A Bushcraft Book collection

[Stuart]

Two new Titles added today:

The Winter Wilderness Companion - Garret conover & Alexandra Conover

Essentials of Sea Survival - Frank Golden MD, PHD & Michael Tipton PHD

The Winter Wilderness Companion is a well regarded text that’s been on my 'to get' list for a while, so I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you to Fred Gordon for supplying it.

Essentials of sea survival was a surprise find, a superb book, the one of the best books on the subject of survival physiology in layman’s terms I have come across. Even if marine survival is not your normally thing this book is an excellent addition to any Bushcraft and survival library for its information on survival physiology

I have updated the list on page one as usual

 

[falling rain]

Strewth Stuart......................... Your strapline or little ditty thingy under your signature dosn't appear to apply to books.

 

[Stuart]

Strewth Stuart......................... Your strapline or little ditty thingy under your signature dosn't appear to apply to books.

I think it does.

"Success is not measured by what you have, but by what you can do without"

I cannot claim that I have achieved an all encompassing knowledge of survival and Bushcraft just because I own a lot of books on the subject.

The measure of your knowledge is what you can recall from memory and perform skilfully though practice, not what you need to look up in a book.

If you have read the book, committed as much as possible to memory and practiced the skills defined within, then you have a measurable degree of knowledge.

If you just have a book you haven’t studied....... you have nothing.

Until you no longer have need for the book, you don’t really posses the knowledge it contains.

 

[falling rain]

Fair enough mate................Just pulling your leg. Knowing you, and the skills you have, (not to mention the places around the world you've been) I'd say you've done a fair tad of studying and practicing.

 

[jasons]

Two new Titles added today:

The Winter Wilderness Companion - Garret conover & Alexandra Conover

Essentials of Sea Survival - Frank Golden MD, PHD & Michael Tipton PHD

The Winter Wilderness Companion is a well regarded text that’s been on my 'to get' list for a while, so I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you to Fred Gordon for supplying it.

Essentials of sea survival was a surprise find, a superb book, the one of the best books on the subject of survival physiology in layman’s terms I have come across. Even if marine survival is not your normally thing this book is an excellent addition to any Bushcraft and survival library for its information on survival physiology

I have updated the list on page one as usual

Sorry if its been done.but is there top ten

 

[Stuart]

Sorry if its been done. but is there top ten

I could do a favourite picks if you like, though they would of course only be based on my personal interests, so they might not be the best of the list for everyone. (I'm not heavily into carving and craft for example and learn heavily towards the more sientific/technical/psycological/medical side of things)

I'll put something together, might not be limited to just 10 though!

 

[Stuart]

Sorry if its been done. but is there top ten

Ok this is off the top of my head (glancing at my bookcase occasionally!) I have probably missed a few and I cant decide about a few, but this is the best i have come up with:


My General Favourites (no particular order)

Northern Bushcraft - Mors kochanski
Bushcraft - Richard Graves
Outdoor survival skills - Larry Dean Olsen
The survival handbook - Raymond mears
Naked into the wilderness - John & geri Mcpherson
Naked into the wilderness 2 - John & Geri McPhearson
The best of woodsmoke - Richard L. Jamison
Primitive outdoor skills - Richard L Jamison
Woodsmoke - Richard & Linda Jamison
Camping and woodcraft - Horace Kephart
Earth Knack - Bart & Robin Blankenship
98.6 Degrees the art of keeping your *** alive - cody lundin
Primitive technology, a book of earth skills - society for primitive technology
Primitive technology 2, Ancestral Skills - society for primitive technology
The Bushmans handbook - H. A. Lindsay

Books for those interested in a scientific approach to the study of bushcraft and suvival, such as human psychology and/or physiology:

Essentials of Sea Survival - Frank Golden MD, PHD & Michael Tipton PHD
The art of Tracking, The origin of science - Louis Liebenberg
Deep Survival - Laurence Gonzales
Life at the extremes the science of survival - Frances Ashcroft
Extreme survival - Dr Kenneth Kamler
Survival Psychology - John Leach
The Art of Survival – Cord Christian Troebst


Books concerned with one specific topic which they cover exceptionally :

Arctic Manual - Vilhjalmur Stefanson
Vehicle Dependant Expedition Guide - Tom Sheppard (published by the RGS)
Expedition Medicine - The Royal Geographical society
Where their is no doctor - David Werner
Indian Fishing - Hilary Stewart
Ashley Book of Knots - Clifford Ashley (sadly I no longer have a copy of this, which is why its not on my list, but I would love to get another copy)

Historical books which though now very out of date are very interesting to read and have lots of advice of the type that simply never goes out of date:

Camping and woodcraft - Horace Kephart
The Art of Travel - Francis Galton

Two military Survival manuals (or adaptations from military manuals) that you should consider: military manuals tend to contain a vast quantity of information most of which is described very vaguely, they also often contain a quite a few errors. But they make good reference material if you are experienced enough to acknowledge the errors when you see them

The S.A.S. survival hand book - John Wiseman
Search and Rescue Survival Training AF Reg 64-4 - US department of the air force
Down but not out - Royal Canadian air force Survival training School

MY BEST VALUE FOR MONEY PICK
The little booklets by Mors Kochanski are dirt cheap and exceptionally good, just pick the topic

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 Kochaski



Some people have asked why certain authors are not in my collection.

