[bdcochran]

Thanks those books are hard to find I imagine. But maybe a used bookstore would have them

Thriftbooks (on line) has 104 different manuals on hand. I just looked for you.
Because you read all the prior contributions to the thread, I have some comments.

1. the army manual series is boring with a couple of exceptions:
a. you need a manual on a weapon you already own.
b. and I can't think of a second reason.
c. you are not going to learn soldiering skills by reading those manuals.

2. If your interest is meeting basic skills in different areas like first aid, cooking, bicycling, camping, then you go with the boy scout merit badge books because you not only read about a skill, you have to practice the skill or you are not considered somewhat experienced.

3. If your only interest in having a reference book, there are thousands of books - like the type of edible plants in your locale. However, you aren't going to survive very long by just have a book on edible flora in your area. You have to practice collecting and preparing that local plant before you get into a survival situation. Sure, you can eat wild mustard flowers and leaves in season. But for the food value, is it worth it? You can leach western acorns and prepare an edible flour. Do you think that you want to wait until shtf before testing that skill?

4. Have you ever been in combat? Have you had any shtf in your life up until now? Have you done the boy scout 50 mile hike in one week? I am not asking whether you walked the Appalachian Trail or walked the Khyber Pass. Most people have not. They have a vague notion that somehow a survival group will come together. If you think that you are going to bug out solo with a backpack, the probabilities are against you being successful. Oh, well let assume that you are a special person. You intend to survive alone and be healthy the whole time - no wife, no mother, no children, your chances of making it are still very low.

Go to the survival book section in the book subsection or maybe it is elsewhere in the survival section. I wrote about the Bieliski brothers and surviving WW2 with people who were old, babies, people with no particular skills. Read about the leadership, the rules, the organization of 1000 people who survived. Very few were trained soldiers, martial artists, knew how to mend clothes.

 

[RWBlue]

Thanks those books are hard to find I imagine. But maybe a used bookstore would have em

Not really. The data is out there online. Google it.
It is easy to put together a good library of Boyscout manual and military guides. Easy to get manuals on all your guns and ALL the US military guns that are likely to be found, bought, traded ..... I am not a TEOTWAWKI prepper, but if it does happen this is easy to get. If you have the space and three ring binders....print the ones you think you will need and make your library.

This being said, I think in most cases there are better books, pdfs.....


bdcochran, I am going to agree and disagree with you at the same time.

1. I would rather be an experienced, practiced individual. But if I can't be that....
2.I would rather be a well read individual, with a book and pictures and a theoretical understanding of what should be there. But if I can't be that....
3. I would rather have a book on the shelf that tells me how things should be.
4. If I can't do that....I am pretty screwed.

OR let me put it a different way.
1. You are hiking in the woods, slip, fall and are busted up and there is no way of calling for help. It would be great is Mountain Rescue/EMT is there hiking with you. But you didn't bring them...
2. The next best thing is a well read adult or boy scout who remembers their training and has some common sense, but hasn't seen a leg bent the way your leg is now bent. But you didn't being them along.
3. The next best thing is a guy who bought a book and has it in his pack and planned on reading it while in camp, but hasn't gotten to it.
4. And if you don't have any of the above....well you are pretty screwed.

OR let me put it a different way.....
The US gov. used to spend a good bit of time training people, but they also packed a survival book in the airplanes, life rafts, .... It is good to be trained, practiced AND have the book to reference, refresh you memory if possible. Now if you are humping your ass along the AT, I expect you know what you know and the book was dropped for weight, but that is different than not having it in the library, vehicle, liferaft....

2. If your interest is meeting basic skills in different areas like first aid, cooking, bicycling, camping, then you go with the boy scout merit badge books because you not only read about a skill, you have to practice the skill or you are not considered somewhat experienced.

I don't remember having to have hands on to pass the written.
I do think most scout masters require hands on to get the badge.

