I am partial to Storey’s books, they are great all around reference books. While it is not as complete as a book dedicated to a single topic, Basic Country Skills gives basic information on a variety of topics. Which is great if either your knowledge is limited, and you need to know basics, or you space is limited. Either way, this is a great book to have in your prepper library.
Inside Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance you will find illustrated instructions on topics such as:
Finding country land
Buying, building, and renovating a home
Developing water sources and systems
Understanding wiring, plumbing, and heating
Using alternative heating and energy sources
Vegetable, flower, and herb gardening
Traditional cooking skills such as baking bread and making maple syrup
Preparing and preserving meat, fruits, and vegetables
Building and maintaining barns, sheds, and outbuildings
Caring for common farm and ranch animals, and pets
As I said, I really like the Storey books, and I have several of them. This one and the guide to rabbits are two that I use most often though. I would recommend any prepper or homesteader look at Storey publishing as their titles are perfect for you.
Owning guns isn’t enough – you need to be skillful in their use. If one of the reasons you own a gun is because of your concern that you may need them in a grid down type of disaster, then you might also need to fix them.
To do that you need to know how. The Ultimate Ruger 10-22 Manual is not a gunsmith manual exactly, but it does cover total disassembly, modification, and use.
While I believe the section on machine guns and silencer construction are too vague to be useful ( and don’t tell the entire story on the legal issues of such modifications) the rest of the book is well worth the price.
Just be careful with the modifications, it is easy to go overboard, and each modification contributes to the characteristics of the whole gun – too much is not a good thing, and can cause malfunctions of the firearm.
I don’t own a ruuger 10/22 any longer, but I plan on buying one for my boy. Right now all he has is a cricket single shot and a bunch of mosin nagants still in cosmoline (I figure when he is old enough for a real gun he is old enough to clean out the cosmoline from it).
In the past I have owned several of these handy little rifles, but besides putting optics on them I never really cared much for modifying them with fancy stocks and the like. Even though I must admit, I have said if I ever get a nice range I am going to get some and put them in the Gatling gun kits and rent them out.
The community of preppers grew in 2008 with the launch of My Patriot Supply as a leading Online resource and retailer helping U.S. citizens prepare for the worst should a natural disaster or ‘doomsday’ scenario occur. The retailer has become a major part of the preppers community over the course of its first decade in operation. If you want help preparing for reality, then this company can provide that help.
The community of preppers has largely been misunderstood because of a small number of mainstream TV shows which choose to portray this growing number of Americans as unhinged or worse. However, the majority of preppers are simply concerned citizens who understand a breakdown in society can occur at any time through a natural weather event such as a tornado or hurricane or can take a larger form should an attack on the U.S. create major infrastructure problems. The majority of preppers are not spending their time worrying over the zombie apocalypse arriving but are instead watching The Weather Channel and the news to monitor the global political situation.
Being prepared for any eventuality is the key to the work of My Patriot Supply and preppers across the U.S. who understand there are few options of people or agencies to turn to when a major event leads to the breakdown of a small or large community. In most cases, the decision to become a prepper is taken by those who have either had the first-hand experience of a disaster striking and leaving them with little help from government agencies or those who have woken up to the fact self-reliance is the best option.
Although it has become a commonly held belief because of shows like “The Walking Dead” and movies including “28 Days Later”, the zombie apocalypse is not something preppers worry about each day. As science has so far yet to find the technology capable of reanimating dead tissue there are no reasons to prepare for this fiction becoming a reality.
Instead, many people who may not feel they are part of the preppers community may be shocked to discover they are already getting started with the early stages of preparedness. An individual who has taken the time and effort to think about installing a generator or assembling a disaster emergency kit in case of a major weather event is already a prepper; creating a kit with flashlights, matches, and a supply of canned foods is the first step on the way to becoming prepared for a life where the rule of law may no longer be in place for a short or long period of time.
