[-]

bettername2come@reddit

But if we learned anything from Twilight Zone, if you wear glasses, keep an extra pair.

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MOF1fan@reddit

I broke a pair of new glasses recently and had to resort to an old pair that I had saved. This is the exact reason Im looking into lazering my eyes this year. Its that or stockpile glasses.

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actstunt@reddit

That episode traumatized me as a child, constantly think about it and that there's destinies worse than death.

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don51181@reddit

I've learned that just recently. My wife's glasses broke and it took over a month to get another pair between getting an exam and shipping. Now we will always keep at least 2 pair.

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oldtimehawkey@reddit

There’s cheap places online you can get glasses. If you can get the prescription. Pupillary distance can be measured at home. So like for $20, you can get a pair of glasses.

My wife wears glasses and I try to get her to order more than one or two pairs. She has a hard time understanding the necessity of having more than one of things.

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Simplicityobsessed@reddit

Yup! Books and other forms of entertainment I won’t be able to afford soon. Some require electricity but that’s it.

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Hefty-Squirrel-6800@reddit

Also, consider binders. You can make a binder on a certain subject and print out information from the internet or photocopy portions of books.

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Sporch_Unsaze@reddit (OP)

Definitely occurred to me once I started working at a place with a decent printer.

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sailingerie@reddit

My friend just lost his job because he printed 50 pages at work because he didn't have the ink at home.

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cramollem@reddit

Definitely. Army Navy Outdoors has free manuals you can download. I have 15 binders from that site alone.

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Fartingonyoursocks@reddit

All I see is clothing and supplies for sale? What am I missing here

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cramollem@reddit

https://armynavyoutdoors.com/free-digital-manuals/

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cramollem@reddit

You can google Army Navy Outdoors free manuals and it takes you there. Or go to the site and in the search bar, type free manuals, and you’ll find them there.

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NateLPonYT@reddit

Smart idea. Definitely going to have to do that

[-]

Any time I've done this, the ink fades over time and/or sticks to the back of the page on top. Besides putting each page in a clear sleeve (where the ink eventually sticks to that), I haven't found a way to mitigate this. I'm sure being in place that gets hot/warm even with A/C doesn't help.

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Eurogal2023@reddit

Laserjet

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merlincycle@reddit

you could try “rite in the rain” brand printer / copier paper. Stuff is amazing; I have printed things onto that paper from my generic laser printer, then accidentally washed the folded piece of it in washing machine. That still didn’t make the ink go away. After I let the paper dry out, it was still perfectly legible. Now, the paper isn’t indestructible , but the ink is definitely excellent over time against water. I have used it to print important information that I keep in my pocket. If the paper starts to wear out from being folded over the course of six months to a year, I just re-print again. But I bet if it was kept in a binder, it would be pretty sturdy.

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Walk_N_Gal88@reddit

This is expensive but if it's stuff that is life or death (medical reference, first aid reference, poisonous plants and animals in your areas, etc) it would not be a bad idea to laminate that stuff back to back before hole-punching for a binder.

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Hefty-Squirrel-6800@reddit

Very astute point.

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Ghostbaby_xo@reddit

I have a notebook for each subject because i don’t have a printer. If it works it works lol

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just_a_floor1991@reddit

Books are great.

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mopharm417@reddit

I like to browse at flea markets

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Jessawoodland55@reddit

meeeee. There is a used book store near me (that smells like heaven) and I have a problemm.

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IvenaDarcy@reddit

If you have the room for it. I only keep so many physical books because I’m a minimalist and live in a small space. I have tons of books on my kindle and the charge lasts a long time and I have backup power but I guess in worst case eventually power would run out and no more kindle for me. Another bridge I’ll cross if and when I come to it :)

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SqMorlan@reddit

My Gen Z daughter has been collecting Stephen King books but hasn’t read any of them because she is waiting “until the power goes out” - I get all my books from the library, which I hope will be around come hell or high water.

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JWayn596@reddit

I just made a server, it has Kavita Book Library, Jellyfin, ForgeJo, Grav, all running in docker containers and it is a 1-to-1 replica of my physical library.

