The short answer: for the backcountry, the SAS Survival Handbook is still the classic. For free and official, download the Army's current survival manual (ATP 3-50.21) and FEMA's Are You Ready? For emergencies at home and in the city, our Field Manual ($29) is built for that: short, current, and checked against FEMA, CDC and EPA advice.
Disclosure: we make The Field Manual. We've judged it by the same rules as the others, and we say plainly where they're the better choice. Details checked 3 November 2026.
Quick picks
| Best for | Pick | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Wilderness and outdoor survival | SAS Survival Handbook, 3rd edition | About $26 list (paperback) |
| Free military field manual | US Army ATP 3-50.21, Survival (2018) | Free PDF |
| Free official home-disaster reference | FEMA, Are You Ready? | Free PDF |
| Home and city emergencies, short and current | The Field Manual (ours) | $29 PDF · $49 printed |
How we judged them
- Where it helps. Lost in the woods and a city blackout are different problems. A good manual is built for one of them.
- How current it is. Advice on water, carbon monoxide, food safety and first aid has changed. Old editions still sell.
- Can you find the answer fast? In an emergency you need the page, not the whole book.
- Sources. Does it tell you where the advice comes from?
SAS Survival Handbook: best for the wilderness
John "Lofty" Wiseman, a former SAS survival instructor, wrote it. The third edition (2014, 672 pages) added a chapter on urban survival (library record; Bookshop.org).
- Good: deep, illustrated, covers every climate. It's the book most outdoors people already trust.
- Watch out: it's long and mostly about the outdoors. For a power cut or a flood at home, you'll be flipping a lot of pages. The latest edition is from 2014.
US Army ATP 3-50.21, Survival: best free military manual
This is the Army's current survival publication, from 2018, approved for public release (ATP 3-50.21 PDF). It covers shelter, water, food, fire, navigation and first aid in the field.
- Good: free, thorough, written by people who teach this for a living.
- Watch out: many printed "US Army Survival Manual" books are the old FM 21-76. FM 21-76 was replaced by FM 3-05.70 in 2002 (FM 3-05.70), and the current manual is ATP 3-50.21. It's written for soldiers in the field, not families at home.
FEMA, Are You Ready?: best free home-disaster reference
FEMA's in-depth guide to citizen preparedness: how to learn your local hazards, make a plan, build a kit, and what to do before, during and after each kind of disaster. It runs to about 200 pages and is free in English and Spanish (Are You Ready? PDF).
- Good: official, free, covers every common hazard, and you can print it.
- Watch out: the full guide was last revised in 2004. For current advice on a specific hazard, check Ready.gov too.
The Field Manual: best for home and city emergencies (ours)
65 pages in 14 parts: water, food, power, heat, fire, shelter, sanitation, first aid, communication, navigation, mind and community, kits and disaster playbooks. Each method sits next to what agencies such as CDC, EPA and FEMA say, with a plain verdict where they disagree. It comes as a PDF in a Day edition to print and a Night edition for your phone in the dark.
- Good: short enough to actually read before you need it. It's built for homes and cities: power cuts, unsafe water, heat, carbon monoxide and evacuating. Every method is sourced.
- Watch out: it covers fire-making and navigation without GPS, but it's built for home, not the backcountry. For trapping, foraging or days lost in the wild, get the SAS Handbook or the Army manual instead.
See The Field Manual ($29) · Printed and mailed ($49) · It's also in The Guide Library with The Go-Bag Kit and The 72-Hour Atlas ($39).
Side by side
| SAS Handbook | Army ATP 3-50.21 | FEMA Are You Ready? | The Field Manual | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Outdoors, any climate | Soldiers in the field | Households, all hazards | Homes and cities |
| Length | 672 pages | Full field manual | About 200 pages | 65 pages |
| Latest edition | 2014 | 2018 | 2004 | 2026 |
| Price | About $26 | Free | Free | $29 |
| Says where advice comes from | Author's training | Army doctrine | FEMA | Each method cites CDC, EPA, FEMA and others |
Our advice: get two
A manual for where you live, plus one for where you go. For most families that means a home-and-city manual (ours, or FEMA's free guide) plus the SAS Handbook if you hike or camp. Print at least one, because a phone with a dead battery is a closed book.
Questions people ask
Is the US Army Survival Manual FM 21-76 still current?
No. FM 21-76 was replaced by FM 3-05.70 in 2002, and the Army's current survival publication is ATP 3-50.21 (2018). Many printed copies on sale are the older manual.
What's the best free survival guide?
For home disasters, FEMA's Are You Ready?; for the field, the Army's ATP 3-50.21. Both are free PDFs. Our free Your First 72 Hours covers the first three days in 12 pages.
Should I keep a survival manual on paper or on my phone?
Both. A phone is easier to search and carry; paper still works when the battery is dead.