Best Wilderness Survival Books –

Introduction:

How great is it, to spend quiet time perusing and devouring some of the Best Wilderness Survival Books Ever Written?
It doesn’t, of course, take the place of actually getting  Out There, and “Playing In The Dirt” .. But, sometimes it is almost as good for your soul.

Many Moons ago, when I was just a young’n (in the late 40s and early 50s .. And before I had found any of the Best Wilderness Survival Books to learn from) .. My Folks would load up our travel/camping trailer, and we would head to The Woods .. (My Father was quite the Outdoorsman, with Much to teach me)

From the week after School was out, till the week before school started again, we would be “Out There” Seeing and Hearing and Smelling and tasting and thoroughly Being a Part Of “All Things Wilderness”.

During the rest of the year I sought out Everything I could find, on the subject of Wilderness Survival and Outdoor lore and activity, and I got myself out There as often as possible.

When I was old enough, I joined the local Boy Scout Troop, and was fortunate that it was led by a Scout Master who had spent a good part of his adult life “Out There” ( an avid outdoorsman .. a believer in the idea that Getting out there and actually  “Doing It” was the best way to Learn, and Perfect,  the skills necessary to Survive – and even Thrive “Out There”.

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So – Back to Books:

Over the years I have read (Devoured?)  A LOT of books –  Both Fiction and Non Fiction ( and up until my most recent move, had amassed quite a comprehensive library of Wilderness Survival books).

Below is a short list of what I think are some of the best wilderness survival books ever written.

…In future posts I will go into detail, of what I Like and/or dislike about these books – and what I look for, and expect to learn from Any printed media .. (and from Videos too)

Books – Non Fiction

• The official Boy Scout Handbook ~ (published and updated continuously since 1911, by “The Boy Scoutsof America”)
  
• US Military Survival Manual ~ Army Field Manual FM 3–05.70 and FM 21-76 (Survival, Evasion, and Recovery)” is the United States Army’s official guide to survival.
  
• Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive  ~ (Les Stroud)
• How to stay alive in the woods ~ (Bradford Angier)
  • Several other of his books too
• Outdoor Survival Skills ~ (Larry Dean Olsen)
• 98.6 degrees .. The art of keeping your ass alive ~ (Cody Lundin)
  • When all hell breaks loose ~ (Cody Lundin)
• The SAS Survival handbook ~ (John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman)
• Naked Into the Wilderness ~ (John and Geri McPherson)
• Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival ~ (Tom Brown)
  • Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Living with the Earth ~ (Tom Brown)
    • Actually, I have read All of Tom Brown’s books
• Vagabonding In America ~ Ed Buryn
• Bushcraft 101 ~ (Dave Canterbury)
  • Advanced Bushcrafting ~ (Dave Canterbury)
    

And a few ‘older’ Clasics:

• Camp-Lore and Woodcraft ~ (Daniel Beard)
• The Book of Camping and Woodcraft ~ (Horace Kephart)
• Woodcraft and Camping ~ (George W. Sears ~ Nessmuk)
• Bushcraft ~ (Mors Kochanski)
• Wildwood Wisdom ~ (Ellsworth Jaeger)

Books – Fiction

(SHTF and TEOTWAWKI oriented books), which, over the years, had an impact on my life .. and on my Passion for Wilderness Survivaling.

• Vandenburg (Oliver Lange)
• Valley of the Horses (Jean M. Auel)
• Alas, Babylon (Pat Frank)
• Lucifer’s Hammer (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle)
• One Second After (William R. Forstchen)
  • A number of other Great TEOTWAWKI Books by this same author
• The Stand (Steven King)
• Hatchet (Gary Paulson)
  • 5 additional books in this series

… There are many more Great Books, in the fiction category, which will be addressed in future posts