A Bushcraft Book collection

[Stuart]

there have been a number of threads recently about Bushcraft books and some suggestions about making a list of books which people can look though when deciding which book to acquire next.

the following is my personal bushcraft book collection, its not particularly large and certainly not all inclusive but I am happy to say that they have all been of some value and I am happy to give my opinion of any title if asked.

in alphabetical order:

Title - Author

Books:

98.6 Degrees the art of keeping your ass alive - cody lundin
A Collection of Indigenous Indonesian Technologies - Craig Thorburn
A cook on the wild side - Hugh fearnley-whittingstall
Adrift - Steven Callahan
Aids to Survival – W.A. Police Academy Command & Land Operations unit
Animal Traps and Trapping - James A. Bateman
Animals, tracks, trails and signs - R. Brown, M. Lawrence and J. pope
Arctic Manual - Vilhjalmur Stefanson
Army manual of Hygiene and Sanitation 1934 - MoD
Automotive operation and maintenance (for Pioneer roads) – E. Christopher Cone
Axe Manual of Peter McLaren – Peter McLaren
Basic Blacksmithing - David Harries and Bernhard Heer
Being your own Wilderness Doctor – Dr. E. Russel Kodet
Botany in a day - Thomas J. Elpel
British Trees in Colour - Cyril Hart, illus Charles Raymond
Bush Arts – Mors Kochanski
Bushcraft - Richard Graves
Bushcraft How to Live In The Jungle And Bush
Bushcraft Skills and How To Survive In The Wild - Anthonio Akkermans
Cache Lake Country - John J. Rowlands
Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making - William Hamilton Gibson
Campers' Guide to Woodcraft and Outdoor Life - Luis Henderson
Camping and woodcraft - Horace Kephart
Camping in the Old Style - Dave Wescott, David Wescott
Camplife in the woods and the tricks of trapping - W. Hamilton Gibson
Camplore and Woodcraft - Daniel Beard
Care of the Critically Ill Patient in the Tropics and Subtropics - David A.K. Watters
Complete book of survival - Eddie McGee
Country Woodcraft - Drew Langsner
Craftsmen of Necessity - Christopher williams
Culpepers herbal remedies - Nicholas Culpeper
Deadfalls and snares - A.R Harding
Deep Survival - Laurence Gonzales
Desert expeditions – Tom Sheppard
Desert Survival Tips, Tricks & Skills -Tony Nester
Ditch Medicine - Hugh L. Coffee
Don’t Die in The Bundu - Col. D. H. Grainger
Down but not out - Royal Canadian air force Survival training School
Dwelling Portably 1980-89 - Bert and Holly Davis
Dwelling Portably 1990-99 - Bert and Holly Davis
Dwelling Portably 2000-2008 - Bert and Holly Davis
Dwellings - Paul Oliver
Earth Knack - Bart & Robin Blankenship
Emergency Navigation - David Burch
Essential Bushcraft - Ray Mears
Essentials of Sea Survival - Frank Golden MD, PHD & Michael Tipton PHD
Expedition Medicine - The Royal Geographical society
Experiments on Knife sharpening - Department of materials science and engineering Iowa state university
Extreme survival - Dr Kenneth Kamler
Finding your way without a map or compass - Harrold Gatty
Food and Emergency Food in the Circumpolar Area - Kerstin Eidlitz
Food for free - Richard Mabey
Friluftsboken - Lars Fält
Gemsbok Bean & Kalahari truffle, traditional plant use by Jul'hoansi in N.East Namibia - Arno Leffers
Handbok Overlevnad - Lars Fält
Handbook of knots and splices – Charles Gibson
Hints to travellers Scientific and general (1883) – Royal Geographical society
Home manufacture of Furs and Skins - A.B. Farnham
Home tanning and leather making guide - A.B Farnham
Homegrown sun dwellings – Peter Van Dresser
How to **** in the woods - Kathleen Meyer
How to make tools - Christiansen & Bernard Zubrowski
How to stay alive in the woods – Bradford Angier
How to survive in the bush, on the coast, in the mountains of New Zealand – Lt B. Hildrith RNAF
How to survive on land and sea - US naval institute press
Hunting with a Bow and arrow – Saxton pope
Improvised repairs to wheeled vehicles in the field (1943) – British MOD
Indian Fishing - Hilary Stewart
Inner navigation – Erik Jonsson
Into the primitive - Dale martin
Knife Making - Bo Bergman
Knowledge of the Ancestors - Ryan Leech
Life at the extremes the science of survival - Frances Ashcroft
Living off nature - Judy Urquhart
Living off the land, a manual of bushcraft - Salt (Melbourne, Vic.)
Manifold destiny - Chris Maynard & Bill Scheller
Medicine for Mountaineering and other wilderness activities - James A. Wilkerson
Mini Technology Handbook Volume 1 & 2 – B.R. Saubolle & S.J. Bachmann
Minor surgical procedures in remote areas – Medecins San frontiers
Mountainman crafts and skills - David Montgomery
Moving Heavy Things - Jan Adkins
Naked into the wilderness - John & geri Mcpherson
Naked into the wilderness 2 - John & Geri McPhearson
Never say die – Canadian Military
New way of the wilderness - Calvin Rutstrum
No need to Die - Eddie McGee
Northern Bushcraft - Mors kochanski
Nutrition in medicine - Simon P. Allison
On Your own in the Wilderness – Colonel Townsend Whelen
Outdoor safety and survival - British Columbia outdoor recreation division
Outdoor survival skills - Larry Dean Olsen
