I had to re-arrange things in my computer room, or what we used to call a ‘home office’, the other day. One thing I did was consolidate a couple bookshelves onto one shelf. What sort of dead-tree reading material does the Zero keep around?
Among other things, the collected works of Ayn Rand, my autographed collection of ,Rawles’ books, Gun Jesus’ books, a fairly decent amount of medical and gardening texts, a buncha gun boffin books, some American history, and some fiction that segues nicely into my interests.
And, yeah, there’s thundertoys laying around all over the place.
A goodly amount of those books could probably be disposed of. Once I read something, I’ve got a pretty good head for remembering most of it. The fiction I should probably unload somewhere and make some space, but I’ll always keep reference books, tutorials, and ‘how to’s. Interestingly, a large portion of these texts are available from various sources as .pdf’s….Tappan’s stuff, for example…but I’m a bit of a dinosaur in that I like the experience of a book…the tangibles, the smell, etc. And, yes, I know that a book makes more sense in the post-apocalyptic world than a .pdf.
As Groucho Marx famously said, Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read.
My old copy of Tappan’s “Survival Guns” has pages popping loose from the binding. I don’t even touch it anymore.
I have a copy of Atlas Shrugged like that.
These can be repaired, easily, whether paperback or hardback. Since most are not “irreplaceable”, I use Elmer’s Glue, whichever kind I happen to have around.
For paperbacks, gently pull the cover off of all the pages – using a straightedge razor if needed to help remove it intact.
Line the pages up and, holding them, tamp them on the bottom, top and right side, to put them all even with each other in a stack. Lay the stack on top of the back cover, and clamp them all together. Rubber bands will work if you’ve nothing else. If there’s old glue on the spine that seems loose, scrape it off, but there’s no need to remove any that is still solid.
Slather the spine side of the stack heavily with Elmer’s Glue. Smear Elmer’s onto the inner spine part of the cover. Fold the cover tightly over the pages and put a couple of rubber bands around it to hold it in place. Lay the book on a flat surface and put a heavy weight on it. Leave it for 3 days to dry.
I’m no expert but this works for me.
You need a weapons rack, man.
No, srsly.
I know, I know….I have a bunch but the guns are coming in faster than the racks. This place looks like a division armory had a garage sale.
My excuse is that when you leave guns, books, CDs, or DVDs alone at night, they mate and multiply.
It’s a theory.
But it never works for Ammo does it?
Commander just because you read it and it’s in your noggin you might want to keep a library for others.
Sometimes Heinlein is just good enough to read again and again 🙂
I tend to keep the Heinlein. In fact, someone just gifted me an autographed copy of Friday.
In my basement is the ‘Armageddon library’. A collection of (used) human knowledge developed over the last 1,000 years. Here’s hoping I never need it.
reminds me of the old Twilight Zone episode when the bookworm (Burgess Meredith) finally gets time enough to read. Nuclear Armegeddon didn’t hurt those books none!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoNGRVeC7Y
Have you test fired the H&K with the arm brace yet?
Shoots fine.
Fiction is digital, any new purchases get downloaded to the phone. Reference books, manuals and textbooks are paper. I’m not getting rid of my uncle’s Ace double collection, or my Heinlein and Anderson paperbacks, but don’t have any current author that I deem worthy of preserving their works in dead tree format.
I have probably over 2k books on my shelves. I’ve actually read most of them.
I can’t – cannot – get rid of them. I am constitutionally unable. Ancient Greek history, economics (Mises, Rothbard, etc.), science, math, SF, philosophy, military history and manuals, Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill, several dictionaries, including an OED, computer manuals, including security and programming, and lots of other random stuff.
I intend to pass them on to my sons. I hope they appreciate it.
I never lend books anymore. To many never came home again. Like my copy of Carlos Hathcocks book. And Charlie Beckeiths book on Delta Force. Charlie was quite the soldier. He was the man they handed the plan for Delta and simply said. ” Make this happen”. My cousin knew Colonel Beckwith. Both served multiple tours in Vietnam and Korea. Both did Special Ops in their careers. Airborne, Green Berets and Rangers.
I have books I bought at the school book fair when I was in elementary school.
