Provided is a very old link to Mel Tappan's book "On Survival".  Tappan was one of the earliest "Survivalist' authors, and his writings had/have great credibility.  His book is obviously dated, BUT the intelligence of the author, and his method of reasoning about general survival situations is something worth reading.

http://giltweasel.com/stuff/Tappan%20on%20Survival.pdf

Times have changed, and technology marches on.  Personally, I would like to have a voice of reason, like Tappan, advising us nowadays.  I'm sure some of his advice might have changed over time, but some would still valuable.  Most important is his logical approach/evaluation of what he had to deal with as regards firearms.  Keep that point in mind, please.

it is entirely reasonable to believe that a modern-day Tappan would have written a very different book.  What is also entirely reasonable is that a modern-day Tappan would apply the same logical approach to modern-day survival issues.

I commend Tappan's very intelligent approach to such issues for consideration.  He was a very wise man, and I do not use that term lightly.

Good book.

Another good writer is Ragnar Benson. Good practical advise. A little heavy on the doom and gloom but still a very practical "survivalist". Most of, if not all his books were published by Paladin Press. Not sure if he's still alive and if so, if he's still writing since Paladin Press is gone.

I miss Paladin Press. Have a bunch of their books.

Yep, I have several of Ragnar's books, purchased back in the day  - pre-Y2K -  before it was cool-n-trendy to be a  'prepper.'

A world-weary traveler, some of the 'gloom' in his writings is understandably attributable to what he saw firsthand in war-torn venues and other bad, chaotic places. His comments on how refugees are often treated and why it's never a good idea to be one are still valid today, maybe more so.

I agree that Ragnar's insights and advice are/were very practical, in particular about planning, building, and maintaining a Retreat (his 'Retreat strategy.') All still very practical stuff.  Younger folks here who haven't yet read him could learn much.

Got plenty of Ragnar's books, and concur they are valuable, if read with the understanding that they are the opinions of an experienced individual.
If possible, please post links to free downloads of Ragnar's books.

Blast from the past!  I remember Giltweasel from long ago......surprised the site is still up.  Thanks for the link.

@raf

Thank you for the recommendation.  Tappan’s “Why Prepare” strikes me because of the dollars mentioned.  My first instinct was to chuckle; I’d love a $300 service pistol!  Our enemies and the threats they present have changed.  We’ve gone from ICBMs to dirty bombs.  That said, all it means is that matters are getting worse on a micro-level scale.  I don’t think we face the threat of large scale nuclear war any more.  Same with foreign invasion from a foreign military action.

But Tappan seems to see into the future as he discusses the dawn of terrorism in Europe, crime in the US, the ballooning welfare state, financial funny business, and the nature of our government bureaucracy.  That said, we’re approaching 40 years since he offered these warnings, as have countless others.  Yet here we still are.  It’s clear there are good reasons to prep; if anything, government has become less able or even less willing to help in emergency situations.  Katrina and other Gulf Coast hurricanes, police standing aside when Antifa and their ilk decide to hit the streets and riot, California’s inability to keep the power on, Flint’s inability to provide basic water...  Are we worried unnecessarily about these large scale bogeymen?  Should we be concentrating on the micro level instead of the macro level?  Or are these “small disturbances” really symptoms of the larger problem that’s just taking longer than expected to arrive?

Your statement implies an interesting question- what would Tappan say and advise today?  I’ll also add another question- what would Tappan see in the future from our vantage point in 2019?

More reading to do, but you’re right- he gets you to think if you’re willing to listen.

Thank you for your kind comments.  As noted above, the technological stuff in Tappan's books is somewhat dated--but much of it is as relevant today as it was long ago.  My primary purpose in re-introducing his book "On Survival" was to give some folks who might not heard of him an opportunity to read the thoughts of a first-class mind, and observe his reasoning process.

There are many more very good tid-bits on Giltweasel's site; read the index here, and go exploring: http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/
For general informational purposes, "Tappan on Survival" was a re-written version of many of the columns he wrote for various magazines.