Outdoors survival handbook - Ray Mears
Paradise Below Zero - Calvin Rutstrum
Participating in Nature - Thomas J. Elpel
Passport to Survival - Esther Dickey
Performing in extreme environments - Lawrence E. Armstrong
Physiology of Man In The Desert - E. F. Adolph
Pioneering projects - John Thurman
Plants with a Purpose - Richard Mabey, Marjorie Blamey
Poachers and poaching - John Watson
Polar Expeditions – Rachel Duncan
Practicing Primitive: A Handbook of Aboriginal Skills - Steven M. Watts
Primary Diagnosis & Treatment, in Developing countries - Daniel E. Fountain
Primitive outdoor skills - Richard L Jamison
Primitive Technology - Erret Callahan
Primitive technology 2, Ancestral Skills - society for primitive technology
Primitive technology, a book of earth skills - society for primitive technology
Ranger Medical Handbook –US Army Special Operations Command
Recipes for roughing it easy - Dian Thomas
Rogers Herbal Manual – Robert Dale Rogers
Roughing it easy 2 - Dian Thomas
Roughing it easy – Dian Thomas
Sahara overland - Chris Scott
Sanitation Without Water - Uno Winblad and Wen Kitama
Saskatchewan trapper training manual – Saskatchewan Education Northern division
Scouting for boys first edition - Baden Powell
Search and Rescue Survival Training AF Reg 64-4 - US department of the air force
Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing - Edna Wilder
Shelters shacks and shanties - D.C. Beard
Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life for Travel & Exploration (1871) – W.B Lord & T. Baines
SkyGuide – Mark R. Chartrand
Snow Caves - Ernest Wilkinson
South Sea Lore - Kenneth P. Emory
Staying Alive – Maurice and Maralyn Bailey
Survival - Chris & Gretchen Janowsky
Survival advantage - Andrew Lane
Survival and Austere Medicine - The Remote, Austere, Wilderness and Third World Medicine Discussion Board
Survival arts of the primitive Paiutes - Margaret M. Wheat
Survival How to Prevail In Hostile Enviroments - Xavier Maniguet
Survival Psychology - John Leach
Survival skills of native California - Paul D. Cambell
Survival Skills of the North American Indians - Peter Goodchild
Survival Wisdom & Know How - the editors of stackpole books
Survival, how to prevail in hostile enviroments - Xavier Maniguet
Survive the savage sea - Dougal Robertson
Survive – Clay Blair, Jr.
Surviving Australia - Sorrel Wilby
Tanning at Home - W.B Scarbough
The Art of Survival – Cord Christian Troebst
The art of Tracking, The origin of science - Louis Liebenberg
The Art of Travel - Francis Galton
The axe Manual - Peter Mclaren
The Basic Essentials of Desert Survival - Dave Ganci
The best of Woodsmoke - Richard L. Jamison
The Book of Survival - Anthony Greenbank
The Bushmans handbook - H. A. Lindsay
The Call of the Birds – Charles S. Bayne
The complete book of heating with wood – Larry Gay
The complete book of self sufficiency - John Seymour
The Complete Guide to Edible wild plants,fruits and Nuts - Katie Letcher Lyle
The complete snow campers guide – Raymond Bridge
The essentials of archery - L.E. Stemmler
The foraging spectrum - Robert L. Kelly
The Fungal Pharmacy – Robert Rogers
The Humanure Handbook - Jospeh Jenkins
The Hunting peoples - Carleton S. Coon
The Jungle Hiker - Royal Air Force Welfare ceylon
The Natural Navigator - Tristan Gooley
The nature and subsequent uses of flint - John W. Lord
The Nature doctor – Dr. H. C. A. Vogel
The poachers handbook - Ian Niall
The Practical Mushroom encyclopaedia - peter jorden & steve wheeler
The Prairie Traveler handbook for overland expeditions (1859) – Randolph P. Marcy
The S.A.S. survival hand book - John Wisman
The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The Sling for sport and survival - Cliff Savage
The survival handbook - Raymond mears
The traditional bowers bible - numerous authors
The Trappers Bible - Dale martin
The Tribal Living Book - David levinson & David Sherwood
The Ultimate desert Handbook - Mark Johnson
The Ultimate encyclopaedia of Knots and rope work - Geoffry Budworth
The wilderness handbook – Paul Petzoldt
The Wilderness Route finder - Calvin Rutstrum
The Winter Wilderness Companion - Garret conover & Alexandra Conover
The Woodsman and Craft Book (1910) – Hoffman ??
Trees & Shrubs of the Okavango delta, Medicinal uses and Nutritional value, volume 1 & 2 - Veronica Roodt
Tropical Forest Expeditions - By Clive Jermy and Roger Chapman
Uteliv - Lars Fält
Vehicle Dependant Expedition Guide - Tom Sheppard
Village Technology Handbook - Volunteers in Technical Assistance
VinterFarden - Lars Fält
When All Hell Breaks Loose - Cody Lundin
Where there is no Dentist - Murray Dickson
Where there is no doctor - David Werner
Wild Food - Gordon Hillman & Ray Mears
Wild Food - Roger Phillips
Wilderness canoeing and camping – Cliff Jacobson
Wilderness Survival Guide - Monty Alford
Wilderness Survival Manual - BC Hydro / W.T. Floyd
Wildwood wisdom - Ellsworth Jaeger
Winter wise - Montague Alford
Wood Conserving Stoves a Design Guide - Volunteers in Technical Assistance
Woodsmanship – Bernard S. Mason
Woodsmoke - Richard & Linda Jamison
Wound Management - Jill A. David


