Recommended reading for the Survivor is always an interesting subject because there are so many things that one should have at least a basic knowlege of. By example, it’s all fine and dandy to ask, how do I make a knife..? The bigger question (s) though would be what tools will I need, and how can I make them. There are many good works available dealing with these things. But the hands down blockbuster has to be a series written by a teacher, and his students. The Foxfire Books will answer nearly any question you have. From building a rifle from scratch to childbirth care and just about everything in between. If you can only afford a single set of books dealing with how to live spend your money there.
Then there are more specialized areas. Free to download is the US ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL. It is surprisingly well written for a military manual and is actually fairly easy to read.
Paladin Press offers more titles having to do with the various aspects of survival than any other outlet that I am aware of at this time. One book that, although a bit dated, I highly recommend is Training the Gunfighter. I believe that it is still available from Paladin Press.
Certainly basic first aid needs to be learned by all adults, I would refer you to your local Red Cross for training in first aid and CPR. Beyond that, take a first responder course if you can. If you are in a group setting, at least one of the group should advance to EMT-Intermediate, and Paramedic if possible. Training in nursing to compliment the advanced life support of other group members is a definite plus. There are simply too many good texts in this subject line for me to pick out any single best.
People are always asking about firearms training. In this day and age, if you are a civilian, not in law enforcement there is only one place to go. FRONT SIGHT. The programs there are unbelievable! You can get a free gun, free courses, and excellent instruction in various disciplines. I personally know special operations people that have gone there, and not only learned new things, but improved on the skills that they already had. Yes, I am talking Recon Marines, Rangers, Seals, and Special Forces. Unlike some places, you get the same training that people like them receive. be sure to sign up for their free news letter, and lessons that are emailed to you at no charge.
This is a very basic list and I am sure that other titles ans sources will be added as time goes on. Any additional recommendations?
Tags: books, editorial, education, Foxfire Book Series, Front Sight Training, news, opinion, Paladin Press, reading, survival, survivalist
November 12, 2008 at 1:32 am
Good things to know, rather than how to operate a cell phone. When injury or death is seconds away, its better to know how to handle yourself, because dialing 911 won’t be much help.
November 13, 2008 at 9:19 am
No kidding Paul. There’s no way that I could possibly remember how many times during my career that I went on a call where, with just a little rudimentary knowledge disaster could have been avoided.
November 25, 2008 at 12:11 pm
It always amazes me that people think of weapons and knives but blatantly overlook “survival kits” for THEM. For instance,how many sharpening kits/tools are sold vs the amount of people that buy knives? And of those,how many REALLY know how to properly sharpen them? Also,EVEN with “stainless” steel,rust and/or oxidizing is still a problem-especially after getting blood on blade and not properly cleaned. Another thing is the kind and quality of steel used in the knifemaking. Being somewhat of a raw beginner knifemaker myself,I’ve discovered a few things about it along the way. In MY opinion,tool steel makes a LOT better knife than stainless. When raising the chromium content in steel to make it “stainless”,,it thereby reduces the carbon content by it’s nature. This means that with all other things being equal,the higher the carbon content of the steel,within reason,the better it’ll take (sharper)and keep that edge.
Another oft overlooked item is a COMPLETE cleaning kit. Sure-most of us have some type of rudimentery cleaning kit,but do you actually carry copper/bore solvent and rust prevenative with you? This goes double of course that you need to be able to totally strip your firearm of choice down and replace the firing pin/extractor/springs/etc that you HOPEFULLY have with you when they fail. What I’m saying is most of the books written by “experts” don’t address these issues at all. There are so many areas that’s neglected by some of the existing books that I’ve rather strongly considering writing a book on the subject myself.
November 25, 2008 at 12:22 pm
No doubt! I think Midway used to have a small repair kit that rolled up in a nice neat little package that you could take along on hunts etc.
Great points in any case though.