Ragnar Benson is the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of a prolific

survivalist Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

author who specializes in preparedness topics, particularly survival retreats,

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur trade, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and w ...

, austere medicine,

false identification Identity document forgery is the process by which identity documents issued by governing bodies are illegally copied and/or modified by persons not authorized to create such documents or engage in such modifications, for the purpose of deceivi ...

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

, and

improvised weapons An improvised weapon is an object that was not designed to be used as a weapon but can be put to that use. They are generally used for self-defence or if the person is otherwise unarmed. In some cases, improvised weapons are commonly used by at ...

Writing career

Many of his 46 books were published by

Loompanics Unlimited Loompanics Unlimited was an American book seller and publisher specializing in nonfiction on generally unconventional or controversial topics. The topics in their title list included drugs, weapons, survivalism, anarchism, sex, Conspiracy theory, ...

(which went out of business in 2004) and by

Paladin Press Paladin Press was a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown. The company published non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including personal and financial freedom, survivalism and ...

(which also went out of business in 2018). 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 The Connaught Building is a historic office building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada. It is located at 555 MacKenzie Avenue, just south of the United States Embassy. To the east, the building looks out o ...

. In the aftermath of the 1995

Oklahoma City Bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetr ...

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing itself killed 167 people (including 19 children), injured ...

was found to have been in possession of Benson's ''Homemade C-4: A Recipe For Survival'' and ''Ragnar's Big Book of Homemade Weapons: Building and Keeping Your Arsenal Secure''.Kendrick, Leslie
"A Test for Criminally Instructional Speech."
''

Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revi ...

'', Vol. 91, No. 8, 2005, pp. 2010–2011. .

Senator Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

proposed an amendment to the

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), , was introduced to the United States Congress in April 1995 as a Senate Bill (). The bill was passed with broad bipartisan support by Congress in response to the bombings of th ...

that criminalizes broad categories of criminally instructional speech, and it was passed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1999. His book ''Ragnar's Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives'' and others were reportedly pulled from distribution the same year. Roach, Mary.br>"The survivalist's guide to do-it-yourself medicine."
''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

'', 17 December 1999. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> Benson's work on improvised medicine has been recognized and promoted by the U.S. Special Operations Command in their official publication ''Journal of Special Operations Medicine: A Peer Reviewed Journal for SOF Medical Professionals''.

Secretive personal life

Benson has revealed very few details of his background and personal life. His real name has not been revealed publicly. 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 the son of a German immigrants, and his family spoke German in their home until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In his book ''Urban Survival'' he recounts some of his father's experiences growing up in Germany after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Later in his childhood his parents returned to Europe and he stayed in America with his grandparents who immigrated from Russia. Benson has travelled extensively and has had no settled career. He participated in the struggle of the Cuban revolution when

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

took power. In the narrative of his book ''Bull's Eye: Crossbow'', Benson mentions that he at one time worked as a firearms dealer in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. 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". In the narrative of another book ''Homemade C4 - A Recipe for Survival'' Benson mentions that he had fired a

M72 LAW The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a portable one-shot unguided anti-tank weapon. In early 1963, the M72 LAW was adopted by the U.S. ...

rocket while at

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

, home of the US Army Infantry. In the same book, Benson continues to state that he participated in the Army's Tank Commander school, something reserved for a senior enlisted soldier (E-6, SSG). Benson has also intermittently worked as a private investigator for more than 25 years."Ragnar's Guide to Interviews, Investigations, and Interrogations: How to Conduct Them, How to Survive Them."
''Militia of Montana 2005 Preparedness Guide''. militiaofmontana.com. Accessed 6 February 2014. Archived fro

Quote: "Most Paladin readers know Ragnar Benson as a survivalist, a powder monkey, a trapper, a hunter and a dispenser of survival medicine, but how many know that he has been involved in the PI business for more than 25 years?" As of 2010, he was 72 years old.Interview with Ragnar Benson. ''Omega Man Radio Show'', with Shannon Ray Davis
Part 1

Part 2
Originally aired December 3, 2010. Accessed 6 February 2014. Archived fro
the original.
His writing pace has slowed in recent years. In 2007, he authored the foreword to James Ballou's book ''Long-Term Survival in the Coming Dark Age: Preparing to Live After Society Crumbles''. On December 3, 2010, Ragnar Benson was interviewed on the Omega Man Radio Show with Shannon Ray Davis for over two hours. In the interview, he mentioned that he has travelled to more than 90 countries.

Selected bibliography

Books * ''Acquiring New ID: How to Easily Use the Latest Technology to Drop Out, Start Over, and Get On With Your Life''. Boulder, CO:

, 1996. . * ''Action Careers: Employment in the High-Risk Job Market''. Secaucus, NJ:

Citadel Press Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...

, 1988. . * ''Breath of the Dragon: Homebuilt Flamethrowers''. Boulder, CO:

, 1990. . * ''Bull's Eye: Crossbow''. Boulder, CO:

, 1985. . * ''David's Tool Kit: A Citizen's Guide to Taking Out Big Brother's Heavy Weapons''. Port Townsend, WA:

, 1996. . * ''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''. Boulder, CO:

, 1997. . * ''Eating Cheap''. Boulder, CO:

, 1992. .
''The Greatest Explosions in History: Fire, Flash and Fury''
Boulder, CO:

, 1990. . * ''Guerrilla Gunsmithing: Quick And Dirty Methods For Fixing Firearms In Desperate Times''. Boulder, CO:

, 2000. . * ''Hardcore Poaching''. Boulder, CO:

, 2007. . * ''Home-Built Claymore Mines: A Blueprint For Survival''. Boulder, CO:

, 1993. . * ''Homemade C-4: A Recipe For Survival''. Boulder, CO:

, 1990. .
''Homemade Grenade Launchers: Constructing The Ultimate Hobby Weapon''.
Boulder, CO:

, 1991. . * ''How to Survive the Coming Plagues''. Vinture Publications, 2010. .
''Live Off the Land in the City and the Country''
with Devon Christensen. Boulder, CO:

, 1981. . * ''Mantrapping''. Boulder, CO:

, 1981. . * ''The Modern Survival Retreat: A New and Vital Approach to Retreat Theory and Practice''. Boulder, CO:

, 1998. . * ''Modern Weapons Caching: A Down-To-Earth Approach To Beating The Government Gun Grab''. Boulder, CO:

, 1990. . * ''The Most Dangerous Game: Advanced Mantrapping Techniques''. Boulder, CO:

, 1996. . * ''New And Improved C-4: Better-Than-Ever Recipes For Half The Money And Double the Fun''. Boulder, CO:

, 1995. .
''Ragnar's Action Encyclopedia of Practical Knowledge and Proven Techniques''.
Boulder, CO:

, 1999. . ::A compilation of some of Benson's earlier works. * ''Ragnar's Action Encyclopedia'', Vol. 2. Boulder, CO:

, 1999. . Revised edition.
''Ragnar's Big Book of Homemade Weapons: Building and Keeping Your Arsenal Secure''.
Boulder, CO:

, 1992. .
''Ragnar's Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives''.
Boulder, CO:

, 1988. .
''Ragnar's Guide To Interviews, Investigations, And Interrogations: How To Conduct Them, How to Survive Them''.
Boulder, CO:

, 2000. .
''Ragnar's Guide to the Underground Economy''.
Boulder, CO:

, 1999. . * ''Ragnar's Homemade Detonators: How to Make 'Em, How to Salvage 'Em, How to Detonate 'Em''. Boulder, CO: