Check your local library....you should be able to find at least a few books on "survival". If they are old then don't take what they say for 'gospel'. A lot of the older books have some bad info in them. Point is, it should provide you with some idea of what you could use things for (ie. what snare wire is used for, ets). It would be helpful for you as you could then get more from some of the postings. It would also be helpful in that you could 'just browse' the book while xxxxx (ie waiting for the bus or on the commute). It helped me to learn about things and it helped me to form my own opinions about what I thought was good or bad info.