Book on bushcraft / survival

JWheel

JWheel

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Jun 18, 2015
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Does anyone have any recommendations for a book on bushcraft / survival / etc.? I was about to buy Dave Canterbury's "Bushcraft 101," but I saw some criticisms that the book is a little too rustic in it's approach (for example, someone pointed out that the book advises you to boil water to treat it, but doesn't discuss any other methods for cleaning/filtering water).

Is there a better book I should look at? Alternatively, does anyone recommend any specific youtube channels or other online resources?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm actually looking for a really good book on bushcraft myself. I am considering Nessmuk's Woodcraft And Camping as I've heard good things about it.

As far as survival, I strongly recommend the Army's FM 21-76. This is perhaps my all-time favorite book (with John Wiseman's SAS Survival Guide a close second) and I have learned a ton of stuff from it and have practiced many techniques out in the field with a lot of success. You have to make sure you buy the June 1992 version though because this is the big thick one with many more pages and much more information than the other thin manuals. I wouldn't waste time however because this version is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Survival.jpg
 
I think there are worse ways to spend 15$...

[video=youtube;SPu0x6lojrY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPu0x6lojrY[/video]
 
jonnyt16 said:
I'm actually looking for a really good book on bushcraft myself. I am considering Nessmuk's Woodcraft And Camping as I've heard good things about it.

As far as survival, I strongly recommend the Army's FM 21-76. This is perhaps my all-time favorite book (with John Wiseman's SAS Survival Guide a close second) and I have learned a ton of stuff from it and have practiced many techniques out in the field with a lot of success. You have to make sure you buy the June 1992 version though because this is the big thick one with many more pages and much more information than the other thin manuals. I wouldn't waste time however because this version is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Survival.jpg
Click to expand...

If you happen to see a 1992 version online (or decide to part with yours), I'll take it. I have the SAS Survival Guide. But I accidentally bought the pocket-sized one and didn't want to break my eyes reading it. :)
 
Yeah, there are other methods of purifying water such as iodine, commercial filters, and sand, but what matters more than technique (although technique will take you far) is principle. This is where Canterbury shines. Internalize the principles and with a battery of basic techniques and a LOT of dirt time you will grow in your skills. Here's a book I enjoy very much:

IMG_20150627_195835.jpg

IMG_20150627_195851.jpg

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Zieg
 
Smokinape said:
I think there are worse ways to spend 15$...

[video=youtube;SPu0x6lojrY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPu0x6lojrY[/video]
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that video. Your explanation that it was intended to be more "woodcraft" than "bushcraft" makes a lot of sense. It's back in my Amazon shopping cart.

But I'm still open to any other suggestions!
 
JWheel said:
Thanks for sharing that video. Your explanation that it was intended to be more "woodcraft" than "bushcraft" makes a lot of sense. It's back in my Amazon shopping cart.

But I'm still open to any other suggestions!
Click to expand...

Hope it helped... take care...
 
The Zieg said:
Yeah, there are other methods of purifying water such as iodine, commercial filters, and sand, but what matters more than technique (although technique will take you far) is principle. This is where Canterbury shines. Internalize the principles and with a battery of basic techniques and a LOT of dirt time you will grow in your skills. Here's a book I enjoy very much:


Zieg
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So which would you start with? Canterbury or Angier?
 
mors kochanski's "bushcraft" and cody lundin's "98.6 degrees the art of keeping your ass alive!" and "when all hell breaks loose: stuff you need to survive when disaster strikes" are highly recommended. when all hell breaks loose contains the info in 98.6 degrees though so you don't have to buy both if you don't want to.

kochanski's book is by far the best one i've read so far - it's the only book i've given to several friends who'll only read one book on the subject.
 
Agree 100% with Mors' Bushcraft. Great book - I learned so much from it.
 
JWheel said:
So which would you start with? Canterbury or Angier?
Click to expand...

Canterbury is a good start. Read, practice, and then pick up Angier. Compare, practice some more, and then enjoy their similarities and differences. Its fun, which is the best part of the art.

Zieg
 
Survival and Bushcraft are related but different. For survival, I recommend the Cody Lundin's 98.6 Degrees, The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive! So does the National Association for Search and Rescue and many many other experts. If offers a foundation of understanding for the physiological, psychological, and physics one should consider in the outdoors -- before and during a compromising situation. Many "bushcraft" skills taught as survival are unrealistic in the average survival situation of 72 hours OR at the very least should be learned after basic modern survival skills. Context is important and many books don't offer this and just cover skills. Master using a match and ferro rod before going after the bow drill as an example if you are truly concerned about wilderness survival.

