Books: All About Survival (Mulliga's Urban Survival Kit, Interlude)

While my blog is mainly about escaping the mundane through art and adventure, the "Mulliga's Urban Survival Kit" series of posts addresses "escape" in a more literal sense. You can check out some of my ideas on a lightweight, inexpensive collection of items for surviving an urban or suburban disaster at M.U.S.K. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

There are more parts coming, but I thought I'd take a moment to cover a couple of books that will help you get into that all-important survival mindset:

Be Prepared First Aid



A good first aid book is an essential read for any prepared individual. Nothing replaces live training, of course, but it's pretty easy to forget things you learned in a first aid class a few years back, especially when your stress level is high and time is critical.

There should be plenty of good options at your local library (including the ubiquitous AMA handbook on first aid), but I like this first aid guide. It's written by the Boy Scouts of America and it includes nice full-color explanations of what to do with burns, cuts, fractures, and the like.

Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere - Alive



Les Stroud was the pioneer of the current survival craze hitting the Discovery Channel ("Dual Survival" and "Man, Woman, Wild" being the most recent examples), and arguably, his show is still the standard on which all others are judged. In each episode of "Survivorman," Stroud stranded himself in the middle of a vast wilderness and filmed himself living off the land for a week at a time. No camera crew, no outside assistance, no breaks from the solitary, non-stop mental and physical strain of surviving.

In this book, Stroud summarizes the lessons he's learned from years of wilderness guide experience. While most of these tips are applicable to wilderness settings and not the urban jungle, Stroud's advice is easy-to-follow and extremely practical. There's even a fairly comprehensive guide to building your own personal survival kit. Here's a detailed look at the contents of the book from Renegade410: