Book opinions

Sports section I believe...I wandered the store with the wife ,I think I was in there 3hours....Yeah it was the sport section.....I had to stop and think...
 
I have read the Wilderness survival guide. Good book. A lot of stuff to practice... specially the traps. i was into the spiritual stuff before I became interested in survival so its not as "strange" or offbeat to me as to some of you. There is a method to his madness which is easy to see. He stresses the hierarchy of learning the skills.
Wait untill you read his guide to wild edible and medicinal plants...
 
Welcome grateful fred , my collection of outdoor books are growing...these are just the newest to get a spot on the book shelf next to my FARSIDE collection,you know the 2 Giant books weighing in over 18lbs. lot of humor in those two books....
 
j williams said:
No doc, not you!:eek:;)

I always take what I read with a grain of salt, but for the most part I take something positive from what I read. I think I am a people studier, when I read about interesting people, I always seem to leave with more than what I came in with.

He is quite a cheesball though IMO, but still interests me:confused:
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I'm reading several books by him.
"wilderness survival guide"
"The art and science or tracking"
"wild edible and medicinal plants"
"Forgotten widerness"

I'm not a fan or foe of this guy and my "survival" interest is just started.
I dont see or feel the "egomaniac" that some of you guys are reffering to.
I mean no one is calling ME to track down a fugitive or a loved one so he has some credibility and confidence I guess.
The spiritual stuff is there and IMHO opinion all true... not because he says it but because of my prior expiriences.
Weather or not his stories are true... i dunno. But they are possibe. he is not crushing coal into diamond with his hands.
 
Well put fred. Welcome!!!!!! You will like it here.

I dig the screen name. I am a huge deadhead.
 
Thanks Doc,

Been holding back buying it cause of the price, waiting to hear someone I respect reccomend!

I can order it now!:thumbup:
 
From Dougo83
"don't know about his books, but when I read this, my BS alarm was going off non-stop. Guy makes himself sound like a cross between Rambo, L.T.
Bonham, and Sacajawea..."

This could be that the LT Bonham from the Hunted is based off of Tom Brown Jr, and his life. The story about "Nails" in the book case files is were they got the idea for the movie.

I have read 5 or 6 of his books, The Case files is the only one I stopped reading half way through. I like the books and plan on taking one of his classes one day.
 
hollowdweller said:
Thanks Doc,

Been holding back buying it cause of the price, waiting to hear someone I respect reccomend!

I can order it now!:thumbup:
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Thank you, HD.

Originally he had a series of 10 booklets that later became the book you asked about. I have the 10 booklets. The McPhersons, John and Gerry, get out and do the stuff they talk about, not just write about it, and as John is wont to say, "My way may not be the best, but it do work", and work it does. I'm not a big fan of a couple of his traps, but they, too, work.

A buddy (PhilT on this forum) and I did a couple of deer hides (brain tanned) using his book and videos and we really had no problem at all. He has a second book, Primitive Skills, Applied and Advanced that is pretty good too, although a lot of it (about 42 pages) is devoted to a dugout canoe that he and a bunch of students made. Good info if you want to try it.

Keep in mind, he is teaching/demonstrating primitive skills, not equipment (store bought)-based wilderness survival. If you want a couple of excepts from his book before you order, just ask. The 10 booklets (chapters in the book) are Primitive Semi-Permanent Shelters, Primitive Tools, Containers Book 1 (Baskets/Bags & What Nots), Containers Book 2 (Primitive Pottery), Deer From Field to Freezer, Primitive Wilderness Cooking, Making Meat 1 (the Primitive Bow and Arrow), Making Meat-2 (Deadfalls/Snare/Fishtrap/Atlatl & more), Primitive Fire & Cordage, and Braintan Buckskin.

I also have most of his videos and they are excellent with the only downside being, and I mean no disrespect to the man, his monotone - it can cure insomnia :(.

His website.

A couple of friends of mine went down and spent a week with him. One guy, who is very knowledgable and experienced really raved about the experience. The other, who doesn't like anybody, was less enthusiastic. :rolleyes:

It there's anything else you want to know, either post it or email me.