Pamphlets & Booklets:

pioneering knots and lashings - Scout Troop 24
Sea survival - Ministry of defence
Arctic survival - Ministry of defence
Jungle Survival - Ministry of Defence
Basic wilderness survival in cold lacking snow - Mors Kochanski
The compass - Mors Kochanski
The two kilogram survival field kit manual - Mors Kochanski
Basic wilderness survival in deep snow - Mors Kochanski
Knife sharpening - Mors Kochanski
Top seven Bush Knots and the Use of the windlass - Mors Kochanski
tools of survival and survival training - Mors Kochanski
Basic netting - Mors Kochanski
Map use - Mors Kochanski
21 native edible plants - Mors Kochanski
the Inuit snow house - Mors Kochanski
Survival kit ideas - Mors Kochanski
The simple cattail doll - Mors Kochanski
Wilderness Steam Bath - Mors Kochanski
When you meet a Black Bear - Mors Kochanski
The Northern Night Sky - Mors Kochanski
Basic weather Knowledge - Mors Kochanski
Winter Survival in the backcountry - unknown
Winter Survival - BC Hydro
Fickminnie Overlevnad - Lars Fält
fox fire Numerous issues - numerous
A Therapeutic Approach to Arctic Survival Rations - Terence a. rogers, et al
Physiology of Acute Starvation in Man - George F. Cahill
Snow as a life Saver - Don Vockeroth & Jhon Amatt
Survival in the desert - USAF survival school
Alberta Wilderness Arts and Recreation 1-16
The Psychology of Lost - Kenneth Hill
Frictional Fire Making With a Flexible Fire Thong – Henry Balfour
Aboriginal Fire Making - Walter Hough
Cold Weather Operations Personal Survival And Safety guide – British MOD
Desert Weather Operations Personal Survival And Safety guide – British MOD


Videos:

