This study determines analytically the critical failure mechanisms that lead to bamboo culm bending failure, and predicts the failure moment. Specifically, the study examines four distinct failure mechanisms: Brazier instability, longitudinal tension/compression, tension perpendicular to the fibers, and shear parallel to the fibers. After identifying the critical failure mechanisms, the study utilizes the derived analytical expressions to predict the failure moment for three bamboo species; i.e., Moso, Guadua and Kao Jue. It compares the analytical predictions to experimental results, concluding that the proposed equations are sufficiently accurate in their prediction of failure moment, although they tend to slightly underestimate it.