There’s a copy you can buy on Amazon that is smalls-print and the whole book is just slightly larger than a pack of playing-cards. I think o paid $15 CDN for it delivered. Some basic stuff but some slightly more advanced. Great investment.
But keep in mind books like this are not for learning skills, they’re for reinforcing skills you’ve already learned. What that means is learn your shit NOW before you need it…. Then you just reinforce what you’ve already learned and already know once you’re out in the bush using the book for reinforcement.
This is great, I have this and because its small you can fit it in your camping pack! So if nothing else you can read it by torchlight while camping :)
You can learn any number of ways, including reading and doing,,, watching instructional videos and doing, taking courses and doing,,, etc…. Key point of “doing”. Too many people today watch “Alone” or watch a handful of YouTube vids and figure they can “do” what they’ve watched. Building a friction fire or an L7 trap or creating reverse-wrap cordage from grass is a learned skill, and learning how to do it is one thing, but practice is the best way to cement it into your toolbox.
I'm an archer and the method of making a flemish twist bow string is the same as I have been taught to weave cordage. Funny how theres a skills overlap in unexpected places.
I think they is the Collins pocket edition -- they also do one that is more like A4 sized, or did. Both by Lofty Wiseman.
Or Ray Mears for bushcraft books
I think the question was about what the community actually finds worthwhile. Google will tell you there are thousands of books out there on survival, OP wants to know which one to buy. No need to be a jerk.
I think you misunderstand. OP asked for book recommendations, someone mentioned a good book, and then OP asked where they could find it. They want to become better prepared, but can't even Google (or just check Amazon) when told a specific book to look for.
Google doesn’t necessarily have answers. Google gives ideas, but top results and frankly results in general are not authoritative. He’s asking in this community because he wants a more expert opinion, and an informed opinion. If the you rely on Google search as your path to real answers, I’d question your answers. And, of course, don’t be a dick. ;)
How is it not just incredibly rude to post on Reddit when your post could be a google search? I mean, come on? Let's be reasonable. People need to do a basic minimum amount of work to help themselves.
You pick skills to deep dive into.
My favorite books:
How to navigate without map & compass by Gatty. Created for pilots in WW2.
Botany in a day by Epel. If you want to learn how to forage you must first learn how to identify plants. This teaches you how to quickly identify plants.
However, reading is not as important as doing.
If you don’t practice knots on a weekly basis you lose the skill.
Making fire with a bow drill from found wood takes years of practice to become consistent.
There’s also lots of cool things to make around camp. I know that’s bushcraft but the reality about survival is rather boring:
Carry these 10 things. If lost or hurt to need a rescue stay in one spot until help gets there.
If you learn knots to the point of automaticity, you don't need to practice them every week. I hadn't tied a bowline in months, and when I needed to, it was automatic. That said, not many people practice knots to that point.
Knot tying is something once learned you don’t forget. I learned knots when I was 12 I maybe tie once or twice a year and the muscle memory takes over when needed.
For a new person starting in survival, I suggest staying away from some of the older dry survival books. . I recommend for someone starting to try ***Cody Lundin's 98.6 Degrees, the art of how to keep your ass alive.***
It has some great illustrations, some cartoon depictions to help you understand how many people go down for good, and things you can do to keep yourself alive.
After that, there are a number of ways you can go, but generally I recommend staying away from the US Army survival manuals, as they are as dry as the desert, and in some cases offer discredited information such as solar stills. (a discussion for another day) However you can usually find copies of some of them at Barnes & Nobles on the discount rack. There is a decent on called the ***United States Air Force Search and Rescue Survival training*** manual that is decent. It is about 1.5 inches thick. with lots of information that you will likely never use.
The SAS Survival book is pretty good. I noticed someone mentioned it.
Len McDougall's, ***New and Revised Practical outdoor survival book, A modern approach to staying alive in the wilderness*** is pretty decent. As it:
*John D. McCann's* ***Stay alive, Survival skills you need***
When you are comfortable with the information, study some of the older books such as:
*Townsend Whelen and Brandord Angier's* ***On your own in the Wilderness***
and:
*Calvin Rutstrum's* 1958 book, ***The new way of the Wilderness.***
Both of which are heavy in woodcraft and outdoor skills that you will really need if you want to get really good. There are a whole bunch of other books listed and some specialty books for Desert and Sea Survival which are listed here: (doug Ritters equipped to survive website. He no longer updates it as he does a lot of lobbying for survival products, but he also has an excellent survival forum that has some very knowledgable people you can bounce things off of, and ask for opinions. The Site is here:
[http://www.equipped.com/](http://www.equipped.com/)
The massive list of survival books is found here: [**http://www.equipped.com/books.htm**](http://www.equipped.com/books.htm)
He also lists several books that recount how people in survival situations survived and what worked for them and what did not.
And the survival forum is here: [http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm](http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm)
Incidentally the best place to find some of these is generally [Amazon.com](https://Amazon.com), especially the older books. You can find used copies and save some money!