Sticks as Tools and Implements – Mors Kochanski
Blades: Sharpening and Safe use – Mors Kochanski
Bush Knots – Mors Kochanski
Clothing and Sleeping Bags – Mors Kochanski
A Plant walk with Mors Kochanski Volumes 1 to 7 + master (8 DVD collection) – Mors Kochanski
3 Days at the River with nothing but our bare hands - Thomas J. Elpel
Mountain Meadows camping with almost nothing but the dog - Thomas J. Elpel
Mountain Lakes a survival fishing trip - Thomas J. Elpel
Canoe Camping on a song and a paddle - Thomas J. Elpel
SAS Survival Techniques (two VHS tapes) - John Wiseman
Woodsmoke: Primitive pottery - by Richard & Linda Jamison
Woodsmoke: Primitive cooking - by Richard & Linda Jamison
Woodsmoke: Fire volume 1 - by Richard & Linda Jamison
Survival and self reliance - by Mel DeWeese & Friends
Fire Volume 1 - by Tom Laskowski
Fire Volume 2 - by Tom Laskowski
Stone Age Living Skills, Fire, Food and Cordage - Jim Riggs & Robert Earthworm
Stone Age Living Skills, Hide Tanning - Robert Earthworm & Melvin Beattie
Stone Age Living Skills, Arrows - Brian James
Brain Tan Buckskin – John & Geri McPherson
Breaking Rock 1 - John & Geri McPherson
Breaking Rock 2 - John & Geri McPherson
Deer from Field to Freezer - John & Geri McPherson
How to construct an Asiatic Bow - John & Geri McPherson
Primitive Fire and Cordage - John & Geri McPherson
Primitive Semi-Permanent Shelters - John & Geri McPherson
Primitive Wilderness Skills Applied - John & Geri McPherson
The Primitive Bow and Arrow - John & Geri McPherson


that’s all I can find for the moment, if I find any others hidden about the house I'll them to the list.

There are of course many more book that I would like and later I will post a list of those titles that I am yet to collect, but getting the information is the easy part, Remembering it all when you need it is far more difficult.

[g4ghb]

the following is my personal bushcraft book collection, its not particularly large

You what!!!!!!!! - thats almost a library full!

[Stuart]

Oh I forgot to add, I'll be bringing this collecting to the BCUK BushMoot in July for people to look though, in order to decide which books they might want themselves

[Stuart]

You what!!!!!!!! - thats almost a library full!

I assure you that it pales in comparison to some peoples collections, such as Mors Kochanski who has actually built a library on the land next to his house to store the books that wont fit in the building he lives in.

this is a photograph taken by Dave G during our visit to Mr Kochanski's house last year, it shows part of just one of the many aisles of Mors's bushcraft library and this is the stuff that wont fit in his house!!!



I have a very long way to go

[jamesoconnor]

tut!! is that all you have!!.....


regards
james

p.s now i know what books i'd like to get. a really good collection

[fred gordon]

If you have to read all these books do you ever have time to do any practical Bushcraft?

[Stuart]

I watch very little TV, which leaves me lots of time to read.

[jamesoconnor]

I must admit that i rarely watch tv too. i prefer to read. i think i get this from my mum who always reads and never watches tv. i think this stems from her time in ireland where there was no tv to watch ( her house only got electricity in 1973) and books staved off the boredom. they cooked on a range and their oven was a large cast iron pot covered in turf to roast the meat inside.

[Graham_S]

i just ordered a couple of books from amazon.
Outdoor survival skills - Larry Dean Olsen
and
Camping and woodcraft - Horace Kephart

to add to my small but expanding library

[Doc]

Excellent. I think that a personal library or a decent bookshelf is the mark of a civilised man.

It beats my not-exactly-small collection. I do however have various books by Thoreau, Sigurd Olson and Aldo Leopold that don't cover the 'how' of bushcraft but do cover the 'why'.

[Marts]

Jeez Stuart!!

I was going to bring my collection to the bushmoot but I'm not going to bother now!

[DOC-CANADA]

Hey Stuart,

A good start! I notice that you don't have Bush Arts, Mors Kochanski, Lone Pine, 1989, ISBN # 0-919433-49-9, an oversight, perhaps?

[Stuart]

its on my wishlist

[Stew]

its on my wishlist

AbeBooks have a few copies....

[Stuart]

Mors and I went on a shopping trip to that Mecca for bookworms, Hay-on-wye.
It proved to be a most challenging book hunt with us both competing for the same topics.

During this trip I acquired the following additions to my Bushcraft collection, so I have updated the original list.

