Prepper Book Festival 10: The Best New Books to Help You Prepare

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It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the books that were selected for the Backdoor Survival Prepper Book Festival #10.  My gosh, what a line-up.  For the first time, all 14 books are non-fiction and they cover such a wide range of topics that there is surely something for everyone!

As readers, I hope that you find something that is both interesting and educational in this list of book festival entries. These are the best new books to help you prepare!  I also hope that in the coming weeks you will enjoy the author interviews and that you take a moment or two to enter the giveaways to win some free books.

But first, for those of you that are unfamiliar with book festival format, what is a “Prepper Book Festival”?

What Prepper Book Festival?

Backdoor Survival Prepper Book Festivals are a showcase of some of the best books and authors in the survival, preparedness, and self-reliance niche. The way Book Festivals work is that once a week, and sometimes twice, I feature book giveaways coupled with exclusive, one on one author interviews.

To enter each book giveaway, I ask what I hope to be a thought-provoking  question and request that you provide an answer in the comments section of the article.  I have been told that many readers are more interested in the answers to the questions themselves than the book.  I very much applaud that because to be honest, learning from each other is how we will move forward and prevail during these uncertain times.

Just so you know,  I typically provide a way to make multiple giveaway entries so you will want to watch for those bonus opportunities.  Many of these bonus opportunities involve social media so if you already like Backdoor Survival on Facebook, or follow on Pinterest or Twitter, you basically have some free entries coming.  Subscribers (don’t worry, that is also free) also get an extra entry.

Winners of the book giveaways are selected at random and the winning book is sent out directly by the author or the publisher.  The winners have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate is selected.  You snooze, you lose.

Now that you know how it works, let’s get started.  Here is the list of BDS Book Festival 10 books and their descriptions.

Fall 2015 Prepper Book Festival

Middle Ground Prepping: A Sensible Approach

Learn how middle ground prepping can get you prepared without taking over your life.

Somewhere in between the fanatical preppers highlighted on the hit reality show “Doomsday Preppers” and the millions of Americans who have done nothing to assemble emergency supplies lies “middle ground prepping.” Middle ground prepping is a concept that provides a measured and reasonable approach for novices to prepare for impending emergencies or disasters in order to protect yourself and your family.

Middle Ground Prepping provides five well-defined steps that will allow you to develop a comprehensive emergency plan in a reasonable amount of time. By simply following the Planning, Acquiring, Responding, Training, and Evaluating steps you will experience considerable peace of mind and knowledge that your family is prepared to survive any disaster that may come your way.

You can be a sensible prepper on your schedule without becoming obsessed with over-the-top preparedness notions and low probability theoretical disasters.

Author:  Jim Serre

Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life Deluxe: A Former CIA Officer Reveals Safety and Survival Techniques to Keep You and Your Family Protected

When Jason Hanson joined the CIA in 2003, he never imagined that the same tactics he used as a CIA officer for counter intelligence, surveillance, and protecting agency personnel would prove to be essential in every day civilian life.

In addition to escaping handcuffs, picking locks, and spotting when someone is telling a lie, he can improvise a self-defense weapon, pack a perfect emergency kit, and disappear off the grid if necessary. He has also honed his “positive awareness”—a heightened sense of his surroundings that allows him to spot suspicious and potentially dangerous behavior—on the street, in a taxi, at the airport, when dining out, or in any other situation.

In this book, you will learn:

• prevent home invasions, carjackings, muggings, and other violent crimes
• run counter-surveillance and avoid becoming a soft target
• recognize common scams at home and abroad
• become a human lie detector in any setting, including business negotiations
• gain peace of mind by being prepared for anything instead of uninformed or afraid

Author:  Jason Hanson

START PREPPING!: GET PREPARED-FOR LIFE: A 10-Step Path to Emergency Preparedness So You Can Survive Any Disaster

You don’t like to think about it, but deep down you know it can happen. Disaster can strike without warning, leaving your family without water, food, or electricity, and without medical or police support. How will you survive when that happens? How will you protect your family from threats of violence?

