A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

I did a search on the Survival Forum and I could find no thread listing useful Survival Books. I am beginning a list by providing some books that I have purchased and find useful to add to my survival skills.

I've studied each of them enough so that I might only need to take the Medical Guide and Wild Plants Guide with me on foot, should I need to pare down to my maximum carried weight of 40lbs or so, but these books are actually pretty small in size, although some go to 400+ pages...

I bought mine on ebay. Some were lightly used but no worse for wear.

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Fighting skills… it is always best to AVOID CONFLICTS, but if you have to fight, do it very well…

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U.S. Marines Close-Quarter Combat Manual (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...Fencoding=UTF8

Or perhaps this one…

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This shocking manual takes you through the army's close-quarter combat system as taught by its master instructor. Find out how to break a man's arm after disarming him, do a bad guy with a bayonet or entrenching tool and many more battlefield techniques. For academic study only.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...g=UTF8&s=books

And of course, this one… a sort of spiritual guide as well... survival is a war against your own death.

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The Art of War (Pocket Edition)
Paperback: 114 pages
Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 3.0 x 0.4 inches
The Art of War is the Swiss army knife of military theory--pop out a different tool for any situation. Folded into this small package are compact views on resourcefulness, momentum, cunning, the profit motive, flexibility, integrity, secrecy, speed, positioning, surprise, deception, manipulation, responsibility, and practicality. Thomas Cleary's translation keeps the package tight, with crisp language and short sections. Commentaries from the Chinese tradition trail Sun-tzu's words, elaborating and picking up on puzzling lines. Take the solitary passage: "Do not eat food for their soldiers." Elsewhere, Sun-tzu has told us to plunder the enemy's stores, but now we're not supposed to eat the food? The Tang dynasty commentator Du Mu solves the puzzle nicely, "If the enemy suddenly abandons their food supplies, they should be tested first before eating, lest they be poisoned." Most passages, however, are the pinnacle of succinct clarity: "Lure them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion" or "Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability is in the opponent." Sun-tzu's maxims are widely applicable beyond the military because they speak directly to the exigencies of survival. Your new tools will serve you well, but don't flaunt them. Remember Sun-tzu's advice: "Though effective, appear to be ineffective."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...g=UTF8&s=books

Medical Skills… there will perhaps be no doctors in the aftermath and confusion of a disaster… consider what Green Berets are taught… to keep casualties from becoming KIA’s… very detailed stuff… is there a doctor in the house? Most likely -- NO. Be prepared!

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US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook (Paperback)
The finest book on basic First Aid available; this manual is based on a great deal of experience under primitive conditions. Chapters include basic life saving first aid, opening the airway and restoring breathing, stop bleeding, treat for shock, first aid for common emergencies. Also, contents of first aid case and kits. Very well illustrated. Do not let yourself or your buddy die; read this book!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096...g=UTF8&s=books

Gathering Vegetable Food… there is so much. Pick shoots in the Spring, Flowers and Berries in the Summer, Nuts in the Fall, Bark and roots in the winter. Vitamins galore, flavor, and some carbohydrates…. Maybe vital to living long-term after a disaster. And fun stuff to know, anyway… food is all around you!

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More than 370 edible wild plants, plus 37 poisonous look-alikes, are described here, with 400 drawings and 78 color photographs showing precisely how to recognize each species. Also included are habitat descriptions, lists of plants by season, and preparation instructions for 22 different food uses.

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world"'s greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation, as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039...g=UTF8&s=books

Gathering Wild Meat… fat and protein calories... with 260 feet of green Florist’s 26ga Wire, 200 feet of 7-strand 550 lb test parachute cord, and I will quickly and silently have small game and deer to give me the vital calories and protein that I need to live… when I cook or dry and smoke wild game… Much easier, less energy required, and more efficient than hunting with my ‘survival food‘ .22 Buckmark pistol. But the potent little .22 is very good to finish a deer when caught in a snare… and suburban game is really dumb when compared to wild game… even traps for perimeter defenses are covered too. Primitive passive weapons can be a lost art today… but the Viet Cong guerrillas sure knew about them...

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An excellent source for the complete novice. Martin's work is clear, complete and even humorous. As someone who did not even know the difference between a trap or a snare, I can highly recommend this book as a first step in finding out. The illustrations are flawless. This book was a wealth of information on being able to provide meat for yourself in the event of emergencies. Happy reading!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...lance&n=283155

Cords and knotting is a useful part of most tool implement and shelter making. This one is easy to understand and apply to improve your skills greatly…

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Morrow Guide to Knots
Here is an entirely different kind of knot book! For the first time, here are step-by-step instructions that take full advantage of color photography to teach the art of tying knots. Unlike illustrations in other books, these pictures show every step looking over the shoulder of the tier -- the way you see the knot as you make it. And when two or more ropes are involved, they are color coded so you can clearly tell them apart.
Included in addition are a section on decorative knots, a cross-reference list of the many applications of knots, and a detailed glossary. The Morrow Guide to Knots is a reliable and essential reference tool for all sportsmen and campers, homeowners, and youngsters as well.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068...g=UTF8&s=books

Excellent General Purpose Comprehensive Survival Book still offering much detail... Making shelters, obtaining water, avoiding detection… this is a general purpose book very much in depth with a lot of general info… much of it is redundant or inferior to previous listed specialty books however...

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This is truly an important book for everyone to read at least once in their life. Given, most people will never end up in a situation where skills described in the SAS Survival Book will be required, but don't be cocky...learn the skills from this book and rest easy knowing that you have the background knowledge to make it in the outdoors without modern conveniences. This book covers it all -forest, desert, ocean, island, artic/arctic, mountain, tropical, temperate- you name it, this book will get through the hard times with no problem. This book HAS saved lives in the past, but many have also died in unexpected situations where the knowledge found in these pages could have saved them. I don't think anyone wants to end up classified in the latter. Get the SAS Survival Guide and read up. Someday you may look back at purchasing this book and realize it was the most important decision you ever made in your life!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006...g=UTF8&s=books

Re: A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

You might prefer the Elias and Dykeman edible plants instead.

