Free Survival PDFs, Manuals, and Downloads (2022 Update)

If you are trying to find survival books or a prepper PDF library, you’ve come to the right place. Below is a list of 667 of the best survival manuals, books, and survival guide PDF downloads. To download any of these titles, simply right-click on a file, and then select “Save As”.

You can also get the entire survival PDF collection on a USB drive (see below).

Here Are The Best Survival Guide PDFs – Table of Contents

1. Military, Combat and Tactical (51 downloads)
2. Wilderness Survival Books (51 downloads)
3. Food and Food Storage PDFs (222 downloads)
4. Homestead Skills (75 downloads)
5. Emergency Medicine (42 downloads)
6. Security and Defense (27 downloads)
7. General Emergency Preparedness and Survival (100 downloads)
8. Alternative Energy (2 downloads)
9. Water Storage, Treatment, and Resupply (41 downloads)
10. Survival Shelters (36 downloads)
11. Hygiene and Sanitation (2 downloads)
12. Knot Tying (16 downloads)
13. Urban Survival Manual PDFs (11 downloads)
14. Free Survival Guides (15 downloads)

Military Survival Guide PDFs (51)

Many of us are familiar with firearms, gun safety, self defense, or even have our concealed carry permits. But military life lends itself to a particularly intense set of circumstances that most civilians will never know. Learn from the timeless wisdom of people who have engaged in prolonged combat, in less-than-ideal circumstances.

U.S. Army Survival Manual PDFs (7)

• Army-stp21-1-Soldiers-Manual-of-Common-Tasks-Warrior-Skills-Level-1
• Army-stp21-24-Soldiers-Manual-of-Common-Tasks-Warrior-Skills-Level-2-3-and-4
• Army-fm 21-76 Survival Manual
• Army-fm 31-70-Basic-Cold-Weather-Manual
• Army-fm 20-3-Camouflage-Concealment-and-Decoys
• Army-fm 5-103-Survivability
• Army-fm 3-06-Urban-Operations

Special Forces Manuals (4)

• US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook ST 31-91B – PDF
• US Navy Seal Survival Handbook
• Navy-Seal-Physical-Fitness-Guide.pdf
• Ranger Handbook – 2006 – PDF

Self Defense and Hand to Hand Combat (15)

• SAS Self Defense Handbook – John “Lofty” Wiseman
• US-Marines-Close-Quarters-Combat-Manual-FMFM-07.pdf
• US-Marine-Corps-Hand-to-Hand-Combat.pdf
• US-Army-Combatives-handtohand-combat-FM-325-150
• Pressure-Points-Military-Hand-to-Hand-Combat-Guide
• Practical-Unarmed-Combat-by-Moshe-Feldenkrais.pdf
• Krav-Maga-Pressure-Points-Military-Hand-to-Hand-Combat-Guide
• ( Hand to Hand: Martial Arts ) Aikido ( revised )
• Combat-Conditioning-Manual-JiuJitsu-Lt-Col-RE-Hanley-USMC.pdf
• Marine-Martial-Arts-Training
• Combat-Survival-Evasion.pdf
• USMC-Kill-or-Get-Killed

Terrorism (2)

• Surviving-Terrorism.pdf
• Marines-Individual-Terrorism-Survival

Nuclear (3)

• Nuclear War Survival Skills
• The-Effects-of-Nuclear-War.pdf
• ABCs-of-nuclear-survival.pdf

Military Trades and Skills (3)

• Army-fm 5-428-Concrete-and-Masonry
• Army-fm 5-426-Carpentry
• Army-fm 3-97 Military Mountaineering

Other Military and Law Enforcement PDFs (17)

• How to find your way – US Army
• Urban Preparation Kit, Part I, On-Body Kit
• FM 21-76-1 Survival-Evasion-Recovery – Military Manual – PDF
• Western Australia Police – Aids To Survival
• USMC-Winter-Survival-Course.pdf
• USMC-Summer-Survival-Course.pdf
• Art of War – PDF
• The Guerrilla and How To Fight Him – PDF
• Total Resistance
• USMC Summer Survival Course Handbook
• Physical Security
• Citizens-Homeland-Defense-Guide-I-The-Art-of-Survival.pdf
• Citizens-Homeland-Defense-Guide-II-The-Art-of-Survival.pdf
• 11-Steps-to-Survival-Canada-Emergency-Measurses-Organization.pdf
• Tactical-Ready-Guide.pdf