There are of course many many more books in existence on the subject of Bushcraft and survival then I could ever hope to collect and I can’t speak for those.

But There are some authors who don’t appear in my collection by choice, because I personally feel that they are of exceptionally poor quality and/or copied pretty much directly from another (usually better) source interspersed with random waffling drivel. If asked my personal opinion I would suggest that people looking to buy Bushcraft and survival books avoid titles by the following authors until they have gained sufficient experience to make an informed decision and browsed though the book in person before deciding whether they actually want to spend money on it.

Authors whose titles I personally choose to avoid purchasing for my collection (all of whose works I have read or at least browsed in depth) :

Bear grylls

Chris Ryan

Dale Martin

Tom Brown

Barry Davis

Gregory J. Davenport

Hugh McManners

you might however personally find the works of the above authors deeply entertaining and informative, all things are subjective, the choice not to include their works in my personal collection is based purely on my own personal opinion and I mention them here only to indicate which books haven’t made it into my collection not because they are not readily available, but because I chose specifically not to include them.

 

[jasons]

Thanks stuart

 

[Tim Smith]

Great list. You might be interested in "Caribou Hunter; A Song Of A Vanished Innu Life". It was transcribed by Serge Bouchard in 1971 from interviews he had with Mathieu Mestokosho, an Innu who lived his life in northeastern Quebec. The Innu lived in the region from Lac St. Jean to Labrador and have also been known as the Montagnais, the name given to them by the French settlers.

The book is two parts, with the first being an oral history of different experiences, such as caribou hunting trips, and the second being a discussion of the way of life of the natives. There is also a section of photographs of some of the people that shows their way of life.

Part One
- Memories Of Youth
- The Great Caribou Hunts
- A Winter In The Winuakapau Region
- The Abundance Of Caribou Near Atikonak Lake

Part Two
- Reflections On The So-Called Laziness Of Indians
- Daily Life On The Land
- A Word On The Elders, Work In The Old Days, And Tradition

Written as it was spoken, the book describes the life of the native hunter and trapper. Anthropologically, it’s a fascinating account of a culture and lifestyle that isn’t well known. From the persepctive of bushcraft, it’s amazing to read the stories of the hunt and their methods of hunting and trapping.

- I crossposted this at my blog, sorry if that bugs anyone.

 

[Stuart]

Another two books for the collection:

The Tribal Living Book - David levinson & David Sherwood

Bushcraft Skills And How To Survive In The Wild - Anthonio Akkermans

the original list (first post on this thread) has been updated

 

[dommyracer]

Nice thread Stu, particularly interesting to see your 'authors to avoid' section. Totally agree with your selections as well.

I suppose if your looking for a readable book with good stories then they might be your thing, but having read stuff by most of these guys it's clear it's been done better elsewhere

 

[sandbender]

Great thread, so many good books...

The only ones from my collection that I can't see in the lists above would be...

Wille Sundqvist - Swedish Carving Techniques

The tools used, how they are maintained and the techniques of carving.
http://www.amazon.com/Swedish-Carving-Techniques-International-Classic/dp/0942391454
​

Gert Ljungberg - Carving and Whittling The Swedish Style

"Master woodworkers Gert Ljungberg and Inger Ason-Ljungberg introduce te basics of carving in their native, centuries-old Swedish tradtition.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carving-Whittling-Swedish-Gert-Ljungberg/dp/188737440X​

Hilary Stewart - Indian Fishing

"With attention to clarity and detail, Hilary Stewart illustrates their hooks, lines, sinkers, lures, floats, clubs, spears, harpoons, nets, traps, rakes and gaffs, showing how these were made and used in over 450 drawings and 75 photographs"
http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/book/9780888943323​

 

[Zammo]

Heres my exhaustive list!

Essential Bushcraft - Ray Mears,
Bushcraft Survival - Ray Mears,
SAS Survival Guide - Lofty Wiseman.

...erm, i'll just get me coat. :sulkoff:

 

[spamel]

Heres my exhaustive list!

Essential Bushcraft - Ray Mears,
Bushcraft Survival - Ray Mears,
SAS Survival Guide - Lofty Wiseman.