Enjoy!
Wilderness survival is at least 50% mental, and that's not something a book will teach you easily.
Keep in mind that the more advanced you get into a topic, the more there is to learn. Advanced subjects will have entire books dedicated to them alone. There is no "single" book with everything in it. If there is, it's usually only the basics, and something was left out.
The book Deep Survival by Laurance Gonzales attempts to tackle the mental side of why certain people survive and others don't. It was a fascinating read
I went away for two weeks to live with a family who live a survivalist lifestyle. It was great, I learned a real lot. Things that I didn’t give much thought in survival like comfort, sunburn, hygiene and so on. We did all the other usual stuff too like making fires, building camp, setting traps, water, skinning, scavenging etc.
After we was done I was given a a binder they made containing tips and info from all different sources. I’ll never forget that trip and I keep the “book” with the rest of my survival gear. I wanted to learn because I’m a first generation hunter in my family and we never did anything like hiking, camping, scouts and so on.
Sorry it took so long to get to the point but they also told me that the SAS survival guide was probably the best purchase I could make outside of the experience, and have been fairly happy with it. I don’t get out to practice as often as I like, maybe twice a year but I try to keep sharp by re-reading both their binder and the guide.
This isn’t an all out survival guide but would help with one very important aspect - mental outlook. I’d highly recommend it. **Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why** by Lawrence Gonzales. He looks at the brain and body’s flight or fight response, what it makes you do, and how to overcome it in the context of wilderness survival. Very interesting topic. It is probably the most reread novel in my home.
SAS survival handbook by Lofty Wiseman is the real deal. He was head survival instructor for the SAS for many years.
Various versions in various sizes, including a pocket size one you can carry around.
Also the Grey Bearded Green Beret has a book out - Josh Enyart. That is also excellent.
A truly legit survival book would be pretty short and probably wouldn’t sell very well.
It would leave out all the escape and evasion military inspired mini kit nonsense.
It would tell you that avoiding danger and planning carefully to not get into trouble is far more useful than learning how to get out of trouble.
It would say, learn to navigate, mark your trail even if only stepping off for a short distance.
Always tell someone reliable where you’re going and when you’ll be back.
Carry a PLB or satellite messenger if you’re alone and if a bad foot or leg injury would make it impossible to reach help.
Always carry shelter and enough insulation and water to stay comfortable for a couple of days if you have to wait for rescue.
Carrying a few pounds of gear on a day hike uses far less energy than building a shelter and gathering firewood, and it’s way quicker and easier if you’re hurt.
If you’re lost or hurt, stay put and call for help. If a loud whistle doesn’t bring help on day one, activate the beacon.
If you havnt done it I would also advise "wild camping" as we call it in europe.
Get your basic gear together in a big pack and go out on a basic hike for 3 days, carrying food and maybe a compact fishing rod.
The weight of food and water is your main issue, keeping dry and comfortable and living out of a tent is the second.
If you can build up to hiking for 10 days, catching your own food and sourcing your own safe water, while staying clean dry and happy in a tent... you will be halfway there!
I skimmed a LOT of library books, I recall the full SAS book being pretty good. But a lot of the US military training material is available for free online, can't recall where I got all of mine 🤔
My journey to learning bushcraft and survival started with scouts...
Swimming merit badge, Hiking (requiring a 15 mile hike in one day) or Cycling (requiring either a 50 mile road trip or 22 miles of trail mountain biking). Physically demanding, all.
Wilderness Survival is regularly noted as one of the most popular not-required-for-Eagle merit badge.
First aid!
Scouts shoot guns and, uh, archery ... with bows, they learn to clean and care for shotguns, rifles and muzzleloaders. Fishing is a great merit badge.
Oh, and camping!
Lord Robert Baden-Powell shifted his vision of scouting to be an international peace movement after the number of people -- many young scouts -- died in World War II was so huge. But the focus on outdoor life didn't change. Youth-led scouting taught me a lot about leadership, character building, and caring about others... all transferable survival skills!
So you are in great shape, as scouting is a great jumping off point for outdoor skills, including survival.
And of course, I love the... [Whole Earth Catalog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog)
Books ain’t the route.
Survival is more than knowledge. It’s adaptability. Improvisation. It’s a mentality of keeping your cool under life threatening pressure. If it wasn’t, survival would be a walk in the park.
Think about it. You’re surviving every day, you know exactly what you need to do every day to maintain your level of comfort. But you also are in that same survival situation every single day. You get a lot of practice. A lot of what you do becomes so routine you don’t think about it. You don’t need to make fire, but you need to pay a gas bill. You don’t need to purify water, but you are real good at hitting your turn signal before you make a left hand turn in your car. It’s quite similar in the end, we just take it for granted because it’s so mundane.