In case electricity goes out, it has a battery and solar power, and can operate with only solar power, and people can connect to it via hotspot and locally access the media.

The forgejo instance is meant to mirror all FOSS repositories, and apps and dependencies necessary for this server to be replicated at will, and I’m excited to test it out.

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m__p_@reddit

I never thought about that. I guess I'll be reading my wife's books!

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burningbun@reddit

if you have the space. yes. do filter out useful ones if you need to bug out you at least have some survival books, like medicine, foraging, navigation etc.

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Snoo49732@reddit

I have a whole room dedicated

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RoamingRivers@reddit

Yep. Got a whole library on a single bookshelf. Be it medical knowledge, bushcraft, self-defense, magazines, etc, got all manner of literature.

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Popular_Try_5075@reddit

I've been feeling like a physical encyclopedia could be a great investment, but I think World Book is the only one in ink and paper any more and it's pretty expensive.

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Electronic_Wind_3254@reddit

I have a digital Calibre library with thousands of books. Also Wikipedia and other wikis. Medical and survival stuff too.

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Eurogal2023@reddit

Don't forget the encyclopedias. Pre internet Wikipedia

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This-Elk-6837@reddit

I have a set of student dictionaries and a set of Worldbooks, etc. Saved them from the dumpster so if I have to be a post whatever teacher I'm halfway ready.

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Ilike3dogs@reddit

A fellow dumpster diver! I save books too! I have so many of the classics! Shakespeare, Beowulf, Dickens, Longfellow, Edgar Allen Poe, and some history books. Language learning programs too 😊🥰🌹

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STEMpsych@reddit

Uh, sure. Yeah. Absolutely. That's why I do it. Prepping. Mmm-hmmm.

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PolarisFallen2@reddit

This! Yes!

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ommnian@reddit

There's no such thing as too many books. There's only not enough shelves.

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STEMpsych@reddit

It turns out there's also such a thing as not enough floor space for enough shelves. Or *cough* so I've been told.

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commentator3@reddit

what cracks me up is when people have decorative display bookshelves (with nary a book on them, just tchotchkes spaced minimally about the sparse shelves)

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Xicsess@reddit

I had to get rid of some books. There's plenty of mediocre/bad fiction/sci-fi that I really don't plan to read again. Unless I want to turn my basement into some kind of apocalyptic tinder box in the off chance that my home catches fire - it seems kinda prudent. Still, I have 7 bookshelves that are full. And a couple stacks of books. Having a hard time parting the the FMs/TMs I got while in training and into my army career - although, I have to admit the FM on Stryker Batallion Organization is probably not going to be useful in my lifetime.

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Neoliberal_Boogeyman@reddit

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku

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in_pdx@reddit

Thank you for that!

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Sporch_Unsaze@reddit (OP)

Survivors of the apocalypse: "You have preserved the sum of human knowledge and kept the light of our species aflame! You are our savior!"

You: "Yep, that was always totally the plan. Your new god commands no follow-up questions, please."

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PolarisFallen2@reddit

Yes, though I love books so do this for fun with the added benefit of having them if I needed for some reason. Also, I’ve sometimes been surprised how much more helpful it can be to have lots of relevant information on a subject in one place versus reading 15 links from google search results and piecing it all together. Or closing out of 64929 ads in the process.

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Ilike3dogs@reddit

My library sells books for whatever you want to buy it for. Or you can just take the books if you want. Some parents pay for children’s books, but just what they can afford. It’s really nice 😊

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NohPhD@reddit

10k+ volumes and printing

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Many-Health-1673@reddit

My wife reminded me that buying the WW2 Army Improvised Munitions book, the U.S. Army Guerrilla Fighting Tactics book and the Total Resitance Von Dach book has probably added us to some alphabet agency lists.

I have a lot of books on gunsmithing, farming, ranching, edible plants for my area of operation, construction guides, military training manuals, bibles, etc.

I should have plenty to read if everything collapses.

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in_pdx@reddit

I probably still wouldn’t get around to reading all my books.

