Adventures

6 Outdoor Survival Books Worth Reading: 3 for Adults, 3 for Scout-Age Kids

By Caleb

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Some of the best outdoor skills I know of are the ones you learn before you ever need them. A good survival book won't replace practice or a class, but it can teach you the basics (shelter, water, fire, staying warm) and introduce a few skills you may never have thought about, like how your mindset affects you in an emergency or how to read the weather.

My own two favorite survival books are near the end of this post, in the "My favorites" section.

These six books come up again and again in public recommendations. Three are for adults and three are for Scout-age kids. Whether you're brand new or you've been at this a while, each one has something to teach.

Read this first: safety and Leave No Trace

A few important caveats apply to every book on this list:

Never eat wild plants, berries or mushrooms unless an expert has confirmed what they are. Getting the identification wrong can make you seriously sick.
Building fires, cutting wood, building shelters from live trees and trapping are emergency-only skills. On a normal trip, use a stove or an established fire ring, burn only dead and downed wood where fires are allowed, and never cut live plants. Trapping is regulated, and in many places illegal.
Follow the Leave No Trace 7 Principles: Plan Ahead & Prepare, Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces, Dispose of Waste Properly, Leave What You Find, Minimize Campfire Impacts, Respect Wildlife, and Be Considerate of Others.

If you want to practice bushcraft skills, do it where it's permitted, like private land with permission or a guided class.

Top 3 survival books for adults

1. Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury

Bushcraft 101 publisher page

This one shows up on lists from Popular Mechanics, TruePrepper and Wide Open Spaces. TruePrepper calls it "the most recommended wilderness survival manual."

Good for: beginner campers and hikers who want a hands-on, illustrated skills manual.
What you'll learn: the fundamentals of shelter, fire, water and food, plus less common skills such as cordage, knots, making tools and choosing a kit.
Keep in mind: Popular Mechanics notes that some of the information applies more to the northeastern US. The tool-making, wood processing and fire skills belong in the emergency-only category.

2. SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman

SAS Survival Handbook publisher page

TruePrepper ranks it "Best Overall," and Wide Open Spaces includes it too.

Good for: adults who want one broad reference to keep at home. The latest edition is revised and adds urban survival.
What you'll learn: camp and shelter, fire, water, navigation and first aid. It also covers less common topics, like reading the weather and surviving in different climates and terrain.
Keep in mind: it's big and heavy, and Wide Open Spaces says it "doesn't dive too deep into any one topic." It also has a large food and foraging section, so the never-eat-wild-plants-without-an-expert rule applies here.

3. 98.6 Degrees by Cody Lundin

Cody Lundin's website

Featured by Outside and Wide Open Spaces, which praises its "practical advice, humorous quips, and entertaining illustrations."

Good for: beginners. The focus is on preventing emergencies and keeping your core body temperature where it needs to be.
What you'll learn: core skills like shelter, water, fire and kits, plus two less common ones: survival psychology and staying out of hypothermia and heat trouble. Outside highlights the book's point that heat and cold, not wildlife, are the main dangers.
Heads-up: the full title includes a profanity, and the humor is crude in places. Keep that in mind if you're sharing it with younger readers.

Top 3 survival books for Scout-age kids

1. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (novel)

Hatchet publisher page

Hatchet is a novel, not a how-to guide. It shows survival skills through a story about a boy stranded alone in the wilderness. Common Sense Media rates it for ages 11+ and calls it an "accurate depiction of the necessities of survival."

Skills in the story: shelter, fire, fishing and food. It also covers less common themes, like working through despair to build resilience and getting through a storm.
Not a manual: Brian learns by trial and error, including eating berries that make him sick. Please don't treat it as instructions.
Note for parents: the book includes animals being killed, an attempted suicide, and the parents' divorce and infidelity. Check the Common Sense Media review before handing it over.

2. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (novel)

My Side of the Mountain review on Common Sense Media

Another classic novel, this one about a boy who runs away to live in the mountains. Common Sense Media rates it for ages 10+. Like Hatchet, it teaches through story and isn't a how-to guide.

Skills in the story: shelter, fire and fishing, plus less common ones like falconry and getting through winter.
Use it as inspiration only: it makes foraging, trapping and hollowing out a living tree for a shelter look romantic. All of those conflict with Leave No Trace and with modern safety guidance.
Note for parents: it's a gentle read compared with Hatchet, but talk with kids about why they shouldn't copy what the boy does with wild food, traps and trees.

3. Ultimate Survival Guide for Kids by Rob Colson

Ultimate Survival Guide for Kids on Bookshop.org

This one is an actual guide: an illustrated, magazine-style book with checklists and photos. School Reading List recommends it for ages 10+ and calls it "accessible, useful and highly engaging," and RECOIL OFFGRID included it in its review of survival books for kids and families.

Good for: kids around 10 to 13, or younger readers with an adult.
What you'll learn: shelter, fire, trip planning and emergency steps. Less common topics include knots, using a pocketknife, navigating by the stars and sun, and hazards like lightning and floods.
Keep in mind: RECOIL OFFGRID notes that it covers dangers that may not apply where you live, so it works best as a reference rather than a front-to-back read. It has a section on finding food, and the never-eat-wild-plants-without-an-expert rule applies.

My favorites

The picks above come from public recommendations. These two are my personal favorites. The copies I own are older editions, and newer versions exist, so some details may differ from what you find today.

1. US Air Force "Search and Rescue: Survival Training" (AFR 64-4)

AFR 64-4 scan on the Internet Archive

This is an Air Force regulation written for instructors and students in formal USAF survival training. It covers survival psychology (stress, fear, panic and the will to survive), survival medicine, different environments, shelter, clothing and fire, water and food, travel and navigation, and signaling and recovery. Its modern counterpart is Air Force Handbook 10-644, which covers the same kinds of environmental survival topics.

Older manual, dated medical advice: this is an older military manual, and some of its medical advice is out of date. For example, it says to loosen a tourniquet after a set time, and it describes draining abscesses in the field. Follow current first-aid guidance instead, and consider taking a Red Cross or wilderness first-aid course.
Emergency-only skills: testing wild foods for edibility, snares, traps, and shelters or fires built from live wood are emergency-only skills. They aren't Leave No Trace practice, and outside a true emergency they're often illegal. Never eat wild plants without an expert.

2. The Boy Scouts Handbook (now the Scouts BSA Handbook)

Scouts BSA Handbook at the Scout Shop

The Scout Shop calls it "the essential guide for generations of Scouts." The current version combines the boys' and girls' handbooks into one book. It covers first aid, knot-tying, camping, hiking and personal fitness, with leadership, citizenship and character throughout.

If you have an older copy: first aid guidance has changed over the years, so follow current Red Cross or CDC guidance instead.

Final thoughts

A book is a great place to start, but skills stick when you practice them safely: on a backyard campout, at a Scout meeting, or in a class. Pick one book, try one skill, and keep Leave No Trace in mind on every adventure.

Happy exploring,
Caleb

Sources

Disclosure: AI helps gather comparison data for MOE. The picks below are based on public recommendations from outdoor media, review sites and reading lists. They aren't personal tests.

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