Buying insurance, writing wills, getting our teeth cleaned, and saving for retirement are just a few of the precautions we routinely take to mitigate risks, but most people fail to prepare for what’s most important.

They fail to prepare for their own survival.  With 91% of Americans living in places at a moderate-to-high risk of disasters and with all of us dependent on a very fragile life-support system, it’s time for you to take preparedness seriously.

When you read this book you will

• understand the 27 disasters you’re likely to face why some people perish when others don’t, and you’ll know how to ensure your family survives.
• master situational awareness and the survival mindset you need to avoid becoming a victim of violence.
• know when to stay, when to bug out, and how to implement an evacuation plan.
• learn the best non-firearm options for self-defense.
• discover the best ways to generate electricity, store water and food, and handle sanitation and medical care on your own.

Author:  Tim Young

The Pandemic Preparedness Guide

This comprehensive book will provide you with a better understanding of Flu and Ebola viruses, what a pandemic is, and what things will look like when it begins.

In the words of one reviewer:

“As a professor at medical school, and author of three prepper medical books, I found the medical information presented in this work to be remarkably accurate. That’s quite a feat for someone who hasn’t been indoctrinated into the rigid confines of medicine. But that shouldn’t have surprised me, because the author writes very, very well.

Much of his book addresses the potential consequences of global diseases, and how one might reconcile difficult choices that must be made during disasters… from a Christian point of view. Another large portion deals with a subject on many people’s minds these days. Namely, what does it mean to be a Patriot in America today, when the people of this great nation no longer trust their government, and find conspiracy in every direction they look. And that’s why I really enjoyed this book. Maybe I didn’t agree with everything, but I certainly respected his well written arguments and points of view.”

Author:  Kenneth R McClelland

The Complete Survival Shelters Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Life-saving Structures for Every Climate and Wilderness Situation

You can survive a couple of weeks without food and a few days without water, but in some cases, you would be lucky to survive one night without shelter.

With structures ideally suited for any weather condition, this book presents emergency shelter designs built from a variety of elements, including 100 percent gathered items, a combination of natural and store-bought supplies, and even durable construction materials.

The author offers helpful tips and techniques for mastering your shelter-building skills, as well as tutorials on how to make basic tools, bedding, mattresses and other items to increase shelter comfort.

Packed with easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photos, this all-encompassing primer teaches you how to construct a variety of lifesaving shelters, including:

Rock Shelter
Debris Hut
Lean-To
Bent Sapling Shelter
Snow Cave
Subterranean Shelter
Scandinavian Lavvu
Ger/Yurt
Basha/Tarp Shelter

Author:  Anthonio Akkermans

Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath

In his new book, Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before.

It isn’t just a scenario. A well-designed attack on just one of the nation’s three electric power grids could cripple much of our infrastructure—and in the age of cyber warfare, a laptop has become the only necessary weapon.  In fact, as a former chief scientist of the NSA reveals, China and Russia have already penetrated the grid.  “It’s not a question of if,” says Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin, “it’s a question of when.”

And yet, as Koppel makes clear, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid.

In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands.  But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive?

With urgency and authority, one of our most renowned journalists examines a threat unique to our time and evaluates potential ways to prepare for a catastrophe that is all but inevitable.

Author: Ted Koppel

Emergency Evacuations: Getting out fast when it matters most!

Fact: Under great stress, the human brain triggers an alarm that causes many to freeze in their tracks, not exactly the smartest move when flood waters are rising or when flames fill your home!

Getting away from a dangerous situation fast is key to survival but without a plan in place, one that triggers an effective and automatic response, your survival is debatable.

You need a system you can rely on during those initial, panic-filled moments when your safety depends on getting out fast.

This book is just the guide you need for helping to insure that each loved one (pets included) and your most important belongings make it to safety.