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Careful_Reason_9992@reddit

The struggle is real

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Mysterious_Touch_454@reddit

I recommend this book :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QFVOR_A-ng

The Book. The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization.

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Majestic_Yesterday24@reddit

YES!! Entertainment books, reference books, board games, puzzles, crosswords, word searches, sudoku. I feel non electronic entertainment is often overlooked in a lot of prepper content!!

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alt_mop@reddit

Somewhat I have some books I like physical media it's nice to actually own things

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tinychef0509@reddit

Yes. I'm collecting homestead knowledge books and fix it manuals. The for fun books i figure are easily tradable for entertainment purposes

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DavePCLoadLetter@reddit

Are there any actual book recommendations?

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frosted-mule@reddit

Just bought the book “The Old Ways”

Highly recommend

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DavePCLoadLetter@reddit

who is the author and why do you recommend it?

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kidneypunch27@reddit

Who’s the author?

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cysghost@reddit

Google says Robert Macfarlane, if it’s the same book.

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

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kidneypunch27@reddit

Cool, thanks

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rabiesandcorn@reddit

I have thousands of porn magazines I collected over the years and I feel like the ultimate prepper now that 'porn ban' is now a thing. I figure porn magz and booze will be my best currency once society collapses and turns into a mad max world.

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Eather-Village-1916@reddit

Yup! I even have an instruction manual on how to build your own geiger counter lol

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DannyWarlegs@reddit

I used to work at a library, and we had an entire loading bay in the back piled floor to ceiling with boxes of books taken off the shelves, and donated that we would sell at the annual book sales.

You can just ask them and they'd give you the books for free, since the ones we don't sell go to the shredders.

But yes. I have my own private library of books, and then backups on 2 hard drives, and a Google drive I can access from any device. Same with music, movies, TV shows, video games and traditional board and card games.

Like someone else said with the binders, you can print articles from magazines or what not and save them all by topic in binders. I use the acetate page protectors and have been doing that since college

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Gizzard_83@reddit

Yes and it drives my wife insane. lol

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Malyfas@reddit

Not just the books, but the implements and tools that go with them. My grandfathers machinist handbook is fantastic and I happen to have his tools as well. Non powered tools are a pain but are handy. Cookbooks are good but gardening books along with the seeds and tools are essential.

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commentator3@reddit

the other day, someone was talking about hobbies and reading books was mentioned, which struck me as strange since I just accept reading books are a matter of fact, not necessarily a hobby (which makes me think of model-building or something)

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commentator3@reddit

people who don't understand personal libraries:

"but you don't even read these!" ... "when are you ever going to have the time to read all these?" ... "golly, I can't believe you've red all these!" ... "you don't need to have all these books because it's all on the internet!"

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Classic-Increase2980@reddit

I am getting kind of an extensive library but I've also been picking up books on homesteading survival skills and things like that throughout the years animal husbandry I recently got a subscription to backwood homes magazine and I've got a USB full of them so I can print up articles that I find interesting and put them in a binder books are good to have and all sorts of books you don't want just a strict series so get yourself some fantasy get yourself some fiction get yourself westerns get a whole bunch of different books that you can enjoy because of s*** hits the fan you know you can't use any reader all the time so you might as well have an actual paper book that you can sit down and enjoy

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manalexicon@reddit

Military manuals. And bibles - I saw the book of Eli.

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Rough_Detail556@reddit

Yes medical books, drug interactions, veterinary guides, natural medicine, gardening, DIY, etc. thrift books is amazing for this

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Infinite-Hold-7521@reddit

YES!! Something to bide our time if we lose electricity or the internet and for educational purposes should “anyone” try to stifle that in the future. Ahem. I have actually picked up books with the thought of education in mind.

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Sporch_Unsaze@reddit (OP)

I hate to agree, but I think a lot about what books I'd need to homeschool my kids if public education completely collapsed.

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Infinite-Hold-7521@reddit

It is an unfortunate reality. I’ve been collecting books for years and am so grateful that I did. I was considering selling some of them prior to an upcoming move, but as I have been going through them I have realized I just can’t part with any but a few and those are superfluous. I will simply be donating those to a local shelter.

