I go to a lot of sites and read a lot of data. I save on my system the files I like and I archive them. I suspect most of us do that and we store our knowledge this way. This is not so good when TSHTF though and we have no pwer or EMP has destroyed our systems.
So what should we do?
I for one cannot afford to print out on very expensive ink every article I have. It is just too much. Some of my documents go to hundreds of pages and have full colour pictures in them. It is actually cheaper in reality to actually buy a book than it is to copy one. The only way it works out cheaper is if you manage to use your works printer and if you do too many they will come looking for you.
So what I do is simple. You will have to adapt for your own requirements.
I buy key information in a book form from a publishers. I look for second hand books and buy them. I buy a lot of books. They will last longer than I will if looked after and they can be used by others without power. This is my prefered solution.
I print off certain key information. Very few books but articles, checklists and aides de memoir, I keep them in folders with plastic sleeves and stored with the books. I’m looking at that new paper that is like plastic and very hard to tear. It looks very good for keeping data on such as contact numbers, RV data, etc. This I do infrequently.
Finally, I store everything on my computer. I have several USB drives with duplicates. I also backup on to DVD and soon Blu Ray. I store the backups in EMP proof, fingers crossed, containers with the laptop. When I upgrade I buy a new USB drive with the laptop. Transfer the files across and store the old system, including USB disk, in a bag and put it in an EMP proof container. I have three of these now and when I get back to work, it’ll be four. All I need is a power supply to access the files and if one is broken or breaks I can go back to the previous. I have over 200Gb of data files, mostly compressed. It needs sorting though. This is my main data store and contains almost all my printed suff as well.
It’s not perfect but it is what I can afford to do. At some point in the future I’m looking at a Galaxy tablet and will see if that is better than a laptop. Lower power requirements for one.
So, what do you do? Any suggestions for the rest of us?
Yup I’m a bookaholic, and a rampant downloader, I back up stuff on two PCs, Two flash drives and my new Buffalo mini station USB 2 320GB hard drive doofah thingy, plus I print lots of stuff off and etch stuff to DVD-Rs. i wish it was all in laminated paper form though 🙂
i have a few of good books in case i have no power and i need to travel light on foot?
the rest if anything happens i guess i will have to do with out:.(
I have a great deal of books, mags, articles etc, on microfilm. I have a reader that doesn’t require electricity as well as an electric reader. Although the daylight reader is good, my eyes aren’t as good as in my youth, so I am thinking of buying a small microscope to read the microfilm easier. I am thinking of downloading material that will be useful in a survival situation and then having it put onto microfilm. I have 40 years of Mother Earth News on Disc plus other material. I will extract the good material from this and have this filmed. Kenneth Eames.
My bug out book backup is a Kindle complete with solar charger. It can store up to 3,500 books and can also store documents, though I haven’t tried this out. Everything is backed up on Amazon servers so if it breaks you just download it onto a new Kindle (while we have the internet of course). I know it’s not an ideal long term solution but the weight of even a few books is prohibitive if bugging out on foot with all the other gear in my packs. I like the idea of microfilm though Kenneth.
Ken,
I had a microfilm reader quite a few years ago. I’ve seen adverts on US sites for films with a reader but was concerned about the costs.
btw Read your PMs
I’ve been thinking along the lines of saving books as jpeg images, one page at a time of course and then using one of the electronic picture frames that use an sd card. So you could have one book per sd card say, not your whole collection on one, in case you loose it, less power requirements as no computer to run but you could still read your books… any body got an electronic picture frame to try it with?You couls easily adapt one to run off batteries (rechargeable) post shtf as well.
I have a picture frame. It’s very good with images and I didn’t think of that. Get good quality cards though.