In this book you’ll learn:

• What to put in your family emergency kit
• How to pack an emergency kit for babies, pets, and even elderly loved ones
• What documents are most important to have on hand
• How to plan the best routes to safety
• Unusual, safe destinations when you don’t know where else to go

Author:  Lisa Bedford aka The Survival Mom

Air Rifles: A Buyer’s and Shooter’s Guide (Survival Guns Book 3)

Air-powered guns offer many useful possibilities for informed shooters.

First, we can mail-order both airguns and their ammunition, which don’t fall under the jurisdiction of BATF (check your local regulations). Airguns also tend to be quiet – a useful advantage if low-impact hunting is necessary. The right choice will have adequate power for small game, and possibly even deer.

From here it gets better since uninformed people will lump them all together as simple BB guns. In fact, airguns still maintain social acceptance not only domestically, but also around the globe. As a result, sophisticated designs have evolved with outstanding performance. Some are even sold in head-turning calibers like 9mm, .45, or .50-caliber! On a smaller and more affordable scale, we can also improve our all-around shooting skills while having some low-cost fun.

Since an understanding of the various power-plants is essential, this thorough and complete guide will provide the necessary information for its purchase and use.

Author:  Steve Markwith

Rimfire Rifles: A Buyer’s and Shooter’s Guide (Survival Guns Book 4)

This book is devoted to a whole series of useful firearms, beginning with the well-known .22 Long Rifle.

The venerable “twenty-two” hosts a wide array of interesting loads, including some ultra-quiet choices and fairly nasty high-speed rounds. Even hotter rimfire calibers include the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, plus three small-bore derivatives: the .17 Mach II, .17 Hornady Rimfire Magnum, and Winchester’s high velocity .17 Super Magnum.

Careful shopping can provide us with a useful rimfire (or maybe even two) with which to quietly harvest small game or eliminate pests. An economical .22 LR firearm can also serve as a great high-powered rifle trainer if similar function is considered. In a pinch, it might even work for self-defense.

The rimfires can’t do everything, but they can do a lot once fully understood. One trait is easy to overlook until you start shooting. They’re lots of fun! This book will lead the way from beginning to end.

Author:  Steve Markwith

The Survival Mindset: Situational Awareness to Avoid Violence & Survive Disasters

Authorities respond to violence—they don’t prevent it, leaving YOU as the line of first defense. This book will show you how to act like it.

In today’s increasingly violent world, threats to your personal safety are everywhere. From acts of terror to mass shootings, and from the sudden threat of everyday crime, danger is at everyone’s doorstep. Potentially life-threatening circumstances can arise anywhere, anytime, and author Tim Young—wants you to be ready.

The Survival Mindset is a highly actionable guide that will increase your situational awareness, teach you the step-by-step survival mindset, help you determine the contents of your everyday carry (EDC) items and survival bags and how to break free from the deadly grip of normalcy bias.

This book will help you to reclaim the lost art of situational awareness and develop a keen survival mindset so you can avoid violence and survive disasters.

Author:  Tim Young

Playful Preparedness: Prepare Your Children–For Life: 26 Games for Teaching Situational Awareness, Prepping, Emergency Preparedness and the Survival Mindset to Children of All Ages

Today’s children can recognize over 1,000 corporate logos but can’t identify 10 plants native to their region. They live in an artificial world—one where they spend less than seven minutes per day playing outdoors and over seven hours per day staring at a digital device. But the threats our children face are real, from random violence and terrorism to natural, manmade, and accidental disasters.

What skills do today’s children have to prepare them to face threats of violence and disaster? For that matter, what skills and resources do their parents have?

Playful Preparedness is a one-of-a-kind preparedness book, packed with 26 games and dozens of activities to help teach children situational awareness, life-saving preparedness skills and the survival mindset so that they can survive in the real world.

Read Playful Preparedness today and help your children to become prepared—for life.