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tattooedamazon477@reddit

Our local library has a sale once a year. $1 hardbacks, .50 paperbacks. We've bought everything from gardening to ship building, electrical and mechanical guides, to a huge coffee table book of everything in the Louvre. Lots of how to books that rotor would be helpful if SHTF but also arts and classics to enjoy.

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Infinite-Hold-7521@reddit

Also, cookbooks and binding together personal recipes.

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Ihatemylife8@reddit

Yes! This and a few decks of cards go a long way when there's no power

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RitaAlbertson@reddit

No, but that's mostly b/c I really only read a fiction once so I'd rather spend my money on other things and utilize my library. If it's a reference book I think might be handy later, I WILL look for that used.

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Oodalay@reddit

My local library regularly has $1 book sales. I have medical textbooks for $1

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ohlookma_theinternet@reddit

Yes, always collecting books at thrift shops, online, free on marketplace etc

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Dimitris-T@reddit

Reminded me of The Book Of Eli and Silo where books from the “before times” are highly sought after.

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nate2879@reddit

Free Downloads - Survivor Library

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FeminaIncognita@reddit

Oooh, thanks! I know what I’m doing tonight.

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Artistic_Ask4457@reddit

Lots of ancient info

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FeminaIncognita@reddit

Yeah I noticed. Still fun though I guess. And the topics have given me ideas of other books I want to download.

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Tardis1938@reddit

This is going to get me in trouble with my wife. I see a new printer in my future.

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ChaosArtAunt@reddit

I used to have a nicely curated library, but life required me to be more mobile than such an inventory allowed and no one in my life was anymore stable. These days it feels like tempting fate to get too "settled" even tho most plans we have involve bugging in.

I'm a trained hand bookbinder tho, so maybe I should offer my services to bind up internet knowledge. The trick is the supplies, its very resource heavy and takes a lot of time.

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NewEnglandPrepper2@reddit

ebooks, yes.

free ones at r/preppersales

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CBHighlandess@reddit

Lately I’ve been focusing more on stock piling reference books (foraging, first aid, homesteading, home repair, etc).

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the_gata_sol@reddit

Yes, yes, yes. Same! I've been lucky to find a lot of homestead guides from 1920-1950's. Seriously low tech solutions.

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CBHighlandess@reddit

I just bought The Encyclopedia of Country Living, which seems to be amazing, but I’d love to track down some guides that were published earlier! Where did you find them?

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gimme3strokes@reddit

Books, games, Legos, and records. Gotta keep morale up and keep knowledge from being taken. Digital media makes it too easy to control the narrative, just read or watch 1984.

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Rucker75th@reddit

Oh yeah! I've been preaching that for years. I've collected my own personal library of books, military TMs and FMs. That will all be invaluable information.

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Enigma_xplorer@reddit

Yes but more important is reading them. It's so easy to horde massive amounts of books but imagine you need to start a garden and thats when you decide to start reading. Also keep in mind reading and actually learning the material you've read are not the same thing. The funny thing is you could end up with so many books you don't even know where to find the information your looking for. Like looking for a needle in a stack of needle while the house is also on fire and time is of the essence.

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SetantaIronspine@reddit

a small library yes, I live off grid and spend many hours with an oil lamp and book when the weather does not cooperate. I have limited power (very limited). its a mix of novels and how to books.

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bbygril@reddit

Yep, games, art supplies, and lego sets too. Keeping morale up is important and most people we know would be bored out of their skulls without internet access/electricity.

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Substantial_Cat_7228@reddit

I’d be doing this in the event of an apocalypse/Black Swan event/pandemic anyway. One can never have too many books.

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Soft-Climate5910@reddit

Yep I'm a big book worm and do the same buy 2nd hand books for cheap. I also have many pdf books on my phone but I don't rely on it. Great idea though, keeps your brain occupied while learning relevant skills

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HiltoRagni@reddit

I mean, I have a fair amount of books, fair to say if the apocalypse comes I won't be bored for some time. Never thought of them as a stockpile though lol.

