Knowledge is power! Or so it has been said.
In the case of prepping, this would seem to hold true. While
I try to build my skill set when time allows, there is only so much information
that my old head will still hold.
For this reason, I need instructions on valuable survival
skills written down in black and white. I have amassed a collection of books
and magazines over the years, with subjects from Axe to Zombie. They are handy
and remember the stuff I forget for me.
But what happens if I need to bug out!? I would need a
separate trailer with a 2000 pound towing capacity to haul all these books!
The answer came to me one night when I was talking to my
wife……a Kindle! She has one of the basic models, and it holds literally
hundreds of books! It is light and thin. Easily packed in a go bag or glove
compartment, and uses the same car charger as my cell phone.
I had little experience with the Kindle, other than often
mistaking my wife’s face for the backside of one! I had noticed that nearly
every smart phone in existence, be it Apple or Droid, had a Kindle App onboard.
You could also download a Kindle reader for just about every tablet, laptop,
and even the touch style Ipods.
I went online at Amazon.com, and did some cursory searches.
I found that about 90% of my hard copy prepping library, as well as thousands
more titles, were available for download to the Kindle! Many were either free,
or were available for a fraction of what the hard copy title cost.
Figuring I was on to something here, I searched Ebay for a
used Kindle. I was able to fairly easily find a Kindle Keyboard model for right
at $40 delivered. I went ahead and snagged it. I figured I would test its
battery life and storage capacity. If I wasn't pleased, my wife had a spare
Kindle child!
Upon arrival, I charged it to 100% and set it aside. Being
me, I forgot about it for around 2 weeks. When I finally came back, the battery
meter still showed 100%. Good sign!
I then started by downloading a few survival related titles
that were either free or around $1 each. You’d be surprised how many there are
for that amount. Downloads take just a few seconds, and the books are easily
navigated using some simple keystrokes on the device. A nice feature for my
aging eyes was the ability to increase font size to be read even without my
cheater glasses. Something to also think about in a bug out situation, if you
lost your glasses running from zombies…. That book ain’t worth much!
As my little plan seemed to be working out, I decided to go
ahead and forge ahead. I found around 50 titles that could be useful in a
survival or grid down situation. I added them to my wish list on Amazon. And
now, each payday, I download about $20 worth of titles to the Kindle. As of
now, I have around 75 books in a folder marked Preps on the device.
An example of what I have are books on gardening, canning,
food storage, vehicle maintenance, weapons repair, medical and dental
procedures, and a slew of Army manuals. I also threw in some prepping fiction.
Some of it because it has good information, some just for reading in the
outhouse!
The Kindle is kept in a secure place, charged and checked
weekly, and ready to drop in my Go Bag. It can be charged with a car charger or
with a small solar charger that I got off of Amazon for $10.
You need not purchase a dedicated Kindle to use this idea.
As stated previously, I suspect your everyday use phone has a Kindle app on it
already! Something to think about and a handy way to keep some good knowledge
easily at hand.
Be ready!
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