In a Bugout situation, taking all of your survival books and manuals is probably not very practical. As eBook readers increase in popularity, many survivalists are buying them as a way to back up manuals, books, and other survival materials.
Top eBook Readers:
Amazon Kindle or Fire Tablet
The newest Amazon Kindle or Fire Tablet can hold thousands of books, they both require very little power, and they can be easily recharged with a small solar charger. While I wouldn’t go betting my life on it, the Kindle is a great back up or supplement to your books, and is a great way to store how-to manuals and survival information that you might need during a long-term survival situation.
Apple iPad:
If you looking for something that can serves as an eBook reader, store maps, and provide entertainment during a disaster then the iPad tops the list. Weighing in at only 0.68 pounds, the iPad is one of the best options you can carry. The great thing about the iPad is its ability to store thousands of books, thousands of PDFs and manuals, and its ability to provide entertainment during a crisis situation — something that is especially important for those with young children who will need a release from what’s going on.
Don’t forget to pair these with a good Emergency Solar Charger:
While these devices are a great way to store information, they are completely useless without a way to recharge them during a disaster. Check out our list of portable emergency solar chargers that can keep these devices going indefinitely.
Preparedness eBooks You Should Download:
The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide: Self-Reliance Strategies for a Dangerous World: Robert Richardson, Founder of OFFGRIDSurvival.com, gives you real-world advice on surviving everything from natural disasters, man-made disasters and disease outbreaks, to essential tactics and step-by-step instructions for surviving urban disasters, social unrest and rioting, crime, violence and terrorist attacks. The book gives you the essential information you need to survive 21st century threats.
SAS Survival Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere: Written by John Wiseman, former survival instructor for Britain’s elite Special Air Service, this classic survival guide provides essential information for surviving in climates throughout the world. While most of the information is geared towards outdoor survival situations, it does have a section on urban survival issues.
Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide: Author Jim Cobb details plans for surviving long-term disaster situations. It goes beyond short-term disasters, and looks at what you need to survive disasters that could last for weeks, months, or even years.
Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival: Dave Canterbury shares his wilderness survival experience and advice for using Bushcraft to survive and reconnect with nature.
Where There Is No Doctor: Hesperian’s classic manual Where There Is No Doctor is one of the most widely-used health care manuals in the world. The manual provides practical, easily understood information on how to diagnose, treat, and prevent common injuries and illnesses.
Tracking and Reading Sign: A Guide to Mastering the Original Forensic Science: This full-color guide can help you learn how to track animals and read their signs. It offers an introduction on the principals of tracking by looking at tracks, prints, gaits, scats, scents, and animal behaviors. Over twenty different animals are profiled, including New World Moose, American elk, and Whitetailed deer.
The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way: The Survival Medicine Handbook is a guide for those who want to be medically prepared for any disaster where help is NOT on the way.
For a Full List of Survival Books we Recommend, Check out our article on The top Prepper Reads to Master Survival. Most of them are available as eBooks.
Other Free Books and Resources
Amazon has thousands of completely free books and classics that you can download to your Kindle App. All you need is an iPad, an Amazon Kindle or Fire Tablet and the Free Kindle App. They also have subscriptions similar to Netflix that let you download unlimited books and audio books – You can get a Free 30-day Trial Here.
Cheap & Free Survival eBooks and PDF Downloads
The following survival/preparedness eBooks are usually available for either free or under $2 for the download.
U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76: Most of the books on Wilderness survival contain information that is basically stolen directly from the U.S. Army Survival Manual. It’s a great book to have anyone interested in wilderness survival.
U.S. Marines Winter Survival Guide: A good overview on winter survival gear and survival techniques from the U.S. Marines.
SURVIVAL, EVASION, AND RECOVERY: The U.S. Army Manual on survival, evasion and Recovery techniques.
Ham Radio Frequency Chart: A PDF file covering the basic Ham bands, common Q Codes, the Phonetic Alphabet, and Morse code. I would also head over to HamRadioPrepper.com and read and print out these pages:
National Trail System Maps: These PDF file shows you thousands of hiking trails throughout the United States; these trails are something that should be kept in mind during disasters where you may have to evacuate by foot.
Downloading your Survival Books on to the Kindle App
While there are a number of different eBook apps out there, one of my favorite is the Free Kindle App. It’s free, it can open both eBooks and PDFs, it allows you to quickly search for data inside the books, and it can be downloaded onto your existing smartphone or tablets without having to buy a dedicated eBook reader. Just make sure you download the books to your device, and don’t rely on the Amazon cloud feature which will be completly useless during power outages and long-term crisis situations.
Download unlimited books and audio books – You can get a Free 30-day Trial Here.
Making your own Survival PDF eBooks
With a program like Abobe Acrobat, you can easily fill your eReader, phone, or Tablet with a treasure trove of survival information. From printouts of webpages that you routinely visit, to maps of your local area and bugout routes, printing to a PDF file allows you to collect all that information for storage on your electronic devices. It’s a great way to back up online information that might not be there during a Grid Down Collapse.
How to print to a PDF File in Windows:
- Open a file in a Windows application.
- Choose File > Print.
- Choose Adobe PDF as the printer in the Print dialog box.
- Click Print.
- Click OK, name the PDF file, and save it in a desired location.
- You can then load the PDF on to your device, or directly into the Kindle App by emailing the file to your kindle address.
For easy access to print any of our articles to your eReader, we have also added a print button to the social media menu on the top and bottom of every page on this site.
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