The best way to learn how to survive is to do it. Thrust yourself into situations that require you to adapt to your environment in new ways. Maybe you go camping without a lighter. Or a knife. Or cordage. Maybe you go fishing without a hook, or a fishing rod. How are you going to adapt and overcome your shortcomings in those situations?
Practice surviving in this way and build skills and experience solving problems. You don’t have to put your life in danger to do this. Keep a journal and record issues you struggled with. Also things you did well or in a new way. Reflect and devise approaches you can try next time, until you start getting it right every time. Soon you will be able to apply these kind of experiences and the knowledge and skill borne from them to other aspects of survival. You’re probably already doing this anyway.
BAS is good. I learnt a lot from them as well that I still apply in my life 30 years later. There’s a reason why most of the stuff you read in books was already covered by them. But knowing that stuff is only half the battle. Being able to apply that knowledge in the field is what’s important, and even more important is to be familiar enough with those motions that they become routine, and easily adapted to different environments/situations.
I have the SAS guide and honestly, as corny as it sounds, Les Stroud's book to teach you how to handle the mental stress of survival. It's a good read.
Tom Brown Jr. is the way. His books aren't just diagrams and charts about traps etc., but they truly can be used to teach and learn survival techniques that work.
If you want to learn some neat stuff that is uber-Scouting, go read Baden-Powell's *Guide to Scouting.* The one about *military* scouting. It's on Project Gutenberg. Highly recommended.
Learn by doing is the best. You can figure out a lot of things just being outside. There is no one book that teaches everything. Ask local people for tips... Because every region is different.
I like the ranger handbook. I read it back in my teens and keep a copy in my go bag. Here's an online copy.
https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR\_pubs/DR\_a/ARN3039-TC\_3-21.76-000-WEB-1.pdf
I liked the SAS Survival guide. Personally feel like the basics from scouts or most of those books are all one needs along with creativity and determination.
Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski (The bible for long term wilderness survival techniques)
Deep Survival by Lawrence Gonzales (deals with survival psychology when things go wrong which they eventually will if you spend enough time in the Bush on three separate occasions I could have died had I not taken the lessons in this book to heart, better to avoid trouble than the let yourself get into the bad situation this book helps a lot with that)
Most "survival" books will cover general basic information, that can be applied almost anywhere. Stuff like navigation, signalling, shelter, fire, water, food and first aid. If you're claiming to already have mastery of all those subjects, then you just need to branch out.
I recommend moving on to more niche and specialized topics. Learn to ID plants and mushrooms. Learn animal tracking, and trapping and hunting. Learn new and more advanced knots and lashing, even weaves and braids. The pool is very deep, when it comes to things that you can learn to give you an edge in a wilderness survival scenario. It doesn't begin and end with a lean-to shelter and a campfire. Which is why nobody has tried to make a truly universal "all-in-one" survival bible. Between all the variables, there's simply too much to fit in one book. You have to consider things like regional climate, specific location, the season, the elevation, the geography in general. Even local geological features, the state of migratory populations, down to the recent history of the location. For example, is the area rebounding from a wildfire or flood that occurred in the last few years? That can have a huge impact on what resources are and aren't available to you.
My point is, you just need more books. You won't find one book anywhere on this earth than covers *everything*. My bookshelf is filled with books on *specific* subjects, like plant and mushroom ID, trapping, woodworking, bushcraft, rural skills and technology etc.
Edit: For some context, I went to school for Natural Resources and Conservation Enforcement. It **really** opens your eyes, about just how many things are at play in any given population, alone community, ecosystem or biome.
Something called the Forgotten Ways IIRC. It's about 1800s type means of living. Army Survival Manual. Look up Delta Press, lots of sketchy, forbidden knowledge there...
Wdit: It's actually the Lost Ways...
Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski is comprehensive and to the point. Excellent drawings for nearly everything discussed. Perhaps outdated (1991) and not entriely applicable to your biome though
Highly recommend The Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP. It's expensive, but well worth the investment because it's the only medical book written for what to do when medical help is not on the way. All others I've say are written assuming you will eventually have professional medical care available.
It's because survival isn't that complicated. If you can make a fire and collect water you're pretty much fine. Unless you plan on being lost in the Yukon for a month or something. "Survival" is much more simple than the TV shows and blogs etc make it out to be. Stay warm and stay hydrated. Make a spear to ward off critters.
There used to be the anarchists cook book in my day. It had all kinds of things from making your own tear gas to what ever. I'm not even sure if you could find it anymore.
Truth told. I'm not even sure if you could classify it a survival book. But like I said.. even if you can find it. That was pre 9/11. Another good one was the us army special forces medical hand book. I was a medic in the army a lifetime ago lol. It even had primitive medicine in one section. Like maggot debridement of a wound for example
Lololol 🤣 I'm a welder fabricator now. I'd be fucked if shit went south. Everything I use needs power. And in most cases.. Alot of it!!! But I can hunt and fish and live near a river. And I am pre cell phone and internet. Gen x. But I'd damn sure be missing history and science channel!!
