No matter if you just enjoy roaming the great outdoors, or if you’re pretty serious about prepping and SHTF scenarios, survival books definitely come in handy.
The best survival books are written by some very wise and capable individuals, and offer tons of practical knowledge that can be of great service to you in a wide range of emergencies.
Now most of these books also come in digital form, but I would sincerely advise you to acquire at least some of them in their original printed form, because if you don’t have internet (or electricity) they won’t do you any good.
The books we’re gonna cover can be a great aid for a wide variety of scenarios including dealing with natural disasters, staying alive in the wilderness, but also remaining safe in urban situations as well as preparing your home for various sorts of drama.
I’m gonna organize these best survival books into several important categories and give you my best picks for each specific category.
But, before we start…
What is the Best Survival Book Out There?
According to many survival and prepping enthusiasts, the The Ultimate Survival Manual (by Rich Johnson) is the best survival book on the market. That’s why it’s number one on this list and we consider it a must have in any outdoor enthusiasts library.
But, it’s always smart to get your survival info from multiple sources, as each of these books has something that’s unique to it.
Wilderness Survival Books
Survival in the wilderness is probably the most popular genre of survival books, and there is a great body of work written about staying safe in the wild.
For this specific genre we will cover some best-selling classics as well as some newer but undeniably awesome titles.
- The Ultimate Survival Manual, by Rich Johnson
This is one of the best wilderness survival books out there, and the author is a former Special Forces paratrooper.
The Ultimate Survival Manual withstood the test of time, and is nowadays considered as a true classic of the survival genre.
The Manual mentions 333 different skills that you need to survive, and since this is a really large number, you can bet that it has everything you ought to know about surviving.
Some of these skills include crossing dangerous rivers, animal attacks, surviving floods, blizzards and earthquakes, and the book is also wonderfully illustrated.
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods, by Bratford Angier
Even though this book is fairly old (written in 1956), it still remains one of the coolest titles around.
How to Stay Alive in the Woods (as the name suggests) mainly revolves around forest survival tricks, and should be regarded as indispensable for hikers and other woodland critters.
This guide contains 4 separate sections: safety, warmth, orientation and sustenance, which is everything you’ll need in a sticky woods situation.
Best Prepper Books
Getting your home set up for all kinds of trouble is one of the most important aspects of SHTF, and these books can offer invaluable help for acquiring the know-how needed for being adequately prepared.
Prepping guides include a bunch of essential information including rations, security, permaculture, power generation, water filtration and much more.
- When Technology Fails, by Matthew Stein
When Tech Fails is an amazingly good read that focuses on the premise of a potential breakdown of all technological systems.
Matthew Stein covers various issues that humanity will face in such a dire time, and the biggest aspect of this book revolves around individual sustainability.
This book offers great guidance for anyone looking to improve their skills of self reliance in a situation that potentially awaits us all.
- The Encyclopedia of Country Living, by Carla Emery
Regarded as one of the best off-grid living books, The Encyclopedia of Country Living is filled with useful info on how to raise various farm animals and be completely self-reliant.
This book also has excellent sections about the basics of vegetable cultivation and beekeeping, and pretty much everything you need to start a well-oiled farm or ranch.
Best Urban Survival Books
Urban surroundings can sometimes be as perilous as the wilderness, and therefore some survival books specifically deal with urban situations.
If you take survival seriously, knowing how to approach various situations including car accidents, mugging and robbery, floods earthquakes and other natural disasters is an absolute must.
- The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive, by Cody Lundin
Cody Lundin is a beloved television personality and a long-time director of the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Arizona, and his book has a pretty novel approach.
The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive centers around the premise that maintaining your core temperature is one of the main things you should be worried about in practically any survival scenario, and the author states that it’s even more important than food and water.
Even though it offers a ton of useful information, this book is definitely a light read, and is filled with clever humor.
Best Bushcraft Books
In a situation where your life depends on what you can forage in the wild, the information from bushcraft books is what you’ll be needing the most.
For some reason I have a real hard time coping with what’s poisonous and what’s yummy, but luckily my girlfriend Jodie May is a real bushcraft fanatic, so the books we’re gonna cover in this section are all Jodie’s picks (thanks babe).
- Edible Wild Plants, by John Kallas
Curated by John Kallas (who’s an expert wild foods nutritionist), Edible Wild Plants offers a humongous variety of wild edible greens and mushrooms.
The main version of the book features foods that can be foraged on North American and European territories, and you can also find detailed depictions as well as nutritional values of each item.
- Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, by Lee Allen Peterson
Somewhat similar to the previously mentioned Edible Wild Plants, Peterson’s Field Guide features over 400 hundred edible plants that can be foraged in the US.
What’s fantastic about this particular book is that it contains detailed drawings of over 40 poisonous species that closely resemble edible plants.
Military Survival Books
If anyone knows a thing or two about survival, it’s the military.
Army survival books offer a wide range of info, ranging from close combat, handling weapons, and dealing with all sorts of violent and dangerous situations.
- SAS Survival Guide, by John “Lofty” Wiseman
Even though there’s a buttload of amazing military books, I’d always go for the SAS Survival Guide first.
This masterpiece of survival literature was written by a real badass, who was a British special service survival expert, and this book contains a really wide range of info.
The SAS survival guide can offer you all sorts of tips on how to endure pretty much every imaginable scenario, on every possible terrain.
You’ll also be learning how to create weapons, make camp, scavenge for food and plenty more.