From your description we have similar tastes in reading material. History, guns and quite a few books by some gun gurus from back in the day. I have a book by Jack O’ Conner that is signed. Mel Tappan. Used to read his column in Guns and Ammo. They had others like Col Charles Askins and Bill Jordan that were columnists for G& A. Can’t forget Col Jeff Cooper. All men who had been there and done that for God and Country. Men to be revered and emulated. I even ran across a couple of years worth of Soldier of Fortune a few months back. I went through the Afghan/ Russian war in the pages of that before the current media turds were even born. About the only two vices I have are books and things that go bang. Don’t drink. Don’t smoke. My big issue is finding places for the books. I’m totally out if shelf space.
I have a signed copy of Beckwith’s book somewhere in the basement. I was an Army 2LT walking thru the Pentagon Concourse and he was at a table outside the bookstore there, with a stack of books. Your post has prompted me to find it and make sure it is preserved in good condition.
There is no doubt he was among the best of the best. He and my cousin were in Vietnam in the early days. My cousin was there with the 5th Special Forces Group. He was in a Montanyard village with his team. About 50 miles south of Plieku in the Central Highlands. That was July 66 till December 67. Then went back in 69-70 was the CSM in Company G, 75th Ranger Regiment. He was in Korea in 53 with the 173rd Airborne Division. He finished his career as the Command Sargent Major to the Corp of Cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point. He was highly decorated and was elected to the Ranger Hall of Fame at Ft Banning in June 2013.
After leaving the regular Army he ran military schools for an additional 24 years as Commandant. The family was very proud of him. He accomplished a great deal.
i also have the large green small arms of the world. excellent tech book
I concur about wealth residing in books, especially the printed form.
They’re like old friends…and will be valuable reference tools when other forms
of reference are unusable. At last count…well let’s say, I could open a private library. Many first editions, some of which date back to the early 1800’s.
Those of which I inherited are classics in many different topics. Those of which I’ve collected range in topics from pioneering and survival methods, tools, and implements… to Resistance to Tyranny, tactics and logistics. The Biblical reference department consists of well over one thousand well known, and respected, editions ranging from classical to more contemporary.
Autographed editions in any topic are a plus, especially those which I sought directly from the author. And yes, for some strange reason, most books do have a mysterious natural aroma
Taken as a whole. Books are the statement that the human race has progressed and written it down. One reason there has been so much errant information about the Celts is they never left any written record. Once they began to write and those records were found it changed the entire dynamic of what was known about the Celtic people.
Books are valuable for many reasons. And hold answers to so many mysteries.
Guess that’s why the Nazis and Democrats just love burning them.
It has been said that when the Army of Alexander the Great burned the Great library at Alexandria Egypt which at the time was the repository of most of the written knowledge of the world. It set the human race back 2000 years.
scientia sit potentia
Anybody got a copy of this:
https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Times-Primer-Complete-Survival/dp/0960660801
I bought it in 1981 or 1982 when I was stationed in Hawaii. I am amazed to see how much is being asked for it nowadays. Kind of like the Mel Tappan books.
The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, and it is the best I got at the moment. I had intended to wait until winter when I would have plenty of time, yet JWR was short on articles. He’ll accept just about anything you might throw at him at the moment. I’m knocking out several more well. Next up is about field phones. It is not about winning a prize, but supporting Survivalblog and it’s mission. Hope you enjoy.
Boers, Beans, Bullets, and Bear Soup – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbithttps://survivalblog.com/2022/10/08/boers-beans-bullets-bear-soup-part-1-tunnel-rabbit/
Just finished reading your article. I see you too are a fan of the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser round. One of my favorites. With the advent of the new 6.5mm cartridges I have seen many new bullets available. I’ve been shooting the Swede since 1996 when I purchased a Swede type 36 that was one if the interwar conversions to carbine length. My was born in 1909 and is one of the most accurate rifles I own. Other favorites are the 45-70Govt. In my H&R reproduction. 30-06 in my 1903A3 Springfield. I reload for all my rifles. My powder of choice for everything is IMR3031. Even my Winchester 30-30 uses the IMR 3031.