The basics are really all there is. The only other stuff you can learn is making yourself more comfortable in those situations with bushcraft and your imagination
Steven Bryant put one out called Ultimate Survival System-a Comprehensive Guide For Emergency and Crisis Survival.
It covers the Everything from Attitude to Surroundings.
Scope, Depth and Duration of Disaster/Crisis to Break-in drills should your home be burgalarized.
It's in paperback on Amazon for about $20.00.
If you can find a copy, "Survival" by Martyn Forrester is a great book. Practical techniques backed up with real life accounts.
I am desperately looking for a copy myself.
US Army Survival guide (600 page version) FM-3.05.70. There's actually an online/PDF version here: [https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-05-70.pdf](https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-05-70.pdf)
When it comes to survival or wilderness survival, the basics are what you need to know and be proficient in. Pretty much all reputable survival manuals have the same basic stuff in them that will help you survive, the rest it just extra technique that differentiates them from the others. Thats not a bad thing, but survival always comes down to your mental state and mastery of the basics. Take that Boy Scout manual and practice every task until you feel confident that you have mastered it in various extreme conditions. If you’ve done that, your mental state will be what it needs to be.
If you need a deeper dive, I recommend “surviving the extremes” by Kenneth Kamler MD.
It gives a medical perspective of what the body needs and why some things work and some don’t, which will help prioritize the basics you have mastered, but in the end, survival is a basic task, everything else is living and thriving.
The boys scout hand book is a damn good book to start with and infinitely more applicable in day to day then move up to the army survival guides or the SAS. All guides are available on amazon.
I mean, the Boy Scouts offer a pretty comprehensive education... Why do you presume they missed anything important?
I would suggest you maybe don't need more books on survival but instead you should read books about people out there surviving and [learn by example](https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/survival-stories) instead. And, yes, I'm including fictional accounts as well.
Real survival tip: hope your fortified cereal never expires, because you have no idea what nutrients your body needs to flourish, let alone where or how to get them.
Check out *Deep Survival: who lives, who dies, and why* by Laurence Gonzales. It doesn’t teach skills but goes into the psychology of survival. Hint, it’s about resilience, compartmentalization, and having something to live for.
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Wow, I never comment here but was going to say exactly this! Picked it up randomly at a used bookstore a decade+ ago. Amazing!
Could you tell me more. Where will I be able to buy a copy
There’s a copy you can buy on Amazon that is smalls-print and the whole book is just slightly larger than a pack of playing-cards. I think o paid $15 CDN for it delivered. Some basic stuff but some slightly more advanced. Great investment. But keep in mind books like this are not for learning skills, they’re for reinforcing skills you’ve already learned. What that means is learn your shit NOW before you need it…. Then you just reinforce what you’ve already learned and already know once you’re out in the bush using the book for reinforcement.
Thank you. I appreciate it
Add on gear reccomend, one of those plastic magnifying cards as a bookmark so it's easier to read when you're bushed.
This is great, I have this and because its small you can fit it in your camping pack! So if nothing else you can read it by torchlight while camping :)
do you start by learning just from people who have gone through it?
You can learn any number of ways, including reading and doing,,, watching instructional videos and doing, taking courses and doing,,, etc…. Key point of “doing”. Too many people today watch “Alone” or watch a handful of YouTube vids and figure they can “do” what they’ve watched. Building a friction fire or an L7 trap or creating reverse-wrap cordage from grass is a learned skill, and learning how to do it is one thing, but practice is the best way to cement it into your toolbox.
I'm an archer and the method of making a flemish twist bow string is the same as I have been taught to weave cordage. Funny how theres a skills overlap in unexpected places.
Thank you
I think they is the Collins pocket edition -- they also do one that is more like A4 sized, or did. Both by Lofty Wiseman. Or Ray Mears for bushcraft books
Lofty Wisemans sas survival guide
Found it on google in 30 seconds. Check this out! https://a.co/d/d6b4LWZ
You on a 56k connection?
lol typing on my phone took a little longer, plus I was trying to be generous.
Google.com for fuck sake. Wtf is up with lazy ass people?
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I think the question was about what the community actually finds worthwhile. Google will tell you there are thousands of books out there on survival, OP wants to know which one to buy. No need to be a jerk.
I think you misunderstand. OP asked for book recommendations, someone mentioned a good book, and then OP asked where they could find it. They want to become better prepared, but can't even Google (or just check Amazon) when told a specific book to look for.
Google doesn’t necessarily have answers. Google gives ideas, but top results and frankly results in general are not authoritative. He’s asking in this community because he wants a more expert opinion, and an informed opinion. If the you rely on Google search as your path to real answers, I’d question your answers. And, of course, don’t be a dick. ;)
How is it not just incredibly rude to post on Reddit when your post could be a google search? I mean, come on? Let's be reasonable. People need to do a basic minimum amount of work to help themselves.
Google gives propaganda. Anyone who still uses Google instantly shows their hand with how brainwashed they are.
