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#168930 - 03/08/09 06:39 PM Reference books.
MichaelJ Offline
Member

Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 114
What reference books to you find yourself going to back to time and time again? What reference books are on your list? What did you get that wasn't very helpful?

For myself, I keep going back to:
"The Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Emery
"Storey's Basic Country Skills" by... Storey

For learning wilderness skills:
"Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski
I have Les Stroud's book but haven't read it yet. I imagine there will be a lot of overlap.

For basic information and kit construction:
"98.6 Degrees" by Cody Lundin.
This is the book I give friends who ask about basic preparedness.
I've just started Lundin's other book "When All Hell Breaks Loose" and like it so far.
I keep a copy of "SAS Survival Guide Handbook" by John Wiseman (the little one) in my main kit.

Books I'd like to acquire:
"Where There Is No Doctor" and "Where There Is No Dentist" by Werner
"Gardening When It Counts" by Steve Solomon
I'm also looking for a good book on canning, butchering and baking.

"Extreme Simplicity" by Christopher Nyerges and Dolores Nyerges was a bit of a disappointment.
I didn't like "The Survivor Personality" by Siebert & Siegel.

There are a lot of really good stories about survival out there, but I'm only talking about reference books here.

Thanks

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#168932 - 03/08/09 07:07 PM Re: Reference books. [Re: MichaelJ]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
"Where there is no Doctor" and all related books are available for free download at: http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php .

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Survival Manuals are good references and are available for free download at: http://www.scribd.com/ . I have checked out the ones I downloaded and they are genuine.

The "Merck Manual, Second Home Edition" is a good thing to have on your shelf if you are not a medical professional.

I would also recommend a good botany guide for whatever area you plan to survive in.

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#168934 - 03/08/09 07:31 PM Re: Reference books. [Re: MichaelJ]
Safari Offline
Stranger

Registered: 08/23/08
Posts: 7
Loc: Finland
Here a collection of related books / articles
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message742541/pg1

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#168939 - 03/08/09 08:39 PM Re: Reference books. [Re: Safari]
scafool Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1534
Loc: Muskoka
Bushcraft by Richard Graves
This is now out of print. There are copies on Amazon and at least one PDF download available on the web.
It was written for Australia but it still has a lot of good material in it. Especially on navigation.
(It is not the same as Kochanski's book, which I also like a lot.)

Camping and Woodcraft by Horace Kephart.
Almost a hundred years old, but it is a true gem. It is also available used and there might be a download or torrent for it.
There was a recent reprint but I think that is out of print now too.

For wilderness medicine Wilderness First Aid by The Red Cross is a good read.
Wilderness Medicine (Beyond First Aid) by Dr William Forgey is another good text.

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game by Mettler is pretty much a classic text on the subject.

The Complete Guide to Canning and Preserves by the US Department of Agriculture is also the best plain language text on canning and has been for many years.
It can be purchased new and there are free downloads for it too.
_________________________
May set off to explore without any sense of direction or how to return.

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#168940 - 03/08/09 09:37 PM Re: Reference books. [Re: MichaelJ]
Lon Offline
Member

Registered: 11/14/08
Posts: 115
Loc: middle Tennessee
About a week ago, I mentioned these books in another ETS Forums post about gardening... but it probably bears repeating here:
"The Joy of Gardening", by Dick Raymond ... and "Burpee : The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener".

Those are both large books with tons of information for (vegetable) gardeners. You'll find quite a bit of overlap between those books; but, I find that I refer to both books constantly.
The Dick Raymond book is a bit older; and he liked to fire up the Rototiller a bit more than most gardeners will probably want to these days. But, he seems to really love the craft of gardening, and that comes through in his writing... that makes his book a very enjoyable read for me.

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#168952 - 03/09/09 02:00 AM Re: Reference books. [Re: Lon]
Matt Offline
Newbie

Registered: 05/24/08
Posts: 40
Loc: Texas
Six ways in and twelve ways out. Generally geared towards military personnel (SERE), they have some info that I haven't seen anywhere else. It is a self-published piece that needs some editing, but it is pretty good and not the standard info you see in every survival book.

http://www.usrsog.org/manu.htm

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#168954 - 03/09/09 02:46 AM Re: Reference books. [Re: Matt]
Pete Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/20/09
Posts: 1372
The SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman

Pete

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#168958 - 03/09/09 06:12 AM Re: Reference books. [Re: Pete]
Chris Kavanaugh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/09/01
Posts: 3824
Survival literature should be approached with a few caveats.

First, any medical information over even a few years old may have some serious problems with procedures now rejected as of little use or actually harmfull.How many people have Cutter snakebite kits? raise your hands.

Two, there is A LOT of fossilized information or incorrect diagrams that have been passed on without confirmation. When I hear somebody boast their students dug solar wells and produced enough water to compete with SPARKLETS I read everything else they write with a dose of salt ( from that obsolete medical list.)

The INVERSE of this caveat is a book of utter worthlessness may have one gem buried in the matrix of backfill that makes it worthwhile.

Three, a lot of kit recommendations are a result of personal prejudice, regional needs and often simply what was 'at hand.' For many years the KABAR was a popular knife in the OZ bush. They did reshape the leather handle, drill a lanyard hole and amputate the upper tang.KABARS seem to have been what was available, they made the best of it.

The many interconnected groups of outdoors have different world views. keep this in mind when reading, wiegh it's impact on the material and be respectfull ( unless it's the guys building 55 gallon drum silencers for .50 BMG rifles)
An old acquaintance could never master teh bowdrill. He went to REEVIS MOUNTAIN SCHOOL and came back grumbling about the ( largely) vegetarian fare and campfire talks about reincarnation.
Oh, THEN he demonstrated his now superior to mine skilll at bowdrill fires, mumbling Peter was the best instructor he'd ever had.I'd eat cold hamburger helper on french toast for a week if I got such a skill! Don't gigle at buckskins,BDUs,loinclothes or my tweeds. You can laugh at Goretex.

As to a few books not mentioned so far. THE 2 OZ.BACKPACKER by Robert S. Wood- Ten Speed Press has some neat information- even if I hate vapor barrier liners.

The Winter Wilderness Companion by the Conovers is another good read, especially for clothing.

RODALE PRESS published dozens of titles during the 70s 'back to the land' movement. If it was beekeeping or building log homes they published something- and in frustratingly limited runs.
You get started in any longterm aspect of sufficiency, and I garantee you will see a RODAL title in the bibliography. You find a Rodale title, buy it. You have something highly tradeable in the community- better than .22LR survial barter or gold coins. And, you get to read it first before trading it to the lady who talks to bees.

Lastly, the most VALUABLE group of books ever written, now VERY rare. ANYTHING on Y2K. A good reminder that not all of our social fears actually come to pass- just the ones not expected, like magnetic reversal of the poles right after our new Silva came via post.....





Edited by Chris Kavanaugh (03/09/09 06:30 AM)

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#168959 - 03/09/09 10:15 AM Re: Reference books. [Re: Chris Kavanaugh]
Tom_L Offline
Addict

Registered: 03/19/07
Posts: 690
Just a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread! I already have a sizeable library but looks like I'll have lots more reading to do. Perfect for a rainy evening.

Thanks again, you guys all deserve a beer or two! smile

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#168994 - 03/09/09 08:49 PM Re: Reference books. [Re: Tom_L]
benjammin Offline
Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
My cookbooks, especially the rough draft of my own!
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

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