Hands on Bushcraft have collated a recommended book list, which you might find interesting. The following books are what the instructors hear at Hands on Bushcraft own and read themselves. They come highly recommended.                                                             

Ray Mears' - Outdoor Survival Handbook

Ray Mears' Outdoor Survival Handbook is a book of discovery, explaining the everyday skills you need to live in and enjoy the natural world. Season by season, this unique, fully illustrated guide describes the resources and materials available in the wild and how to use them. Whether you want to spend a day, a week or a month out of doors, Ray Mears' Outdoor Survival Handbook will help you enjoy it to the full. Packed with practical tips, insights into nature and respect for traditional knowledge, this is a book for families, groups and individual hikers and climbers - for everyone who enjoys outdoor life.

Ray Mears' - Essential Bushcraft

Ray Mears' Essential Bushcraft is based on the bestselling 'Bushcraft', he has created a handy portable compendium of vital survival skills and wisdom from around the world. Packed with essential wilderness techniques, this book is an invaluable companion on any expedition.

Traditional Woodland Crafts

This is a practical guide to green woodwork and the coppice crafts giving information on the tools and techniques for making traditional items, with emphasis on the conservation of the native woodland. The contents include sections on woodmanship and coppicing, tools and devices, buying, measuring and cutting, products for gardens, riving wood, fencing, thatching, tent pegs, withes, walking sticks, besom brooms, gate and wattle hurdles and the situation of the marketplace.

The Little Book of Whittling

This friendly, down-home style, guide encourages readers to whittle away the hours. Great for beginners looking for an easy way to get started and more advanced carvers looking for a relaxing way to spend their time, this instructional manual provides 20 projects, including knives, forks, birds, animals, trees, and flowers. Chapters detail the proper whittling tools and materials, including what woods are best to carve, and how to start projects by selecting and safely sharpening the best knife for each project.

Food For Free

Food for Free by Richard Mabey. A guide to over 300 types of food that can be gathered in the wild in Britain, Food for Free explores the history and folklore of the foods as well as explaining how we identify them and the best ways to cook and eat them. The new edition will bring the subject right up to date. Organized by season rather than food type Food for Free will take us through the year. Richard Mabey's fully-revised text will be accompanied by stunning photographs, new recipes and a wealth of practical information on collecting, cooking and preparing. Beautifully illustrated, beautifully written and produced in a new, larger format Food for Free is designed to inspire us to take more notice of what is around us, how we can make use of it and how we can conserve it for future generation

River Cottage Handbook No.7 - Hedgerow

Hedgerows, moors, meadows and woods - these hold a veritable feast for the forager. In this hugely informative and witty handbook, John Wright reveals how to spot the free and delicious pickings to be found in the British countryside, and how to prepare and cook them. First John touches on the basics for the hedgerow forager, with an introduction to conservation, safety, the law, and all the equipment that you may need. Next he guides you through the tasty edible species to be found. Each one is accompanied by photographs for identification, along with their conservation status, habitat, distribution, season, taste, texture and cooking methods - not forgetting, of course, some fascinating asides and diversions about their taxonomy and history. Fifty species are covered, including bilberries, blackberries, raspberries, common mallow, dandelions, hedge garlic, horseradish, pignuts, nettles, sloes, sweet chestnuts, water mint, bulrushes and wild cherries. After this there is a section describing the poisonous species to steer clear of, with identifying photographs as well as warnings about nasty 'lookalikes'. Finally, there are thirty delicious recipes to show how you can make the most of your (edible) findings. Introduced by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hedgerow is an indispensable household reference, and an essential book to have by your side for every trip into the countryside.

Ray Mears' Wild Food

Ray Mears and Gordon Hillman lead us into the wildest parts of Britain to demonstrate the huge variety of indigenous foods that can be found. One of the most crucial skills to surviving in any wilderness is self-reliance - now, with this book, you can equip yourself with the knowledge to find tasty and sustaining foods in your own back yard and beyond. 

Practical, enthralling, often surprising, packed with beautiful illustrations, WILD FOODS is an invaluable tool for any keen outdoorsman, and it is a fascinating read anyone with an interest in the little-known side of Britain's natural resources.

Wild Food For Free

Wild Food For Free shows you what plants and fungi are edible, where to look for them, how to safely identify them and how to prepare them. There's even a section devoted to delicious recipes so that you have everything you need to make the transition from pathway to plate. Organised by environment and with clear instructions for identification, this is the European forager's bible.

The Wild Gourmets - Adventures in Food and Freedom

Guy Grieve and Thomasina Miers are on a mission: to travel the length of Britain, subsisting off the land. They will hunt, fish, scavenge, beg, borrow and barter; they will live like paupers, but dine like kings. First of all, Guy passes on the secrets of a 'good camp', including vital skills such as erecting a wall tent, tying failsafe knots, purifying water naturally and getting a campfire going under the soggiest conditions (accompanied by diagrams to help you on your way). He then shows how to track down and prepare the finest raw ingredients: pheasants, rabbits and other feathered or furred game; crabs, seaweed and the bounty of the seashore; mackerel, trout and other watery quarry; and the best wild herbs, berries and fungi.Armed with some rudimentary kit and a great deal of ingenuity, Tommi rustles up amazing feasts, and the book is packed with over 100 delicious recipes, ranging from warm beetroot and pigeon salad to rabbit, apple and cider stew; pan-fried scallops with samphire and dandelion to mackerel ceviche; and nettle vichyssoise to chestnut and blackberry cream pot. (All of which will taste every bit as wonderful eaten at your kitchen table) Beautifully illustrated with colour photography and charming illustrations.

Poacher's Cookbook: Game and Country Recipes

A collection of some great recipes for wild game from field, woodland, water and hedgerow.