Prepping blogs, YouTube channels, and PDFs are great — as long as the lights are on and the internet is running. But what happens when the grid goes dark? Your phone is dead, your laptop won’t boot, and the cloud is just a memory. In that moment, the best resource you can have isn’t digital. It’s ink on paper.
Books don’t need batteries. They don’t vanish when the Wi-Fi signal dies. A solid prepper library is as critical to long-term resilience as your water filters, fire extinguishers, or ammo stockpile. When your memory falters or you’re trying to teach a skill under stress, a book in hand is a lifeline.
Why Books Belong in Your Preps
- Redundancy: The same reason you carry spare parts and backup gear. Knowledge is gear.
- Reliability: Printed words don’t glitch or “update” out of existence.
- Training tool: Books help you practice now, not just reference later.
- Teach and share: A physical reference lets you pass skills down to your family or community when they can’t just Google it.
Digital resources are convenient, but they’re fragile. A prepper library is durable.
Categories Every Prepper Library Should Cover
Here’s some initial categories to get us started. As a living post, this list will grow and evolve (new categories, new listings…) over time, so subscribe and check back!
Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival
Staying capable, resourceful, and safe in the backcountry.
- Bushcraft 101 (and series) by Dave Canterbury
Cooking
Practical, resilient meals — at home or in the field.
- A Taste of Cowboy Cookbook by Kent and Shannon Rollins
- Basic Bread Baking by Glenn Andrews
- Faith, Family & The Feast by Kent and Shannon Rollins
- Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook by The Lodge Company
- Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Showalter
- Mennonite Country-Style Recipes & Kitchen Secrets by Esther Shank
- The Lodge Book of Dutch Oven Cooking by J. Wayne Fears
- The Prairie Homestead Cookbook by Jill Winger
Food Security and Preservation
Your garden and pantry are only as good as your ability to preserve the harvest.
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (the standard in canning)
- Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game by John Mettler
- Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat and Pork by Adam Danforth
- Canning, Freezing, Curing and Smoking Meat, Fish & Game by Wilbur Eastman
- Chicken Encyclopedia by Gail Damerow
- Edible Wild Plants by John Kallas
- Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning by The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante
- Putting Food By by Hertzberg, Greene, and Vaughan
- Root Cellaring by Bubel and Bubel
- Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
- The Dehydrator Bible by MacKenzie, Nutt, and Mercer
Homesteading
Building a productive, self-reliant home — skills, tools, and sustainable systems.
- A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane
- Cabins by Stiles and Stiles
- Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them by Rolfe Cobleigh
- Homesteading by Abigail Gehring
- The Backyard Homesteader by Carleen Madigan
- The Frugal Homesteader by John Moody
- The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch
General
Strengthen your overall readiness.
- Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin by Pat Storer
- The Foxfire Complete Series by The Foxfire Fund Inc.
Medical Preparedness
Burns, Trauma, infections — you can’t “wing it” when medical help is far away.
- Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Buhner
- Prepper’s Medical Handbook by William W. Forgey
- Where There is No Doctor by David Werner
- Wilderness Medicine by Paul Auerbach
Off-Grid Living
For when the switches and outlets no longer work.
- Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth
- Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills by Abigail Gehring
- Off Grid Solar by Joseph P. O’Connor
- The Book of Non-Electric Lighting by Tim Matson
- When Technology Fails by Matthew Stein
Self-Defense
Defense is more than tools — it’s mindset, law, and intentional action.
- Deadly Force by Massad Ayoob
- Deadly Force Encounters by Alexis Artwohl
- The Law of Self Defense Principles by Andrew Branca
- On Killing by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Survival
When gear breaks or runs out, skills take over.
- SAS Survival Handbook by John “Lofty” Wiseman
- Survival Skills of the Native Americans by Stephen Brennan
- Survive in Style by Dan Chiras
- U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76
Preparedness Planning
Strategy and systems tie it all together.
- Countdown to Preparedness (52-week course) by Jim Cobb
- Just in Case by Kathy Harrison
- Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide by Jim Cobb
- The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse by Fernando Aguirre
- MYREDFOLDER by Reuben Meador – This one’s a unique one, more a system/program than a “book”. MYREDFOLDER is a practical guide designed to empower families, businesses, and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. Contains step-by-step strategies, checklists, and insights to safeguard critical information, protect loved ones, and strengthen resilience against both natural and man-made crises.
How to Stage Your Library
- At Home: Keep a shelf of heavier, comprehensive guides — your base camp for reference.
- Bug-Out Bag: Slip in a compact survival manual or field guide. It adds ounces but saves lives.
- Vehicle: A small waterproof pouch with a first aid manual, map atlas, and survival basics.
- Community Cache: If you’re building a group library, divide topics so the knowledge is spread but not duplicated wastefully.
Books aren’t fragile luxuries — they’re tools. Treat them like gear.
Brand Agnostic, Credibility First
We’re not here to pitch a single publisher or author. The point is credibility. Names like Wiseman, Forgey, or Auerbach carry weight because their work has been tested in real-world conditions. Whether you buy from Amazon, a used bookstore, or swap with your local community, what matters is that the knowledge ends up in your hands before you need it.
Closing Thoughts
When the internet dies, your bookshelf lives on. Gear rusts, batteries drain, but books endure. A prepper’s reference library isn’t just nice to have — it’s survival insurance. Start with a handful of trusted titles, add over time, and rotate them into your training.
Resilience isn’t just about what you store. It’s about what you know, and books keep that knowledge close when the grid goes silent.
Looking to learn more about prepping subjects, check out our 10 Pillars of Preparedness Series. Need supplies for your own preparedness plan? Visit our store for ammo, gear, knives, mags, parts, supplies, tools, etc, you can count on.
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