Wilderness Survival Books (51)

If you like bushcraft and learning how to use the earth around you to survive in nature, this list is for you. Along with a handful of non-negotiable wilderness survival tools, information found in these downloadable PDFs can help you enjoy yourself more in the outdoors, and could quite literally save your life. Learn about sheltering, foraging, medicinal plants, hunting, cold weather survival, bushcraft, and more.

Sheltering (2)

• How to build a debris hut
• Shelters-Shacks-Shanties-Daniel-Carter-Beard

Foraging for Food (15)

• Edible-Wild-Plants.pdf
• Common Edible Mushrooms

Medicinal Plants (14)

• WHO-Monographs-on-Selected-Medicinal-Plants-Vol-3.pdf
• WHO-Monographs-on-Selected-Medicinal-Plants-Vol-2.pdf
• WHO-Monographs-on-Selected-Medicinal-Plants.pdf
• Useful-Wild-Plants-of-the-United-States-and-Canada.pdf
• survival-how-to-make-herbal-preparations.pdf
• Survival-Edible-Medicinal-Plants.pdf
• MEDICINAL PLANTS in Folk Tradition
• Herbal-PDRsmall.pdf
• Healing-Pets-With-Alternative-Medicine.pdf
• EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL PLANTS.doc
• Crow-Indian-Recipes-Herbal-Medicines.pdf
• Anticancer-Therapeutics.pdf
• A Complete Handbook of Nature Cure
• WHO-Monographs-on-Selected-Medicinal-Plants-Volume-4.pdf

Snaring and Hunting (3)

• Deadfalls and Snares – AR Harding
• Traps and Snares – Tangle, Dangle, Strangle or Mangle
• Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making

Cold Weather Survival (5)

• Alpine Living for SAR
• Cold_Weather_Survival_rev2.qxd
• Cold Weather Survival
• Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making
• Survival-In-ColdWeather-Areas

General Wilderness Survival Books and Guides (4)

• Wilderness Survival Skills.doc
• Survival-Wilderness-Survival.pdf
• Adventurer-Woodstravel-Module.pdf
• Survive! A Guide To Survival in Any Situation

Bushcraft PDFs (8)

• the-ten-bushcraft-books.pdf
• Australian Bushcraft PDF
• Flintknapping PDF book
• The-Book-of-Camplore-and-Woodcraft-Dan-Beard.pdf
• Bushcraft-Scouting-Woodlore-Notes.pdf
• Woodsman-Ship.pdf

Food and Food Storage PDFs (220)

Over 200 free prepper books and PDF downloads about food storage, gardening, chickens and backyard farming, permaculture, hunting and fishing, slaughtering animals and processing them, canning and food preservation, and even survival recipes.

Also, if you’re looking for a really solid but SIMPLE starting point with food storage, be sure to check out our complete survival food list.

Food Storage (2)

• LDS Preparedness Manual 2012 Edition – PDF
• 3 Month Food Supply Schedule – PDF

Gardening and Food Production (74)

• Vegetable-Garden-Encyclopedia.pdf
• Test-The-Soil-First.pdf
• The-Amateur-Garden.pdf
• composting – how to make fertilizer
• greenhouse – vegetables
• greenhouse – whitefly control

Hunting and Trapping (5)

Food Preservation (56)

• Canning – PDF
• Complete Guide to Home Canning – PDF
• PRESERVING GAME MEATS
• Guide 5, Preparing and Canning Poultry, Red Meats, and Seafood
• The Jerky Chef
• Solar Dehydrator.PDF
• Small Scale-Food-Drying-Technologies
• Preserving-Food-Drying-Fruits-And-Vegetables-
• Guide 6, Preparing and Canning Fermented Foods and Pickled Veg
• Canning and Preserving
• Preservation of Fish and Meat

Recipes (9)

• Camping Recipes – PDF
• Dutch Oven & Grill Recipes – PDF
• 1999_Dutch_Oven_Cookbook.pdf
• Jerky Recipes – PDF
• 60 Gift Mixes In-A-Jar Recipe’s
• Boy Scout Cookbook PDF
• The Back Country Recipe Book
• Native-Berry-Recipes
• The-Baby-Food.pdf

Homestead Skills Books (76)

All kinds of DIY projects, food production and general self-sufficiency skills to help you thrive on your homestead. Bees, wine-making, cleaning, soap-making, and much more! Even the old school Foxfire books.