Tappan authored a "Personal Survival Letter" for many years  There are PDF downloads available, if one looks hard enough, and some personal effort will be well worth it.  I can't tell if member Solothurn is still with us, but here's something from the archives wherein he offered a PDF download of the complete Newsletter files: https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoors/Mel_Tappan__Personal_Survival_Letter/17-661461/?  It's a trip into the past, and some names might sound familiar to longstanding members.

Tappan's "Survival Guns" is certainly his seminal work, and the one which has to deal the most with the march of technological progress.  That notwithstanding, it is eminently worth reading for the insights it gives to his cool, calculated decision-making process.  Again, there may be free PDF versions available for download, and your searching for them, and finding such will be of considerable value, and posting such links here will be of value to others.  Of course, the book remains on-sale at Amazon and other locations, and presumably includes the pix which the PDF likely omits.

As to what Tappan might write about today, one can only speculate.  I think it reasonable to believe that he would comment on how American society is more ideologically polarized than at any time since the Viet Nam War era.  It is also likely to presume that he would comment on how American society, as well as the world in general, has developed a more fragile society than existed back in Tappan's time.  The increased fragility of our society, and its' global connectedness would, I think, give him reason to comment on its' increased vulnerability to many onsloughts, both natural and man-caused.

Of course, a modern Tappan would comment on other things, modern firearms certainly included.  His was a logical, far-ranging mind, and I am sure that he would have had some thoughts on many other subjects.

Another Free download: Cresson Kearney's book "Nuclear War Survival Skills".  Download and save.  Please look up Cresson Kearney and have a glance at some of his for-sale books.  The guy was, in his sphere, a genius.

Upgraded and expanded 1987 edition:http://www.nuclearwarsurvivalskills.com/

Loompanics is who published a lot of these sorts of books and I remember a few years back they were going out of business and clearing out all old stuff.

I still like a book called "boston's gun bible" but it sure has not kept up with the times.  Fal mags are expensive and a cheap ar10 is not hard to find and good ar10 mags are all over the place.

As with the books you mentioned, you can think and use the knowledge from the book to apply it to today's world.

I don't know what all is still out there.  I bought a lot of actual books along these lines and they will be the last books I keep around.  A whole lot of other books are replaced by their electronic versions on a kindle or in pdf or whatever.

Even a lot of the old stories people wrote can be brought up to date.

If they make you think and consider options they are doing their job.

If I remember correctly, Paladin Press bought out Loompanics awhile back and then Paladin Press went out of business more recently. Both published a wide range of interesting books. I have books from both.

The point of this thread is to post interesting, and useful, stories related to personal survival, whether fictional, or historic/factual.  Please, Please conform to the Original Intent.

Thanks.

The march towards electronic distribution of information is a blessing and a curse at the same time.
It's great having a ton of information at your fingertips.....I was throwing my collection of prep documents onto a new thumb drive yesterday because the old one was wearing out after years of banging around in my pocket....but that same convenience has contributed to a lack of modern replacements for guys like Benson and Tappan. Guys need to get a financial reward to make their efforts worthwhile. By way of comparison, in the 90s and early aughts I self published a road guide to my county roads. Sold hundreds of copies every year to delivery guys, taxi drivers, etc. Smart phones killed that. I dusted off the project a couple of years ago at the urging of a few friends to bring out an updated version, which didn't sell. Won't do that again.

Same applies to prepping books. Guys aren't going to sweat over a modern book just to see half or more of potential sales disappear through electronic theft. So enjoy the older documents and any modern equivalent that gets passed around through primarily PDF sharing. Unless someone produces a document for the sheer love of preserving and sharing information without thought of making a profit, that will be the look of the future. Which is unfortunate, because electronic storage media is a fragile method of information storage

Some of Ragnar's books.

Use the search bar for other books. For example, search for Paladin Press and it will bring up several books that were sold by them.

Thanks for posting, it was a good quick read.