Extreme survival - Dr Kenneth Kamler
Complete book of survival - Eddie McGee
Animals, tracks, trails and signs - R. Brown, M. Lawrence and J. pope
Winter wise - Montague Alford
The foraging spectrum - Robert L. Kelly
The Bushmans handbook - H. A. Lindsay
The Hunting peoples - Carleton S. Coon
Wound managment - Jill A. David
Medicine for Mountianeering and other wilderness activities - James A. Wilkerson
Pioneering projects - John Thurman
Army manual of Hygiene and Sanitation 1934 - MoD

Of course being the fanatical Bibliophile that he is Mors beat me hands down, returning with over 45 kilograms of books having spent almost £800!
It took 4 trips to the car with a 100lt Bergen to get them all packed for the return home.

I cannot complain at Mors beating me to many interesting titles however as he was kind enough to gift me with the most prized recent addition to my collection, a set of issues 1 to 16 of "Alberta wilderness arts and recreation" a Canadian Bushcraft magazine published in the 1970's with Mors Kochanski, Don Bright and Tom Roycroft as the publishers, editors and principal writers. The issues contain page after page of the first published works of Mors and Tom, some of which later became the foundation for the Book 'Northern Bushcraft'. The magazine ceased after 18 issues making this an almost complete set of an extremely rare part of Bushcraft literary history.

[leon-b]

jesus christ stuart have you actually managed to read all of the books you have? and how long has it taken you to collect all of these?
leon

[swyn]

This is the first time that I have come across this thread. Thanks for the titles Stuart. I had a look at some of your books at MM meet but the light was fading and I had forgotten my reading glasses so just looked at the ones with pictures! Will see if I can stretch our local library for a few of the easier ones.
Cheers from Swyn.

[Snufkin]

Stuart, what do you think of Naked in the Wilderness 2? I like the first volume and am considering the second but as I can't locate a cheap copy in the UK I have been holding off purchasing it.

[Tengu]

This is great

I have thousands of books

I wish I had even more

not many bushcraft ones though sadly.

[dommyracer]

Nice thread Stuart.
I have a fairly sizeable collection of books (mostly non fiction), including a few bushcraft oriented ones. That shot of Mors' Library is great.

[Stuart]

Stuart, what do you think of Naked in the Wilderness 2? I like the first volume and am considering the second but as I can't locate a cheap copy in the UK I have been holding off purchasing it.

The first Naked in the Wilderness is defiantly the better of the two books.

that’s not to say that the second book isn’t good, but it has the feeling that most of the stuff that would appeal to the largest audiance went into the first book and the stuff that did not have a wide enough appeal to make the first and thus left over where collected up for the second. It also lacks the flow from one subject to the next found in the first title and gets a bit rambling in places, but there are some real gems hidden inside.

the second book is about 100 pages shorter, it opens with a section on the Hantavirus (a bit dull) which runs to the 22nd page.

this is followed by a very interesting though rambling 17 page chapter on nutrition, however if you have issue 1 & 2 of the BCUK bushcraft magazine you will find nothing new in this section.

the third chapter is the best single intructional topic in the book with 49 pages of very clear and easy to follow instruction on the preparation and brain tanning of robes and furs with good explanation of the details that make it happen.

then there is a very rambling 42 page tale of the construction of a dugout canoe with stone age tools (constructed over 47days) whilst the achievement is very impressive, it lacks any real interest unless you are planning just such a project. it turns out that making a dug out canoe from a tree is pretty much the way you would expect, cutting down a tree followed by lots of painfully slow chipping away of wood until you have a canoe shaped log. (this section is unique though so if you are planning to dedicate a solid 2 months making a dugout canoe with stone tools, this book is a probably invaluable)

chapter 5 is 53 pages long and consists of a collection of article on various subjects all of them quite to very interesting covering:

flintknapping (well explained for the beginner, 12 pages)

making fat lamps (a bit short but quite interesting if you haven’t seen it before, 4 pages)

making a bone needle (short and sweet, mostly pictures, 3 pages)

Quick stone axe hafting (as previous short but useful if you've not seen it before, 2 pages)

the quickie bow (how to make a very primitive quick and dirty bow in with stone tools from green wood, good if you haven’t got the woodworking skills or the desire to make a proper bow but would like to know how to make something workable for the short term, 5 pages)

Water containers (now this is an interesting though very short section demonstrating willow/pitch and rawhide water vessels, gave me some ideas, 3 pages)

Primitive navigation (a nice abstract piece on navigation, which also dispels some very commonly held misconceptions about the sunstick compass method, which i remember finding very illuminating at the time I read it, 8 pages)

two piece moccasins (the obligatory really basic moccasin tutorial and not a great one either, as seen in dozens of other books. better to skip this section if your interested in footwear and go straight to page 267 where they show you how to make a pair of Mocs from two squirrels! simply case skin them, turn them fur side in and pull them on your feet, tie the front two legs together across the front and back two behind the heel for instant shoes, let them dry on your feet for form fitting rawhide finish, fantastic!!)

