Ragnar Benson

Ragnar Benson (born 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.

In the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, Timothy McVeigh 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. Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed an amendment to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that criminalizes broad categories of criminally instructional speech, and it was passed by Congress in 1999.

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.

Fictional biography Larry Grupp, writing as Ragnar Benson, had constructed a fantasy biography of himself as his pen-name persona. His fictitious. His alter-ego was 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." In his book Urban Survival he recounts some of his father's experiences growing up in Germany after World War I. Later in his childhood his parents returned to Europe and he stayed in America with his grandparents who immigrated from Russia. None of the above is actually true.

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: Paladin Press, 1996. . Action Careers: Employment in the High-Risk Job Market. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1988. . Breath of the Dragon: Homebuilt Flamethrowers. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1990. . Bull's Eye: Crossbow. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1985. . David's Tool Kit: A Citizen's Guide to Taking Out Big Brother's Heavy Weapons. Port Townsend, WA: Loompanics Unlimited, 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: Paladin Press, 1997. . Eating Cheap. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1992. . The Greatest Explosions in History: Fire, Flash and Fury. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1990. . Guerrilla Gunsmithing: Quick And Dirty Methods For Fixing Firearms In Desperate Times. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2000. . Hardcore Poaching. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2007. . Home-Built Claymore Mines: A Blueprint For Survival. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1993. . Homemade C-4: A Recipe For Survival. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1990. . Homemade Grenade Launchers: Constructing The Ultimate Hobby Weapon. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 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: Paladin Press, 1981. . Mantrapping. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1981. . The Modern Survival Retreat: A New and Vital Approach to Retreat Theory and Practice. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1998. . Modern Weapons Caching: A Down-To-Earth Approach To Beating The Government Gun Grab. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1990. . The Most Dangerous Game: Advanced Mantrapping Techniques. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1996. . New And Improved C-4: Better-Than-Ever Recipes For Half The Money And Double the Fun. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1995. . Ragnar's Action Encyclopedia of Practical Knowledge and Proven Techniques. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1999. . A compilation of some of Benson's earlier works. Ragnar's Action Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1999. . Revised edition. Ragnar's Big Book of Homemade Weapons: Building and Keeping Your Arsenal Secure. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1992. . Ragnar's Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1988. . Ragnar's Guide To Interviews, Investigations, And Interrogations: How To Conduct Them, How to Survive Them. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2000. . Ragnar's Guide to the Underground Economy. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1999. . Ragnar's Homemade Detonators: How to Make 'Em, How to Salvage 'Em, How to Detonate 'Em. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1993. . Ragnar's Survival Encyclopedia. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2016. . Ragnar's Tall Tales. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2005. . Ragnar's Ten Best Traps: And A Few Others That Are Damn Good Too. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1985. . Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2000. . Starting a New Life in Rural America: 21 Things You Need to Know Before You Make Your Move. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2006. . Survival End Game: The 21st Century Solution. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2013. . Survival Nurse: Running an Emergency Nursing Station Under Adverse Conditions. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2000. . Survival Poaching. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1990. . The Survival Retreat: A Total Plan For Retreat Defense. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1983. . Survivalist's Medicine Chest. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1982. . Switchblade: The Ace of Blades. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1989. . Edited and revised edition by Michael D. Janich for Paladin Press, 2004. .

Book contributions Tough Times Survival Guide, Vol. 1. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2009. . "Foreword." In: Ballou, James. Long-Term Survival in the Coming Dark Age: Preparing to Live after Society Crumbles. Prepper Press, 2018. .

Video Homemade C-4: A Closer Look. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1991. [VHS]. .