Sufficient-Self Preparedness Library

Icu4dzs

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I went back and began to read the string by a young man with a wife and special needs son today. He opened his string by asking for guidance in beginning his journey toward preparation for his family in the event of disaster/social disruption. He did this in the face of sincere skepticism by his wife, for whom he obviously is very devoted.

While we all have been working on these issues for years and have come to this BB to share those ideas with each other and in particular those like this young man, it appears to me that it might be a good idea to start a book title library (with links if possible.)

I say this because of the advice of a number of folks that was given to this young man. Books such as edible plant identification, survival skills, (and the list goes on).

My guess is that often, many of us have books we have either collected or read or borrowed (and hopefully returned to the owner) on the very subjects that folks new to this endeavor would benefit from having/seeing.

To that end I would like to ask the collective body of SSF to begin submitting their suggestions as to books that particularly pertain to this art and to which a person new to our way of thinking would MOST BENEFIT in your opinion.

Books that come to the top of my head are such as:
Storey's Country Wisdom and Knowledge
Back to Basics
The SAS handbook
The US Army Survival Handbook
Food Plants of the World
American Farming Techniques
Where there is no Doctor
Where there is no Dentist
Edible Plants of North America (Sorry Neko-Chan I don't know much about Tasmania)
The Barefoot Doctors Handbook (Chinese medicine)

My list can go on and on. The point is that many of you have knowledge gained from a variety of book sources that if shared will benefit the entire group.

A list of useful periodicals would also be good here... Backwoods Home Journal, The Mother Earth News, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, etc.

This list is or will be by no means all inclusive or exhaustive but if everyone mentions just a few titles, imagine how big a library we can assemble for the betterment of all?

Hopefully, by assembling this library, and possibly uploading/downloading as many of the books as are possible, the library will become a resource for not only the new among us but those who want a new skill or idea to help their efforts.

We all want to be ready. Now is the time. Here is one of my most favorite philosophical statements:
"Remember. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark"


All the best
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tc556guy

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Icu4dzs, do you plan to compile these suggested books into a concise catalog? It would be nice if we could have a PDF file ready for folks to download from the boards here. A categorized list would be a great tool.
I know that yours is an older post, and I don't know what the group did with this idea, but I have an organized compilation running 120 gigs of data that I share with other preppers via a high capacity thumbdrive that I send around on request. All I would need is a snail mail address and an assurance that the thumbdrive would be returned in a timely manner.
If anyone is still interested in a compilation of information, let me know
If the group has in fact created its own library of information I would be interested in receiving a copy so that I could add information to my own collection
 

Icu4dzs

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Back on topic.
Yes, I am working to compile a library of as much "useful information" as I can accumulate.
As I see it there are three phases to the situation we will soon face.

1. As I see it, something will decimate much of the population. What exactly will happen is anyone's guess but the big cities will be involved. Right now, civil war is looming in the Ferguson, MO situation. Something like that would put everyone on their guard for a long time.
So with that said, the first phase will be from the beginning of the "sentinel event" to some time in the future when the shooting stops...or the fallout settles or the power grid begins to resume service...I don't know what to think...I am NOT narcissistic to think I can "foresee the future". but then I get feelings from time to time that make me go do something for my own survival.
2. The second phase will be a long period where folks need to learn how to do the things that support a social network such as form towns, cities or small communities again. Learning the skills and finding the materials to reconstruct the infrastructure will require learning a whole lot of things that may have been lost because the folks who knew them were lost to whatever happened. This will be the time when we will resurrect technology but not the way it is currently employed. The "stuff" that was left behind will be here. The knowledge to use it will be the issue and that is where this library comes in to play.
3. The Third phase will be when we can look back at the "dark times" and be now able to see a future for our grandchildren where they will once again be free and independent people.
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Later
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Icu4dzs

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Well, it is certainly something we may have to consider. Everywhere I look, the world is coming unglued. It isn't just here...it appears to be everywhere. My life is certainly showing some signs of it...nothing I can't handle but this just seems like a bad time to have it happen.
The books I am collecting are mostly information on "how to ____" because that is the thing that will get us up and running if anything serious happens.
Meanwhile, I keep washing my canning jars and getting them back to the storage shed for safe keeping.
 

Britesea

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Even your doomsday books, like One Second After, has people pulling together and protecting their community, and as a result they were able to defeat an army of baddies. Selco (I don't know his real name) survived a year of his city in Bosnia being besieged; the primary message he sends us is that you can't do it alone- you need at least a small band of brothers to help. And any time you have groups of people working together, their talents, skills and knowledge will have a synergistic effect- even if they haven't been specifically preparing for TEOTWAWKI. A slide into the stone age is highly unlikely. It didn't happen in the Dark Ages and I don't think it will happen now. We may fall back to the steam age. I know that at least here in the Pacific Northwest, the landscape is littered with old steam powered machines from the lumber industry, and a large number of people with the skills to get them running again. I think the same is true for farming equipment elsewhere. Even if all of the ores, oil and coal that were close to the surface and easily accessible are mined out, there are materials that can be recycled or substituted. And with libraries of books such as this one, we can relearn the skills needed.
During Hurricane Katrina, one of the few building unmolested by looters was the Public Library. Yes, I know the Library of Alexandria was burned (several times, actually), but books were not as pervasive in the early years of the Common Era. Every podunk town in America has a library. They won't ALL be burned. Although we only have about a 75% literacy rate (lamentable!) in our country these days, that's still vastly more than Rome in its prime. I would venture to guess that even if there is no public education available, parents who read will continue to teach their children to read.

I do agree that there will be a terrible mortality rate at first. Thousands, perhaps millions will die. But others will live- whether by luck or design, and they will rebuild civilization. It's what we do.
 
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frustratedearthmother

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Wow, just wow.

Why start a topic on a public forum if you can't tolerate another person's opinion?

There is a difference between a debate and being a bully.
 

k0xxx

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There are so many, but of those not yet listed, these rank high in my library.

1. KJV Version Reference Bible with Apocrypha

2. First Aid -- (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies

3. Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon

4. Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth

5. Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli
 

ORChick

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"Medicinal Plants of the ..." by Michael Moore - In my case "... of the Pacific West", but he has done others pertaining to other regions

"Complete Medicinal Herbal" by Penelope Ody

Any good, basic cookbook - " Joy of Cooking" or "Good Housekeeping" or the like
 
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