FreePDFReady.gov (FEMA)
Emergency supply kit checklist
Best for: Checking off your kit as you build it.
The official list of basic supplies, plus extras for babies, pets, older adults and medical needs.
Download PDFThe prepper's library: free printable guides and the best books
When the power and internet are out, the guide on your phone won't help. Print the essentials now, keep them in a binder with your kit, and add a few good books for the skills that take longer to learn.
Links checked October 2026. The guides are free from their publishers; book links are affiliate links.
How to build your binder
- Start with the first section: the supply checklist, the family plan and the wallet cards.
- Put printouts in sheet protectors in a binder, and keep it with your kit or go-bag.
- Fill in the family plan and wallet cards by hand, and give a copy to everyone in the house.
- Long guides don't need printing cover to cover. Print the chapters you'd actually need, and save the full PDF to a USB drive.
- Review the binder twice a year, when you check your kit.
Free printable guides
Official and nonprofit guides, free from the people who wrote them. We link to the source, not to copies.
Print these first
Short checklists and forms. Fill them in, put them in your kit.
FreePDFReady.gov (FEMA)
Family emergency communication plan
Best for: Writing down how your household will reach each other and where you'll meet.
A fill-in form for phone numbers, an out-of-town contact, meeting places and school or work plans.
Download PDFFreePDFReady.gov (FEMA)
Family communication plan wallet cards
Best for: A card for every wallet and backpack.
Fillable cards with key numbers and meeting places, for when phones are dead and nobody remembers a number.
Download PDFFreePDFAmerican Red Cross
Be Red Cross Ready checklist
Best for: A one-glance summary to post on the fridge.
Get a kit, make a plan, be informed, in a few pages, with emergency contact cards.
Download PDFFreePDFFEMA and Operation Hope
Emergency Financial First Aid Kit
Best for: Gathering the documents and account details you'd need to rebuild.
Checklists and forms for IDs, insurance, medical records, bank accounts and bills.
Download PDFFreePDFReady.gov (FEMA)
Pet owners fact sheet
Best for: Making a plan and a kit for your pets.
What to pack for each pet and how to plan for shelters that don't take animals.
Download PDFIn-depth guides
Longer references worth saving and printing in part.
FreePDFFEMA
Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness
Best for: One printed reference that covers every common disaster.
FEMA's book-length guide: plans and kits, then what to do before, during and after floods, fires, quakes, storms, pandemics and more. Also in Spanish on Ready.gov.
Download PDFFreeDownload pageSwedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency
In Case of Crisis or War
Best for: A short, well-designed take on preparing for a week without normal services.
The brochure Sweden mails to every household, in English. Its home-preparedness advice works anywhere.
Go to download pageFreePDFUSGS
Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country
Best for: Earthquake prep in detail, with the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety.
The San Francisco Bay Area edition, but most of its advice applies in any earthquake region.
Download PDFMedical
For when help is far away or delayed.
FreeDownload pageHesperian Health Guides
Where There Is No Doctor
Best for: Recognizing and treating common illnesses and injuries without a doctor.
The classic village health care handbook, free to download chapter by chapter. Hesperian asks people who can afford it to buy a copy or donate.
Go to download pageFreeDownload pageHesperian Health Guides
Where There Is No Dentist
Best for: Handling tooth pain, infections and dental emergencies.
The dental companion to Where There Is No Doctor, on the same download page.
Go to download pageWater and food
Exact methods you'll want on paper.
FreePDFCDC
Make Water Safe During an Emergency
Best for: Boiling and disinfecting water, with bleach amounts.
A short reference to tape inside a cabinet door.
Download PDFFreeDownload pageUSDA, via the National Center for Home Food Preservation
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
Best for: Safe, tested canning times and methods.
The reference standard for home canning, free in eight parts. Print the principles and the sections for foods you actually can.
Go to download pageWilderness and grid-down
Deeper skills for longer, rougher situations.
FreePDFU.S. Army, hosted by the Federation of American Scientists
U.S. Army ATP 3-50.21: Survival
Best for: Shelter, water, fire, food and navigation outdoors.
The Army's current survival manual and a successor to the classic FM 21-76. Approved for public release.
Download PDFFreeDownload pageOak Ridge National Laboratory, via DTIC
Nuclear War Survival Skills
Best for: Fallout, shelter and ventilation in a worst-case scenario.
Cresson Kearny's 1987 civil defense manual, tested by researchers at Oak Ridge. Grim, but practical and still widely cited.
Go to download pageThe best prepper and survival books
Books for the skills and judgment that checklists can't teach. Prices are typical for the paperback.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, marked Affiliate. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, PrepScore earns from qualifying purchases. Commissions never decide what we recommend, and we include free options where they exist. How we pick and make money.
Start here
The Prepper's Blueprint
Tess Pennington
- Best for
- A step-by-step plan, a layer at a time.
- Why
- Breaks preparedness into short, ordered steps with checklists, from a basic kit up to longer emergencies. Good if you want a path to follow.
Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family (3rd ed.)
Arthur T. Bradley
- Best for
- The most complete single book on household preparedness.
- Why
- Water, food, power, sanitation, communications, security and medical, written clearly and practically for families.
Just in Case
Kathy Harrison
- Best for
- A friendly, home-focused start.
- Why
- Practical self-sufficiency for ordinary families: pantry, power outages, heat and keeping kids calm.
Medical
Where There Is No Doctor
David Werner
- Best for
- The paper copy of the free classic.
- Why
- Worth owning in print even though the PDF is free, because you'll want it when nothing works.
The Survival Medicine Handbook (4th ed.)
Joseph Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP
- Best for
- Medical care when help isn't coming.
- Why
- Written for disasters rather than remote villages: wounds, infections, fractures, medications and what to stock.
Skills and wilderness
SAS Survival Handbook (3rd ed.)
John “Lofty” Wiseman
- Best for
- The classic all-round survival reference.
- Why
- Shelter, water, fire, food, navigation and first aid in every climate, from a longtime SAS survival instructor.
Bushcraft 101
Dave Canterbury
- Best for
- Outdoor skills with a small kit.
- Why
- Fire, shelter, cordage and tools, built around the idea that knowledge weighs less than gear.
98.6 Degrees
Cody Lundin
- Best for
- Staying warm, hydrated and alive in the first hours.
- Why
- Funny and practical on the body's needs in a crisis and what to carry. The title is crude; the advice is solid.
Self-reliance and long emergencies
When Technology Fails (Revised and Expanded)
Matthew Stein
- Best for
- Long-term self-reliance.
- Why
- Water, food, energy, medicine and shelter when systems are down for a long time.
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine
- Best for
- Canning and preserving with tested recipes.
- Why
- Hundreds of recipes from the jar maker's test kitchen, with step-by-step methods.
ARRL Ham Radio License Manual (6th ed.)
ARRL
- Best for
- Passing the Technician exam for a ham radio license.
- Why
- The current edition of the standard study guide, with the question pool and explanations.
Mindset
The Unthinkable (Revised and Updated)
Amanda Ripley
- Best for
- Understanding how people actually behave in disasters.
- Why
- Why some people freeze and others act, and how to train yourself to be the one who acts.
Deep Survival
Laurence Gonzales
- Best for
- The psychology of who lives and who dies.
- Why
- Real survival stories and the habits of mind that made the difference.
More to read online
For websites, apps and classes, see the best prep resources beyond PrepScore.
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