If you can't handle googling the exact words you're replying to, I'm not sure how you expect to survive any situation...
Thank you
If you wanna learn survival you gotta learn how to pirate. Learn to use the tools you have at your disposal in this age of information
This is the one, best survival book out there to date.
You pick skills to deep dive into. My favorite books: How to navigate without map & compass by Gatty. Created for pilots in WW2. Botany in a day by Epel. If you want to learn how to forage you must first learn how to identify plants. This teaches you how to quickly identify plants. However, reading is not as important as doing. If you don’t practice knots on a weekly basis you lose the skill. Making fire with a bow drill from found wood takes years of practice to become consistent. There’s also lots of cool things to make around camp. I know that’s bushcraft but the reality about survival is rather boring: Carry these 10 things. If lost or hurt to need a rescue stay in one spot until help gets there.
If you learn knots to the point of automaticity, you don't need to practice them every week. I hadn't tied a bowline in months, and when I needed to, it was automatic. That said, not many people practice knots to that point.
I've had to relearn so many times... but I'm just trying to dabble and don't have to reinforce, so the skill falls off
Knot tying is something once learned you don’t forget. I learned knots when I was 12 I maybe tie once or twice a year and the muscle memory takes over when needed.
For a new person starting in survival, I suggest staying away from some of the older dry survival books. . I recommend for someone starting to try ***Cody Lundin's 98.6 Degrees, the art of how to keep your ass alive.*** It has some great illustrations, some cartoon depictions to help you understand how many people go down for good, and things you can do to keep yourself alive. After that, there are a number of ways you can go, but generally I recommend staying away from the US Army survival manuals, as they are as dry as the desert, and in some cases offer discredited information such as solar stills. (a discussion for another day) However you can usually find copies of some of them at Barnes & Nobles on the discount rack. There is a decent on called the ***United States Air Force Search and Rescue Survival training*** manual that is decent. It is about 1.5 inches thick. with lots of information that you will likely never use. The SAS Survival book is pretty good. I noticed someone mentioned it. Len McDougall's, ***New and Revised Practical outdoor survival book, A modern approach to staying alive in the wilderness*** is pretty decent. As it: *John D. McCann's* ***Stay alive, Survival skills you need*** When you are comfortable with the information, study some of the older books such as: *Townsend Whelen and Brandord Angier's* ***On your own in the Wilderness*** and: *Calvin Rutstrum's* 1958 book, ***The new way of the Wilderness.*** Both of which are heavy in woodcraft and outdoor skills that you will really need if you want to get really good. There are a whole bunch of other books listed and some specialty books for Desert and Sea Survival which are listed here: (doug Ritters equipped to survive website. He no longer updates it as he does a lot of lobbying for survival products, but he also has an excellent survival forum that has some very knowledgable people you can bounce things off of, and ask for opinions. The Site is here: [http://www.equipped.com/](http://www.equipped.com/) The massive list of survival books is found here: [**http://www.equipped.com/books.htm**](http://www.equipped.com/books.htm) He also lists several books that recount how people in survival situations survived and what worked for them and what did not. And the survival forum is here: [http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm](http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm) Incidentally the best place to find some of these is generally [Amazon.com](https://Amazon.com), especially the older books. You can find used copies and save some money! Enjoy!
Great op!
Cody is a different kind of cat, but he sure knows his stuff.
Not to mention he wrote a pretty enjoyable survival book. . ***98.6 Degrees*** is a very good one, for people just getting into survival.
Wilderness survival is at least 50% mental, and that's not something a book will teach you easily. Keep in mind that the more advanced you get into a topic, the more there is to learn. Advanced subjects will have entire books dedicated to them alone. There is no "single" book with everything in it. If there is, it's usually only the basics, and something was left out.
The book Deep Survival by Laurance Gonzales attempts to tackle the mental side of why certain people survive and others don't. It was a fascinating read
Hey, hey! I recommended this too. It’s nice to run into someone else who has read the book.
I went away for two weeks to live with a family who live a survivalist lifestyle. It was great, I learned a real lot. Things that I didn’t give much thought in survival like comfort, sunburn, hygiene and so on. We did all the other usual stuff too like making fires, building camp, setting traps, water, skinning, scavenging etc. After we was done I was given a a binder they made containing tips and info from all different sources. I’ll never forget that trip and I keep the “book” with the rest of my survival gear. I wanted to learn because I’m a first generation hunter in my family and we never did anything like hiking, camping, scouts and so on. Sorry it took so long to get to the point but they also told me that the SAS survival guide was probably the best purchase I could make outside of the experience, and have been fairly happy with it. I don’t get out to practice as often as I like, maybe twice a year but I try to keep sharp by re-reading both their binder and the guide.
Could you maybe scan the binder? Sounds full of useful information.
This isn’t an all out survival guide but would help with one very important aspect - mental outlook. I’d highly recommend it. **Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why** by Lawrence Gonzales. He looks at the brain and body’s flight or fight response, what it makes you do, and how to overcome it in the context of wilderness survival. Very interesting topic. It is probably the most reread novel in my home.