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Critical-Syrup5619@reddit

Pro tip: you can download the entirety of Wikipedia directly from their website. It's like 24GB. Literally everything

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TarzansNewSpeedo@reddit

Absolutely, physical media for education and entertainment!

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Embarrassed-Lynx6526@reddit

Yes. Entertainment, kids books so my kid can learn to read, history, science...

I'm going to get a portable DVD player and like... sesame street and things like that as well.

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mikedmann@reddit

I love having a huge library but I can't take them all with me if the $h*+ hits the fan. Having a huge digital library on a tablet with a small solar power bank is in my survival bag.

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notthatbitchkaren@reddit

Yes, I do. Includes kids' educational books.

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mountainnomad420@reddit

monthly visits to the local thrift stores i sift thru the books buying anything in woodworking, tool making, survival guides and maps. lots and lots of outdated how to manuals for variety of useful things.

i also started shopping for deals on box sets. paperback and cheap but if theres nothing to do but read, series will be nice library addition.

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zorionek0@reddit

Ironically I’ve started purging books and other ephemera. A tidy home makes life easier in so many ways. I donated them to our county library system except for two bookshelves of favorites in my office and of course a bookshelf in each kids bedroom and the ones in the den aaaaand…. Yeah, I might have had too many bookshelves.

I buy significantly less and use my library more. If SHTF I’ll be the only one looting Barnes & Noble 😉

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ommnian@reddit

Pfft. There's no such thing as too many books. There's only not enough shelves.

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lunar_adjacent@reddit

I am stockpiling both entertainment (books and dvd’s) as well as knowledge based. I’ve been collecting a lot of history, chemistry, biology, survival, and instructional.

I’m also collecting dvd’s for entertainment.

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ommnian@reddit

I just reorganized a cabinet and put all the kids' DVDs in it... The shelf they were on now has poker chips and cards against humanity....

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Hellagranny@reddit

Yes, also board games

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ommnian@reddit

Yes! We have a couple of shelves of board games. They don't get much use, but when the power is out they're priceless!!

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in_pdx@reddit

Me too. Hunkering down during the Covid lockdown led me to accumulate so many board games and hobby supplies and CDs that I will never have to leave my house for entertainment. No wonder I hate to leave the house now..

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PurplePickle3@reddit

Same! Amazon Black Friday or prime day I load up. Have 4 full cabinets full and dozens of decks of cards

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chapytre@reddit

Black friday is not worth it anymore in France, they are inflating the prices of everything like 2 weeks before black friday so it's in fact ≈2€ more expensive when it comes (saw that on amazon and aliexpress). Is it not the same for you ? I'm jealous :(

[-]

Ditto_Plush@reddit

It is the same in the US. Everyone just seems to forget, or not recognize that they're falling for it.

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chapytre@reddit

Thanks for the reply, it's sad to realise they're doing that everywhere. I can't Imagine the money they are making during that period...

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Pretend-Marsupial258@reddit

It depends on the item. There are some okay deals, but there's a lot of stuff that's not actually on sale.

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chapytre@reddit

Yeah I see what you mean, you have to look at the prices before black friday to compare. Annoying.

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taylorbagel14@reddit

And puzzles! My local library does puzzle swaps every now and then and it’s really nice

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SithLordRising@reddit

Nope. Minimal data, maximum space. Numerous alternative power solutions and limitless digital data. Very easy to shield and duplicate storage.

The only books I keep don't have a digital copy that I can find

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in_pdx@reddit

Not intentionally, but I love nonfiction reference and have accumulated a whole library of cookbooks, sewing and needlework, wood working, home repairs, gardening, local flora and fauna ID books, floral design and a few other topics.

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stupidussername@reddit

On this note does anyone have a torrent or file of a bunch of useful books. I want to make a hard drive of useful stuff if we lose the internet. I would love to have space for books but it isn't really feasible right now

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Unlikely-Ad3659@reddit

Yes, but because I like to read the things. Lucky my memory is short, I can read the same novel after 3 or 4 years with no issue.

