Survival Data?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by melbo, Oct 3, 2006.


  1. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Had a question via email.

    Seems the guy was downloading all 24 MB of NATO war Surgery or something like that... He asked me what we do with all the info on survival we find and gather. Do we print it out on reams of paper, save it to CD, other?

    That's a good question.

    I have a small home office and stock a few cases of copy paper. I don't print off all of my PDF gems. I print almost nothing really. I have a laptop and store most of my info there. I also have a pocket pc that has some other stuff.

    I plan to be able to run a small amount of my electronics post SHTF via my solar setup. I

    What's your plan for 'accessing' your data if the lights go out?
     
  2. Infidel

    Infidel Guest

    if your lights go out permanently reading your printed manuals will be the last of your worries.
    Even in SU the lights did not go out permanently. During the fall of SU we had rolling blackouts, or rather we had 2 hours of electricity a day.

    but nothing permanent.

    please think of a scenario where the lights go out permanently AND you will have the leisure to read

    Either you are prepared or you are NOT prepared

    If you are concerned with something like reading ebooks when the lights go out permanently may I suggest a ruggedized pda (then of course there is EM Pulse that not all of these withstand)

    http://www.tdsway.com/ or http://www.psalmgear.co.uk/intro.htm
     
  3. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    I don't take chances.... if its really important... or might be really important... its printed out or acquired in hardcopy....

    I think its a good drill in discipline.... force yourself to decide what you absolutely must have.... and make sure you have hard copy.... several copies.... in several places....

    Don't get me wrong... I have tons of stuff saved in electronic format... and videos and dvds that are all instructional.... but relying on my ability to access it.... now that's risky in my opinion...

    If you're gonna rely on it... and your life or the life of your loved ones may rely on it.... why take the chance.... buy it in hard copy or buy paper and ink while you can and print that sucker out.... while you can do it in a leisurely fashion....

    Been doing it for years... still printing .... but while I have tons in electronic format... I have tons in good old fashioned paper....

    Kinda ironic.... its like wealth... if you don't own it, have it, touch it, feel it, smell it, etc.... you don't really have it....

    JMHO....
     
  4. BRONZ

    BRONZ Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    electronic is good but have a paper back up.
     
  5. yonder

    yonder No Despot's Servant

    I've got so much computer equipment squirreled away it is sick. As long as I can make electricity (and I have backups for my backups there) I will have a computer. No need to kill trees.

    But really the very best stuff I like to have bound in books. Not very portable, so only good for bugging in.

    I probably should spin up a DVD iso of what I've got so far, though, and burn off multiple copies stored in multiple places. Or better yet, CDROM since I have far more spare CDROM drives than DVD drives.
     
  6. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

    I was putting some of my music onto a minid SD card. So far, 225 songs and 450 mb of the 1G card used. I would think a PDA that could be kept charged would be the ultimate digital devise for storage of data. If the PDA failed, you could probably find another one to use. The problem is not losing the cards.
     
  7. phishi

    phishi Psy-Ops Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I'm with Bear on this...to a point. I don't have multiple copies. Or rather, I don't have multiple copies of the same book. I have multiple copies of books that follow a similar thought, like wilderness medicine. The ones that I feel I need, that broaden my knowledge, I have here. The ones that I feel are good, but that I am unlikely to reference, I hand out to people that I feel could use them.

    It doesn't hurt that those same people happen to have spots that I would choose to flee to if the SHTF. I figure if it is already there, I can shed a book for something else that might be equally useful.

    Just my .02
    phishi

    Doesn't hurt to add that I have a serious distrust of technology. I figure that the moment you need it most the darn thing will crap all over you.
     
  8. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I have a few books around on medical, both natural and pharmacutical, then I have a 3 ring binder with print outs of a few things like recipees for soap makeing from raw natural materials and so on and a hand full of books on primitive skills/basic survival and so on.

    For most of the stuff though I take a view somewhat similar to Infidel in that, at least for emergency skills, you are not likely to have the luxury of time to read up on it when you need it. As an example neuclear disaster, I do plan to look up some info I have studied online so that it could be referenced if possible but by the time you see a mushroom cloud if you dont know that A-it can be survived and so standing out to watch the fireworks isnt the anwser and B-what to do in the imediate to survive it, then haveing the info in any format other than in your head is of little to no value because you dont have the time to look it up and rwad it before you have to act or no longer have that option.