...erm, i'll just get me coat. :sulkoff:

Why? It isn't a competition! If you have three books yet know the content inside out and can put it into practise than you are better off than somebody with a million books who knows none of the information without having the book with them!

I'm not saying Stuart knows nowt by the way! His collection is massive and a lot of it, I guess, is the same old same old over again, but every now and then a little gem crops up.

For your money, I reckon you've got three very good books there. Learn the content, practise what you can legally from them (so don't set spring traps and leave them in place, take them down straight after you have made them.) and learn it so that you can use it instinctively and you will be on to a winner.

 

[Minotaur]

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.

Thats why there is so few, you beat me to it.

LOL!

Must admit, if you like books, Hay is an amazing place. If you come in from Clytho(notsure about that spelling?) there is a wonderful little camp site on the left. Not Bushcraft freindly, but family run, and location wise brillant.

Can feel my mouth watering, must go there soon, I feel a need for Black Mountian Beef.

 

[Minotaur]

Ok, here is a test for you.

I want to add a book to my collection, I borrowed it from the library about the time of the first puplication of the SAS survival handbook.

I think it was called 'The Survival Handbook', which is why I cannot decide which one I want.

The difference in this book, is it does not talk about Survival kits but a possibility bag.

To further, pin it down it has one of my farvorite wilderness quotes, it is the story about the old hunter looking at a new hunter's .44 handgun, and then offering him some advice.

I will have to collect my books togeather, and type out a list. I have a few books, that have not been mentioned, mainly because they are scout or camping related.

 

[Stuart]

Ok, here is a test for you.

I want to add a book to my collection, I borrowed it from the library about the time of the first puplication of the SAS survival handbook.

I think it was called 'The Survival Handbook', which is why I cannot decide which one I want.

The difference in this book, is it does not talk about Survival kits but a possibility bag.

To further, pin it down it has one of my farvorite wilderness quotes, it is the story about the old hunter looking at a new hunter's .44 handgun, and then offering him some advice.

Well at first glance it sounds like raymond mears first book "the survival handbook", except that it wasn’t published until 1990, where as 'the SAS survival handbook' was first published in 1986 I think?

And although each chapter of the raymond mears 'Survival handbook' begins with a quote, its doesn’t appear to contain a quote concerning a .44 handgun!

A quick search brings up a book published in 1972 entitled 'The survival handbook' authored by a Bill Merrill, does that sound familiar?

 

[Minotaur]

Well at first glance it sounds like raymond mears first book "the survival handbook", except that it wasn’t published until 1990, where as 'the SAS survival handbook' was first published in 1986 I think?

And although each chapter of the raymond mears 'Survival handbook' begins with a quote, its doesn’t appear to contain a quote concerning a .44 handgun!

A quick search brings up a book published in 1972 entitled 'The survival handbook' authored by a Bill Merrill, does that sound familiar?

There are a few books with the title and they all seem to be hard to get hold of.

My money has always been on the Ray Mears book. What I was getting at with it being on the shelves at the same time as the SAS book, was it was not a 70's book or earlier, it seemed of it's time, or maybe ahead of its time.

If anyone has pictures or can direct me to pictures of the covers that would be really helpful.

 

[xenn]

Not strictly a bushcraft book, but a wilderness book and truly a book to bring a tear to a glass eye.

The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter.

I've rarely heard anone speak of this book and it is an altime favourite of mine along side Alone In the Wilderness by Mike Tomkie about how he went to Canada and built a cabin etc etc... now poor old Mike is sadly forgotten by most people, he apparently is still alive in poverty somewhere down south after being kicked out of a forest in the borders by the FC. If anyone is the last UK wilderness man it's him...

Hello there Woodsmoke.
How cool, someone else knows this book. its got a gentle message and is v inspiring. deals with the concept of less is more.....ie, those who travel the world can miss out on the details. its like Jon YOung's concept (and i heard of this book through his school) of becoming "native" in your own area.

 

[Stuart]

Just updating the list, the following added:

Dwellings - Paul Oliver
The Humanure Handbook - Jospeh Jenkins
Camplore And Bushcraft - Daniel Beard
Passport To Survival - Esther Dickey
Survival How to Prevail In Hostile Enviroments - Xavier Maniguet
Wilderness Survival Manual - BC Hydro / W.T. Floyd
Physiology Of Man In The Desert - E. F. Adolph
South Sea Lore - Kenneth P. Emory
Bushcraft How To Live In The Jungle And Bush
Dont Die In The Bundu - Col. D. H. Grainger
Wild Food - Gordon Hillman & Ray Mears
Uteliv - Lars Falt
Handbok Overlevnad - Lars Falt
Friluftsboken - Lars Falt
VinterFarden - Lars Falt