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Old 04-01-2010, 07:20 AM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,513,602 times
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Knowledge is power; and information is the raw material of knowledge. I'm planning to list the best survival books I have; and I hope others will do the same.

Let's begin with a gun book, since everybody likes guns. It's Boston's Gun Bible. If you own a gun, or plan to buy one, you need this book. it at least touches on every necessary subject and provides extraordinary detail on many. For example, the author provides the best information on night vision equipment that I've ever encountered. There are many, many reviews. Take a look.

http://www.amazon.com/Bostons-Gun-Bi...0126243&sr=1-1

Last edited by Happy in Wyoming; 04-01-2010 at 07:53 AM..
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Old 04-01-2010, 10:44 AM
 
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For a survival book, I recommend 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your A** Alive. It doesn't go into wilderness survival as much as it talks about ways of maintaining your core temperature in a variety of situation. Great book.

For the wilderness survival, I like the SAS Survival Guide. It's full of info, including color pics of edible and poisonous plants. The version I bought is small enough to put in a sandwich baggie, perfect for throwing in a backpack.
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Old 04-01-2010, 12:48 PM
 
29,981 posts, read 42,766,727 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming View Post
Knowledge is power; and information is the raw material of knowledge. I'm planning to list the best survival books I have; and I hope others will do the same.

Let's begin with a gun book, since everybody likes guns. It's Boston's Gun Bible. If you own a gun, or plan to buy one, you need this book. it at least touches on every necessary subject and provides extraordinary detail on many. For example, the author provides the best information on night vision equipment that I've ever encountered. There are many, many reviews. Take a look.

Amazon.com: Boston's Gun Bible (9781888766066): Boston T. Party, Kenneth W. Royce: Books
For gun books I'd suggest the following. There is more practical knowlege contained within. If you don't have mindset and understand the basics all the gadgets in the world won't help.

Amazon.com: Principles of Personal Defense: Jeff Cooper, Louis Awerbuck: Books

Amazon.com: Art Of The Rifle (Firearms) (9780873649315): Jeff Cooper: Books

Amazon.com: Defensive Shotgun, the Techniques and Tactics (9780879474126): Louis Awerbuck: Books

Amazon.com: Green Eyes and Black Rifles: Warriors Guide to the Combat Carbine (9780615166544): Ret. SGM Kyle E. Lamb, Kelsey E. Lamb: Books

How to survive without technology:

When Technology Fails
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FA0TZA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lp o-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1574160478&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX 0DER&pf_rd_r=0YW9SSS8WHM59ZERKQAF (broken link)
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Old 04-01-2010, 03:34 PM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,513,602 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by st33lcas3 View Post
For a survival book, I recommend 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your A** Alive. It doesn't go into wilderness survival as much as it talks about ways of maintaining your core temperature in a variety of situation. Great book.

For the wilderness survival, I like the SAS Survival Guide. It's full of info, including color pics of edible and poisonous plants. The version I bought is small enough to put in a sandwich baggie, perfect for throwing in a backpack.
Cody Lundin is a great choice. I was going to list that one next, along with his other book. There is a great deal of redundancy between the two, but these are two primary purchases.


Amazon.com: When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes (9781423601050): Cody Lundin, Russell L. Miller, Christopher Marchetti: Books

Amazon.com: 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive (9781586852344): Cody Lundin, Russ Miller: Books

Here's his website. He offers field trips and instruction, but they don't seem to be for the faint of heart or stomach.

CODY LUNDIN: outdoor survival, Â*primitive living skills, and urban preparedness courses

I have the SAS Survival Guide. It's a good one to take to the bathroom, or stick in your vehicle with some other small format books. It has some good information, but it's not on my primary list. As far as edible and poisonous plants are concerned, it is not enough. No one book is. You need to start with basic taxonomy; and here it is:

Amazon.com: Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification (9781892784155): Thomas J. Elpel: Books
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Old 04-01-2010, 04:53 PM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,215 posts, read 18,382,119 times
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It depends on what kind of 'survival' we are talking about here. Are we meaning primitive 'in the wilderness with nothing' type of thing or are we talking sustained living without modern convenience rural living like great great grandpappy did?

For 'in the wilderness with nothing' survival, I think several books by Gregory Davenport are good. He was/is an Air Force survival expert/instructor, who has some good insight. He authored a series of books on surviving in different climates/geographies (arctic, desert, woodland, etc). Also John McPherson, Mark Johnson.

As for survival, meaning traditional non-mechanized, non-wired survival in the long term, some of the 'homestead manuals' are pretty good: Carla Emery and several of the 'Storey Series' guides on traditional agriculture and living come to mind.

On the other hand, if you're talking urban survival, skip the books. Spend the bucks on a good assault rifle and a membership at your local shooting range.
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Old 04-01-2010, 05:17 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,106 posts, read 56,712,890 times
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The list isn't complete without Mel Tappan's "Survival", which is mostly about guns, and "Survival Guns", which is mostly about aspects of survival other than guns. Go figure.

Both are good though.

Chris makes good points in that "survival" can mean anything from building a fire to avoid hypothermia while help is on the way to you, to "extreme" independent living to the end of your days in a EOTWAWKI scenario.
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Old 04-01-2010, 07:21 PM
 
32 posts, read 56,321 times
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Here's a perfect list...but off the top of my head,the first one I would start with would be How To Survive the End of the World As We Know it by James Wesley Rawles. Here's that list and as mentioned, there's lots to cover.

http://www.survivalblog.com/bookshelf.html
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Old 04-02-2010, 12:20 AM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,513,602 times
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This is one of the best introductions to handloading; but there's more. In this book, Richard Lee discusses the relationship between pressure and hardness with a view towards picking proper loads. There's been little discussion elsewhere. There is a later edition, but amazon only lists this one. Because of the price, you may wish to check your library, probably arranging an interlibrary loan. But this is a real winner. Needless to say, in all but short-term emergencies, handloading will be of critical importance.

We can hope for a reprint or new edition; but for now we're stuck in a low supply, high demand situation. If you have a choice, get the Second Edition. I have both, and find the Second to be preferable. You should check ebay and do internet searches. That sometimes works well. I once bought a book for ten dollars for which I expected to pay fifty. Let me wish you the luck that I had.

Amazon.com: Modern Reloading Ammunition reloading for the shooter, hunter and professional reloader with detailed loading techniques: Richard Lee: Books

Last edited by Happy in Wyoming; 04-02-2010 at 12:21 AM.. Reason: typo
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Old 04-02-2010, 06:58 AM
 
32 posts, read 56,321 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Son Of Liberty View Post
Here's a perfect list...but off the top of my head,the first one I would start with would be How To Survive the End of the World As We Know it by James Wesley Rawles. Here's that list and as mentioned, there's lots to cover.

http://www.survivalblog.com/bookshelf.html
My fault for posting and recommending general survival books...just realized that OP was looking for GUN specific books...my apologies.
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Old 04-02-2010, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,513,602 times
Reputation: 22014
Quote:
Originally Posted by Son Of Liberty View Post
My fault for posting and recommending general survival books...just realized that OP was looking for GUN specific books...my apologies.
You should reread my posts. Cody Lundin never mentions guns. Botany is the science of plants.
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