This is the third book I received from Paladin Press to review. I appreciate the chance to read and review these books, I have enjoyed them immensely. This book is about survivalism on a budget. Being on a budget is a full time occupation for most of us. With these uncertain times, it’s good to have backups, ways to get along if things go wrong. It’s ludicrous to think the government will step up and take care of us, your best bet is to be your own best advocate, take care of yourself and your family. With the knowledge gained from this book, even someone on the tightest of budgets should be able to implement many of the ideas in this book with little or no financial output.
Shoestring Survivalism
How To Prepare For Bad Times On A Budget
Andy James
The preface of this book IS about shoestring, but not just any shoestring, it’s referred to as 550 (five-fifty) parachute cord, we always called it Para Cord. This is used by parachutists, it’s strong, just be sure to get the real stuff, not the cheap imitation stuff. It’s something that Mountain Man Bob is very familiar with; he used to wear mining boots made by the now defunct Iron Age Shoes. These boots looked like military boots, but had much more protection. When MMB bought new boots, the first thing he would do is remove the laces and replace them with Para Cord. He had his favorite, military surplus store where he would shop. The owner, Steve knew MMB by name and always had the most interesting stuff, especially in the back of the store.
So from nearly page one, I could see that we have a similar way of thinking, of surviving, on using what you have on hand to get by, not only get by but thriving all on a budget. This book teaches you to stop and assess the potential dangers and emergency situations that you may face in your location and situation. It’s important to know what could happen, from earthquake zones, to flood plains, to urban violence, you have to prep for your own potential disasters. This book gives you step by step guidelines. Most is just plain ol’ common sense that is all too easy to overlook or forget; others are ingenious things that you might not have considered until it was too late.
Bugging out or staying put? This book will help you determine the best course of action. Even if you plan on staying put, it’s good to have an alternate plan, a plan B as it were. With the knowledge in this book, you can better decide when and/or if to bug out.
My favorite chapters are about home security. It goes way beyond locking your doors and windows. There are tips and tricks that you can use that are non-violent, yet may save your life. Though I am not opposed to using force, even deadly force for protection, if you are able to dissuade a potential intruder, looter or other miscellaneous antisocial person without having to use force or violence, all the better.
This book teaches you how to make improvised alarms, booby traps, ways to tell if someone has already entered your home while you were gone, this gives you the chance to back out of your home, get to safety and call the police, or not, either way, you have the element of surprise on your intruder instead of the other way around.
There is a pretty comprehensive chapter on guns, even if you don’t own one or do not want one, it’s still a good chapter to read. From handguns, to rifles and shotguns, this chapter will help you get more familiar with the pros and cons of each type. It even touches on air guns and wrist rockets (slingshots).
Food, water and sanitation are important, figuring out how much food and water you need and how long these will last are featured in this book. Of course sanitation in TSHTF situations cannot be ignored; you will learn excellent ways to stay sanitary and healthy.
I enjoyed reading about bartering; it’s something that isn’t done on a regular basis like they did in the old days, so it may be a skill that is lacking in your repertoire. Learning the ins and outs of bartering is a skill worth sharpening. When the store shelves are empty and the pizza place isn’t delivering, bartering may be the only game in town.
There is much more in this book, I recommend getting this book, it’s not full of fluff, it contains good, easy to do NOW information. If you have been wanting to learn about survivalism that you can do now, in place, with not a lot of money, this is your source.
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3 Responses
Yes I actually just bartered a book for a DVD the other week, and after accepting the offer, I shipped my DVD and received my book within a few days. I was very pleased with how short time everything took. I would recommend the site anyone I know.
I read the first book in this series, and really liked it a lot. SO I will have to check this one out. It’s funny that you mention bartering, because I have actually just started bartering last month. There are several good sites that you can use, one of them is https://barterquest.com this is the most user friendly site I have found so far, it makes bartering a breeze.
Thanks Hariette, I am glad you enjoyed the review. I don’t want any confusion about these books, so I removed the part about the books being a set, they aren’t really a set, it’s just that Paladin Press sent me 3 books to review, and this is the third one of the “set” they sent to me, you could say that the books are related through the subject matter but aren’t a set in the traditional sense.
Thanks for the link to Barter Quest, I joined them recently, but haven’t had a chance to really dig through the site. Have you actually done any bartering through the site? If so, how did it work for you?
Wretha