Book Reviews – Guerrilla’s Guides

One of the most important things we can do in preparedness is read & learn. I am a voracious reader and am always studying something. There is even some Tactical Wisdom from the Ultimate Tactical Handbook on this:

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
    for the ears of the wise seek it out.

Proverbs 18:15

Now, when I want to learn something, I go to people with actual experience in the field. For example, two of the best books ever written on Guerrilla Warfare were written by Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. I may despise them, but they do know what they are talking about. For small unit light infantry tactics, I go with H John Poole. 

When it comes to radios and signals intelligence, I go with NC Scout. I know the man personally, and I know that he learned his craft hiding in the ravines and gullies of Afghanistan and Iraq running listening posts against ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban, developing the patterns of life on insurgent cells and then taking part in the action against them. In other words, he knows what he’s talking about. That’s way better than internet hucksters who discuss “radio theory” or ham guys who only do “ARES” things (not that the ARES dudes don’t have good knowledge – they do).

His newest #1 Best Seller is the Guerrilla’s Guide to Signals Intelligence. You might be thinking that you aren’t planning on running an intelligence operation (which is a terrible idea), but by understanding what information can be gathered, you’ll be better prepared to develop your own communications plans to thwart those who might do SIGINT on you. For example, in the book he talks about figuring out guard schedules and patrol routes using signals intelligence. 

Understanding how nation-state level actors develop SIGINT and track targets electronically can help you maintain your own digital freedom and better protect yourself from eavesdropping. It’s important stuff to know.

The books is well-written in plain english and breaks down complex concepts into ideas that the common guy or gal can understand and put into practice today. While he does discuss some of the fancy cool-guy tools, most of the book is about low-cost tools that can act as force multipliers. As always, the book is heavier on skills than on gear.

The book is easy to read. It’s a great refresher and a solid reference to add to your bookshelf. I know, some guy is going to leave me a comment about the things NC SCout says about ATAK and mesh networks in the book, but I wholly agree with him. BTW, here’s some Tactical Wisdom on that:

Listen to advice and accept discipline,
    and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Proverbs 19:20

In other words, don’t let your love for high-tech and theoretical solutions outweigh the real world experience of guys like NC Scout on tracking signals, or guys like me on locating and surveilling other humans to the point that it costs you your life in a real-world situation.

Nc Scout’s other book, The Guerrilla’s Guide to the Baofeng Radio is, with good reason, the most copied book on Amazon. There are dozens of fraudulent copies and versions, but the link above takes you to NC Scout’s store for a genuine copy.

Don’t let the name fool you, the manual applies to any dual band (VHF/UHF) radio for use in your preparedness plans, but it does contain some chapters that are Baofeng specific. The book goes over how to develop a communications plan, how to maximize range, build your own antennas, and reduce your risk while using ANY brand of dual band radios. 

The best feature in the book, in my opinion, is the section on conducting digital operations via any dual band radio using less than $50 worth of additional equipment (a cheap tablet and a cable). It’s worth it’s weight in gold for that little piece of knowledge. People think digital modes are complex, but at the practical level, it’s incredibly easy and using the instructions in this book, I recently taught a class of radio newbies how to do it in under an hour.

The book is an absolute must-have. It’s a great companion to his classes, which I also highly recommend.

My recommendation is that you buy them both. After reading them, keep them in your library. In fact, NC Scout also makes a “Field Version” of the Guide to the Baofeng that is pocket-sized and ring-bound so that you can carry it with you. I have that one in my Get Home Bag.

Get out there and learn. Take a class if you can, but at the very least get these books, get out your radios, and practices the skills in them. Time is running short.

Don’t forget, we have t-shirts for sale and registration is open for the Montana Fieldcraft class, which is right after an NC Scout RTO and SIGINT course all in the same week. You can camp right on site with us in the gorgeous Swan River Valley.

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