ARKA survival library for your area that works with no internet.
ARK, the Apocalypse Reference Kit: plain-English guides, a thousand books behind them, maps of your area and an AI that answers from the library. Free. Save it on your phone or a drive, and it keeps working when the internet and the power don't.
What's in it
Everything is free, and every part works offline once it's saved.
Guides
About 80 short guides in plain words: water, food, first aid, power, radio, shelter, animals, and what to expect when things go wrong.
Books
Over a thousand books and manuals, from Army field manuals to farm bulletins, with the guides pointing to the right page.
Maps
Your area's streets, trails, terrain, satellite photos, springs, wells and hazards, on your phone with no signal.
An offline AI
Ask a question and get an answer from the library, with the page it came from. It runs on your own device.
Local knowledge
Each area has its own plants and wild foods, laws, contacts, hazards, and the skills of the peoples who have lived there longest.
Tools
A plant identifier, a food planner, Morse code, unit converter, calculator and a drawing tool, all offline.
Find your area
Each area has its own library: the same guides and books, with its own maps and local knowledge.
Not built for your area yet?
Have it built (below), or build it yourself with the free tools. Once an area is built, it's free for everyone there.
The ARK Vault
The whole library in a steel ammo can: a small computer, the library, a printer and a battery bay. It makes its own Wi-Fi, so any phone nearby can read, search and ask the AI, with no internet and no power grid.
Built and loaded for your area
- Raspberry Pi computer under the lid, with your area's library
- Receipt printer for printing pages and maps
- Power switch and battery meter, wall charger, solar controller for later
- Crank radio, and foil tape to seal the steel can for storage
Or build your own
Every part, every printed piece and every step is in the free Vault guide. If you have a 3D printer and a soldering iron, you can build one yourself.
Have your area built
Your county's maps, topo sheets, plans and contacts, the plants and wild foods that grow there, your state's rules, and the knowledge of the area's first peoples, put together and checked. Once it's built, it's free for everyone in your area.
Or do it yourself: the tools that build an area are free and open (see the source below).
Support ARK
ARK is free and open source. Donations pay for the hosting and the time to build more areas.