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Short_Expression_538@reddit

So many books. I homeschooled and kept curriculum for grades K-12. My dad passed away and I inherited 90+ cases of his books on history, law, theology, archaeology, science, electrical, solar, several bibles, etc. Got rid of the excess ones. Plus I have my own books on gardening, fishing, herbal remedies, nursing, fiction/nonfiction, homesteading. Way too many tbh. I’m still getting rid of books. Books = knowledge. Knowledge + experience leads to wisdom.

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War_Hymn@reddit

I got a fair number of physical books, but the bulk of my library is electronic simply because there's no way I can haul around a few hundred paper copies of the books I want with me on the go. The only alternative is microfilm, which I don't think is a practical option for me to setup unless I hit the lottery jackpot.

I have my main library duplicated on a home server drive, a external hard drive kept in my safe, and a portable SSD USB-C drive. The last one I can plug and access with pretty much any modern android phone/tablet with a USB-C port. I got a folding 50W solar panel I can trickle charge a phone or tablet if needed.

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Catonachandelier@reddit

Yep. I collect books on medicine, old cookbooks, gardening, wildcrafting, etc. I also print out useful info and keep it in binders, and have recently gotten into microprinting/binding miniature books that can be hidden easier than full-sized editions.

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kristie_b1@reddit

Years ago I pulled a torrent of hundreds of ebooks. All kinds of formats, mobi, epub, pdf etc. They are saved on my device and in the cloud. Also have lots of hard copies of books and board games, cards, and road atlases.

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Realistic_Willow_662@reddit

Totally, I’ve got a mini personal library going. Some informative stuff and plenty of fiction

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Difficult_Basis_9578@reddit

I do, I also read and reread for both education and entertainment.

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Fred_Mcvan@reddit

I am stock piling all kinds of books. I have been doing this for a few years now. All different kinds. I suck at reading but feel books are very important to humanity.

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Hugh_Jazzin_Ditz@reddit

If your e-books aren't protected, you can just solar power your reader.

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OldRangers@reddit

In case anyone's interested, Anyone looking for free books? Half price books in my area throws out hundreds of used but still perfectly good books in their recycle dumpsters.

Ask if you can help yourself, or check after the store closes for the night.

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ClemCadillihopper@reddit

I'm trying to get into reading books again for this reason lol. I LOVED reading as a kid. Then fell out of it in my late teenage years. Trying to find a book to interest me now, but it's not as easy as it was then

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magobblie@reddit

I've only read 10% of my library lol

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mabden@reddit

Yeah, I have refused to give up my books. I have my childhood books, my college textbooks, fiction, and all the how-to books I've collected over the years.

This has been my position since I read Fahrenheit 451 in the 6th grade.

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Mission-Two-1371@reddit

Yes, but I never considered it prepping or stockpiling. I guess it is, though, but I just love chilling in my library. It's my favourite room.

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ResolutionMaterial81@reddit

My recent reply on this subject...

https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/s/k2Zq1LyyuP

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Conscious_Ad8133@reddit

I stare at a screen 10 hours a day for work, so I never adopted e-readers. My paper library covers loads of reference subjects plus fiction, non-fiction (especially history), and cooking/preserving. Makes my heart happy.

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Cancelthepants@reddit

Yes, absolutely, basically collecting as much physical media as possible.

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robbynkay@reddit

My book hoard is legendary. My husband and I are both teachers, which is how we justify it. But I am definitely ready to spend the end times reading!!

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Ryan_e3p@reddit

No. That's a lot of physical space I don't have. There's a public library not far. Digital space is cheap.

And the government can "ban" all it wants. You can't put the internet genie back in the bottle.

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harrypotterobsessed2@reddit

I do!

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matchstick64@reddit

I have a lot of hard copy books + back ups of e-books on multiple devices.

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AliveandAloof36@reddit

Lol. I have never needed a reason to hoard books. More books…just because!!

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reincarnateme@reddit

After college I purged my shelves. I regret it deeply

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FeminaIncognita@reddit

After college I hoarded all of mine. I felt like they cost me too much to be willing to part with them.

