Books - the ultimate survival tool

I hear a lot about people stockpiling food, water purification tabs, etc. in case SHF.

However important this is - I also think it is exceptionally important to have the right books. We all run to the internet whenever we need to reference something.

I have bought books on farming, brewing, animal husbandry...if this is a long-term situation, then the general public has no knowledge about growing the things it needs. This knowledge has been lost over the last two generations. Many kids dont know where potatoes come from or that bacon comes from pigs...

Has anyone else got any books they would recommend?

I agree that the stockpiling of knowledge and reference is as important as anything else. Heres a book I've bought recently and can recommend: -

How to store your garden produce: The key to self-sufficiency
Does exactly what it says on the cover. Very informative and straightforward guide to storing all kinds of garden produce. Also covers preservation of food, with great recepies for chutneys, jams etc.

Will head out and buy that one. Have you begun gardening also?

Yes mate, started last year with a couple of green houses for tomatoes etc. This year I've created about 600 square feet of raised beds, planted some fruit trees/bushes and gone headlong into it with a good range of crops. Next year will hopefully turn over more ground to try to produce enough veg to last a year, and get some chickens.
Are you gardening too?

I suppose that, as with anything, the books that are chosen depends upon how much space is available. First, I would want to have a copy of The Bible, as faith is always important, regardless of one's beliefs. One very common thread amongst a high percentage of people who have 'survived' is the faith component. Books of Horticulture and Animal Husbandry would be a good addition. Medical books, first aid, anatomy, military first aid/field medicine, as well as a 'pill book' would be required. I specifically list a 'pill book' (like a Physician's Desk Reference, but written for common consumption and usually a pocket-sized book), because if you have a chance to scrounge meds, this 'pill book' would help you to identify what you have found, and also to help out with possible uses. If you have children, a set of encyclopedia and dictionaries would be good to have as well, if you were 'hunkering down' in a prepared location.

I would also want to have a selection of classic literature, as well as some educational books, to that children may be taught. In a situation where space is not a large issue, I would also want a set of 'field guide' type books, so that species of animals and plants may be identified. In any area, where another language may be encountered (such as Spanish in the US), a foreign-language dictionary may be useful as well.



[edit on 21-7-2009 by Viking04]

Local edible plants, and fungi for foraging, with good pictures and descriptions.

Canning without modern conveniences.

Recipe books for how to cook nutrient dense foods. I'd suggest looking at the Weston A. Price foundation's page for a good start.

How to collect seeds from your plants and store them for the next session and beyond.

Map of the underground water and geology of your area. This will help you locate your best spots for wells that you can get at. It will also give you a better idea if your area is going to require special tools to be able to access that water.

Map of local utilities.

Book of "field" medicine, dental and surgery. Do you know how to set a broken leg and immobilize it?

reply to post by Paul



Yes - have begun this year. It's been a real learning exercise, working out how much we need to grow of each thing and how best to grow them.

Have been brewing also. Will be looking for a bigger piece of land. Your land sound really spacy and big.

Hope to get chickens too. Have done a big range of veg and am having particualr success with upside down tomatoes.

reply to post by Viking04


I think your point on medical books is a good one - I have missed that totally.

Have looked on the internet for the MIMS guidelines but they are only available to GPs and health professionals...anyone know where else to find that information?

reply to post by Aeons


Hi - really interested in the seed collection aspect. Someone pointed out to me that collecting seeds from most plants wont work as they are hybrids and we need 'heirloom' seeds.

reply to post by chillpill


Chillpill:

THE PILL BOOK is actually the name of a book. In the States, it is available in the local drugstore, WalMart, etc. I just checked, and it is available for order through Amazon.com as well. I am sure that there are equivalents available as well.

As to heirloom seeds, an internet search for heirloom or non-hybrid seeds might help. However, due to differences in local weather, you would want to locate those best suited to your area. In my thread on growing food, I mentioned a US periodical SMALL FARMER'S JOURNAL, which has good articles on 'old time' agricultural practice, and plenty of advertisements for non-hybrid seeds, plants, as well as the impedimenta of old-time farming.

