Ragnar Benson

Ragnar Benson is the pen name of a prolific non-fiction survivalist author who specializes in preparedness topics, particularly survival retreats, hunting, trapping, austere medicine, false identification, explosives, firearms, and improvised weapons. Many of his books were published by Loompanics Unlimited (which went out of business in 2004) and by Paladin Press. Both Benson and Paladin Press are controversial, because actually formulating or constructing many of the explosives and weapons that he describes would be illegal in most jurisdictions. Some of his books have been banned ("challenged") from importation into Canada, by the Customs Canada censors at the Connaught Building. His book Ragnar's Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives was reportedly pulled from distribution in 1999.

Secretive Personal Life

Benson has revealed very few details of his background and personal life. His real name has not been revealed publicly (he apparently borrowed the name "Ragnar Benson" from a Chicago-area construction company). He was reportedly born in Indiana and was raised on a farm where dynamite was used for utilitarian purposes. As of 1999, he lived "...on nine acres in southern Idaho with his pet skunks and his wife and 100-plus guns of varying caliber." He was apparently the son of a German immigrant. (In his book Urban Survival he recounts some of his father's experiences growing up in Germany after World War I.)

Benson has apparently travelled extensively and has had no settled career. In the narrative of his book Bull's Eye: Crossbow, Benson mentions that he at one time worked as a mercenary in Africa. In a rare interview with Salon magazine, he mentioned that he "...learned about man traps while serving as an agricultural specialist in rural Southeast Asia " Benson has also intermittently worked as a private investigator for more than 25 years. As of 1998, he was 60 years old.

Bibliography

• Acquiring New ID : How To Easily Use The Latest Technology To Drop Out, Start Over, and Get On with Your Life ISBN 0873648943
• Action Careers: Employment in the High-Risk Job Market
• Breath Of The Dragon: Homebuilt Flamethrowers
• Bull's Eye: Crossbow
• David's Tool Kit: A Citizen's Guide to Taking Out Big Brother's Heavy Weapons
• Do-It-Yourself Medicine: How to Find and Use the Most Effective Antibiotics, Painkillers, Anesthetics and Other Miracle Drugs... Without Costly Doctors' Prescriptions or Hospitals
• Eating Cheap
• The Greatest Explosions in History: Fire, Flash and Fury
• Guerrilla Gunsmithing: Quick And Dirty Methods For Fixing Firearms In Desperate Times
• Hardcore Poaching
• Home-Built Claymore Mines: A Blueprint For Survival
• Homemade C-4: A Recipe For Survival
• Homemade Grenade Launchers: Constructing The Ultimate Hobby Weapon
• Live Off The Land In The City And Country
• Mantrapping
• The Modern Survival Retreat
• Modern Weapons Caching: A Down-To-Earth Approach To Beating The Government Gun Grab
• The Most Dangerous Game: Advanced Mantrapping Techniques
• New And Improved C-4: Better-Than-Ever Recipes For Half The Money And Double the Fun
• Ragnar's Action Encyclopedia of Practical Knowledge and Proven Techniques (A compilation from some of his other books)
• Ragnar's Big Book Of Homemade Weapons: Building And Keeping Your Arsenal Secure
• Ragnar's Guide To Home And Recreational Use Of High Explosives
• Ragnar's Guide To Interviews, Investigations, And Interrogations: How To Conduct Them, How to Survive Them
• Ragnar's Guide to the Underground Economy
• Ragnar's Homemade Detonators
• Ragnar's Tall Tales
• Ragnar's Ten Best Traps: And A Few Others That Are Damn Good Too
• Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City
• Survivalist's Medicine Chest
• Survival Nurse: Running an Emergency Nursing Station Under Adverse Conditions
• Survival Poaching
• The Survival Retreat: A Total Plan For Retreat Defense
• Switchblade: The Ace Of Blades
• Switchblade: The Ace Of Blades (Revised Edition)
• Starting a New Life in Rural America: 21 Things You Need to Know Before You Make Your Move
• Tough Times Survival Guide (contributor)

See also

• Explosive
• Flamethrower
• James Wesley Rawles
• Loompanics Unlimited
• Survival retreat
• Shaped Charge
• Survivalism