If you’re like me, you spent many a day in your youth creating mix tapes. Combing through your tape collection and copying the best songs over to one “greatest hits” cassette. For those who don’t know what cassettes were because all you’ve ever known are cds, just nod and play along, you’ll understand the analogy shortly.

Now, imagine if you could do that same thing with your survival library. Grab the choicest bits and toss them all together under one or two covers.

The Tough Times Survival Guides are akin to the Paladin Press’ greatest hits. They have gone through hundreds of their books, pulling out some of the best material, and compiling it all into these guides. All your favorite Paladin authors are represented – Ragnar Benson, Ed Romney, Bruce Clayton, and Andy Kane to name just a few. Plus, there is material from other sources, such as Dorothy Ainsworth’s contributions to Backwoods Home Magazine.

Here are just a few of the many highlights from these books.

–The Lucky Seven Dumpster Diving Spots by John Hoffman: An excellent essay on not only the best places to dumpster dive, but what you can expect to find there as well as what you can do with those items.

–Free Fuel for Cold Times by Don McLean: Not only where to find free firewood but other types of fuel as well. You just need to know where to look and McLean guides you there.

–Dirt-Cheap Desert Living by Phil Garlington: Want to know how to set up a homestead where pretty much no one else dares live? Here’s the step by step guide to making it work.

–Building, Stocking, and Using a Sealed Room Against a Terrorist Attack by Howard Linett: A practical guide to creating an expedient safe room.

–Hiding Valuables in Your Home: Some great methods for covertly storing food, money, or other items throughout your home or retreat.

–Psychological Aspects of Survival by Reid Kincaid: This is something often overlooked by survivalists – the mental aspect of your preparations.

Each volume is broken into categories. Each category is then comprised of several individual chapters. These categories include Making Do With Less, Employment and Money, Survivalism and Self Reliance, Homespun Health Care, and Security and Safety. Separately, they are $20 each, but the set is currently on sale for $32.95, direct from the publisher. Truly, these are great additions to any survival library. No fluff, no padding, just hard core, practical information. Highly recommended.