Top 5 Bushcraft Writers

[Brian_T]

List your choice for the top 5 bushcraft and outdoor living writers.

If you'd list the author and title that'd be great.

Here's mine (in no particular order: )

1. Rustrum "The Way of the Wilderness"
2. Jaeger "Wildwood Wisdom"
3. Kochanski "Bushcraft"
4. Graves "Bushcraft"
5. Kephart "Camping and Woodcraft"

Who's next?

 

[tomtom]

Kochanski "Bushcraft"
Rustrum "The Way of the Wilderness"
Mears ''survival handbook''
Olsen 'Relection from the North Country'
nessmuk 'woodcraft'

the others i dont rate simply, as i have not read them yet!
good thread though!

 

[jamesdevine]

In no particular order:

Nesmuk: Camping and Woodcraft
Rutstrum: Paradise below Zero
Olsen: Relection from the North Country
Grave: Bushcraft Southern
Kochanski: Bushcraft Northern


I would also add Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook.

James

 

[Abbe Osram]

Horace Kephart ---Camping and Woodcraft
The swedish army survival handbook
Garrett Conover & Alexandra Conover "The Winter Wilderness Companion"
Montague "Monty" Alford ---"Winter Wise" Travel and Survival in Ice and Snow

cheers
Abbe

PS I didnt write any of Rays books because I dont have one and havent seen one either. As the first and best is too expensive to get for me, which one would you suggest I could buy instead.

 

[jdlenton]

Hi James can you give me some more detail on this book please {Grave: Bushcraft Southern} can't find anthng searching with those terms

James

 

[stovie]

As posted by Aussie, earlier this month. An online version of the 10 Bushcraft Books

http://tions.net/CA256EA900408BD5/vwWWW/outdoor~03~000

Though on closer inspection this may not be what you are looking for

 

[moko]

Great thread, may be Tony could have some of these books and possibly DVDs in the shop? I spend alot on books and I'd rather BCUK made the profit than Amazon.

Anyway, I guess most of the best stuff has already been mentioned so (although possibly a little of topic) here are 5 books that have inspired me to find my place by the camp fire. There not bushcraft text books as such, but they have all helped me find my way to see what is important in life.

Wilfred Thesiger, Among the Mountains.
Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn.
Food for Free, (Collins Gem)
Henry David Thoreau, read everything, its all inspiring stuff.
....and for a fun read which will make you sick with envy,The Good Life by Dorian Amos.

Once again, a great thread.

 

[jamesdevine]

No the link given is the one we are talking about. It came as far as I am aware in two forms the 10 manuals used for Military use and the one stop book which is the one I have.

Richard Graves was an Austrialian Bushcraft expert (hence I listed it a southern) but alot of the content can be easily adapted to our climate. It's an excellent book(s) and really is worth reading. Combined with Mors and you are basically sorted.

James

 

[Doc]

Great thread. I note the strong North American influence here!

My favourite author is Sigurd Olson. He had an understanding of both the outdoors, and the outdoorsman, that only comes from long acquaintance.

Mors Kochanski's book is packed with information - none of the 'padding' you often see.

Rutstrum's Way of the Wilderness is a classic, but goes into a lot of fine detail on equipment and most of this information is now very, very dated.

I read Thoreau almost daily.

I'm currently awaiting a book by Aldo Leopold: 'A Sand County Almanac'.

Anyway, my current 5:

1)Sigurd Olson. The Singing Wilderness
2)Thoreau. Walden
3)Ray Mears. Bushcraft
4)Mors Kochanski. Northern Bushcraft
5)Bill Mason. Song of the Paddle

 

[moko]

Bill mason is a must if you have kids and wont to get them hooked on the great outdoors. A friend lent me his 'song of the paddle' DVD and my children loved it. As soon as we had finished we loaded up the canoe to seek adventure....

 

[Hoodoo]

Great books. I definitely rate Kephart in the top 5.

 

[twelveboar]

The first book I was given, and probably the one that started me down this path was an old second hand copy of "Scouting for Boys" by Baden-Powell. I doubt it is still available in anything like the original form, as it's far too politically incorrect for this day and age (even the title is sexist), but it absolutely reeked of adventure to a boy growing up in a County Durham pit village.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

In no particular order;

Priimitive Wilderness Living and Survival Skills, John and Geri McPherson
Survival Skills of Native California, Paul Campbell
Woodsmoke, Richard Jamison
Primitive Technology - A Book of Earth Skills, Society of Primitive Technology
The Tracker, Tom Brown Jr.

As far as The Tracker goes, there is a lot of controversy about Tom Brown Jr., but if not for this book, I, and thousands of others, would never have started along this path, so for that reason, I had to include it in my list.

As far as the 2 Bushcrafts (Graves and Kochanski), I definitely would have included them, but as they were already mentioned, I thought I would throw a couple of new ones into the mix.

Abbe mentions the swedish army survival handbook. I'm still waiting for him to translate it for us. Also I agree with him re: "The Winter Wilderness Companion" and "Winter Wise". Both are good books.

BTW, Abbe, I met Garret and Alexandra Conover at a Winter Camping Conference, here in Ontario, Canada. Both very nice people, and, of course, very knowledgable.

 

[Ropeman]

Just a few of mine:

Edward Abbey, a bit forthright in his views but he very clearly loves the deserts he writes about so well.

Benedict Allen. A great explorer in the mad English ideal.

Tim Cahill. Rolling Stone for the outdoors

JRR Tolkien. 'nuff said

Laurie Lee. 'As I walked out one midsummer morning' gives me itchy feet every time I read it.

 

[gaz_miggy]

what do u think the one book that has helped you more than anyother

 

[bilko]

Not even that bushcrafty but i was thinking of Enid Blyton today. Those are great books for kids to get them off the beaten track

 

[redcollective]

Not even that bushcrafty but i was thinking of Enid Blyton today. Those are great books for kids to get them off the beaten track

As a kid my favourite book was 'Bevis, the story of a boy' by the victorian writer
Richard Jefferies. Print it off and read it, better still, get your kids to read it: it's a bushcrafty childrens classic written when you had to use your imagination and play.

 

[Goose]

The first book I was given, and probably the one that started me down this path was an old second hand copy of "Scouting for Boys" by Baden-Powell. I doubt it is still available in anything like the original form, as it's far too politically incorrect for this day and age (even the title is sexist), but it absolutely reeked of adventure to a boy growing up in a County Durham pit village.

It is still available, I believe it hasn't changed that much either!

I remember reading Arthur Ransomes books,The swalllows and the Amazons, that seemed to be really bushcrafti. Lots of adventure and meeting charcoal burners and the like with descriptions of what they did and how.

 

[jamesdevine]

Yep Scouting for boys the original 1908 version was resently reprinted and can be bought in both Hard and Paper Back. Still a great book.

BTW, Abbe, I met Garret and Alexandra Conover at a Winter Camping Conference, here in Ontario, Canada. Both very nice people, and, of course, very knowledgable.

Did they mention if it was going to be reprinted or not.

James

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Did they mention if it was going to be reprinted or not

Are you referring to 'A Snow Walker's Companion'? If so, at the time of the conference, the book was still available. Is it not now?
---------------------------------

I just checked Amazon and Alibris. Amazon has one used copy and Alibris has one new one. I hadn't realized that it was out of print.