Library
Books, manuals and paper maps worth keeping at home. They work without power or signal. Free official booklets are linked directly.
Survival and bushcraft
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SAS Survival Handbook
The standard reference: water, fire, shelter, navigation, first aid and signalling in one volume.
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Collins Gem SAS Survival Guide
The handbook condensed to go-bag size.
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Bushcraft
Fire, shelter, tools and natural materials, with clear photographs.
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Bushcraft 101
Built around a short core kit; practical for beginners.
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Deep Survival
Why some people survive emergencies and others do not; decision-making under stress.
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The Unthinkable
How people actually behave in disasters, from fires to floods, drawn from survivor interviews and research.
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The Ashley Book of Knots
The complete knot reference; around 3,900 knots, numbered and illustrated.
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How to Stay Alive
Survival advice for everyday emergencies as well as the wild.
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When All Hell Breaks Loose
Home preparedness from a survival instructor: water, food, sanitation, heat and mindset.
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98.6 Degrees
Built around one idea: keeping your core temperature stable is what keeps you alive.
Foraging and wild food
Wild plants and fungi can stretch a food supply, but some are deadly. Learn with an experienced forager, and never eat anything you can't identify with certainty.
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Food for Free
Identifying edible wild plants, fungi and shellfish in Britain and northern Europe.
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The Forager Handbook
The most complete guide to edible plants in Britain.
UK -
Wild Food
How people in Britain lived from wild food, tested in practice.
UK -
Essbare Wildpflanzen
The standard German guide to 200 common edible wild plants.
DE -
Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
The classic North American field guide, arranged by flower colour.
US -
Collins Fungi Guide
The most comprehensive field guide to mushrooms in Britain and Ireland.
UK -
Extreme Food
What to eat when your life depends on it.
Hunting, fishing and butchery
How to process an animal from field to kitchen. Hunting, trapping and fishing need a licence in most countries, and snares and traps are banned or restricted across much of Europe: check the law where you live.
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The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game, Volume 1: Big Game
Field dressing and butchering explained step by step, with photographs.
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The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game, Volume 2: Small Game and Fowl
The small-game companion: rabbits, squirrels, upland birds and waterfowl.
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Hunt, Gather, Cook
Foraging, fishing and hunting brought together, with recipes.
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The River Cottage Meat Book
Butchery, curing and cooking for every cut of meat.
UK -
The River Cottage Fish Book
How to catch, clean, fillet and cook fish and shellfish.
UK
Growing and preserving food
For the longer term: growing vegetables on a balcony, garden or allotment, and keeping a harvest through the winter.
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The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
The classic manual of self-sufficiency, first published in 1976.
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The Vegetable & Herb Expert
The best-selling UK guide to growing vegetables.
UK -
How to Grow More Vegetables
Getting the most food from a small plot.
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The Resilient Gardener
Gardening for self-reliance in hard times.
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Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
The standard guide to safe home canning.
US -
Preserves
River Cottage Handbook No. 2: jams, chutneys, pickles and cordials.
UK
First aid and medicine
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First Aid Manual
The authorised manual of the three UK first aid organisations.
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NOLS Wilderness Medicine
First aid when help is hours or days away; the NOLS course textbook.
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Where There Is No Doctor
Health care without access to doctors; used by aid workers worldwide.
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Where There Is No Dentist
Dental care and pain when no dentist is available.
Radio and communications
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ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 6th edition
Study guide for the US entry-level amateur radio licence.
US -
Foundation Licence Now!
Study guide for the UK Foundation amateur radio licence.
UK -
Amateurfunk: Das umfassende Handbuch
German exam preparation that covers the new entry-level class N.
DE
Official booklets (free)
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Basics of home emergency preparedness
Sweden's one-week home preparedness advice, in English.
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Self-preparedness
Norway's one-week checklist, in English.
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Prepared for crises checklist
Denmark's three-day checklist, in English.
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72 hours preparedness supplies
Finland's 72-hour supplies list, in English.
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Emergency supplies
The Czech 72-hour list, in English.
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Tous responsables
France's household guide to risks and a 72-hour kit, in French.
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Wat zit er in een noodpakket?
The Dutch emergency kit list, in Dutch.
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Build a Kit
The US federal kit list.
Maps
A paper map works when phone networks and navigation apps don't. Keep a road map in the car and a detailed walking map of your area at home.
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Michelin National Map 721: France
Whole of France on one sheet, with main and secondary roads.
FR -
Michelin National Map 718: Germany
Whole of Germany on one sheet.
DE -
ANWB Wegenkaart Nederland
The Dutch motoring club's national road map.
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AA Road Atlas Britain 2027
Great Britain at road-atlas scale, with 100 city, town and port plans.
UK -
Michelin National Map 753: Sweden
Whole of Sweden, with insets of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
SE -
Michelin National Map 752: Norway
Whole of Norway on one sheet.
NO -
Michelin National Map 754: Finland
Whole of Finland on one sheet.
FI -
Michelin National Map 749: Denmark
Whole of Denmark on one sheet.
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Rand McNally Road Atlas & National Park Guide 2027
United States, Canada and Mexico, with city insets.
US -
Michelin Road Atlas Europe
The whole of Europe in one atlas, for evacuating across borders.
EU -
Ordnance Survey Explorer maps (1:25,000)
The most detailed walking maps of Great Britain.
UK -
IGN TOP 25 maps (1:25,000)
France's official detailed topographic maps.
FR -
Kompass Wanderkarten (1:50,000)
Walking maps for Germany and Austria.
DE -
Nordeca Turkart (1:50,000)
Norway's standard walking maps.
NO -
USGS topographic maps
Free official topographic maps of the whole US.
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