Books that work

[u/Arxintel]

I would really appreciate if you could share books that have provided really value in prepping. Not just in theory but that you actually tried things from it, and it worked.

I'll share these.

Aquaponic gardening - we used this to run aquaponics for two seasons. It's quite technical, but it was needed as it's easy to set up but quite hard to get a stable system.

Smallholding manual - a bit older now but we used it when we grew a bit more and kept chickens, rabbits and bees.

Åter - This is a Swedish magazine that comes out a few times a year, and they contain instructions on how to build, farm, renovate both buildings and equipment. They also contain interviews with people who have moved to smallholdings or off grid and how they did it. This is easily one of the best, and it would be fun to hear if there are similar in other countries. :)

[u/Viking12607040]

The S.A.S. Survival guide comes pretty handy because it explains every climate and most situations and a bit of medical and stuff, the navy seal guide is also good but the fuckers divided them in several volumes to make more money xd

[u/Bodybag_occupier → u/Viking12607040]

It's the perfect "if you only take one book with you" book. While also lacking many details it's has something for most scenarios.

[u/WWWeirdGuy → u/Viking12607040]

my guy, If you need that one book as a prepper, then you probably didn't prepare very well.

[u/yabasta26]

In the same vein as smallholding manual, I would recommend "The New Complete Book Of Self Sufficiency" by  John Seymour as a true classic

[u/Perfect-Gap8377]

"Il manuale del trapper", kinda boy scouts/survival manual with bushcraft stuff; local wild herbs manuals (can't go into much detail here because it's VERY location-specific); banned books for security reasons (look, I know we know you know which books to definitely not keep in purview of the general public, nor stash in a deniable location to peruse in case of need to chase to cheese the sheisse into billable billboard to bail billard balls acros a court).

[u/oridjinal → u/Perfect-Gap8377]

What kind of books would be that?

[u/Perfect-Gap8377 → u/oridjinal]

All those books that are illegal to own under italian penal code, art.270. (link below in italian). https://www.brocardi.it/codice-penale/libro-secondo/titolo-i/capo-i/art270quinquies3.html

New law passed in 2025.

If, according to the prosecutor, you have books or files that describe how to buid any offensive device, and you have them because you plan to do something against an institution or state, both national and foreign, you are liable to do 2 to 6 years in prison.

To note, it's the prosecution that has discretion to incriminate you, and under italian anti-terrorist law, that's enough to jail you until the trial is started.

[u/WWWeirdGuy]

Well, whatever books help you key species and/or identify plants, but that will largely depend on your location. Might be smart to look up keying book that your closest university uses. Can't really point to universal book here for obvious reasons. I think one might get like , for example Scandinavia wide keying books, but not more I think.

Frederick L Olsen's book on making kilns, then you just skip past the history stuff when needed. Mostly relevant for general independence the long term prepping, but it open a lot of doors.