Primitive versus prehistoric (a political ramble and not really an interesting one, the author even says "I planned approaching this subject (in the first book) but dropped the idea because most likely the majority of you readers don’t really care about word games" enough said, 3 pages)

Chapter 6 concerns a favourite phrase of John and Geri's "Primitive, Primitive" its a abstract piece about being undertaking totally primitive projects, all stone tools and natural cordage from start to finish etc and taking as primitive approach as possible, going right back to the very basic of basics. a quite interesting philosophical ramble, but of little or no nuts and bolts instructional value.

Chapter 7 "Naked into the wilderness" Now this is where this book really shines! this chapter is a detailed and instructional 63 page real time diary of John, Geri and kids heading into the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on their backs (t-shirts and jeans)

by the end of day one they have a basket (filled with collected walnuts and rosehips, a nice wickiup shelter, a fire (Mullin handdrill), flint tools, cordage, and a small trap line of 15 piaute deadfalls.

end of day two they have a number of gathered handrills sets and tinder prepared and dried, 400 feet of cordage, an addition 70 deadfall traps + two deer traps on the trap line, grass mats/blankets and even a grass coat, a stone axe, a bow and arrows, an improved shelter with surrounding fence that is now looking more like a house with a walled compound than a simple shelter, several rodents to eat from the trap line.

by the end of the final day (day 3) all of the above plus digging sticks, stores of tinder, firewood, smoked meat, clay, 3 fired clay posts, a 2 pairs of instant squirral moccasins! they are ready to stay indefinably

every step is explained in detail (with photos) such as the full process of finding clay making pots and firing them on day 3 etc, by people who obviously do this regulary and a great deal of wisdom about the priorities of survival is divulged. its this book that taught me that one of the first things to do after fire, water, shelter is to sit down and make a hell of a lot of cordage.

Such 'starting with nothing' 'primitive, primitive' survival scenarios is rarely explained in other books and in my opinion this chapter is worth the price of the book alone.

The last chapter 'Storms' is a nice fictional story written by Geri about a Stone Age hunting trip that goes awry. It’s a nice finish to a good book

I borrowed and read this book, before I bought a copy for myself. whilst it is not written and laid out as well or as instructional as the first book it is never the less contains a few real gems of information which are not repeated elsewhere (like instant squirral Mocs and the truth about the sunstick)

If you are especially interested in some of its specific topics such as a making dugout canoe or processing buckskin, this book will be invaluable but even if your not you should still own it for chapters 5 and 7 alone, for which you will still get your moneys worth.

[Klenchblaize]

I assure you that it pales in comparison to some peoples collections, such as Mors Kochanski who has actually built a library on the land next to his house to store the books that wont fit in the building he lives in.

this is a photograph taken by Dave G during our visit to Mr Kochanski's house last year, it shows part of just one of the many aisles of Mors's bushcraft library and this is the stuff that wont fit in his house!!!



I have a very long way to go

Other than sending this chap an-bay link to enable the purchase of a spirit level may I suggest every outdoor library should contain a copy of “Hunting With The Twenty-Two” by Charles Landis and “Strangers Devour The Land” by an author who’s name currently escapes me. The first you would expect of me and if ever I need to transport myself from the greyness of London life to a high country autumn-scented wood this is the one.

The latter chronicles the assault upon the last coherent hunting culture in North America, the Cree Indians of Northern Quebec, and their vast primeval land: “In 1970 plans for a hydroelectric project, to be located in the Cree Indians' northern Quebec hunting grounds, provoked the tribe to take legal action. Drama, suspense and human interest abound in this stirring account of a minority group's struggle to save their land and lifestyle from the encroachment of a greedy and hostile government”.

Clearly little changes.

Read it and weep.

Cheers!