Bushcraft and more understanding of survival, you can't beat Mors Kochanski's Bushcraft and while somewhat technical but slapped full of information is his eBook, Basic Safe Travel and Boreal Survival Handbook. Almost all the information translates to a temperate forest and more.

There are also a ton of classic books on Woodcraft available for free download in many cases. Woodcraft being the term used here in the good ole USA starting back in the 1800's before the very recent term bushcraft seeped into our culture. Much of the "bushcraft" text of today has been high-graded from these old text where the authors got their information from a time when the frontier was closing. Wildwood Wisdom by Jaeger, Camping and Woodcraft by Kephart, Book of Woodcraft by Seton and many others are still in print for a reason. I could on but I will spare you. Good luck, Chris
 
jonnyt16 said:
I'm actually looking for a really good book on bushcraft myself. I am considering Nessmuk's Woodcraft And Camping as I've heard good things about it.

As far as survival, I strongly recommend the Army's FM 21-76. This is perhaps my all-time favorite book (with John Wiseman's SAS Survival Guide a close second) and I have learned a ton of stuff from it and have practiced many techniques out in the field with a lot of success. You have to make sure you buy the June 1992 version though because this is the big thick one with many more pages and much more information than the other thin manuals. I wouldn't waste time however because this version is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Survival.jpg
Click to expand...

Not to say that there is no value in these books, both of which I own and have used.

We have learned some things since 1976 when the Army manual was published, about water purification and man-made fabrics for example.

Bradford Angier was THE MAN in my youth. The Angier book noted above, a postmortem reprint of his 1956 book, necessarily omits anything learned in the last fifty-nine years. (One think that tickles my fancy is that Bradford wrote about ferro rods decades before they became popular, only he called them the "metal match.")

One thing we know from statistical studies since these elderly books were published is that about 75% of wilderness deaths are caused by roughly equal portions of falls, drowning, and heart attacks. Those numbers might inform an author's advice on wilderness survival. (Two have drowned in the last week when caught in low ground in heavy rain.)
 
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98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive! by Cody Lundin is, in my humble opinion, the best (and funniest) survival guide.
 
Fish Boy said:
98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive! by Cody Lundin is, in my humble opinion, the best (and funniest) survival guide.
Click to expand...

Very useful book, and it would be if the only service it performed was distinguishing between survival needs (98.6) and survival tools (fire, shelter, clothing).

(But as a knifenut, I would like a chat with him about the reality of the existence soft stainless steel knives and D2.)
 
Can't believe nobody's mentioned Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen, Woodsmoke by Richard Jamison Bushcraft by Richard Graves, Survival Skills of Native California by Paul Campbell and Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Living: Surviving with Nothing But Your Bare Hands and What You Find in the Woods by John & Geri McPherson.

Doc
 
Those books teach what was called "wilderness survival" when I was a kid. Now, "wilderness" survival is not primitive living. It's staying alive until you self-rescue or are rescued. Still, they teach the out-end of adaptation and improving, and many find it fun. LDO's stuff makes a small survival kit seem like luxury; I mean matches! *(Last I checked he was still teaching at 76.)
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Can't believe nobody's mentioned Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen, Woodsmoke by Richard Jamison Bushcraft by Richard Graves, Survival Skills of Native California by Paul Campbell and Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Living: Surviving with Nothing But Your Bare Hands and What You Find in the Woods by John & Geri McPherson.

Doc
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Regarding the book Bushcraft by Richard Graves, are all editions the same? I was just looking in to this book but there are more than a few editions out each with different years and publishers. Thanks.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Those books teach what was called "wilderness survival" when I was a kid. Now, "wilderness" survival is not primitive living. It's staying alive until you self-rescue or are rescued. Still, they teach the out-end of adaptation and improving, and many find it fun. LDO's stuff makes a small survival kit seem like luxury; I mean matches! *(Last I checked he was still teaching at 76.)
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I still call it wilderness survival.

Actually the OP asked "Does anyone have any recommendations for a book on bushcraft / survival / etc.?" and the ones I mentioned more than deserve to fit into those categories.

jonnyt16 said:
Regarding the book Bushcraft by Richard Graves, are all editions the same? I was just looking in to this book but there are more than a few editions out each with different years and publishers. Thanks.
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To the best of my knowledge, they are all the same. Mine is dated 1974 and was given to me as a Christmas present by my, then, little children. (My son is 50 this year). I've compared mine to the online version and they seem identical.

Doc
 
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