What's Books Are In Your Survival Library?

To martha & All,

Here are my Top 10 for general prepping for a non-descript disaster or other emergency - a.k.a. baseline knowledge that will help in any situation but not specialized towards a specific threat.

#1 It's A Disaster! .....And What Are You Gonna Do About It?

#2 Back to Basics - A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills 3rd Edition

#3 Camping & Wilderness Survival - The Ultimate Outdoors Book - After a review, no comparison. This book belongs here.

#4 Medicine for Mountaineering & Other Wilderness Activities OR Where There's No Doctor

#5 The SAS Survival Handbook

#6 The Last Canadian OR One Second After

#7 The SAS Urban Survival Handbook

#8 Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rocky Mountains & Neibouring Territories

#9 The Three Meter Zone

#10 Be Expert With Map & Compass - The Complete Orienteering Handbook by Bjorn Kjellstrom

I have mentioned every one of these books in earlier posts except #10, thus the inclusion of author.

For a person to start with zero books and then bought and read and practiced what is included in these ten books you would have an above average chance at surviving any situation, in any climate, in any terrain, in any season in any part of the world. Is your survival guaranteed? No, but if you did not panic and kept your wits about you and improvised what you had with you; you would have the very best chance of surviving.

I will add 11 through 25 by the end of the weekend.

Good reading and good hunting,

Mountainman.

I really appreciate the list Mountainman. I have lots of books, many I haven't read... yet. What helps me most is to hear about the "must have's", and that's what you've listed here. As a result of your list, I'm definitely going to order It's a Disaster, and I'm thinking about ordering some of the others. I will get back with my "must have" list after doing a bit more reading.

#1 is a definite must I have it and am very pleased with its content..Nice list my friend....

I just put a reply in another thread that got me thinking about this. In a long-term survival situation, there are some favorite FICTION books that could be useful- more so as a good material to read now that might get a person thinking about the more esoteric aspect of life after SHTF. Here's a few for you all to check out- they are science fiction, but written by an author who was a genius, technically accurate (a mathematician and engineer before becoming a writer), and able to write about subjects as parts of his stories that make a person THINK:

Starship Troopers
Methuselah's Children
Farnham's Freehold
Tunnel in the Sky
- all by Robert A Heinlein, and reading any one will lead you to others... and if he were alive today, he'd be a prepper. Correction: He'd be prepped.

my survival library contain, information and technical books. Survive and build.

Howdy All,

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Fellow Forum member Prom pointed me in the direction of this next read.

Debt - The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

Image from Amazon.com

Thanks Prom. I am not finished reading yet, but the author makes a very strong arguement and supports his point of view very well. You may not argee with all the points the author is trying to make, but it is worth your time to read this book.

So, what is in your library??

Mountainman.

To martha and All,

It has been more than a weekend, but here we go with must have books 11 to 25.

11. DARE to Prepare by Holly Drennon DEYO. 4th Edition.

12. Where There's No Dentist

13. Where There's No Doctor

14. One Second After

15. Fieldbook for Canadian Scouting

16. Long Term Survival in the Coming Dark Age - Preparing to Live After Society Crumbles by James BALLOU

17. The Ultimate Guide to Homesteading - An Encyclopedia of Independent Living by Nicole FAIRES

18. Complete Survival Manual National Geographic Society - This book belongs at this level. It is not quite comparable to #3.

19. Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack A. SPIGARELLI

20. EMERGENCY - This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil STRAUSS

21. How to Survive the end of the World as we Know it by James Wesley Rawles

22. Building with Logs & Log Cabin Construction Classic Reprint Series

23. Tappan on Survival by Mel TAPPAN

24. Patriots by James Wesley Rawles (Add Survivors and Founders to get the whole story.)

25. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe

To JFamily, I take your advice on DARE to Prepare. One day that book will adorn my survival bookshelf, too. Thanks in advance for the suggestion.

So, what is in your library??

Mountainman.

Howdy All,

Anyone want to recommend a first class log cabin building book??

I have listed Building with Logs & Log Cabin Construction Classic Reprint Series But I am sure there are better books on the subject. This one uses techniques and tools common in the 1940's, so they talk about hand making the cabin.

Any suggestions would be worthwhile and valuable for those trying to start a library or add to it.

Thanks,

Mountainman.

Well, not sure about world class, but I ave copies and enjoyed Buidling with Logs, revised and expanded Edition by B Allen Mackie...had some good thoughts with traditional type log building as well as insights and examples of moving the beasts around.
Also have The Craft of Lob Building, by Herman Phelps...pretty long book that takes you from falling, to crafting and joinery, to different styles of roof (ie thatched, soil and other) onto all the different styles from around the world with lots of decorative styles near the end.

Not sure if this helps or not, but they are 2 of probably 4-5 I have read..the only two I could find at this moment.

I helped build our log hunting cabin back about 25 years ago, and wish I would have read these prior to...had a pretty cold first winter hunting, before we could chink it properly, put the logs (vertical at that) in a bit too green and they shrunk a ton when we arrived for our first 10 day hunt, with about 2 feet of snow, and minus 20 Cecius in eve. Never mattered though really cause 3 seasons in some kids hiked back the 5 miles in the woods, and came across it and burnt it to the ground...next one was more traditional framing, and went together a lot faster and ended up being a lot warmer.

Cheers
Chevy55

After reading so many fictional apocalyptic novels I'm curious about the actual construction of castles and keeps. The authors always make it sound so easy to whip off a wall, tower and keep! I tried to find a book that provides "blue prints" or something more than simple pictures but have not had any luck from the Google or Amazon... There are too many hits on model castles for school projects.

It is probably not a resource I'll ever need but I'm curious if anyone has seen any useful titles?

thanks,

As a builder for a living I feel embarrassed I cannot think of a log cabin book that stands out. Over the years I have assisted with certain components such as stairs but have never taken up the challenge from start to finish. I can say it is not as easy as it looks and in my opinion done properly more difficult than a conventional framed house.

If I were considering a simplistic permanent housing in a post SHTf with limited resources and technical prowess I would be leaning towards a straw bale house or a sand bag house. IMO not on par with a good log cabin but a sound alternative for a DIY home. Do a google search and you might be surprised. Just something to consider for library under " How to move out of tent".

Cheers

After reading so many fictional apocalyptic novels I'm curious about the actual construction of castles and keeps. The authors always make it sound so easy to whip off a wall, tower and keep! I tried to find a book that provides "blue prints" or something more than simple pictures but have not had any luck from the Google or Amazon... There are too many hits on model castles for school projects.

It is probably not a resource I'll ever need but I'm curious if anyone has seen any useful titles?

thanks,

Someone has been reading SM Stirling's THE CHANGE Series!

A friend just introduced me to those as well and my mind went in the same direction.

Crashed

Very good stories... they get a lot more into the supernatural as the series progresses but a really good "wrecked-world" story.

But it does seem like most of this sci-fi sub-genre ends up having a good fortress popping up in the storyline; hence my curiosity.

Check out David Crawford. He has written "Lights Out" and "Collision Course", which are interesting reads.

Has anyone touched on how they would take their library with them if SHTF? I've been loading up my Kobo with as much as I can; it can store a tremendous amount of info in a lot of different formats including .pdf. If your internet/torrent search-fu is up to it, almost anything can be found and stored. Just be sure to use Caliber instead of the Kobo software.