[Snufkin]

The first Naked in the Wilderness is defiantly the better of the two books.

that’s not to say that the second book isn’t good, but it has the feeling that most of the stuff that would appeal to the largest audiance went into the first book and the stuff that did not have a wide enough appeal to make the first and thus left over where collected up for the second. It also lacks the flow from one subject to the next found in the first title and gets a bit rambling in places, but there are some real gems hidden inside.

the second book is about 100 pages shorter, it opens with a section on the Hantavirus (a bit dull) which runs to the 22 page.

this is followed by a very interesting though rambling 17 page chapter on nutrition, however if you have issue 1 & 2 of the BCUK bushcraft magazine you will find nothing new in this section.

the third chapter is the best single intructional topic in the book with 49 pages of very clear and easy to follow instruction on the preparation and brain tanning of robes and furs with good explanation of the details that make it happen.

then there is a very rambling 42 page tale of the construction of a dugout canoe with stone age tools (constructed over 47days) whilst the achievement is very impressive, it lacks any real interest unless you are planning just such a project. it turns out that making a dug out canoe from a tree is pretty much the way you would expect, cutting down a tree followed by lots of painfully slow chipping away of wood until you have a canoe shaped log. (this section is unique though so if you are planning to dedicate a solid 2 months making a dugout canoe with stone tools, this book is a probably invaluable)

chapter 5 is 53 pages long and consists of a collection of article on various subjects all of them quite to very interesting covering:

flintknapping (well explained for the beginner, 12 pages)

making fat lamps (a bit short but quite interesting if you haven’t seen it before, 4 pages)

making a bone needle (short and sweet, mostly pictures, 3 pages)

Quick stone axe hafting (as previous short but useful if you've not seen it before, 2 pages)

the quickie bow (how to make a very primitive quick and dirty bow in with stone tools from green wood, good if you haven’t got the woodworking skills or the desire to make a proper bow but would like to know how to make something workable for the short term, 5 pages)

Water containers (now this is an interesting though very short section demonstrating willow/pitch and rawhide water vessels, gave me some ideas, 3 pages)

Primitive navigation (a nice abstract piece on navigation, which also dispels some very commonly held misconceptions about the sunstick compass method, which i remember finding very illuminating at the time I read it, 8 pages)

two piece moccasins (the obligatory really basic moccasin tutorial and not a great one either, as seen in dozens of other books. better to skip this section if your interested in footwear and go straight to page 267 where they show you how to make a pair of Mocs from two squirrels! simply case skin them, turn them fur side in and pull them on your feet, tie the front two legs together across the front and back two behind the heel for instant shoes, let them dry on your feet for form fitting rawhide finish, fantastic!!)

Primitive versus prehistoric (a political ramble and not really an interesting one, the author even says "I planned approaching this subject (in the first book) but dropped the idea because most likely the majority of you readers don’t really care about word games" enough said, 3 pages)

Chapter 6 concerns a favourite phrase of John and Geri's "Primitive, Primitive" its a abstract piece about being undertaking totally primitive projects, all stone tools and natural cordage from start to finish etc and taking as primitive approach as possible, going right back to the very basic of basics. a quite interesting philosophical ramble, but of little or no nuts and bolts instructional value.

Chapter 7 "Naked into the wilderness" Now this is where this book really shines! this chapter is a detailed and instructional 63 page real time diary of John, Geri and kids heading into the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on their backs (t-shirts and jeans)

by the end of day one they have a basket (filled with collected walnuts and rosehips, a nice wickiup shelter, a fire (Mullin handdrill), flint tools, cordage, and a small trap line of 15 piaute deadfalls.

end of day two they have a number of gathered handrills sets and tinder prepared and dried, 400 feet of cordage, an addition 70 deadfall traps + two deer traps on the trap line, grass mats/blankets and even a grass coat, a stone axe, a bow and arrows, an improved shelter with surrounding fence that is now looking more like a house with a walled compound than a simple shelter, several rodents to eat from the trap line.

by the end of the final day (day 3) all of the above plus digging sticks, stores of tinder, firewood, smoked meat, clay, 3 fired clay posts, a 2 pairs of instant squirral moccasins! they are ready to stay indefinably

every step is explained in detail (with photos) such as the full process of finding clay making pots and firing them on day 3 etc, by people who obviously do this regulary and a great deal of wisdom about the priorities of survival is divulged. its this book that taught me that one of the first things to do after fire, water, shelter is to sit down and make a hell of a lot of cordage.

Such 'starting with nothing' 'primitive, primitive' survival scenarios is rarely explained in other books and in my opinion this chapter is worth the price of the book alone.

