The Best Camping and Outdoor Skills Books: A UK Reading List
· Updated
If you want one shelf of outdoor books that actually works for British conditions, start with Ray Mears for bushcraft, John "Lofty" Wiseman for survival, Carlo Forte for navigation, Daniel Start for wild swimming, Alastair Humphreys for adventure ideas, and a Collins field guide for whatever you are trying to identify. Almost everything a camper needs to learn sits inside those authors, and most of them are British, writing about British weather, British hills and British wildlife.
That matters more than it sounds. A lot of the best-selling outdoor manuals are American, written for bears, deserts and continental winters you will never meet on Dartmoor. The books below are chosen because they are useful here, in the rain, on a Tuesday, with a soggy map.
This is part of our reading list for kit-minded campers, and it sits alongside the complete UK camping gear guide. It comes from Camping Sites in Britain, where you can find and compare campsites, caravan parks and glamping across the UK.
The short list, by what you want to learn
Pick by the skill you are chasing rather than by author. Here is the whole list at a glance before we get into detail.
| You want to learn | Start with | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Bushcraft and using the wild | Essential Bushcraft | Ray Mears |
| Emergency survival, any climate | SAS Survival Handbook | John "Lofty" Wiseman |
| Map and compass, hills and moors | Navigation in the Mountains | Carlo Forte |
| Rivers, lakes and waterfalls to swim | Wild Swimming Britain | Daniel Start |
| Small adventures close to home | Microadventures | Alastair Humphreys |
| Route-by-route walking guides | Cicerone guidebooks | Cicerone Press |
| Naming birds, trees and fungi | Collins field guides | Collins (HarperCollins) |
Survival and bushcraft
For learning to work with the wild rather than just endure it, Ray Mears is the standard. Essential Bushcraft is his most practical single volume, covering fire, shelter, cordage, tracking and camp craft with clear photographs and no showing off. The companion Ray Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook goes deeper on wild materials, food, warmth and navigation, and it is written around British and temperate woodland rather than jungle or tundra. Both come from a British instructor who has taught these skills for decades through his Woodlore school (raymears.com).
For the worst-case, get-me-home end of things, the SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman is the classic. Wiseman spent 26 years in the SAS and the book covers signalling, first aid, water, shelter and improvised kit for any climate. Published by Collins, it also comes as a genuinely pocket-sized Collins Gem edition that lives in a rucksack lid without you noticing (HarperCollins). It is broad rather than deep, so treat it as the reference you carry and Mears as the one you study at home.
Reading is not the same as doing. If you want the skills in your hands, pair these with a proper course and some practice nights out. We cover both in our guide to the best outdoor survival courses in the UK and our rundown of essential skills for wild camping.
Navigation and hillcraft
The single best navigation book for UK conditions is Navigation in the Mountains by Carlo Forte, the official navigation text for every Mountain Training scheme in Britain. It takes you from reading a 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map through contour interpretation, pacing, timing and relocation in poor visibility, which is exactly the skill that keeps you safe on a Welsh or Scottish hill when the cloud comes down. It is published by Mountain Training itself (mountain-training.org), so it is written to the standard that mountain leaders are actually assessed against.
For the routes themselves, nothing beats Cicerone guidebooks. The Kendal publisher has hundreds of titles covering the Lake District, Snowdonia, the West Highland Way, the coast paths and almost every long-distance trail in Britain, each with route maps, distances, timings and access notes (cicerone.co.uk). Buy the one for the area you are heading to and keep it with the map. A guidebook plus a paper OS map plus the skills from Forte is a far more reliable combination than a phone with 4 percent battery.
Wild swimming and adventure
The book that started the modern wild swimming boom in Britain is Wild Swimming Britain by Daniel Start, published by Wild Things Publishing. It maps hundreds of rivers, lakes, tarns and waterfalls with directions, grid references and honest notes on access and safety (wildthingspublishing.com). The same publisher runs the excellent Wild Guide series, regional volumes for Wales, Scotland, the South West, the Lakes and Dales and more, each pointing you at hidden swimming spots, viewpoints, ruins, bothies and good places to camp near them.
