHA Fact Sheet: Using Portable Generators Safely
Concise, life-safety-critical CO/electrocution/backfeed rules for running a generator after an outage — small file, huge value, zero license risk.
U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA · <1 MB
Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide
Step-by-step evaluation of a house's site, exterior, structure, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC — exactly what someone assessing storm/earthquake damage needs offline.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD USER) · ~5-10 MB total
TC 9-237 Operator's Circular: Welding Theory and Application
Complete welding textbook: safety, joint design, arc/oxy-fuel processes, metal identification, electrodes, field-expedient maintenance welding — the definitive redistributable welding reference.
U.S. Department of the Army (official armypubs.army.mil copy) · 14.4 MB (verified via HTTP header)
TM 5-685 / NAVFAC MO-912 Operation, Maintenance and Repair of Auxiliary Generators
Deep coverage of generator sets: prime movers, generators, switchgear, routine maintenance and troubleshooting — the redistributable counterpart to owner's manuals users won't have offline.
U.S. Army / U.S. Navy (mirror: everyspec.com) · ~5-10 MB
TM 9-8000 Principles of Automotive Vehicles
38 illustrated chapters on how vehicles work and are repaired: gasoline/diesel engines, fuel, cooling, electrical/batteries/charging/starting/ignition, brakes, drivetrains — the best legally redistributable general auto-repair text (Chilton/Haynes are not redistributable).
U.S. Department of the Army (mirror: liberatedmanuals.com) · ~17 MB
United States Frequency Allocation Chart
Visual overview of the entire US radio spectrum — good companion graphic for the comms section and scanner users.
NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce · 274 KB (verified)