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.
- The Bushcraft Boxed Set: Bushcraft 101; Advanced Bushcraft; The Bushcraft Field Guide to Trapping, Gathering, & Cooking in the Wild; Bushcraft First Aid (2017)
- Wilderness Survival (2006)
- SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere (2014)
- 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)
- Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival (2014)
- Wilderness Survival Handbook: Primitive Skills for Short-Term Survival and Long-Term Comfort (2010)
- Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival (1987)
- Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival (2016)
- Survival Medicine & First Aid: The Leading Prepper’s Guide to Survive Medical Emergencies in Tough Survival Situations (2016)
- 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)
- Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival (2015)
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.
Wilderness Survival (2006)
“A must-read for anyone who goes outdoors. Informative and captivating.” — Capt.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Library 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.
Wilderness Survival For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Author(s): John Haslet, Cameron M. Smith
ID: 3646688, Publisher: , Year: 2023, Size: 21 Mb, Format: pdf
Thrive: Long-Term Wilderness Survival Guide; Skills, Tips, and Gear for Living on the Land
Author(s): Juan Pablo Quiñonez
ID: 3717247, Publisher: Boreal Creek Press, Year: 2022, Size: 22 Mb, Format: pdf
Wilderness Survival Guide: Practical Skills for the Outdoor Adventurer
Author(s): Marsteiner, Jason
ID: 2914012, Publisher: Rockridge Press, Year: 2021, Size: 16 Mb, Format: epub
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.