Monday, April 28, 2008

The Survival Bible

Some of you may recognize this article from the Free Fall forum. I think it will reach and help a larger audience here on the blog. So bear with me as I post it here.

What is the Survival Bible?

It is a single or a set of 3 ring binders into which you put condensed information on any subject of survival interest in which you are not expertly trained. It could also be a set of theme books, like you probably used in school. The smaller you can make this package, the easier it will be to grab and go if you need to leave your home in a hurry.


The Alexandria Project

Everyone interested in surviving the crash should start their own Alexandria Project. Basically, it is a collection of knowledge gathered online from various sources that will preserve as much information as possible on being self-sufficient and how to do things. If any type of society is to rise from the ashes of the Free Fall, it must have the knowledge available to do so.

Do your research, compile and print out important info and place in a binder for later reference. Condense down the information you collect and put in this binder or you will run out of room too soon.

Most articles have a lot of "fluff" to make for more interesting reading. Your survival bible just needs facts and diagrams/pictures where appropriate.

Remember: Search engines are your friends. There is so much information available on the net that it is incredible. Use it while you have it. It will disappear, possibly forever after the crash. Keep the full articles and burn everything to CD or DVD for archival purposes. Print out the condensed info for your Survival Bible.

Warning: Do not go searching for info on Bomb making or explosives! To do so will flag you for a possible visit by the "alphabets" (DHS, NSA, FBI, BATFE etc..)

Create sections in the Survival Bible for specific topics by adding colored tabbed page dividers. This will help keep your info organized and easy to find. Make a printed table of contents for each colored tab so you know where that bit of info on raising earthworms is located.

Ok, you now have your binder and some divider tabs. Now what do you put in there? Well here is how you might organize and fill yours.

Start out with these:

Food
Water
Shelter
Energy
Health & Sanitation
Heating, Cooling & Light
Disaster Preparedness
Survival Skills
Gear
Homesteading

Under these headings most anything can be added that you wish.
So what do you add? How about anything you are not expertly trained in and might find useful in a SHTF situation. Like that recipe for canning Salmon eggs. Or perhaps include veterinary information for your chickens, rabbits and goats. It could contain instructions for hot water bath and pressure canning.

Here is an example of how you might arrange info under each Topic heading:

Food:
Food Storage:

Long Term Storage – Buckets
Nutritional Information
Food Storage Recipes

Foraging:
Water:

Shelter:
  • Wilds Camp
  • Retreat
  • Expedient Shelters

Energy:
Disaster Preparedness: (List natural disasters common to your area)
  • Wild Fire
  • Flooding
  • Snowstorms
  • Windstorms
  • Financial Preparations and Documents
  • First Aid
  • Pandemic Planning
  • NBC Planning

Survival Skills:
  • Fire Building
  • Deadfalls and Snares
  • Direction Finding
  • Knot Tying
  • Hide Tanning

Gear:
  • Firearms Care and Repair
  • Reloading Information
  • Axe Sharpening
  • Knife Sharpening
  • Tool Sharpening

Homesteading:
Small Livestock:
  • Goats and Sheep
  • Pigs
  • Rabbits
  • Chickens, Ducks and Geese

Gardening:

Building Materials and Methods:
  • Cordwood
  • Log
  • Cob
  • Sod
  • Straw Bale
  • Traditional
  • Post and Timber
  • Earthship

These are just suggestions, and your “Bible” contents may vary, depending on your interests and what SHTF scenario you are preparing for. Remember, the contents of this Bible may be passed on to the next generation, who might have to rely solely on its contents for the knowledge of how to accomplish tasks that you may consider to be common knowledge.

8 comments:

  1. Great posting Scout.

    For trapping info and free articles, try Bruce aka Buckshots site http://www.buckshotscamp.com/

    Alot of good info to download.

    Jerry in So IL

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  2. I highly recommend that anyone wishing to include trapping and snaring in their foraging program to patronize Buckshot.

    I am pleased with the quality of his products and his service is next to none.

    His videos are well worth the asking price for their informational content (and humor).

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  3. Come SHTF knowledge will be gold. And access to it may become limited, so maintaining your own encyclopedia is a great idea. Good post.

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  4. Thanks for this resource! Two health books you mention, Where There Is No Doctor and Where There Is No Dentist are available from from nonprofit publisher Hesperian (www.hesperian.org), along with many other health books in English and Spanish. Hesperian believes people should have information to solve health problems for themselves and their communities, and we want to get those materials out there! You can also order download the books for free, or support free distribution to people who can't afford them.

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  5. Great post. Nice list of items to be included in the book.

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  6. What a great idea. Some of the topics seem a little advanced for me but it's a great starting point. I totally agree that you need to have this information PRINTED out.

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  7. A note for 22 Long Rifle, Bruce aka Buckshot lost buckshotscamp to his wife in the divorce. Don't buy anything from there you might pay for it and not recieve it. I called and she still didn't give me my money back.
    Buckshot can now be found at: http://snare-trap-survive.com/
    BA

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  8. Also put the information on a micro SD card for future reference. Most new phones use these and you can view them on your or other phones. Just a thought.

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