For the ideas rather than the destinations, Microadventures by Alastair Humphreys is the one to read. His argument is simple and brilliant: you do not need a fortnight in the Himalaya, you need one night on a local hill between finishing work on Friday and starting again on Monday. Published by William Collins, it is full of cheap, doable, close-to-home trips that get you out more often (williamcollinsbooks.co.uk). It pairs neatly with a Wild Guide: one gives you the reason, the other gives you the map.
Foraging and wild food
Foraging is the area where a good book earns its place fastest, because the cost of getting an identification wrong can be a hospital trip. The safest single reference is the Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools by Paul Sterry and Barry Hughes, which uses clear photographs and flags the dangerous look-alikes rather than only the edibles (HarperCollins). Ray Mears' Outdoor Survival Handbook, above, is also strong on wild plants and their traditional uses.
The hard rule with fungi and wild plants is simple: never eat anything you cannot name with total certainty from two independent sources. If you are cooking what you gather, our guide to campfire cooking essentials covers doing it safely over an open flame.
Field guides worth owning
Every camper should own at least one Collins field guide, because half the pleasure of being outdoors is knowing what you are looking at. The Collins Bird Guide by Lars Svensson and colleagues is the gold standard for birds across Britain and Europe, with paintings rather than photos so you can match a bird in any light. Add the Collins Tree Guide for woodland and the mushroom guide above, and you can name most of what you meet on a British campsite or trail.
Field guides are also the gentlest way to get children interested in the outdoors. A ten-year-old with a bird guide and a pair of binoculars will happily sit still for an hour, which is not a sentence you get to write often.
How to build your shelf without buying everything
Start with three books, not thirteen. Buy one survival or bushcraft title, one navigation title, and one field guide for whatever interests you most, then add a regional Wild Guide or Cicerone book for wherever you camp. That covers the skills that keep you safe and the knowledge that makes trips richer, for well under the price of a decent sleeping bag.
Second-hand is fine for the storytelling and inspiration books like Microadventures. For anything safety-critical, foraging guides especially, buy the current edition new, because identification photographs, first-aid advice and access law all change over time. Once you have the shelf, the next step is simply to use it. Find somewhere to put the skills into practice with our UK campsite listings.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best survival book for UK camping?
For emergencies, the SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman is the standard reference and comes in a pocket Collins Gem edition. For learning bushcraft properly at home, Ray Mears' Essential Bushcraft is better, as it is written around British woodland and temperate conditions.
Are American outdoor books useful in Britain?
Only partly. The general skills transfer, but many US manuals focus on bears, deserts, altitude and continental winters you will not meet here. British authors like Ray Mears, Alastair Humphreys and the Wild Things and Cicerone stables are written for our weather, wildlife and access laws, so they are more practical.
What is the best navigation book for hill walking?
Navigation in the Mountains by Carlo Forte is the official text for all Mountain Training schemes in the UK. It teaches Ordnance Survey map reading, contour interpretation, pacing and timing, which is exactly what you need on British hills in poor visibility.
Which book is safest for foraging?
The Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools by Paul Sterry and Barry Hughes, because it clearly flags dangerous look-alikes. Never eat anything you cannot identify with total certainty, and confirm every find against two independent sources before cooking it.
Do I still need paper books if I have apps?
Yes. Phones run out of battery and lose signal in exactly the places you most need navigation and identification help. A paper Ordnance Survey map, a Cicerone route guide and a Collins field guide keep working when your phone does not.
What is a good first camping book for a total beginner?
Alastair Humphreys' Microadventures, because it lowers the barrier to getting out at all, then a single Wild Guide for your region to find places to go. Add a navigation book once you start heading somewhere remote.
The short version
Buy British where you can: Ray Mears or Wiseman for skills, Carlo Forte for navigation, Daniel Start and Alastair Humphreys for where to go, and a Collins guide for what you find there. Three well-chosen books beat a shelf of half-read American manuals, and the point of all of them is to get you outside more often. When you are ready to put the reading to use, browse campsites across Britain or read the complete UK camping gear guide.