Doc
 
grateful_fred said:
I'm not a fan or foe of this guy and my "survival" interest is just started.
I dont see or feel the "egomaniac" that some of you guys are reffering to.
I mean no one is calling ME to track down a fugitive or a loved one so he has some credibility and confidence I guess.
The spiritual stuff is there and IMHO opinion all true... not because he says it but because of my prior expiriences.
Weather or not his stories are true... i dunno. But they are possibe. he is not crushing coal into diamond with his hands.
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I have to disagree with the last statement... the stories and skills he describes, at least the ones I read from "The Way of the Scout", are not possible.

About spiritualism, I cannot say. I honestly didn't find much of that from said book, even though the subtitle is "A Native American Path to Finding Spiritual Meaning in a Physical World" (one of the main reasons why I bought the book). There were some references to an allmighty scout spirit, and it was made clear, that pollution is bad, and nature is good. I didn't feel like that piece of information - even though true - was particulary intresting or usefull.

I honestly thought that since this guys been around from the 70s, there's gotta be something intresting and usefull in his fictional stories. But, the end result is like someone describing a roleplaying game. "I was in a tough spot, but then I made the scout walk, and became invisible" (not an actual quote, dont have the book handy, but you who have read it know what Im talking about).

I don't know how skilled a woodsman mr. Brown is. He obviously is a skilled tracker, if half of the internet-verified stories are true. I dunno why he has chosen to write stories like that. Maybe it's good marketing, or maybe there are other reasons. But, as such, I think the super-human stories and overmystifying the outdoors skills shows a kind of lack of respect for the nature and for the people who are serious about learning and sharing bushcraft skills and knowledge.

I certainly hope that no-one takes this stuff too seriously. The winters in Finland aren't what they used to be, but still hiking with inadequate clothing and gear could easily get one killed. Unless of course, one can adjust his metabolism to fight off hypotermia...
 
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scout_77 said:
This could be that the LT Bonham from the Hunted is based off of Tom Brown Jr, and his life. The story about "Nails" in the book case files is were they got the idea for the movie.
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I kinda like "The Hunted", both leading actors are great, the knife fight in the end is brutally realistic, and the overall idea is good. Lots of silly stuff in it though.

Don't know the story "Nails"... How accurately is the movie based on that? Has mr. Brown actually taught survival skills and knife fighting to special forces?
 
attej said:
I have to disagree with the last statement... the stories and skills he describes, at least the ones I read from "The Way of the Scout", are not possible.

About spiritualism, I cannot say. I honestly didn't find much of that from said book, even though the subtitle is "A Native American Path to Finding Spiritual Meaning in a Physical World" (one of the main reasons why I bought the book). There were some references to an allmighty scout spirit, and it was made clear, that pollution is bad, and nature is good. I didn't feel like that piece of information - even though true - was particulary intresting or usefull.

I honestly thought that since this guys been around from the 70s, there's gotta be something intresting and usefull in his fictional stories. But, the end result is like someone describing a roleplaying game. "I was in a tough spot, but then I made the scout walk, and became invisible" (not an actual quote, dont have the book handy, but you who have read it know what Im talking about).

I don't know how skilled a woodsman mr. Brown is. He obviously is a skilled tracker, if half of the internet-verified stories are true. I dunno why he has chosen to write stories like that. Maybe it's good marketing, or maybe there are other reasons. But, as such, I think the super-human stories and overmystifying the outdoors skills shows a kind of lack of respect for the nature and for the people who are serious about learning and sharing bushcraft skills and knowledge.

I certainly hope that no-one takes this stuff too seriously. The winters in Finland aren't what they used to be, but still hiking with inadequate clothing and gear could easily get one killed. Unless of course, one can adjust his metabolism to fight off hypotermia...
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Didn't read those. You may be correct.
I mentioned the books I'm reading and so far there is nothing that would seem crazy or impossible...But you are not the first one I come across to feel this way. Now I'm curious to find out what he describes happens that folks think is impossible.
 
grateful_fred said:
Didn't read those. You may be correct.
I mentioned the books I'm reading and so far there is nothing that would seem crazy or impossible...But you are not the first one I come across to feel this way. Now I'm curious to find out what he describes happens that folks think is impossible.
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I feel kinda funny to point out impossible things in a fictional book. Reminds me of the public discussion about the Da Vinci Code :D

But, first of all... I found it kinda strange, that the main character "Tom" spends entire weekends in the woods with an old native American, butt naked no less, while he was eight. I dont have kids of my own, but that seems like poor parenting to me. The whole Grandfather story is... well, lets say "arguable".