Better yet, cruise the web for recipes and practice daily!

And look out, a lot of "Survival Manuals" are for S--- They always plan on rescuers, or fleeing back to the "safe" cities as soon as possible. A lot of really dumb, unnecessary, time wasting ideas in them.

If you want to know how to survive, you might try the Tom Brown series. It's more a method that takes a lot of practice, but no gear. It says, "outside is my home, why should I go someplace else?"

Jerry?

TS

Re: A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

I found a good book to add to the reading list. It's called Cloudburst and seems to be long out of print. It contains much information that will allow you to live a comfortable life off grid or if TSHTF.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...5550964&sr=8-2

Re: A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

I have a few of the books on that list, but I agree the Tom Brown books are the way to go. They teach you how to live off the land instead of merely surviving.

Re: A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

Medical References:

Save Lives Save Limbs: Life support for victims of mines, wars, and accidents by Hans Husum, ISBN 983-9747-42-8, published by Hans Husum and Third World Network. I had to order mine from TALC in England, but it was worth it. This may be the best book in my fairly extensive medical book collection for dealing with traumatic injuries in the field. Don't get blown up without it! Provides detailed information on using ketamine as an anesthetic, among other things.

War Surgery Field Manual by Hans Husum, Swee Chai Ang, and Erik Fosse, published by Hands Husum and Third World Network. ISBN 983-9747-12-6 Pb or 983-9747-14-2 Hb. Comprehensive guide to field medicine in remote areas, especially in areas where war casualties may occur (doesn't exclusively deal with war injuries...better than Where There Is No Doctor). I bought a copy from a company in Malaysia, but I also downloaded one for free off the Internet (sorry, it's been a year... don't know the site). If you download, be aware that it's 763 pages long, including the index. http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/war-cn.htm

The various Lange medical books: http://www.ovid.com/site/catalog/Boo...&subsection=11 and http://www.mhprofessional.com/category/?cat=4239
These come out yearly. The Lange Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment book is a great reference book for the bookshelf. I usually end up buying one for work and one for home.

The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy. Comes out yearly. Used ones from the previous year can be gotten inexpensively. Buy the large-sized book or prepare to squint!

Wounds and Lacerations: Emergency Care and Closure by Alexander T. Trott, MD. ISBN 0-323-02307-X. Published by Elsevier Mosby. Under field conditions, it's usually better not to suture, but if you think you'll ever have to suture, you should know how and should especially know the things you need to take under consideration (for example, do you know how to suture to avoid the sutures ripping out in a high-stress area like the ankle?). This is a good book for that.

Fracture Management for Primary Care by Eiff, Hatch, Calmbach. ISBN 0-7216-6394-X. Published by Saunders. Your ability to x-ray and treat fractures in a field hospital setting or as layman will be far more limited than what this book offers, but there's a lot of information about evaluating and treating fractures that will be useful to anyone. (If nothing else, you might at least know if an ER doc is screwing up your fracture. A friend of mine who is paralyzed from the waist down almost lost her leg recently because an ER doctor didn't take contracture into account when casting her broken leg. Another friend lives in chronic pain because an ER doctor missed seeing 3 fractured bones in her neck....which is understandable...but he then used an obsolete and inappropriate type of traction on it, causing permanent damage.)

Re: A List of "Survival Books" as Preparation for Hardships
 

Not books, but here are some useful Websites:

http://www.animatedknots.com/indexcl...matedknots.com
Animations of knot-tying. Useful AND fun.

http://www.map-reading.com/
How to read topographical maps.

http://www.kifaru.net/navigate1.htm
Back-country navigation.

http://www.medicalcorps.org/med-links.htm
Great medical links.

http://www.medicalcorps.org/pharmacy/index.htm
General pharmacology info.

http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/laworder.htm
Executive orders and laws relating to emegencies (may not be completely up-to-date).

http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm
How to prepare if a nuclear disaster is imminent.

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chri...lectricity.htm
Expedient refrigeration.

http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/index.html
Checklist for emergencies...and you thought the government didn't care. Lol!

http://www.lenntech.com/water-disinf...s-chlorine.htm
All you ever wanted to know about chlorine.

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/dental/oralbiol.../gramstain.htm
Gram's stain tutorial.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/storminfo.htm
How to read the weather so you don't get swept off to Oz by a tornado.

http://cryptome.org/smallpox-wmd.htm
Interesting article on smallpox.

http://www.army.mod.uk/linkedfiles/s...de_memoire.pdf
Battlefield casualty drills pdf.

http://publicsafety.com/article/arti...&siteSection=6
Good general info on penetrating chest wounds.

http://www.supersavermeds.com/
When there is no health insurance to cover meds...

http://www.usaemergencysupply.com/in...out_grains.htm
Grains.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm
Info on various types of batteries.

http://www.hello-radio.org/
Ham radio

http://store.everestgear.com/eqdia101.html
Source of hard-to-find Strike Anywhere matches.

http://www.vetamerica.com/index.asp?...S&Category=240
Doxycycline works against Anthrax.

http://training.fema.gov/IS/
FEMA training.

http://www.jackmountainbushcraft.com/gear.html
Vendors of hard-to-find and interesting bushcraft supplies.

http://www.jackmtn.com/calendar.html
Survival and sustainability workshops

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp
Good source for hand tools and woodworking workshops. (Atlanta, GA)

http://www.medicalcorps.org/
Good emergency medical training and a great opportunity to buy supplies.