I already tried the search bar if such a thread already existed but it appears none. I'm new to survivalism so I'm wondering what are some good books for a beginner? I already read The Survival Handbook by Peter Darman. Preferably I'm looking for books that can likely be obtained by the Interlibrary Loan .
Some good stuff recommended by members here: https://www.survivalmonkey.com/forums/reading-room.14/ and a list https://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/survival-books-required-reading-fiction-guides-beginners.22546/
Just found this link for lots of free pdf. files. http://preppers.info/Drum-Runners.html Not sure if it has been posted here before or not
This list is from Jim Rawles SurvivalBlog.com Title: First Tier Books: KJV Version Reference Bible with Apocrypha First Aid -- (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth Edition) by Carla Emery (See review, below) Making the Best of Basics - Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens Ball Blue Book of Preserving Cookin' with Home Storage by Vicki Tate Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.) The Alpha Strategy by John Pugsley. (Out of print, but a PDF is available for free download.) Boston's Gun Bible by Boston T. Party (See review, below) Survival Guns by Mel Tappan Tappan on Survival by Mel Tappan Second Tier Books: Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring Putting Food By (Plume) by Janet Greene Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide by Carol Hupping Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Lodgson How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: A Comprehensive Guide by Gene GeRue Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money by Dolly Freed Starting a New Life in Rural America: 21 Things You Need to Know Before You Make Your Move by Ragnar Benson The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler Emergency War Surgery (NATO Handbook:- Third United States Revision, 2004) by Dr. Martin Fackler, et al. PDR for Nonprescription Drugs, Dietary Supplements, and Herbs, 2008 (See review, below) Physicians Drug Handbook Physicians' Desk Reference 2009 (PDR, 63rd Edition) The Merck Veterinary Manual Where There Is No Vet by Bill Forse The ARRL Operating Manual For Radio Amateurs (ARRL Operating Manual) Passport to World Band Radio, 2009 Edition Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen Essential Bushcraft by Ray Mears SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman Ultimate Sniper 2006 : An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers (2006 Updated Edition) by Maj. John L. Plaster Total Resistance by H. von Dach The Survivor book series by Kurt Saxon. Many are out of print in hard copy, but they are all available on DVD. Here, I must issue a caveat lector ("reader beware"): Mr. Saxon has some very controversial views that I do not agree with. Among other things he is a eugenicist. Other Nonfiction Books Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers: Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli The Foxfire Book series (in 11 volumes, but the first five are the best) When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency by Matthew Stein Preparedness Now!: An Emergency Survival Guide (Expanded and Revised Edition) by Aton Edwards Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management by Maurice G. Kains How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (Field Guide) Ditch Medicine: Advanced Field Procedures For Emergencies by Hugh Coffee Living Well on Practically Nothing by Ed Romney The Secure Home by Joel Skousen Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, by Neil Strauss 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive by Cody Lundin When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikesby Cody Lundin The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO's Contribution to Warfareby John Poole Camping & Wilderness Survival: The Ultimate Outdoors Book by Paul Tawrell Engineer Field Data (US Army FM 5-34) --Available online free of charge, with registration, but I recommend getting a hard copy. preferably with the heavy-duty plastic binding. Great Livin' in Grubby Times by Don Paul Just in Case by Kathy Harrison Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance by John & Martha Storey Adventure Medical Kits A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicineby Eric A. Weiss, M.D Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook (it superceded the very out-of-date ST 31-91B) Wilderness Medicine, 5th Edition by Paul S. Auerbach Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Longby Elliot Coleman Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring The Weed Cookbook: Naturally Nutritious - Yours Free for the Taking! by Adrienne Crowhurst The Modern Survival Retreat by Ragnar Benson Last of the Mountain Men by Harold Peterson Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness by John McPherson LDS Preparedness Manual, edited by Christopher M. Parrett The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James H. Kunstler Principles of Personal Defense - Revised Edition by Jeff Cooper Survival Poaching by Ragnar Benson The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses by Eliot Coleman The Blacksmith's Craft: A Primer of Tools & Method The Complete Modern Blacksmith (Paperback) The Making of Tools (Paperback) Metal Casting: A Sand Casting Manual for the Small Foundry, Vol. 1 (Paperback) Iron Melting Cupola Furnaces for the Small Foundry (Paperback) Sheet Metal Forming Processes and Die Design (Hardcover) "Five Acres and Independence " by M.G. Kains "Be Ready to Barter" Reference Book List: Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values Blue Book of Gun Values The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 2010 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-Date Antique Trader - Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide Wristwatch Annual 2009: The Catalog of Producers, Prices, Models, and Specifications