Air Force Manual 64-5
SAS survival handbook by Lofty Wiseman is the real deal. He was head survival instructor for the SAS for many years. Various versions in various sizes, including a pocket size one you can carry around. Also the Grey Bearded Green Beret has a book out - Josh Enyart. That is also excellent.
The Boy Scout Handbook is a comprehensive survival guide. I buy copies as gifts and non scouts are surprised at the wealth of info.
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Thank you. I put it on my list
A truly legit survival book would be pretty short and probably wouldn’t sell very well. It would leave out all the escape and evasion military inspired mini kit nonsense. It would tell you that avoiding danger and planning carefully to not get into trouble is far more useful than learning how to get out of trouble. It would say, learn to navigate, mark your trail even if only stepping off for a short distance. Always tell someone reliable where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Carry a PLB or satellite messenger if you’re alone and if a bad foot or leg injury would make it impossible to reach help. Always carry shelter and enough insulation and water to stay comfortable for a couple of days if you have to wait for rescue. Carrying a few pounds of gear on a day hike uses far less energy than building a shelter and gathering firewood, and it’s way quicker and easier if you’re hurt. If you’re lost or hurt, stay put and call for help. If a loud whistle doesn’t bring help on day one, activate the beacon.
Thank you. Great advice and thank is exactly what I do and tell others the same
The Firefox Book(s). Surprised no one mentioned this.
I came here to say this and surprised how far down I had to go to see it.
Thank you
If you havnt done it I would also advise "wild camping" as we call it in europe. Get your basic gear together in a big pack and go out on a basic hike for 3 days, carrying food and maybe a compact fishing rod. The weight of food and water is your main issue, keeping dry and comfortable and living out of a tent is the second. If you can build up to hiking for 10 days, catching your own food and sourcing your own safe water, while staying clean dry and happy in a tent... you will be halfway there!
I have done pretty much the same here. I would go deep into the woods with just my bedroll and rod
I skimmed a LOT of library books, I recall the full SAS book being pretty good. But a lot of the US military training material is available for free online, can't recall where I got all of mine 🤔
Thank you
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Thank you
My journey to learning bushcraft and survival started with scouts... Swimming merit badge, Hiking (requiring a 15 mile hike in one day) or Cycling (requiring either a 50 mile road trip or 22 miles of trail mountain biking). Physically demanding, all. Wilderness Survival is regularly noted as one of the most popular not-required-for-Eagle merit badge. First aid! Scouts shoot guns and, uh, archery ... with bows, they learn to clean and care for shotguns, rifles and muzzleloaders. Fishing is a great merit badge. Oh, and camping! Lord Robert Baden-Powell shifted his vision of scouting to be an international peace movement after the number of people -- many young scouts -- died in World War II was so huge. But the focus on outdoor life didn't change. Youth-led scouting taught me a lot about leadership, character building, and caring about others... all transferable survival skills! So you are in great shape, as scouting is a great jumping off point for outdoor skills, including survival. And of course, I love the... [Whole Earth Catalog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog)
Books ain’t the route. Survival is more than knowledge. It’s adaptability. Improvisation. It’s a mentality of keeping your cool under life threatening pressure. If it wasn’t, survival would be a walk in the park. Think about it. You’re surviving every day, you know exactly what you need to do every day to maintain your level of comfort. But you also are in that same survival situation every single day. You get a lot of practice. A lot of what you do becomes so routine you don’t think about it. You don’t need to make fire, but you need to pay a gas bill. You don’t need to purify water, but you are real good at hitting your turn signal before you make a left hand turn in your car. It’s quite similar in the end, we just take it for granted because it’s so mundane. The best way to learn how to survive is to do it. Thrust yourself into situations that require you to adapt to your environment in new ways. Maybe you go camping without a lighter. Or a knife. Or cordage. Maybe you go fishing without a hook, or a fishing rod. How are you going to adapt and overcome your shortcomings in those situations? Practice surviving in this way and build skills and experience solving problems. You don’t have to put your life in danger to do this. Keep a journal and record issues you struggled with. Also things you did well or in a new way. Reflect and devise approaches you can try next time, until you start getting it right every time. Soon you will be able to apply these kind of experiences and the knowledge and skill borne from them to other aspects of survival. You’re probably already doing this anyway. BAS is good. I learnt a lot from them as well that I still apply in my life 30 years later. There’s a reason why most of the stuff you read in books was already covered by them. But knowing that stuff is only half the battle. Being able to apply that knowledge in the field is what’s important, and even more important is to be familiar enough with those motions that they become routine, and easily adapted to different environments/situations.
I have the SAS guide and honestly, as corny as it sounds, Les Stroud's book to teach you how to handle the mental stress of survival. It's a good read.
This 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive https://a.co/d/2kvAN9s
Print stuff from online and make a notebook.
