Books

We have the internet, accessible via phone, computer, tablet, television, car, voice, and many other ways, where we're able to find out how to do anything. Want to figure out how to tie a figure 8 knot. First hit on google and you're done. It took longer to type in the search than it did to see the first hit with a pic of exactly how to do it. What happens when that's not available? Severe weather event takes the comms down. Government shutdown. Being in a remote area? There are many different scenarios where you might find yourself without internet. For that reason, it might be good to consider adding a few old fashioned books to your cache. Certainly developing and keeping up on your skills, having your knowledge and muscle movement fully developed and up to speed is far superior to needing to look something up, but how much can your brain hold? What if you get a konk on the head and forget how to do something. Having hard copy books to consult will be invaluable in a comm out situation.


What do you need?

Obviously personal preference. But here's a tickler list of topics to get you thinking of areas you'd want the books to cover. 

General Survival

General basic where to start in survival

Maps

Local Maps

State Gazeteer

Country Map

Population density maps

Maps of resources

Topographical maps

Geopolitical Boundaries

Maps of publicly usable lands

Food

Naturally collectable foods (berries and such) 

Food storage methods

Drying 

Smoking

Salting

Pickling

Recipes for foods made from basic long term shelf stable supplies

Recipies for foods made from locally available natural foods

Recipes for foods made from non standard cooking foods. 

Hunting Methods

Edible/in-edible fish/meats/animals and making them consumption safe

Water Gathering

Farming/seed prep

Repair

Heating, electrical, plumbing, automotive repair

Sewing

Shelter

Means of shelter

Fire

Means of making and sustaining fire

Means of concealing fire

Means of travelling with fire

Bartering

Likely popular bartering items

Methods to barter

Clothing

Repair

Making Clothing

Electricity

Ways to make electricity

Solar, Water powered, wood powered

AC-DC conversion

Medical

First aid

Diagnosis

Natural medicines

Trauma triage

Maps of medical facilities

Entertainment

Games to pass the time

Kids games


Where to keep them?

Well this is a good question as well. Certainly it makes sense to have some sort of cache of books in your home, in your vehicles, and in any pre-determined destinations where possible (your cabin, camper, parents, kids house etc). I'd bet many homes have room to store a backpack full of books. That might be a bit more of a demand for vehicles. Maybe vehicles could get a bit more pared down version. Maybe the vehicle sets focus on getting you home such that you can access your larger cache? Or maybe you have a full bugout vehicle packed to the nines to leave home with the expectation of never coming back and you have a full set there. 


Format

When I think of this, the first to things I think of are knowledge density per lb and weather proof construction. Some authors tend to be more verbose, adding extra words, extra sentences, extra commas, extra adjectives to describe the verbosely long extraneous and redundantly redundant point they are trying to get across (gotcha). It seems to me the best form of emergency preparedness books would go through an excrutiatingly tedious endeavour to remove every single unneeded word. Maybe words aren't even needed. Maybe a single small picture is all that's needed. Remember the teacher who said you could have one 3x5 note card with whatever you can fit on it? think of that. You want something that packs the most amount of knowledge in the smallest space. That being said, you might be unfamiliar with the content or forget content between now and when you use it, so it does need to include all of the steps from the beginning. It doesn't make sense to tell you how to replace the points on a distributor if it doesn't also tell you how to adjust the timing and dwell angle. 

It also doesn't make sense to have a book where the print will wash away with the slightest drop of rain. look for something that can handle some water, being left in sunlight, will last however long you want it to last. 


Don't forget the glasses!

This can be a tricky one, but as a person who wears cheater reading glasses, I'd want to ensure my book cache includes at least one if not a few different powers of reading glasses. There are some flat and foldable ones available that'd be great for storing even inside of your first book.