Jewelry & Gems the Buying Guide: How to Buy Diamonds, Pearls, Colored Gemstones, Gold & Jewelry With Confidence And Knowledge Jim Rawles Books: "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation" -- this book has details on selecting the locale for a self-sufficient survival retreat. The "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course (co-authored by JWR) "How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It". A detailed guide to family preparedness for turbulent times "Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse" and my screenplay "Pulling Through".The latter is currently available for free download. Recommended Books on Current Events and Economics: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nick Taleb Government By Emergency by Dr. Gary North Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse by Peter Schiff Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes by Michael J. Panzner When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era by Michael J. Panzner The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide by Martin Weiss Financial Reckoning Day Fallout: Surviving Today's Global Depression by Addison Wiggin and Bill Bonner The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James H. Kunstler Fiction with Survival and Preparedness Themes (Some of these are out of print but usually available via inter-library loan): Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (A classic nuke scenario) The Rackham Files by Dean Ing (includes the text of "Pulling Through" a more modern nuke scenario + a mini nuke survival manual) Not to be confused with my screenplay--also titled "Pulling Through". Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys (Plague total wipe-out scenario) No Blade of Grass by John Christopher (Massive crop disease/social breakdown scenario, from the British perspective.) Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party Earth Abides by George Stewart Vandenberg by Oliver Lange (Invasion scenario. Note: It was later republished under the title: Defiance: An American Novel) The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog's Editor at Large) Unintended Consequences by John Ross (This otherwise excellent novel was marred by some vulgarity and gratuitous sex scenes. Beware!) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Wolf And Iron by Gordon Dickson The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton Fire and Ice, by Ray Kytle Survivalist Fiction Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers: One Second After by William R. Forstchen (An EMP scenario.) World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler Last of the Breed by Louis L’amour Survivors by Terry Nation Conquistador: A Novel of Alternate History by S.M. Stirling The Road by Cormac McCarthy Warday: And the Journey Onward by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka Malevil by Robert Merle Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein King Rat by James Clavell Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle The Rawles Kids' Favorite Books for Young Adults: Nonfiction: Hatchet My Side of the Mountain Robinson Crusoe Treasure Island Kidnapped The Swiss Family Robinson The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Little House on the Prairie Series The Chronicles of Narnia Series The Tripods Series Johnny Tremain Fiction for Young Adults Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers: The Tomorrow Series Life As We Knew It Escape from Warsaw (Original title: The Silver Sword) The Late Memsahib's Top "Must Have" Book: The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth edition) by Carla Emery. Sasquatch Books. (Get the Ninth or later edition.) This book is 845 pages of valuable 'how-to' country survival knowledge. The Memsahib (1964-2009) wrote: "The first time that I butchered chickens, I used this book. When I needed 15 different ways to fix zucchini I turned to this book, when I wanted to make soap, pickles, jelly, bread from scratch, butter, and cream cheese, I found everything I needed to know in this book!" Other Books Recommended by The Late Memsahib: How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle by Charles Long Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Lodgson The Family Cow by Dirk van Loon Raising a Calf for Beef by Phyllis Hobson Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk van Loon Raising Rabbits the Modern Way by Bob Bennett Raising Sheep the Modern Way. Updated and Revised Edition by Paula Simmons Ducks and Geese in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide by Rick and Gail Luttmann The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody Recommended Magazine Subscriptions: Backwoods Home Countryside & Small Stock Journal Home Power Some of JWR's Favorite Practical and Tactical Training DVDs: Clinton Anderson: On the Road to the Horse Colt Starting The Art of the Tactical Carbine Knifemaking Unplugged
I believe in the crawl, walk, then run process of learning. With this in mind I would suggest the Boy Scout Handbook and the Boy Scout Field Guide. These are bases of knowledge to build upon. Good luck, welcome to the prepper community, and if you have any question feel free to ask either on here or IM me personally.
I would say the Red Cross handbook is a must. I carry it with me on a daily basis and pretty much have the thing memorized. You should also take a few classes though them if you want the material to stick. After that I would focus on water purification, growing and storing foods (food preservation), and of course self defense. When it comes down to it. You need to know how to take care of basic medical needs, feeding your and your loved ones (if you have any), and keeping the baddies away from you at all costs. These means run away and lay low if you can and if you have to engage do it without hesitation and ask questions later. The key to survival is being able to fly under that radar while meeting your basic, human survival needs.
