Books that will save you, or your families lives.

There is a lot of worry lately about the possibility of the partial, or long-term collapse of society. From the sun, war, to zombies and aliens. A lot of people are unsure of what to do in a case like this. So I thought we could start a thread which at least attempted to help those who wish to help themselves out. In a collapse of any duration there are a few factors which will decide who survives, and who’s genes are not passed on.
There are some very good books that will help:

Note: There aren’t any links to these books, I’m not getting money for pitching these, nor do I profess that these are the best. These are just some options for those who wish to plan ahead.

Overall

1. How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Wesley Rawles

2. SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition: For Any Climate, in Any Situation by John "Lofty" Wiseman

3. When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin

Preparing

1. Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur T. Bradley

Escaping

2. Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It's Too Late by Scott B. Williams

Water

1. Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks by Art Ludwig

2. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond (Vol. 2): Water-Harvesting Earthworks by Brad Lancaster

Food

1. Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis by Peggy Layton

2. How To Bury Your Goods: The Complete Manual of Long Term Underground Storage by Eddie the Wire

3. The Modern Hunter-Gatherer-A Practical Guide to Living Off the Land by Tony Nester

4. The Complete Guide to Building Your Own Greenhouse: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide (Back-To-Basics) by Craig Byrd

Medical

1. When There Is No Doctor: Preventive and Emergency Healthcare in Uncertain Times (Process Self-reliance Series) by Gerard S. Doyle

2. Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

3. Emergency War Surgery by NATO

4. US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook by Department of the Army

Weapons/Defense

1. Beginners Guide to Guns and Shooting by Clair Rees

2. The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Combat by Ron Shillingford

3. Krav Maga: How to Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault by Eyal Yanilov

Shelter

1. Building Small Barns, Sheds & Shelters by Monte Burch

2. Shelters, shacks, and shanties: The classic guide to building wilderness shelters by D.C. Beard

3. How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home by Joel Skousen

4. The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler

Please fill free to add any books to this, or talk about the ones listed. This is not my complete guide, I wanted to leave some room for everyone else to putt their two cents in. All opinions are appreciated. I don’t profess to know all, nor do I know anyone who I respect who does.

o geez..arent there any good movies..all that read makes me wanna wish nothing happens in 2012

reply to post by heineken


if you cant be bothered to read just watch bear grylls and ray mears, they will teach you some good tips on survival

Got any links to electronic versions?

reply to post by lewman


This is for those who wish to do it themselves. A lot of these books where written by people ly Bear. Bear's ex SAS i think. He was a british commando or something. Fill free to add whatever you like. It was show's like his that first got me really thinking about what would i do if it all went away tomorrow. Would i die, or would i thrive

reply to post by Wowbagger


I think. Mind u ive been told that's not my strong suit. But i think a lot of these can be found on Amazon. There is also a few good e-books starting with Seargent Carter's etc, etc. He's got like ten or twelve of them online.

reply to post by lewman


+1

2nd : i will tnks XD

Does anyone have links to things such as this that you can print online?? I know I can't afford to buy all those books even though I would like too. If we could print them out online then we could start a notebook with tabs and file each printout under a topic and keep it with our bug in gear...any help? I do not know how to post links anyway I have to rely on you guys for that!!! BUT I want that info!!!

reply to post by Royal76


commandoes arent quite as hard core as sas but they are better trained than the normal british soldiers, ray mears actually teaches(or used to atleast) the sas on survival techniques and the sas is the toughest special foces to get into in the world so he is pretty clued up on thes type of things.

tbh though i quite like watching these programmes but am more interested in reading political books like chomsky etc... than i am on reading about survival techniques but lets hope this isnt to my detrement.

I suggest the "Foxfire" series. Use the ATS search and find quite a few threads.
I think having the knowledge in print is super important. If you are the only person in your family with survival skills nobody survives if you are out of action.

good choices op, those are all decent books, and i own several of them.

here's a link i found on a previous thread, (i book marked the site) i can't remember which thread, so props to the op of that thread. modern survival they've got some good stuff.

as far as watching bear, i'd advise, entertainment only, and i don't even do that. bear does a lot of things that are just outright stupid. and tries to convince people it's ok to do them, when doing those things could possibly get you killed. les stroud, in my opinion, is the better, of the two, AND he advises against doing anything stupid or dangerous, he knows it could kill you. les has spent way more time living off the land than bear grylls. and of course you can find all of les' stuff on you tube. he also has an interesting 7 part series on you tube with les called "off the grid", where he and his family decide to leave city life behind. just saerch les stroud off the grid

then, though they're relatively new on the scene, the two guys from "dual survival" are pretty good, not only information wise, but they give separate views on survival. one being former military, the other a barefoot hippie.

also, i'd recommend the fox fire books. these books are a set written about life in the appalachian mountains in the u.s. they cover almost anything you'd need to know about living "old school", so to speak. you can buy the whole set of 12 books for about $212.00 u.s. directly from fox fire, or on amazon.

fox fire


another site, i also bookmarked this from another thread here on ats, so, once again, props to whoever that op is. these are u.s. military manuals in pdf form, the site is free.

steves pages

umm and i think that's about it.

