If you’re a purist, you may think my idea is blasphemy, but if you’re like me and know there is no way you can be an expert in everything that will be needed in the future, you might find it more appealing. My idea- take a survival library with you into the wilds. By this I mean, taking with you a tablet, and small solar panels and battery on which you’ve saved survival resources. Obviously this won’t work if you plan to cling to this lifestyle and end up having to escape with a minimal amount of items into the wilds. If, however, you plan to migrate, and hence have the opportunity to take more things in, perhaps over time, I’d like to present this idea as a potential for you. You can even get simple faraday cases in which to store it all so you would have it regardless of an EMP event as well.
For years I have been collecting documents, photographs and videos on a wide variety of survival skills. All of these resources, organized so I can find what I’m looking for, is downloaded along with all my class notes (I’m still working on getting them all on the computer), class tapes, online classes, any audio books I have and ebooks.
I have done this so I have instructions, visuals of how skills work, and I’ve tried to gather a wide variety of things you might not have considered yet. Following are some of the categories of information I have gathered:
- Archery: Bow and Arrows- how to make and how to use.
- Baskets- different types, gathering and using natural materials
- Bead/Quillwork/Shells- info on these skills used as art and decoration
- Boats- making different types of watercraft and using them.
- Bone tools- making and using
- Caretaking- information wildlife and ecology, habitats and stewardship
- Clothing + has categories on blankets, clothes, footwear, gloves, hat, knitting, leather, weaving, and wool. I have info on animal and plant based items.
- Coal Burning
- Cordage and Knots
- Domestic Animals including info on bees, goats, chickens and sheep. Includes information on humane harvesting, butchering and processing. Don’t know if I’ll need this…but I have no experience with these so have lots of info on their care and raising.
- Dyes
- Fire- Info on different firemaking methods, firebuilding like smokeless fires, fires in rain…, finding and using fatwood…
- Fishing- Different primitive fishing methods and how to process fish.
- Flintknapping and Stone Tools- making and using.
- Food- sections on Cooking, Preservation and Rendering Fat
- Gardening- Specifically forest gardening, seed saving, growing mushrooms
- General- this contains resources that have multiple skills in them.
- Glues- things like hide glue and pine pitch processing
- Hazards- information on how to deal with predators and other dangerous wildlife.
- Hides- Hide tanning and rawhide
- Hunting- techniques, camouflage, stalking, butchering and processing (including specific processing for deer, turkey, rabbit and wild hog.)
- Instruments- drums, rattles…
- Lighting- candles, oil lamps, torches
- Medical- including first aid, anatomy, suturing and a large section on childbirth and midwifing.
- Plants- sections on edible plants, gourds and their uses, medicinal plants and a folder of any info I have on individual plants including photos, uses, etc.
- Pottery- from harvest through firing.
- Scout- including traps, weapons, strategies
- Shelter- long and short term shelters and inside furnishings.
- Snow Travel- includes sections on dog sleds, snowshoes, sleds and skis. How to make and how to use.
- Soap
- Spiritual
- Tools- primitive tools
- Tracking
- Trapping-
- Water- finding and purification
- Weapons- with sections on atl atl, bola, sling, spear, blow gun, throwing stick and tomahawk
I am doing everything I can to learn as many skills as possible before they are needed. This library is to supplement that and to provide a resource when questions arise that no one has an answer to. As stated, I have worked on adding to this library for years. If you’re just getting started, I would recommend doing searches at some of the following:
- Youtube- a tremendous resource. There are so many people who have shared very valuable skills. Like Walt Gigandet who just sent out info on his channel. All his videos are in my library. There are many others- I would recommend viewing before saving, but if you don’t have time now, it can’t hurt to have some that are not as good. There are free download programs you can get and save them right to your device.
- survivallibrary.com This is a cool site that has old documents on tons of different things that you can download for free.
- scribd.com This is a pay site, but it has a free trial period I think. So sign up and then just start searching topics. I focused on documents which you can usually download in pdf format.
- Mother Earth News and other trusted newsletters- articles that can be downloaded.
- Instructibles.com How to on all kinds of things- including skills.
- Bushcrafting sites- although they may not share all our values, it seems many bushcrafters have put a lot of effort into skills!
- Other experts/newsletters who blog or have websites with info you can download.
- Pinterest- you can find photos of many skills. Sometimes, once you have a base in a skill, all it takes is a photo to show you another way of doing it or provide other ideas. (links to my pinterest pages on skills are provided as links above photos in the skills section of this website)
- Just do searches on Google. Pick a topic and search and see what comes up.
- The skills section of this website has links to some recommended videos and articles that you can download.
Get creative- there’s so much information out there and better to have too much than not enough! My plans are for migrating north, but I have not limited the information I collect since I will have to follow the guidance I receive at the time. So, although my focus is on cold weather skills, I still have collected information on desert and jungle as well. If you work on this a little at a time, soon you’ll be amazed about the amount of information you could have at your fingertips. If you have ideas I haven’t listed- please share in the comments! I’m sure there are things I’ve missed! This shouldn’t replace working on skills now, but just be a safety net for the future. Maybe it ends up you can’t take it with you- it’s still not a waste since you’ve been exposed to a lot of skills and information.