You may also want to become involved with a local gardening club or classes. You may find some folks who have done a good bit of legwork/research and can help you out with that. Likewise, your local Ag Extension/Ag. Ministry rep may be able to help out also.

reply to post by chillpill


Yeah its a steep learning curve setting up a productive garden! Good work on the brewing, hows it working out?

For heirloom seeds, realseeds.co.uk are excellent. They have an extensive range of heirloom seeds, and provide instructions for saving seed for the next year, which varies from veg to veg.


I like the suggestion of other types of books beyond the scope of practical/survival. The preservation of a wide range of literature, knowledge and information would put a community, emerging from a disasterous situation, in great stead.
Perhaps this could be an ATS project: A library of essential reading curated by ATS members for post-societal individuals and communities....or something like that?!

Every village, town, and city on the planet has a library now. It isn't like Alexandra, and when it burns its gone.

Do not burden yourself with collecting what you don't need and won't read. Stay focused.

All knowledge is not going to go away. It is everywhere now.

Time enough to find the libraries and perserve what is in them when everyone reconnects, or you can wander around to collect what each library still has.

Getting you to stay alive long enough for that to happen is your first priority.

Ahhhh i couldn't agree more , people i know always ask and bug me about the fact that i spend so much on books. And allot of them stumble into the comment of "well you have library's and the internet, why spend hundreds of dollars on books" and i love it when i tell them that those things may not be around forever, and they just say " how? where would the go"

reply to post by chillpill


Text PurpleESSENTAIL:
PERMACULTURE A DESIGNERS' MANUAL, by BILL MOLLISON
considered to be the grandfather of permaculture (permanent agriculture)
essential knowledge for anyone desiring self-sufficiency with food growing
site:permaculture.org.au...


LOVE

reply to post by Aeons


Thanks Aeons - totally take your point. My issue is I dont trust people enough to share their resources and knowledge in the short to medium term.

Knowledge is power and I have the tools I need to survive short-medium term. I believe that the planet wouldn't be a nice place for quite a long time, and there would more than likely be a great deal of ransacking and destruction. Not all of our society sees the value of libraries and unfortunately most libraries tend now only to hold the kind of crap that people nowadays tend to want to read.

If they have one useful reference book, it would just my luck that someone had been in there and gotten it before me!

My priorities are gathering knowledge and being useful to a future "chosen" community. I can only do that if I have skills which differentiate me.

reply to post by Paul


The brewing is awesome! I bottled over 100 litres last night and have 50 litres to do tonight.

I did elderflower champagne which is stunning. Have done rosehip wine...got to wait on that to mature

Have done Barley wine, various ales, including nettle and have about 25 litres of cider maturing.


Have a lot of redcurrants around the garden - so that's wine...and lots of raspberries...

Also going to make blackcurrant port for xmas (got my xmas potatoes planted yesterday)

I see my future role in a ny potential "post apocalyptic society" is as the master brewer, farmer, spey wife !

www.urbandictionary.com...

reply to post by awake1234


Thank you - awesome direction!

I have a number of very good books that I can recommend. The following books cover most of what you would need to know in a wilderness survival situation, I would recommend having ALL of them for a complete set of necessary outdoor survival skills:

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival - very basic information, illustrations are crude but the text is good and covers a good breadth of subtopics.

Petersons Field guid to Wild Eible Plants - title says it all. Covers plants in the continental United States.

Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochansky - how to survive in northern boreal forests. Chapters on axe and knifecraft are invaluable to everyone.

"Naked into the wilderness", Primitive Wilderness Living and Survival Skills by John and Geri McPherson. Photos are poor but useful.

The Wilderness First Aid Guide by Wayne Merry.

These cover short-term survival skills and I would have to add one more title in case you being attacked or pursued by unfriendly individuals:

Ultimate Sniper by Maj. John Plaster - good information on hiding, camouflague, small squad military tactics, mantracking and evasion. You never know what you may be facing.

I like the whole series by Hesperian foundation.

When there is no doctor.
When there is no dentist.
When there is no female doctor.

Plus they have some books on building outhouses that don't pollute water systems and one on health care in villages.

SAS Survival Handbook - published by Collins Gem

Great book, loads of information on everything from first aid to nettle soup, urban survival to skinning deer. It's a physically tiny book, firs neatly into a bag pouch or pocket and it absolutely rammed with various techniques and tips from the greatest.