Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Books For Any Budget

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

 Books For Any Budget

Or: How to make extra cash, de-clutter, 
and 

possibly find the books you have been looking for!


Part of prepping is having the right stuff, in the right place, at the right time. As a collector, I have plenty of  stuff, just not necessarily in the right place when it is needed.

To help fix this, my local Salvation Army has received a nice donation of clothes and several yard sales are in the works. This will do two things for me: earn me some extra cash and move things I don't need any more. More space means easier future moves, easier organization of what I've decided to keep, and a faster bug-out. More cash means the chance to afford items on my wish list.

One of the books at the top of my Prep List is a 1960's Boy Scout Handbook. Well , I did better than that: here is a copyright 1948 Handbook!

This is a seriously cool find for me. For those not exposed to them, the pre-1970s manuals actually have useful outdoor skills and diagrams. I wanted a replacement to the one I had as a kid (and misplaced). This is so much better than I ever expected to find!

I am what I'd call an Optimistic Prepper: I don't expect the end of the world, but I do expect there to be major disruptions for relatively short periods of time. In a situation like that, having skills used by your grandfather or great-grandfather will be handy.



Some of the chapters and topics:
  • How to hunt, trap game, track animals or people 
  • Building shelters and planning a camp site 
  • Identifying plants and trees
  • And much more. 
Please check for a copy whenever you go booking, you just might score!

Next up, a used book from Half Price Books - The Lost Lore of a Mans Life!

I really like this chain. You never know what will be on the shelves and the ability to search local stores is amazing.

Denis Boyles has written several books in a similar vein: A Man's Life: The Complete Instructions, The Modern Man's Guide to Life, The Modern Man's Guide to Modern Women and Man Eaters Motel.

This book, similar to my previously-reviewed Survival Wisdom & Know-How, has lots of very useful info and skills from after the turn of the last century. It a compilation of information found in magazines and books, including Farm Blacksmithing by JM Drew (published 1915) and The Boy Mechanic books 1, 2 and 3 (1913-1917).

Some of the entries in the table of contents:
  • Camp clothing 
  • Camp Rations 
  • Cooking Without Utensils 
  • Various Camping Advice 
  • How to Make Fishing Rod (!) 
  • How to Shoot With Both Eyes Open 
  • Cleaning and Care of the Gun 
  • And many more. 
I plan on extensively studying both of these skill books, but I will also make a place for Lost Lore and the Scout handbook in my permanent kit, with a future e-book copy of Survival Wisdom as well (the physical copy, at 11"x17", is too large to carry in a bag).



As always, if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased be me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

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