What the majority of preppers understand is the fact there is a chance of certain situations arising which will result in a period of time when government agencies are unwilling or unable to provide the necessary utilities and requirements for human life. This does not always mean preparing for the worst case scenario but can instead mean creating a survival garden with fruits and vegetables which can be used as a food supply should the usual communication lines of social breakdown. In the short term, this can mean creating a supply of generators and fuel to provide power, heat, and light should the utility supply be knocked out by a storm or a far worse event.
Being a prepper means looking at the chances of certain situations occurring and creating a plan which will protect the individual and their family should a scenario happen. There is a zero percent chance of the zombie apocalypse occurring which means this is a scenario which should be ignored by serious preppers who are looking to create a contingency plan for the future. It is important to remember the government should always be part of the plans being created as no matter why an individual has decided to become a prepper they need to ensure they have taken into account the fact some form of government will always remain in place if and when a natural or human-made disaster occurs.
Although a breakdown in society may take place at some point in the future the rule of law should always be part of the thought process and planning for any serious prepper. Despite the fact a breakdown of society may take place and a prepper isolated for a period of time it is always a good option to become an active member of the prepper community as the advice, tips, and news of the latest technological advances could mean the difference between success and failure in the survival business.
* I added this guest post because I believe in preparing for reality. Too many people spend way too much time preparing for things that aren’t realistic. In a world of limited resources, I believe in balance and that I need to spend my time and money on things that give the most benefit to my family.
I like my patriot supply because they good products as well as provide good information with their survival scout newsletters. To me you can’t go wrong with preparing for reality.
Harvesting Urban Timber explains the importance of harvesting urban trees and how to do so.
Three to four billion board feet of potential lumber is being fed either directly or indirectly into landfills throughout the United States each year.
Case studies illustrate how some cities and counties have reduced waste through the use of urban timber for various projects. Explained in detail are felling, safety, converting trees to sawn lumber, how to hire a sawyer, how to season the wood, sawing for figure, and what types of trees are worth harvesting.
Also described are the various uses for the timber, including use by the home craftsman or to build park benches or bumper strips. Each alternative use is illustrated through case studies of several municipalities and their respective programs of urban timber utilization.
As an owner of a small portable sawmill I can’t afford to buy logs, this book helps me find trees to make the lumber I need to do the projects I need to do. Harvesting Urban Timber is a great book for homesteaders and prepsteaders. I highly recommend it.
Harvesting Urban Timber explains the importance of harvesting urban trees and how to do so.
Management of Aggressive Behavior: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning How to Recognize, Reduce, Manage, and Control Aggressive Behavior by Roland Ouellette can enable you to recognize and identify signs of aggressive behavior.
Once properly identified, you may then effectively manage this behavior.
You can learn ways to manage aggressive individuals and improve your personal safety! This paperback is more than just a book — it is a comprehensive strategy that you can use in virtually every aspect of your life.
Now that I work back in the prison, I need tools to manage behavior. Verbal Judo, Cognitive behavior therapy and other tools are used to maintain a safe and secure prison with a minimum of force.
Management of Aggressive Behavior gives the reader some workable tools to deal with aggressive individuals.
It works well in a correction setting, but the tools will also work in a school, bar, or workplace.
Its nice to have tools other than guns to deal with situations. I have dealt with hundreds of situations involving potential violence where I had to talk to a person, but only one where I had to draw a gun.
To me that means I should prepare much more in the mental and social skills of aggression than is commonly done.
Owning guns isn’t enough – you need to be skillful in their use. If one of the reasons you own a gun is because of your concern that you may need them in a grid down type of disaster, then you might also need to fix them.
The community of preppers grew in 2008 with the launch of 
Harvesting Urban Timber explains the importance of harvesting urban trees and how to do so.
Management of Aggressive Behavior: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning How to Recognize, Reduce, Manage, and Control Aggressive Behavior by Roland Ouellette can enable you to recognize and identify signs of aggressive behavior.