Other Skills (27)

• Montana Winter Survival Manual – PDF
• Recipe for Making Soap #1 – Text file
• Recipe for Making Soap #2 – Text file
• Wood Burning – PDF
• 1881 Household Cyclopedia – book – PDF
• Morel Mushroom Hunting – PDF
• bushcraft leather work PDF
• Foxfire-One.pdf
• Foxfire-Two.pdf
• Foxfire-Three.pdf
• How To Make Black Powder
• The-Unofficial-MacGyver-HowTo-Handbook-Revised-2nd-Edition.pdf
• The complete guide to home carpentry
• Metal-Forming(2).pdf
• The Household Cyclopedia
• The Handbook For Practical Farmers
• Practical Farming and Gardening
• Rural Tanning Techniques

Best Emergency Medicine Books and Downloads (42)

The ever popular midwife guide, home remedies, first aid, herbal medicine, personal hygiene issues and how to combat them, medicines and prescription substitutes, and general survival medicine.

• A Manual for Midwives – PDF
• HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan
• Survival and Austere Medicine – PDF
• Where-There-is-No-Dentist-Murray-Dickson.pdf
• Where-There-Is-No-Doctor.pdf
• survival-personal-wilderness-medical-kit.pdf
• Wound Closure Manual
• Full-First-Aid-Manual-FM-2111.pdf
• Emergency War Surgery
• USMC-Wilderness-Medicine-Course.pdf
• Survival Medicine

Security and Defense (27)

Firearms, home defense, primitive weapons, weapons construction and improvisation, explosives, the mental aspects of defending yourself, and more.

General Emergency Preparedness and Survivalist Handbook PDFs (100)

Like the other books on this page, this archive of emergency preparedness and survival PDFs is provided here as a resource to the public, for browsing or download. Topics range from communication to EMPs and everything in between.

• SAS Survival Handbook
• Disaster Supply Kit
• Ultimate Survival Skills
• The-Worst-Case-Scenario-Survival-Handbook.pdf
• How to Handle a Crisis
• FEMA Emergency Supplies Checklist – All Americans should have some basic supplies on hand in order to survive for at least three days if an emergency occurs. Following is a listing of some basic items that every emergency supply kit should include.
• FEMA Family Supply List – Water, food, and clean air are important things to have if an emergency happens. Each family or individual’s kit should be customized to meet specific needs, such as medications and infant formula. It should also be customized to include important family documents.
• 3 Day’s Emergency Prep’s – PDF
• Nuclear War Survival Skills – Excellent book describing the means by which to prepare for a nuclear war – especially with expedient and low cost methods.
• The Family Fallout Shelter MP-15 – PDF This is a digitized copy of the old (1959) civil defense book that showcases several fallout shelter types along with information on proper ventilation, supplies needed, and fallout wind patterns. This is a very old “classic” document that still holds some value today.
• FEMA – Protection In The Nuclear Age Government sponsored book that came out many years ago on the topic of surviving a nuclear war. Provides lots of information on fallout and the inherent dangers of nuclear weapons.
• Radio-Monitoring-a-How-to-Guide.pdf
• Emergency-Plan.pdf
• General_-_Becoming_Self-Sufficient_for_Six_Months.pdf
• General_-_Compact_survival_kit.pdf
• General_-_Dangerous_Animals.pdf
• General_-_PreparingForDisasterforPeopleWithDisabilities.pdf
• General_-_Signaling_and_Direction_Finding.pdf
• General_-_Social_Distancing_and_Pandemic_Readiness.pdf
• General_-_Strengthening_exterior_doors.pdf
• General_-_Surviving_in_the_City.pdf
• Survive-Doomsday.pdf
• THE-INTERNATIONAL-CBRN-TRAINING.pdf
• TOP-120-CITIES-AT-RISK-FOR-NBC-ATTACK.pdf
• The-Construction-of-Secret-Hiding-Placesreduced.pdf

Alternative Energy Books, Downloads, and PDFs(2)

A couple of solid resources to help you in your alternative energy efforts around the homestead.