But, the impossible things... "becoming one with the water", the charcoal camoflage that apparently doesn't stain even an airplane seat, adjusting ones metabolism, the 4000 pressure releases of tracking and what they can reveal , impossible timelines that dont add up, using "Inner Vision" to scout an area. Plus, there's plenty of stuff that isn't impossible as it is, but more improbable than the stuff that MacGyver used to do in the 80s.

Also, the principles of the scout are listed over and over again, but the main character keeps breaking them all the time. Honestly, read the story of "Alien Killer", and tell me... whos the arrogant one?

I wouldn't mind if the stories were an honest mix of wilderness survival stuff, and fantasy. That would be a cool idea actually. But now they are mostly just stories about how great the main character is, and how many skills with the word "scout" in 'em he knows. I was particulary dissapointed because the subtitle referres that there is some spiritualism or honest appreciation of the nature to be found from this book. I honestly felt kinda embarrassed for him.

I would love to read positive opinions about this book. In Amazon.com there were a couple of people who said they really found some spiritual meanings from the stories, so it would be nice to read what kinda thoughts this book stirred? To me, the best part of the book was definately the story "City", in which Tom goes to NYC. I've been in NYC myself, and can relate to the sheer claustrophobic panic that place can cause.
 
attej said:
I feel kinda funny to point out impossible things in a fictional book. Reminds me of the public discussion about the Da Vinci Code :D

But, first of all... I found it kinda strange, that the main character "Tom" spends entire weekends in the woods with an old native American, butt naked no less, while he was eight. I dont have kids of my own, but that seems like poor parenting to me. The whole Grandfather story is... well, lets say "arguable".

But, the impossible things... "becoming one with the water", the charcoal camoflage that apparently doesn't stain even an airplane seat, adjusting ones metabolism, the 4000 pressure releases of tracking and what they can reveal , impossible timelines that dont add up, using "Inner Vision" to scout an area. Plus, there's plenty of stuff that isn't impossible as it is, but more improbable than the stuff that MacGyver used to do in the 80s.

Also, the principles of the scout are listed over and over again, but the main character keeps breaking them all the time. Honestly, read the story of "Alien Killer", and tell me... whos the arrogant one?

I wouldn't mind if the stories were an honest mix of wilderness survival stuff, and fantasy. That would be a cool idea actually. But now they are mostly just stories about how great the main character is, and how many skills with the word "scout" in 'em he knows. I was particulary dissapointed because the subtitle referres that there is some spiritualism or honest appreciation of the nature to be found from this book. I honestly felt kinda embarrassed for him.

I would love to read positive opinions about this book. In Amazon.com there were a couple of people who said they really found some spiritual meanings from the stories, so it would be nice to read what kinda thoughts this book stirred? To me, the best part of the book was definately the story "City", in which Tom goes to NYC. I've been in NYC myself, and can relate to the sheer claustrophobic panic that place can cause.
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Wait I'm confused. This is a fiction book we are reffering to? I didnt know he wrote one. All the ones i have are "guide" type books. But if this is a fiction book then how can we critisize Tom? If it is known to be fiction then regardless of what Tom's intentions were and what ideas he is trying to communicate all bets are off.
 
grateful_fred said:
Wait I'm confused. This is a fiction book we are reffering to? I didnt know he wrote one. All the ones i have are "guide" type books. But if this is a fiction book then how can we critisize Tom? If it is known to be fiction then regardless of what Tom's intentions were and what ideas he is trying to communicate all bets are off.
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The stories seem to be fictional, but as I've understood, claimed to be autobiographical. I called it fictional since IMHO, it obviously is.
 
hollowdweller said:
Been to a few myself. Starting with Morgantown WV in 83, with multiple ones in Pittsburg, Richmond, Louisville, Cincinatti and ending at Deer Creek 95.
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Youre a lucky man. I was too young to see jerry before his untimely death.:(

I have several friends who have got their wings following them around though.

We have a band called the shwag that does a shwagstock for 3 days, Ive been to several. 3 days of camping and jamming. Awesome festival.

They have a row of vendors called shakedown street that has alot of cool glass blowers, and tye dyes etc.... Its not even close to the magnitude of a dead show, but its still cool.
 
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