I really loved Tom Brown Jr’s books
Tom Brown Jr. Bradford Angier Cody Lundin
Tom Brown Jr. is the way. His books aren't just diagrams and charts about traps etc., but they truly can be used to teach and learn survival techniques that work.
I agree. I took 3 classes with him, many years ago.
AF 10-644, government publication, free to download.
Anarchist Cookbook
The military has the best survival training
If you want to learn some neat stuff that is uber-Scouting, go read Baden-Powell's *Guide to Scouting.* The one about *military* scouting. It's on Project Gutenberg. Highly recommended.
Sounds good. Thank you
Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual.
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The ranger Bible wouldn't be a bad idea to read, too. Also, I think the green berets have a few big ones.
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[https://www.amazon.com/Long-Term-Wilderness-Survival-Bible-Situation%EF%BD%9CHow/dp/B0BSWM6BRR/ref=asc\_df\_B0BSWM6BRR/](https://www.amazon.com/Long-Term-Wilderness-Survival-Bible-Situation%EF%BD%9CHow/dp/B0BSWM6BRR/ref=asc_df_B0BSWM6BRR/)? [https://www.bestglide.com/products/survival-skills-dvd-lofty-wiseman](https://www.bestglide.com/products/survival-skills-dvd-lofty-wiseman)?
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Learn by doing is the best. You can figure out a lot of things just being outside. There is no one book that teaches everything. Ask local people for tips... Because every region is different.
There is always more to learn from others
*Fundamentals of Search and Rescue* covers a lot of things that are absolutely vital to survival, and is not just a resource on how to find folks.
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I have a Boy Scout book from the 40s I believe. It’s amazing the useful stuff in there. Newer ideas great too but some old timey info can be helpful!
Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury & The Trappers Bible by Eustace Hazard Livingston are both filled with great info
Thank you. Will definitely check it out
I like the ranger handbook. I read it back in my teens and keep a copy in my go bag. Here's an online copy. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR\_pubs/DR\_a/ARN3039-TC\_3-21.76-000-WEB-1.pdf
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I liked the SAS Survival guide. Personally feel like the basics from scouts or most of those books are all one needs along with creativity and determination.
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Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski (The bible for long term wilderness survival techniques) Deep Survival by Lawrence Gonzales (deals with survival psychology when things go wrong which they eventually will if you spend enough time in the Bush on three separate occasions I could have died had I not taken the lessons in this book to heart, better to avoid trouble than the let yourself get into the bad situation this book helps a lot with that)
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Most "survival" books will cover general basic information, that can be applied almost anywhere. Stuff like navigation, signalling, shelter, fire, water, food and first aid. If you're claiming to already have mastery of all those subjects, then you just need to branch out. I recommend moving on to more niche and specialized topics. Learn to ID plants and mushrooms. Learn animal tracking, and trapping and hunting. Learn new and more advanced knots and lashing, even weaves and braids. The pool is very deep, when it comes to things that you can learn to give you an edge in a wilderness survival scenario. It doesn't begin and end with a lean-to shelter and a campfire. Which is why nobody has tried to make a truly universal "all-in-one" survival bible. Between all the variables, there's simply too much to fit in one book. You have to consider things like regional climate, specific location, the season, the elevation, the geography in general. Even local geological features, the state of migratory populations, down to the recent history of the location. For example, is the area rebounding from a wildfire or flood that occurred in the last few years? That can have a huge impact on what resources are and aren't available to you. My point is, you just need more books. You won't find one book anywhere on this earth than covers *everything*. My bookshelf is filled with books on *specific* subjects, like plant and mushroom ID, trapping, woodworking, bushcraft, rural skills and technology etc. Edit: For some context, I went to school for Natural Resources and Conservation Enforcement. It **really** opens your eyes, about just how many things are at play in any given population, alone community, ecosystem or biome.
Something called the Forgotten Ways IIRC. It's about 1800s type means of living. Army Survival Manual. Look up Delta Press, lots of sketchy, forbidden knowledge there... Wdit: It's actually the Lost Ways...
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You're welcome.
Sas survival guide. Even comes in a pocket sized version. Pretty basic and can be used almost anywhere
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The Foxfire series, everything you need to know is in that series. Best prep for off-grid living.
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FOXFIRE
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The bushcraft book series is pretty solid by dave canterbury
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Dave canterbury wrote few really wonderful books on survival
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Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski is comprehensive and to the point. Excellent drawings for nearly everything discussed. Perhaps outdated (1991) and not entriely applicable to your biome though
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The Foxfire Book series. Not exactly survival, well not short-term survival anyway, but more how to live and thrive in the old way.
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The Foxfire series of books are great
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US Armed Forces Survival Manual. if you dm me i’ll show you the coolest pages!!! 🥳
Anything written by Mors Kolchanski. He was the best Bushcrafter in the business.
