Prepping books that you should own and read

With the ease of finding information on the internet, and most books available online or on platforms like Kindle, is it any wonder that so many people today have shied away from purchasing physical books? I’ll admit that I generally prefer to do my research online, using both online material and YouTube videos. Let’s face it, these platforms make learning so convenient.

And while I do a lot of reading and watching of survival and prepping topics/videos online, I have not neglected the printed, hard-copy medium. I do this for a few reasons. The first is that while it might be old fashioned, I still enjoy opening up the pages of a book and reading. Its quiet, and much less distracting than reading it online. Flashing ads and email notifications can cause me to lose focus. And on more than one occasion I have left what I was reading to move on to whatever new “shiny thing” caught my attention.

The second reason is that the books are permanent. Many, many times I have bookmarked important prepping articles online that I wanted to save for reference. And on several occasions I have returned to these online articles only to find them gone. Taken down and lost to the “black hole” of the world wide web. But with books, if I want to go back through and reread something I know it will be there.

The most important reason for me is that with printed material, it is still available to me and my group should I lose power and/or the internet. Even worse than bookmarked articles being deleted, losing EVERYTHING I have bookmarked because the internet is down could be devastating. Yet having that reference material in front of me, available 24 hours a day gives me peace of mind.

With that being said, I thought I would share with you a list of some of the prepper books and material that I have in my collection. This list is by no means complete, and I have a few other books that I want to add to my collection.

98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping your Ass Alive – Cody Lundin

If you are not familiar with Cody Lundin, you absolutely should be. Cody is the founder and director of the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Prescott, Arizona. He teaches primitive living and bushcraft skills to hundreds of students a year. And you might have seen him on Discovery’s Duel Survivor TV show. If anyone knows outdoor survival, it’s Cody Lundin.

In this book, Cody takes a humorous and entertaining look at outdoor survival. But make no mistake, what he teaches in this book is extremely accurate and could absolutely save your life. This book is NOT watered down, and it’s “in your face” approach may turn a few folks off. But if you follow his advice, the information inside is undeniably valuable.

Most survival books and manuals written at the time of this publication were old military survival manuals that were geared for combat situations, and “living off the land.” And while that can be important, 98.6 Degrees instead focuses on things such as surviving a day hike gone bad, or dealing with hypo and hyperthermia, etc. These are problems that are statistically the biggest killers of all outdoor activities.

When it comes to outdoor survival, I promise you that Cody knows his stuff. The information in this book could be priceless if you find yourself in a outdoor survival situation.

When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes – Cody Lundin

Although this is the second book written by Cody Lundin, this was the first survival book that I ever bought. I loved it so much that I then bought his first book, 98.6 Degrees. While 98.6 Degrees deals more with bushcraft and outdoor survival, When All Hell Breaks Loose takes a long look at urban survival.

There were topics in this book that at the time, I had never seen covered before. From such things as dealing with dead bodies, to helping family members (or members of your prep group) with serious constipation when you have no laxatives. While it sounds gross (and it is) those are serious problems that you could some day be faced with.

I will admit that the first chapter or two, primarily focusing on developing a survival mindset, was a bit long winded at times. But that does not detract from its important. And once you reach the point about urban/suburban survival, the book is an absolute treasure trove of information. I cannot recommend this book enough. I have a place for it in my INCH bag (Im Never Coming Home) should I be forced to bug out permanently.

The Survival Medicine Handbook: THE essential guide for when medical help is NOT on the way

This book is written by Joe Alton, M.D. and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P., a husband/wife team who are not only medical professionals, but also long-term preppers. Their website, DoomandBloom.net is a website I highly recommend visiting regularly, and is linked on this site’s Prepper Newsfeed.

Written in plain English (without all of the medical jargon), this book gives you step by step instructions on how to deal with the vast majority of common injuries and illnesses should you find yourself without any medical help available. Be that in an outdoor survival setting, or a long-term, grid down scenario.

This is different from other 1st aid books, which generally give you enough information to help the patient or victim until medical help arrives. This book gives you the knowledge and understanding for medical care in a disaster situation which has removed all access to hospitals or doctors for the foreseeable future.

While the book is a bit pricey, it is well worth the price in my opinion. However, if you are on a tight budget, there is an online book “Where there is no doctor” by David Werner. It is in PDF format, and you can download it for free. However, should the grid go down, you would probably want to have a printed copy. You could print all 505 pages, or you could order it online at Amazon.

Either way, having some medical books designed to help you should medical services no longer be available is a smart decision! For more on medical books that you should consider, click this link here.

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!

If homesteading and long term sustainability is something you are interested in, then this book is for you. The Backyard Homestead is loaded with information you need to help you to not just grow, but also preserve a harvest of grains and vegetables. And it shows you how to make it sustainable. It has step by step instructions for raising animals for meat, eggs, and for dairy.

Want to keep honey bees? This book shows you how. (How can last indefinitely if stored correctly.) It has has easy-to-follow instructions for preserving food as well. Instructions on canning, drying, and pickling are listed here too.

This is a great book for beginning homesteaders. A “Homesteaders for Dummies” if you will. I highly recommend this book for those of you who want to homestead and/or become more self sufficient. There are other books in this series if you are interested.

A Navy SEAL’s Bug-In Guide

The A Navy SEAL’s Bug-In Guide: How to Turn Your House into the Safest Place on Earth is a practical guide focused on strengthening your home as your primary line of defense during a crisis. Drawing on real-world experience, it covers areas like home security, situational awareness, and preparing your living space to function during extended disruptions.

The approach is grounded and realistic—emphasizing staying put (“bugging in”) as the safest option in most situations rather than immediately leaving. For those looking to improve home readiness and build a more secure, self-reliant setup, it offers actionable insights without getting overly complicated.

Free Resources

I know many preppers are finding themselves on an increasingly tight budget. You may not have the money available to purchase these books. But that does not mean you cannot build your prepper library.

Obviously if you can find these books used, you can save some money. In addition, there is a HUGE amount of prepper material in PDF format free online. The downside of course is that if you want this in paper form, you will have to print them out. But if you have access to a printer, you can save yourself some money.

To help get you started here is a free book, Where There is No Doctor by David Werner. It is free in PDF format

What prepping books do you own and recommend? Let us know in the comment section below.

Stay safe out there!

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