Author:  Tim Young

The Penny-Pinching Prepper: Save More, Spend Less and Get Prepared for Any Disaster

Cost-saving strategies for stockpiling emergency supplies and becoming fully prepared—without breaking the bank!

You need to get prepared before disaster strikes. But supplies can be expensive. This book solves the problem. Packed with inexpensive DIY projects for keeping your family safe in any worst-case scenario, this helpful handbook’s smart and frugal approach shows how to stay on a stable financial footing while fully preparing for any life-threatening situation.

The Penny-Pinching Prepper offers dozens of affordable and easy-to-implement solutions, including how to:

•Stock a prepper pantry on $10 a week
•Build a stove from used tin cans
•Create a water filter with two free 5-gallon buckets
•Craft a lamp that burns inexpensive vegetable oil
•Devise a storm shelter using 10-cent trash bags

Author:  Bernie Carr

Book 6: Kerosene Pressure Lanterns (The Non-Electric Lighting Series)

Lanterns that use mantles produce light on par with electric lights. And KEROSENE mantle lanterns have an advantage over lamps that use Coleman fuel. Kerosene is more generic, more widely available.

The book has four main sections:

(1) It describes six different Coleman models, old and new, made specifically for kerosene. Collectors’ items (expensive) and orphans (no spare parts) are ignored. The emphasis is on practical, day-to-day lighting.

(2) It gives the specifics on converting nine different Coleman gas lanterns to kerosene (what generator to use, etc.).

(3) It explains Petromax lanterns, a pre-World War II German design. World-wide, there are more Petromax lanterns (and Petromax clones) in existence than Coleman.

(4) And it explains Aladdin lamps, kerosene lamps that use a mantle but are not pressurized. Aladdins have been around over a hundred years and a new model is on the verge of being introduced – the first new model in 46 years!

And – oh yes! – this book names eleven different lantern models that, given the right generator-mantle combo, will burn diesel fuel. That alone is worth the price of admission!

If you picture yourself being forced to live off-grid for an extended period of time, then THIS is the book you need. You don’t have to cook supper or fix the car or deliver a baby by the light of a candle. You can have light equivalent to a 50 or 100 or 200 or 300-watt electric bulb. Pressurized kerosene lanterns come from another day and age but are known, established, reliable technology. This book is not artsy-fartsy. It’s nitty-gritty.

Author:  Ron Brown

Prepper’s Survival Hacks: 50 DIY Projects for Lifesaving Gear, Gadgets and Kits

When a catastrophic event strikes, you’ll need to rely on your skills and supplies to keep you alive. This book teaches you how to improvise solutions for the scarcities, deficiencies, and dangers that will arise in a worst-case scenario.

Prepper’s Survival Hacks offers a wide range of creative ideas for transforming cheap and widely available items into life-saving gear:

•Harvest water in a transpiration bag
•Catch food with a pocket fishing kit
•Cook using a handy hobo stove
•Craft quick fire starters in an egg carton
•Make a mini oil lamp using a mint tin
•Assemble a survival kit in a belt pouch

Author:  Jim Cobb

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The Final Word

See what I mean?  In my humble opinion, Prepper Book Festival 10 represents the best of the best in terms of new releases from both new and established authors.  That being said, I would like to extend a big thank you to the individual authors and their publishers for submitting their books for consideration, and also for providing copies to award in the upcoming book giveaways.

It is my hope that you will learn lessons in self-reliance and survival from each of these books.  In support of that, in the coming weeks you have a chance to meet the authors, learn about their books, and get a peek into their own preparedness efforts.  If something strikes your fancy, please support the authors by entering the giveaway, purchasing their book, posting a review, or suggesting the title to your local library so others can learn from them as well.

Now the real work begins.  Which book am I going to read and review first?

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to email updates.  When you do, you will receive a free, downloadable copy of my e-Book, The Emergency Food Buyer’s Guide.

Plus: The Preppers Guide to Food Storage

No list of books would be complete without my own book, Prepper’s Guide to Food Storage.  The eBook print version is available.

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