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BeeBarnes1@reddit

It took me 20 years to get rid of my college books.

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MagHagz@reddit

Yeah me too.

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Counterboudd@reddit

Yep. I have sooo many books but frankly if the internet was suddenly gone tomorrow and you don’t have hard copies of information you need to do the practical things you’ll be needing to do, you’ll be so useless that I think it’s worth it. I try to learn things up front but I definitely have my “would be learning after SHTF” reading list on hand.

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Kostrom@reddit

I’ve been on the lookout for a printed set of encyclopedias, text books and a decent dictionary

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SuburbanSubversive@reddit

Well yeah, but not because it's part of prepping.

It's because Books Are Life.

[-]

Old_Fossil_MKE@reddit

I've taken advantage of the r/preppersales Free Kindle E-Books every time that it's posted and have accumulated and downloaded an absolute ton of Prepping, Survival Skills How-tos, etc. ebooks.

I've read posts claiming that Kindle ebooks are still accessible without WIFI and posts that claim that without WIFI Kindle ebooks are useless.

In a Bug In situation, we do have a number of board games, card games, chess/checkers, and for Bugging In a number of battery operated hand held games my kids used to play that still work fine.

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

I have been building a library. We have books of gardening, construction, and solar. Things like that. We have an ever growing collection just for entertainment. I homeschooled my kids and we kept all of those books. I also have a hard drive to save some digital stuff, PDF. We have the ability to power with solar power.

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schmeillionaire@reddit

I do we have probably 5 large totes full of a wide variety of educational books as well as entertaining books. The crown jewel is an encyclopedia set and a gardening encyclopedia set.

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MCtogether@reddit

All types of books.

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Downtown-Side-3010@reddit

Yeah, currently building up my library today. Received some books today about first aid, urban gardening, and trapping

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specialTREK@reddit

What I've started doing is stockpiling e-books/PDFs or digital docs on an external hard drive. I have a solar panel to power devices that can read the files. There is other options for power that would still be around a while after the grid goes down. Might not be as long term as books, but it's way more practical for portability as opposed to thousand of lbs of books.

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LowFloor5208@reddit

Best entertainment out there. Need to have something to keep your mind off of things. Books, board games, art, something.

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Knight_of_Ohio@reddit

yes. I have a lot of books

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Mtn_Soul@reddit

Yes

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OnTheEdgeOfFreedom@reddit

Computers get old; backups don't. There may be worlds where I can't run a low power raspberry pis on solar power for the rest of my life; but worlds that wrecked are going to give me more serious problems than not having a library.

Computer texts can be rapidly searched, vast amounts can be carried in a pocket as a keychain, they can be immediately copied, encrypted if it matters, and they don't burn, mold, etc in disasters.

I get the joy of curling up with a book. But when I have to know something, I type grep and I get answers in tenths of a second.

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parkerm1408@reddit

I have a full physical library as well as a 3TB digital library backed up on a quality hard drive.

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-Luro@reddit

I hear ya. I don’t really hoard them but I do consider them apart of the stockpile. Having your own library of both useful and entertaining books is fantastic for any emergency shelter in place situation.

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MichianaMan@reddit

Oh yeah, I have a great collection of books for all the reasons you listed. When SHTF and the internet goes dark, my house is covered for all sorts of useful subjects.

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a29miller@reddit

Yep. Kept all my engineering and math books from college as well as some civil egr, engine ref manuals.

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Gonna_do_this_again@reddit

I do unintentionally.

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jf_severt@reddit

Yes. And magazines. The usualprepper mags, survival mags, nat geo and educationalmagazines. Prepper books, some collections of short stories. Some children books. Some books I have regularly enjoyed. As well as coloring books of varying complexity. Ill hide books in my collection my wife has read, enjoyed and set to donate.

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CBHighlandess@reddit

I’ve been stocking piling books! Lots of fiction, but lately I’ve been focusing on reference books that I might find helpful with no internet (gardening, foraging, first aid, homesteading, etc.)

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AdditionalAd9794@reddit

Only gardening and Warhammer books, two niche interests i have where books are a thing