• Generator Load Chart – PDF Chart offers a quick reference guide to typical wattage loads of various electrical items commonly found around the home. From TV’s to power tools – chart can be used to determine of your generator size is sufficient in case of a power outage.
• Practical Guide to Free Energy DEVICES

Books on Water Storage, Treatment, and Resupply (41)

Like is often talked about, water is liquid life. Learn to store it, filter and purify it, harvest rainwater, and if possible, secure your own renewable source of water, such as a well or a reliable source of topwater.

• SODIS – Safe Water School Training Manual – PDF This download provides excellent educational material on all things making sure water is safe to drink.
• Survival-Water-Purification.pdf
• Water Treatment

Emergency and Survival Shelter Books (36)

Lots of PDFs about improvising emergency shelter, retreats and bug out shelters, and more permanent housing and off grid homesteads (as well as improvements and fortifications you can make to your existing home).

Emergency Hygiene and Sanitation Downloads (2)

Sound information and best practices on maintaining hygiene and sanitation in a disaster scenario.

PDFs on Knot Tying (16)

Knots, rope tricks, lashing, and handy skills to know in dealing with cordage. Learn important fishing knots, climbing knots, boating, and knots for a hundred other scenarios.

• Knots – Andrew Adamides
• sea scout knots
• Ropes-Knots-Ladders-Lashings-Anchorages.pdf
• knots splices attachments
• Knots, Splices and Rope Work
• Knots-for-Mountaineering-Camping-Climbing-Utility-Rescue-Etc
• Knots-by-Andrew-Adamides.pdf
• pioneering knots and lashings
• KNOTS
• Handbook-of-Knots-Splices.pdf
• Fishing Knots Tying How To Tie A Knot Knotting
• Essential-Fishing-knots
• Encyclopedia-of-Knots
• basic-book-of-knots-and-lashings.pdf
• What-Knot-Useful-Knots-for-Scouting-and-Climbing-Martin-Stone
• Tying-Farm-Knots.pdf

Street Smarts and Urban Survival Manual PDFs (11)

These manuals and PDFs are a great resource for learning urban survival tactics and techniques. They are available here for download, and can be printed out if you would like a physical copy in case of no electricity.

• Steal-This-Book
• Secret-Hiding-Places.pdf

Free Survival Guides and Prepper Books for PDF Download (15)

What is the best survival book?

Although this is a subjective and nuanced answer, one of the most popular survival guides of all time is the SAS Survival Handbook, by John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman. It has had multiple revisions over the years, and has been the launchpad for related titles (such as the SAS Urban Survivalist Handbook). The Army Survival Field Manual (FM 21-76) has also been a long-standing favorite for generations.

What is the best wilderness survival book?

Bushcraft 101, by Dave Canterbury is a New York Times Bestseller, and one of the most thorough, best written books, by an author with decades of experience. Although it is a newer publication (2014), it contains a curated collection of the wisdom of several centuries.

How do you learn survival skills?

The best way to learn survival skills is from experienced teachers, in person. All over the world you can find survival courses that teach students how to shelter, hunt, purify drinking water, defend themselves, grow a garden and more. Although you can learn a lot from books and videos, when the subject matter can mean life or death, you want to be certain that you aren’t missing a detail or nuance that might’ve not been correctly conveyed in a book.

How do you survive in the wild with nothing?

While it’s impossible to survive anywhere with “nothing”, people have successfully survived in the wild with very little. The 2 most foundational survival tools are a knife and fire. With good training and these 2 items as your base, you can successfully build shelter, hunt animals, purify water, make tools, stay warm, send communications, defend yourself, cook, and a hundred other things.