On some items, I don't see any way to really get the experience, without going somewhere and really getting the experience.
Unless you have shot someone, you don't know how that will effect you.
Unless you have been shot at, you don't know how that will effect you.
Unless you have had to patch someone up....
I mean shooting some drills helps and hunting, butchering animals helps, but .... I mean you could go get a pig and shoot it then try to patch it up, but even then... It isn't the same as seeing your friend get shot and then go about patching him/her up while being shot at.

 

[destinylong]

Ardbark is pretty much the best stie to get free survival books. currently reading bushcraft 101 Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival - Download PDF
site has alot of ads though. the link to get books is at the bottom of each post. it says PDF

 

[ruffhunter]

OLD thread but ill add. there was a guy on here years ago ( i believe it was here or survivalistboards forum) that had several long posts of his family experience during the bosnia war. very interesting read. Backwoodsman magazine already mentioned. lots of ideas. this booklet below used to be put out by fur fish and game and sits at deer camp. wrote turn of the century, that last one! dave canterburys is the same size. historical.

 

[The Night Rider]

 

[The Night Rider]

The Waldo Canyon Fire was a "Where were you when?" moment for Colorado Springs. It's also the very last time that I ever considered "Bugging out to the woods".

I took that picture probably right before lunch time on June 26th 2012. That was the moment the Waldo Canyon fire burned over the top of the hill into Queens Canyon on the western edge Colorado Springs.

That's what it looked like that afternoon.

And that's what it looked like right around 6:00 that night. Over 300 homes got burned down that night.

If you're out in the woods and something like that happens you're done.

 

[tazbigdog]

Foxfire books are good for homesteading. Read the ‘One Second After’ series. It details an EMP and what happens.

 

[USAF_PJ]

For what it is worth, a quick "google" search for survival manuals and survival schools showed up with a surprising number of options. Readers or student recommendations probably would make it somewhat easier to evaluate and select from them. I think training, supported with reading is part of the "Eagle Scout" success methodology.
I have received some great training, read quite a few books, and planned for different scenarios over the years. One thing that has become my best guess is that if half the people from a given larger metro decide to bug out (and the other die waiting for government help), every possible bugout route might be crowded. And what will you find when you get there? Hard to say (unless you have a Titan missile silo prepped!). I say this because most of the population lives within 45 miles of a metro...which could mean that "bugging out" will come in waves, with desperation building over time.
All my training is worthless if I have not acquired good maps with assets marked on them (ahead of time) for a trip or to gain necessities close to home and enroute. I don't think that GPS will be available in a variety of scenarios...
The idea of living off the land is not bad, but an examination of how to make a remote campsite secure and remain hidden for an extended period of time requires training that exceeds most combat vets experience. Add children into the mix and remaining undetected becomes more difficult.
imo, this is not just reading, but training, conversing with like minded people - which may be a better idea for those with loved ones, rather than trying to get them through the "living off the land" experience. Not sure my children and grandchildren are ever going to embrace much of the "living off the land" experience! When I look at where I would bug out to and what I would have when I got there, or hardening my home, hardening my home seems like a good idea (at least, until it is not). And I have a plan for that too. But planning and doing are not always easy! Just my thoughts...

 

[Aceman]

No love for the SAS survival manual? Wow....

 

[JackRyan]

NAVY SEALs BUG IN GUIDE: Transform Your House into the Safest Place on Earth: Hunter, James: 9798335783620: Amazon.com: Books

 

[destinylong]

SAS Survival Handbook is a good one as well. link to get it is at the bottom of the post. says PDF

 

[G19Cfan]

The SAS Survival Handbook is a great reference book.

No love for the SAS survival manual? Wow....

It has its honorable mention.

 

[fx77]

Site Survivalist Forum has a slew of books
Covers everything

https://www.survivalistboards.com/search/932099/?q=Survival+List+Books&o=relevance

 

[destinylong]

Are there any survival books you all would recommend ?

heres a pdf copy of the bushcraft 101

 

[WinstonDev]

This book is really good! I've already read it and recommend it to everyone!