I have some 8mm Mausers from Yugoslavia. But my Swede is my favourite bolt action. They used the best steel in the world to creat these wonderful rifles. Swedish tool Steele. It was considered better then Krupp ordnance steel. For a 100 + years old rifle it sure is a pleasure to have it along on a foot excursion into the woods.
Great article. Thanks for letting us know about it.
Thank you for the feed back. Yes, the Sweds are my favorite. One is a shorten M38, and the other is shortened 1905 M96 with a 24 inch barrel. . Both are scoped and very accurate.
The new bullets that are in the Extreme Low Drag category, only make the 127 year old Swede even better, and just as good as it’s offspring the 6.5CM. Swedish steel was superior to other steels of the time. One of the reasons the barrels last so long and will retain it’s fine accuracy much longer that a 6.5CM barrel, IHMO, is that:
1. the cartridge uses slower powders, thereby reducing heat erosion at the throat.
2. Their military ball ammunition used a powder that is so slow, it is suitable for magnum rifles.
3. The maximum pressure is only 51,000psi. Pressure is strongly correlated to the heat generated. Some powders burn faster and reach higher temperatures as well.
4. The bore is relatively small. Or one could say that the barrel is a medium weight for the caliber, and that the 29 inch barrel provided additional mass to soak up the heat.
5. And the Sweds did not use corrosive primer.
6. And their armorers applied the highest maintenance standards .
Because of generally overall high quality build of the rifle, many consider it one of the finest Mausers made.
Load the 6.5×55 to modern high pressures that a modern rifle designed for, and the cartridge leave 6.5CM in the dust. Old school Rules…lol. And they invented this wonderful cartridge way back in 1889-1891.
My other treasure is a sporterized M1903, the 03a3. Because it is bedded and has a nice trigger, and Picatinny rail, it will receive the new Arken SH-4 scope. So it would then be a wannabe M24 as the scope very much resembles the function and appearance of the original Steiner. If you are running 140 grain bullets, if you can find the powders, H4831sc, and H4350 are both modern temperature stable powers that provide some of the best accuracy possible. H4350 will provide higher velocities as well.
Keep those old books. I’m re-reading books that I read 60 years ago and with my old memory it’s like the first time. And in a new times context things seem to mean something it didn’t before.—ken
I’ve done that with books I read in grade school. Eddie Rickenbackers book “Eight Came Through”. About his survival in WWII after going down in the Pacific. Found a copy on eBay. My granddaughters received a copy of a book I remember from early elementary school. About a kid who carves a canoe with an Indian in it. Title is ” Paddle to the Sea”. Great book. I even saw a movie based on that book. It brought back many memories. If I ever have to move. This library will take half a year to box up.
The books ‘Seven Came Through’ and hard too find.
“Boxing up” and “preserving” books is well worth the time. When the digital age ceases to exist, and it very well, may…..
Oh wait, I hear, the Ha! Ha! from the peanut gallery…….”I have it all archived on my ……XYZippyDoDah Drive Duma Flotchy.”
Really? Hard Times Primer…. for $109 on Amazon? Mel Tappan for $X what?
Your cell phone don’t work? Your ‘lectric gadget don’t work.
Wait ’til shit gets really real.
DaTube out, F*book out, WTF out? What now? Try a paper copy of a map and a real compass and then take a walk.
Good Luck 🙂
Some of the kids should have gotten out more.
Lucifers hammer , one second after , alias Babylon, and the road are great . But one of the most underrated post apocalyptic books is EARTH ABIDES by George R Stewart written in 1949 . I highly recommend.
Speaking of books. Here is the book service I use. They have an unlimited number of subjects. History, science, gun smithing., cabin building. Foraging. Survival manuals. The list goes on and on.
Edward R Hamilton Bookseller Company.
My most recent order was 15 books. Many of them originally sold for over 30 dollars. My total cost was $129 00 which includes shipping ( always only $4.00) and state sales tax. If I had purchased at Barnes and Noble I would have gotten maybe five books st most.
They have a website. You can order a catalog. They send a monthly catalog with others that come announcing new arrivals.
I have saved a lot of money. Over the last three years I have purchased over 150 books from them. Their shipping is very fast. And I am totally satisfied.