    I try to basicly study rather than just read what I feel is important and absorb at least the high points of it and beyond that find the most condensed versions of it I can to print the critical things and add them to a binder. The soap makeing for instance tells in about 3 pages how to take wood an animal and some water and make soap, then from the info stored between my ears I know how to use the by products as well as some of the ingredients you get from these 3 main ingredients to do many other things like make a levening agent for cooking, fertalizer for the garden, mix some by products with sugar to make an explosive similar to gun powder, make candles, slip the hair from hides to tan hides without the fur/hair, and a number of other things.

    That is just one example but it would apply even more to imediate things like emergency medical info and so on. If you dont already know enouph to apply it then by the time you read enouph to even refresh much on it then its to late. For a lot of the things like the soap makeing though that dont have to be done in the firstt days or on an urgent basis in any SHTF situation then it can be good to have a readers digest version on hand. As far as the info kept on hand I figure that a hard copy in print is the most reliable and the only other medium I would consider for escential info would be micro film with a reader that didnt require batteries or anything that I have heard some folks have which could balance the need for something that could be damaged (though unlikely with basic care) to acess it efficiently with the amount of info that could be stored in a given space or carried/transported if needed.

    My bigest thing is I just try my best to be sure I have already practiced at least somewhat all the skills I would have to have in the aftermath of a situation before it hapens and have the knowledge on how to get through the situation beforehand. I just figure the learning curve is a LOT more forgiving now than it would be then so if I got bad info it can be corrected now but later I would just be screwed.
     
  9. Bogie

    Bogie Monkey+++

    My important stuff is on my home PC, My Laptop, Burned to Disc & Printed Some stuff has been transfered to a 1GB USB drive m expementing with for the last few weeks
     
  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I'm with melbo on this, to a point. I plan to have everything on CD, eventually, and plan on a power supply however minimal. That said, I also plan on the tribe concept to a degree, and figure to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. When the "tribe" gathers there should be an org chart of some sort that tells who has what and who needs what. At this point, the "org chart" does not exist, but eventually it will need setting up. As of this minute, I am unprepared beyond a few days. That will be fixed over the next three years, if all goes according to "The Plan" in mind.
     
  11. KHAN

    KHAN Monkey+++

    Seems like we think exactly alike on this matter BEAR!
     
  12. ricdoug

    ricdoug Monkey+++

    Being a Retired Marine Recon Scout Sniper...

    most of my Survival Training was pounded into my brain housing group. I can identify most edible plants, purify and sanitize water and have eaten monitor lizards and fruit bats in the Philippines. I know the breasts of birds, including scavengers like crows, are edible. I. too, have Solar Backup and DC to AC Inverters for communicatioins and basic luxury backup power. My entire outside perimeter is illuminated by Solar Charged Lighting every night. We also have a library of printed .PDF manuals. Ric

     
  13. Sojourner

    Sojourner Silverback

    When I find info that I am no longer familiar with, I print it for later refresher. I have a lot filed in the old brain, but sometimes, I forget where I put the file, and can't defrag the brain yet. Everything goes into a ring binder and on a shelf with my other books. Invaluable stuff. I'm an info junkie.:)
     
  14. poacher

    poacher Monkey+++ Founding Member

    If it's important enough to be put on a disc then it's important enough to be printed off as well. I don't keep the cd and the printed material at the same place so if I loose one I've got the other.
    Take care Be safe Poacher.
     
  15. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    My 2 cents is this; I like books. You can access them anytime anywhere. The only problem is wieght and bulk. I have two manuals that are in my BOB that I consider essential equipment.

    At home I have an extensive survival library. A significant portion of it is printed PDF's placed in plastic sheets and cataloged in three ring binders.

    I consider any electronic devices to be luxury items. I have electricity back-ups and back-ups for the back-ups, but I don't depend on them.
    If I can shelter in place fine, but most of what I have is expendable if need arises and will be abandoned.

    I will take with me what I can and most of that will be in my head. Knowledge is power. The safest place to store anything is in your mind.

    On the other hand a survival library would be a gold mine in a post TEOTWAWKI world.The barter value would be immense.Likely more valuable than gold or silver.

    So I think a happy medium should be applied here. Have the electronic info sources but back them up with hard copies and don't count on either one. Learn and file away all the knowledge, and most important, practical experience, that you can now. A room full of survival books and or CDs is worthless if you don't know how to apply the things that are in them. Smack dab in the middle of a true SHTF event is not the time to be trying to remember what that book said to do to survive.
    [2c]
     
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