The last chapter 'Storms' is a nice fictional story written by Geri about a Stone Age hunting trip that goes awry. It’s a nice finish to a good book

I borrowed and read this book, before I bought a copy for myself. whilst it is not written and laid out as well or as instructional as the first book it is never the less contains a few real gems of information which are not repeated elsewhere (like instant squirral Mocs and the truth about the sunstick)

If you are especially interested in some of its specific topics such as a making dugout canoe or processing buckskin, this book will be invaluable but even if your not you should still own it for chapters 5 and 7 alone, for which you will still get your moneys worth.

Thanks for that Stuart . I think I'll add it to my christmas list.

[Stuart]

there have been a few additions to the collection, so I have updated the original list.

Living off the land, a manual of bushcraft - Salt (Melbourne, Vic.)
Down but not out - Royal Canadian air force Survival training School
Outdoor saftey and survival - British Columbia outdoor recreation division
Survival Psychology - John Leach
Adrift - Steven Callahan

a few more pamphlets too:

21 native edible plants - Mors Kochanski
the inuit snow house - Mors Kochanski
Survival kit ideas - Mors Kochanski
The simple cattail doll - Mors Kochanski

[madrussian]

Stuart. I have one question. If you could only pack one book from your library in your kit before heading out into the wild, which one would you take?

[Stuart]

Stuart. I have one question. If you could only pack one book from your library in your kit before heading out into the wild, which one would you take?

depends on where I was going

[madrussian]

O.K. Not so specific. How about in general, with no particular destination, which book do you feel is well rounded so that it would be the one you would grab? Or how about this? If your library where on fire, which one would you save first?

[Stuart]

.

O.K. Not so specific. How about in general, with no particular destination, which book do you feel is well rounded so that it would be the one you would grab?

This is a good question, but the answer is not as simple as you might think.

A book that is excellent for the study of Bushcraft may not be the book that you would choose to carry in the bush. A good instructional manual will dedicate many pages to in depth descriptions of methods and techniques which once studied, practiced and committed to memory require very little reference, making a good portion of the book once thoroughly studied and mastered thereby redundant.

Conversely a good Bushcraft field book would be more of an ‘aide memoir’ which although utterly useless for the initial study of Bushcraft skills would aid the graduate in the field by floating the more easily forgotten details to the surface of our memory

An example would be the study of cordage, a good Bushcraft study book would cover cordage in depth explaining in minute detail the various techniques for selecting processing, braiding, twisting and adding fibres with a perfusion of explanatory diagrams. However a good field book might just list the different sources for fibres with a one line text for each on its specific preparation to aide the memory, which assumes you have already studied the technique.

The problem with aide memoirs is that to be exceptionally good they have to be bespoke to the individual they will serve, as only you will know what you need to be reminded

The only book I currently carry regardless of which country I am is my personal expedition medicine ‘aide memoir’ which draws heavily from the RGS expedition medical manual as a much condensed base, interspersed with other notes from numerous medical texts, it covers all the medical conditions I could think of and all the drug dosages etc that would be impossible to commit to memory without becoming a long practicing GP specialising in tropical medicine. (A spiral bound, A5, 100 page document that took me 6 months to compile)


If I was asked to recommend one book for a beginner to start their study of bushcraft I would recommend ‘Bushcraft’ by Mors Kochanski as a primer which provides the perfect foundation for all further study. Some people state that Kochanski’s ‘Bushcraft’ is only for beginners, but I think this is a very short sighted statement, many of the techniques explained within require many years of dedicated study and practice to master. Many people may skip the section on knife use proclaiming to “know how to use a knife!” yet ask them to carve a try stick, one of Mors favourite tests and the deficiency of many peoples (including my own) skill with an edged tool will become apparent, in that way many more of us are ‘beginners’ than we like to admit

If you’re looking for a book on a particular subject or environment let me know and i will do my best to recommend one

If your library where on fire, which one would you save first?

Arctic Manual by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, it’s the most valuable and the most difficult to replace


.

[sam_acw]

What is a try stick? I've seen it mentioned a couple of times and I've been through the search and my book collection but I've drawn a blank so far.

[Stuart]

What is a try stick? I've seen it mentioned a couple of times and I've been through the search and my book collection but I've drawn a blank so far.

an article written by mors kochanski with a full tutorial on the trystick is found in issue 2 of the BCUK magazine 'Bushcraft'