While there are many courses and tutorials online, learning from a book is still one of the best ways to greatly improve your skills. Below I have selected top Wilderness Survival books.
1. The Bushcraft Boxed Set: Bushcraft 101; Advanced Bushcraft; The Bushcraft Field Guide to Trapping, Gathering, & Cooking in the Wild; Bushcraft First Aid (2017)
The collection includes: : The primer to wilderness survival based on the author’s 5Cs of Survivability (cutting tools, covering, combustion devices, containers, and cordages) Takes it to the next level with self-reliance skills that teach you how to survive with little to no equipment Provides everything you need to know about packing, finding, and preparing food while trekking Written with Jason A. Hunt, PhD, it’s the go-to first aid resource for anyone headed into the woods With this boxed set, you’ll be prepped and ready for your next outdoor adventure—wherever it…
2. Wilderness Survival (2006)
“A must-read for anyone who goes outdoors. Informative and captivating.” — Capt. Scott O’Grady, survivor, Bosnia With concise explanations and detailed illustrations, survival expert Gregory Davenport covers the five basic elements of survival–personal protection, signaling, finding food and water, travel, and health–providing the reader with complete information on how to stay calm and alive until rescue arrives.Completely updated with information on keeping yourself safe and healthy in the wilderness A comprehensive, well-organized, and user-friendly guide to staying alive in the backcountry…
3. SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere (2014)
The ultimate guide to surviving anywhere, now updated with more than 100 pages of additional material, including a new chapter on urban survival “A classic outdoor manual [that] addresses every conceivable disaster scenario. Don’t leave home without it”–Outside magazineRevised to reflect the latest in survival knowledge and technology, and covering new topics such as urban survival and terrorism, the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller SAS Survival Handbook by John “Lofty” Wiseman is the definitive resource for all campers, hikers, and outdoor adventurers. From basic campcraft and navigation to fear…
4. Extreme Wilderness Survival: Essential Knowledge to Survive Any Outdoor Situation Short-Term or Long-Term, With or Without Gear and Alone or With Others (2017)
For the beginner and way beyond, Extreme Wilderness Survival has what every outdoorsman needs to stay safe in the woods: the right mind-set, skills, advanced tactics and gear choices based on real experiences. Craig Caudill of Nature Reliance School has spent four decades gathering expertise in outdoor survival―including two 30-day solo sabbaticals in remote woods with only a knife. He teaches military personnel as well as everyday citizens how to avoid trouble and what to do when you can’t avoid it. In this book, Craig puts it all together in a sensible way, step by step, for almost any…
5. Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival (2014)
The ultimate resource for experiencing the backcountry! Written by survivalist expert Dave Canterbury, Bushcraft 101 gets you ready for your next backcountry trip with advice on making the most of your time outdoors. Based on the 5Cs of Survivability–cutting tools, covering, combustion devices, containers, and cordages–this valuable guide offers only the most important survival skills to help you craft resources from your surroundings and truly experience the beauty and thrill of the wilderness. Inside, you’ll also discover detailed information on: Choosing the right items for your kit. Manufacturing needed…
6. Wilderness Survival Handbook: Primitive Skills for Short-Term Survival and Long-Term Comfort (2010)
Organized around the six essentials of survival (shelter, water, food, fire, comfort and health, and navigation), Wilderness Survival Handbook covers 100 skills and techniques, including preserving fire, building pit shelters, toolmaking, stoneboiling cookery, and trapping and hunting animals with handmade tools and weapons. By mastering these skills, you will be able to survive with few tools or provisions in any wilderness setting–forest, plain, desert, or tundra–in nearly any part of the world….
7. Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival (1987)
Here, in one essential volume, are the basics of wilderness survival. The most ancient and important skills, preserved for generations, are presented in a simple, easy-to-use format with clear illustrations and instructions. A complete must-have companion to the great outdoors.• How to build natural shelters in plains, woods, or deserts• How to get safe drinking water from plants, trees, the sun, or Earth Herself• How to make fire without matches and maintain it in any weather• How to find, stalk, kill, and prepare animals for food• The “big four” edible plants,…
8. Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival (2016)
Clear instructions, extensive use of diagrams, and a full color photo supplement detail all the practical skills and knowledge essential for surviving and enjoying the wilderness. Includes basic instructions for lighting and maintaining a fire, chopping wood and felling trees, creating a warm shelter, using knives and axes safely, finding plants and animals important for survival, cooking in the outdoors, and making tools, ropes, baskets, and more from plant materials. This title now has the ISBN 9781772130072, replacing the ISBN 9781551051222….
9. Survival Medicine & First Aid: The Leading Prepper’s Guide to Survive Medical Emergencies in Tough Survival Situations (2016)
February 2017 Edition (layout issues fixed)★ ★ ★ FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY ★ ★ ★Buy the Paperback and Get the eBook for FREE! After a disaster, there’s a single, vital skill that very few survivors will have. Fighters and builders are important, but there is no survivor so valuable and sought after as the one who can help out when illness or injury strikes.As any good prepper knows, thinking ahead and planning ahead will enable you to live a good and healthy life completely off the grid. The ability to care for the sick and injured?…
10. 101 Skills You Need to Survive in the Woods: The Most Effective Wilderness Know-How on Fire-Making, Knife Work, Navigation, Shelter, Food and More (2019)
“Feeder” mind-set means being in control of a situation, proactive rather than reactive. It is an optimistic outlook that reframes any situation as a learning experience. Kevin Estela teaches survival skills from this feeder-based perspective, which is what separates his teaching style from other wilderness instructors. Kevin has written the quintessential guide for an outdoor enthusiast’s “bucket list” of skills―how to make a fire, build a shelter, gather food, find water, use a knife correctly and make cordage. These skills will keep you safe and better prepare…
11. Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival (2015)
In this valuable guide, survivalist Dave Canterbury goes beyond bushcraft basics to teach you how to survive in the backcountry with little or no equipment. Using the foundation you learned in Bushcraft 101, Canterbury shows you how to completely immerse yourself in the wilderness with advanced bushcraft and woodcraft techniques. He covers crucial survival skills like tracking to help you get even closer to wildlife, crafting medicines from plants, and navigating without the use of a map or compass. He also offers ways to improvise and save money on…
Best Wilderness Survival Books that Should be on Your Bookshelf
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some wilderness survival books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Survival hacks: over 200 ways to use everyday items for wilderness survival
Author(s): Stewart, Creek
Publisher: Adams Media, Year: 2016, Size: 10 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 1593946
Wilderness survival : staying alive until help arrives
Author(s): Suzanne Swedo
Publisher: Falcon Guides, Year: 2016, Size: 878 Kb, Download: pdf
ID: 2088114
The Ultimate Wilderness Survival Handbook: 172 Ultimate Tips and Tricks
Author(s): The Editors of Outdoor Life
Publisher: Weldon Owen, Year: 2016, Size: 18 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 2336148
Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival
Author(s): Dave Canterbury
Publisher: Adams Media, Year: 2015, Size: 4 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 1397321
The complete survival shelters handbook : a step-by -step guide to building life-saving structures for every climate and wilderness situation
Author(s): Akkermans, Anthonio
Publisher: Ulysses Press, Year: 2015, Size: 10 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1444748
Wilderness Survival Tools: Bushcraft Strategies and Tools You Will Need to Know to Be Safe When Backpacking or Camping
Author(s): Michael Hansen
Publisher: , Year: 2015, Size: 204 Kb, Download: mobi
ID: 1509280
Basic Safe Travel and Boreal Survival Handbook: Gems from Wilderness Arts and Recreation Magazine
Author(s): Mr. Mors Kochanski
Publisher: Karamat Wilderness Ways, Year: 2015, Size: 8 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 1537791
Wilderness and travel medicine : a complete wilderness medicine and travel medicine handbook
Author(s): Fury, Sam
Publisher: CreateSpace, Year: 2015, Size: 3 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 2090382
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are absolutely best-sellers according to Chicago Tribune, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.