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Your Survival Books?
January 25, 2012
What are some of the survival preparedness books that you have on your bookshelf? Regardless of the specific sub-category, we would be curious to know some of your favorites, even related novels or reference books that would be useful during times when or after TSHTF.
Add your comment on your suggested survivalist or preparedness related book or books, and…
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Here are a few books, in random order, to get you started.
Encyclopedia of Country Living, 10th Edition
This book is phenomenal! Besides offering general information on gardening and variations on the usual ways to prepare and preserve produce, Carla Emery includes thousands of other exotic and old fashioned recipes. That alone would be remarkable, but she doesn’t stop there. She covers information on every aspect of farming and homesteading from buying a farm to delivering your own baby.
One Second After
The EMP event he describes might presently be improbable, but is certainly possible. Nicholas Taleb would undoubtedly recognize it as a “Black Swan” event: something that lies outside the range of normal experience, but that has a catastrophic impact.
Lights Out
The basic premise of the book is of a US plunged into chaos following an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack. If you aren’t tracking at this point, an EMP attack is the destruction of the electronic infrastructure of the country using nuclear weapons detonated in space. These weapons create an EMP that fry anything connected to the power grid and anything with complex electronics. Cars Dead. Computers Dead. Most of the things we take for granted are just switched off. This causes a cascading failure that effects everyone in the country. Needless to say this is the end of the world as they knew it. Are you ready to fend for yourself … and your family?
Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables
This book is a vast resource of information about root cellars, how to build them, and how to use them. The Bubels contend that even city apartments dwellers can arrange some sort of cold food storage area with a little imagination and a few suggestions from those who have done it before.
Nuclear War Survival Skills: Updated and Expanded 1987 Edition
With the destabilization of the balance of terror, we are back looking at the possibilities of nuclear wars, at least on a small scale. Kearny’s book is dead practical on surviving in your house or in a quickly built shelter in the boonies.
SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition: For Any Climate, in Any Situation
This book was written by a professional soldier who was in the SAS, or the Special Air Service. For those not in the know, that’s an elite unit of the British Army trained to carry out operations in ALL parts of the world. The book covers all you’d ever want to know about the essentials of surviving in climates such as: the polar region, mountains, seashores, islands, tropical regions, or even at sea.
Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
Put bluntly; killing and butchering animals is not a pleasant business. Anyone who has hunted or helped slaughter on a farm can attest to this. You just have to jump in and do it. The author handles what some may consider a sensitive subject with honesty and straight-forward thinking. He also provides numerous tips and how-tos when it comes to handling and butchering several different kinds of animals.
All New Square Foot Gardening
For those of you who have not perused the book or are familiar with the new method, I’ll sum it up for you: you build these four by four boxes–no tilling required–cover the bottom with weed blocker material, and then fill it with a particular mix that Mel says works like a dream. It is an easy-to-understand, and well-organized book for both novice and experienced gardeners.
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible (10th Anniversary Edition)
Ed Smith, an experienced vegetable gardener from Vermont, has put together this amazingly comprehensive and commonsensical manual. Ed’s system is based on W-O-R-D: Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, Deep soil.
U.S. Air Force Survival Handbook
A Marine told me the Air Force survival manual was the best bar none. A comprehensive manual of proven wilderness survival tactics for every situation. Written for use in formal United States Air Force survival training courses.
Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family
The Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness bridges a very important gap between survivalism and preparedness. In the text, the author outlines effective, but more importantly, achievable, steps that your family can take to prepare for a wide variety of dangerous events. The book is a family-friendly guide, discussing the importance of creating a balanced food storage plan that the entire family can live with, objectively reviewing which water purification methods leave water tasting the best – important for finicky drinkers, and discussing how best to care for children and elderly family and friends.
These books are just a tiny, tiny sliver of what is out there. Go ahead and add some of your own to this list – leave a comment.
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You know what? All of these books are class AAA winners!
Another great one that i would suggest needs to be in every ones library is The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
(the complete back to basics guide) by John Seymour It is very comprehensive from how to make 1 acre to 5 acres be totally self sufficient. How to harvest wheat, butcher animals, build an outhouse, make beer, preserve food and on and on. It is very informative.I have it and I have read it cover to cover many times and it is even interesting enough that my 10 year old likes to read it. She used the information to build a play house out of old hay.
The Holy Bible
- IMO the first and best survival / preparedness book avalable
“Dare to Prepare
” (any edition is priceless, but newest edition is more up to date) – Great book for ALL AROUND prepping from emergency meds to canning to how to decipher product codes and dates. Also good for pointing out safe ways to prepare food water medication from herbal/natural sources etc.
US Army FM 3-24
/ UMC WP 3-33.5 Army/ MC counterinsurgency field manual.- Not the typical “survival” or prep handbook but it will help one understand how the probable PTB will operate and attempt to manage remnants of populations and groups they are sure to lable as “insurgents” or “combatants”. As we have all seen, with new legislation now out in the open we can all be seen as “insurgents, militants, enemy combatants” at the whim of a bureaucrat on a bad hair day.
Way too many more to mention but suggestions like downloaded and printed PDF’S from various sources on emergency mgmt to medication dosage charts, antibiotic dosage and equivalence charts, e.g. what antibiotics treat what infections best at lowest doses.
Wild edible and medicinal plant books by Lee Allen Peterson might come in handy.
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide)
That is a nice list of books. I have 5 or 6 of them.
