Five Types of Books Preppers Should Have
Kevin Felts 07.28.17
The thing about knowledge is, nobody can ever take it away from you. People who are serious about prepping should take time to read, study and learn. However, what “exactly” should they be reading?
From time to time someone on the forum will post a question about books, such as this thread – Must have books. The replies are as interesting as they are varied.
A few examples from the forum thread:
- Foxfire series
- Fannie Farmer
- Sewing patterns to make clothes.
- Manuals for everything you own.
- Wild edibles book for your region.
- Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
Here are some of the books in my personal collection.
History
Anyone who keeps up with my posts here on AllOutdoor or my blog, SurvivalBoards, may know that I read a lot of history. The goal is to apply history to modern prepping. What problems did people face during outbreaks of the Black Death, or even after modern global conflicts?
By understanding the difficulties and solutions of those who came before us, we can use that information to prep for the future.
Also, by understanding the past we know that certain situations give rise to other problems. Such as what happened during the Little Ice Age.
Medical
Preppers should know the basics of first aid and waterborne pathogens. Having books on modern medical care may seem like overkill. In a grid-down situation, it not unlikely we will have access to hospitals and medicines.
However, medical books can provide information on treatments for waterborne diseases, cuts, bruises, and other first aid information.
Wild Edibles
There is a guy who is the best source of wild edible plants I have ever seen, that person is Green Deane. His YouTube channel is called Eat The Weeds.
Besides YouTube, pick up a couple of books on wild edible plants and foraging.
Wild edible plants can provide additions to your food stockpile, or food you are growing.
Homesteading
Books that cover gardening, livestock, and soil quality.
Gardening is not as simple as planting a seed and the harvesting crops.
For plants to be productive, they need certain nutrients in the soil. What are those nutrients? Besides commercial fertilizer, where else are those nutrients added to the soil.
Let’s take the cucumber for example. Cucumbers need nitrogen. If the soil is low in nitrogen, the cucumber will be small, have a pointed end or may not even grow. So, how do you add nitrogen to the soil?
Now let’s take peas and beans. What do cucumbers need that beans and peas do not need? Peas and beans are legumes and do not need nitrogen added to the soil.
Since legumes and cucumbers have different requirements, they should not be planted together.
Those are just two examples.
Religion
I was going to list education, such as literature, math, and history, but decided to go with religion.
Without hope, humanity is lost. Religion provides people with hope.
Everyone has their own beliefs, so let’s not dwell on this topic.
Final Thoughts
The above list is part of my prepping library. Other books in my collection include:
- Roman history.
- Do-it-yourself manuals.
- Home construction.
- Military survival manuals, SAS and FM-2176.
- Backyard homesteading.
- Chickens, three books on just chickens.
- The Black Death, three different books on this topic.
- Life in a Medieval city, village and town. Each topic is covered by a separate book.
- Square foot gardening.
Then there are some books on ancient history, such as Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal.
So, what’s in your prepping library?