Hi there, all good books, I have read some of them. Others that I have that are also a great read include

Aftermath, Lawrence E Joseph
98.6 Degrees, Cody Lundin
Crisis Preparedness Handbook, Spigarelli

I also have to agree with the coments on Bear Grylls. As much as I love to watch him, and try to learn what I can, He is a bit reckless. I often say to my wife that what he does is all well and good if your a highly trained ex special forces super fit type, but if most people attempt some of what he does, different outcome I think.
I do enjoy Dual survival with Cody Lundin and Dave Canterbury. Gives a good mix of different approaches to a situation.
I have watched a couple of seasons of The Colony on Discovery, but to be honest have found it more of a guide of what not to do, but occasionally there are some good ideas worth noting.

I picked up the above books on Amazon quite cheap.

reply to post by disaster123


Yeah i watched that last season of the colony on discovery channel. It was very interesting, especially with the ways they created good water, and that windmill. I mentally put myself in their colony and wondered how i would have acted, or been treated. I think the episode of Bear that really got me thinking was the one in which he moved around through that ruins of either Russia, or some eastern european port. It really made me think about what i would really be able to do. After that, i started picking up different books on how to do things on my own. Knowledge is never bad, and the people with it are usually at least needed in disaster situations. Alone those people can at least survive. In a group situation people who are usefull will be allowed to become a part of a group, while those who don't have knowledge are usually asked to fend for themselves in those type of situations.

One Second After by WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN

Though this is a work of fiction. It is very useful to me in the fact that it kind of give you an idea of what could happen. It's not a zombie apocalypse, or aliens. It's just the story of what could happen if EMP's are set off over the United States. From the perspective of a former military guy, who gave up the army to live the quiet life with his family in small town North Carolina. It's quite good. But i am biased, because i've always been a sucker for stories like this.

Green Beret Medical Manual for a 96 Delta

This was a recommendation to me from a close family friend who was also a ex-GB.
The books already mentioned seem interesting, its good to see a threat with this information.
S&f

you know if everybody goes to the woods, theres not going to be any resources left there ether.
best thing might be a hole in da ground, if you pack it right you can hole up for a long time.
might want to find info on how to be a sneaky pete, so nobody knows what your up to or what you got.
when things get bad people are gonna go nuts, and the less you have to deal with the better off your gonna be.

reply to post by Wowbagger

Check this one out.

RAGNARS URBAN SURVIVAL - A HARD TIMES GUIDE TO STAYING ALIVE IN THE CITY by Ragnar Benson

Its published by Paladin Press, but I downloaded it as a PDF but can't remember where. A quick Google search should find it easily. He has a few other books too, but this is one of the few that focuses on city survival as opposed to the usual wilderness stuff.
It covers absolutely everything and is an excellent book. As was stated above, If everyone bugs out to the woods, there will be nothing left there either. I agree, this will show you how do do it in a city/urban environment. Get it now.

Found a link for you to download the PDF
Ragnars Urban Survival (scroll down a bit and you'll see it)


Over 300 military manuals are available for download on the site "Steves Pages" mentioned by notsofast above. Its an excellent collection (thanks for the link) and I picked out things like medical care guides, field fortifications, food preservation etc, and don't forget the one that is really important to know, Obstetrics and Newborn Care.

The most important survival skill is one you cannot learn from a book.

Common sense

Here are some others i've found.


Real Books
1. Preparedness now : An emergency survival guide(Expanded and Revised Edition) (Process Self-Reliance) by Aton Edwards
2. Camping & Wilderness Survival by Paul Tawrell
3. US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76 by Department of Defense
4. Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens
5. Tom Brown’s Guide to Wild Edible and Medical Plants (Field Guide) by Tom Brown jr.
6. Gardening When it counts: Growing food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) by Steve Solomon

Fiction
7. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart -fiction, disease outbreak
8. Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles -fiction, christian, follows a group through stock market crash, economic collapse, 2nd civil war
9. One Second After by William R. Forstchen- follows a man in small town North Carolina after an EMP and society starts to collapse.