Here are some others, in no particular order:
1) When All Hell Breaks Loose
by Cody Lundin. Very good on the mental preparedness side of things. Does make for a slow read at first. Don’t be discouraged. As a caution, Cody has no qualms about eating things I wouldn’t consider eating.
2) Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis
by Peggy Layton. A lot of good information.
3) Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family, 2nd Edition
by Arthur Bradley. Another lots of info book.
4) Urban Survival Guide: Learn The Secrets Of Urban Survival To Keep You Alive After Man-Made Disasters, Natural Disasters, and Breakdowns In Civil Order
by David Morris. The title pretty much says it all.
5) Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival
by Jack A. Spigarelli. A Classic. Probably the book that I got the most out of.
6) Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it All Falls Apart
by Joe Nobody. Should be required reading for those who won’t or can’t bug out.
7) Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition
by Abigail R. Gehring. Another general purpose reference.
Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
by Brett L. Markham, Discusses small scale, back yard, farming. I learned a lot from this one.
9) TOTAL RESISTANCE – Swiss Army Guide to Guerrilla Warfare and Underground Operations
by H. Von Dach. Written in 1965, it describes how to effectively fight an asymmetric war when you’re on the smaller side.
10) Assorted Nasties
by David Harber. Discusses making poisons. Use with discretion.
11) Home Workshop Explosives, Second Edition
by Uncle Fester. Discusses making explosives. Use with discretion.
Two notes:
1) You should, if possible, get more than one book in each area. They frequently disagree. I’ve seen two or three different ‘recipes’ for using bleach to purify water. Somewhat disturbing.
2) Consider protecting books like these. I put mine in buckets with Gamma seal lids. If you get the lids, be careful with shipping. Also consider getting a kit with multiple colors. If I’m stressed I know that White is food, Red is fire, etc. Current best pricing is about $6 per lid, in quantities of 24, delivered.
Be well.
Here’s my survival book review.
Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse
by James Wesley Rawles – This novel is five stars all the way. The story of a group’s struggle to survive after a total economic collapse. A MUST READ.
Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse
by James Wesley Rawles – Part 2 of the Patriots saga. I only give this book 3 stars. Not as good as Patriots. I was disappointed.
77 Days in September
by Ray Gorham – Five Stars – The story of a man’s journey home to his family after an EMP attack. I really enjoyed this one. A tear-jerker at the end.
One Second After
by William Forstchen – 5 Stars – The story of the residents of Black Mountain NC after an EMP attack. This one is A MUST READ.
Lights Out
by David Crawford – 5 Stars – Another EMP saga. One of my favorites.
Holding Their Own: A Story of Survival
by Joe Nobody – 5 Stars – Another EMP book. I really enjoyed this book.
Any book by Ron Foster – I didn’t like any of the ones I have read. I have read 4 of his “Prepper Series” and after reading his first, I hoped the next one would be better. It wasn’t. His books reminded me of books for 10 year olds.
Day by Day Armageddon
by J.L Bourne – A very good SHTF Zombie book. I actually enjoyed this one.
Searching for America: A Novel of Survival in a Nation Without Laws
– by R. Thomas Roe – From the beginning, I hoped it would get better. It never did.
@Downeastprepper. I mean this well.
Noticed that most of the recommended books are fiction. Have three off your list. Agree with your star count on “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse
“, “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse
“, and “One Second After
“. One Second After was the most likely in my, oh so, humble opinion. LOL. Don’t get me wrong, I like fiction. Too much of the facts can get depressing.
The concern I have with fiction in this area is that most don’t have indexes for searching. Being old, I keep books for reference.
What I got out of Holding Your Own was strategies for defending your location. I don’t even remember the EMP part. Sucks to get old, the alternative is worse.
Have a great day!
Oops. Turns out that Joe Nobody has two books with very similar titles.
Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it All Falls Apart
is the one that I was talking about.
Holding Their Own: A Story of Survival
is the one that Downeastprepper was talking about.
Sorry.
I liked these also:
Surviving the Economic Collapse by Fernando “Ferfal” Aguirre
It’s based on first hand experience of the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina. Chapters cover, Shelter, Vehicles, Gear, Self-Defense and Finances. It’s more about surviving in an urban, post-collapse world where you still have to go to work and carry on. I liked the parts where the authors talks about how banks closed and controlled customers’ access to their funds.
Surviving the Economic Collapse
LDS Preparedness Manual
is great too for understanding how much food is a year’s worth and how to buy a bit at a time so as not to brake the bank. It also has nuclear fallout info, medical, etc.
Just Google “LDS Preparedness Manual” and there are a few links for free download. The LDS Church offers it free or for the cost to printed materials if you want a bound copy.
An awesome book to read is James Westley Rawles “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse
“
My dad was born in 1912 and raised on a farm, where they lived off the land, and sold crops of cotton and wheat for actual money. Went to town on Sat in buckboard, like Little House on the Prairie life. Butchered own hogs, killed and plucked chickens, had eggs, cow for milk, huge veg garden, canned vegs and smoked meat in the smokehouse, stored in the root cellar on shelves for winter (which also served as a tornado shelter, it was in OK tornado alley).
He had a series of 6 paperback books called “Foxfire” 1-6 (couple inches thick each), that duplicated Appalachian living, including making tools, woodworking, building, all kinds of stuff to live off the land. Sure wish I had them now!! Fascinating reading and pictures, even how to build a still. Lots of info in all 6 books! Worth trying to find.
@Vicki, How about these… Foxfire books on Amazon.com