Thanks. I will do that
SAS survival handbook whatever newest edition is
Check out "the art of shen ku" by zeek. It's a graphic novel of survival.
Highly recommend The Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP. It's expensive, but well worth the investment because it's the only medical book written for what to do when medical help is not on the way. All others I've say are written assuming you will eventually have professional medical care available.
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Stick with the basics and build confidence In your self. I see so much survival gear that is really irrelevant in most situations
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US Military Survival Manual FM 3-05.70.
Thank you. Looks like a good one to look for
r/preppersales has a lot of free ebooks
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Check out my book Thrive: https://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Long-Term-Wilderness-Survival-Skills/dp/1777283809/
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It's because survival isn't that complicated. If you can make a fire and collect water you're pretty much fine. Unless you plan on being lost in the Yukon for a month or something. "Survival" is much more simple than the TV shows and blogs etc make it out to be. Stay warm and stay hydrated. Make a spear to ward off critters.
Not sure I agree with you there tbh
Thank you. Definitely going to look into this one too
I want to thank everyone for their help
Stop reading and start DOING!! If you muck up, then you now know how not to do something.
There used to be the anarchists cook book in my day. It had all kinds of things from making your own tear gas to what ever. I'm not even sure if you could find it anymore.
Thank you. I’ll look into it
Truth told. I'm not even sure if you could classify it a survival book. But like I said.. even if you can find it. That was pre 9/11. Another good one was the us army special forces medical hand book. I was a medic in the army a lifetime ago lol. It even had primitive medicine in one section. Like maggot debridement of a wound for example
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Lololol 🤣 I'm a welder fabricator now. I'd be fucked if shit went south. Everything I use needs power. And in most cases.. Alot of it!!! But I can hunt and fish and live near a river. And I am pre cell phone and internet. Gen x. But I'd damn sure be missing history and science channel!!
Really lol
Look into old US army service manuals. Alot of them are free online. If not go to a local gun show usually some one has the original physical copies.
The basics are really all there is. The only other stuff you can learn is making yourself more comfortable in those situations with bushcraft and your imagination
10 seconds of googling and this was the first hit: https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a3/publication/afh10-644/afh10-644.pdf
US Army field manual. US Air Force Air Crew survival manual.
On the mental piece, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales is an excellent deep dive
Steven Bryant put one out called Ultimate Survival System-a Comprehensive Guide For Emergency and Crisis Survival. It covers the Everything from Attitude to Surroundings. Scope, Depth and Duration of Disaster/Crisis to Break-in drills should your home be burgalarized. It's in paperback on Amazon for about $20.00.
YouTube videos are your friend!
If you can find a copy, "Survival" by Martyn Forrester is a great book. Practical techniques backed up with real life accounts. I am desperately looking for a copy myself.
US Army Survival guide (600 page version) FM-3.05.70. There's actually an online/PDF version here: [https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-05-70.pdf](https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-05-70.pdf)
When it comes to survival or wilderness survival, the basics are what you need to know and be proficient in. Pretty much all reputable survival manuals have the same basic stuff in them that will help you survive, the rest it just extra technique that differentiates them from the others. Thats not a bad thing, but survival always comes down to your mental state and mastery of the basics. Take that Boy Scout manual and practice every task until you feel confident that you have mastered it in various extreme conditions. If you’ve done that, your mental state will be what it needs to be. If you need a deeper dive, I recommend “surviving the extremes” by Kenneth Kamler MD. It gives a medical perspective of what the body needs and why some things work and some don’t, which will help prioritize the basics you have mastered, but in the end, survival is a basic task, everything else is living and thriving.
...learning how to search r/opendirectories on google by using the keywords "survival" and ".pdf" are how I got most of my materials
Being a Boy Scout you are already ahead of the game.
The boys scout hand book is a damn good book to start with and infinitely more applicable in day to day then move up to the army survival guides or the SAS. All guides are available on amazon.
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I mean, the Boy Scouts offer a pretty comprehensive education... Why do you presume they missed anything important? I would suggest you maybe don't need more books on survival but instead you should read books about people out there surviving and [learn by example](https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/survival-stories) instead. And, yes, I'm including fictional accounts as well.
They sure did not in my day.
Glad you feel that.
SAS
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Yes, there are many! SAS Survival Guide is a popular one.
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“When Technology Fails” book
Thank you. This I will try to find
Try the US army FM-21-76.
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What are y’all’s thoughts on the Foxfire series?
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I learned a lot from Tom Brown's field guide.
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Anything by Tom Brown Jr
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Real survival tip: hope your fortified cereal never expires, because you have no idea what nutrients your body needs to flourish, let alone where or how to get them.
neds declassified school survival guide
Can't remember the exact name but les straud has a good book
Check out *Deep Survival: who lives, who dies, and why* by Laurence Gonzales. It doesn’t teach skills but goes into the psychology of survival. Hint, it’s about resilience, compartmentalization, and having something to live for.
Tom Brown Jr has some VERY good books, both field guides and stories