'How to stay alive in the woods'

[Dan1982]

Bought a book yesterday called 'how to stay alive in the woods', Written by a bloke called Bradford Angier who seems to be quite an authority on wilderness living. I had never heard of him until yesterday but he has written countless books on the subject. This book is an extremely readable one with some good illustrations, however it is aimed at the north american reader.

Is anybody else familiar either with the man or any of these books?

Dan

 

[Ahjno]

Bought a book yesterday called 'how to stay alive in the woods', Written by a bloke called Bradford Angier who seems to be quite an authority on wilderness living. I had never heard of him until yesterday but he has written countless books on the subject. This book is an extremely readable one with some good illustrations, however it is aimed at the north american reader.

Is anybody else familiar either with the man or any of these books?

Dan

I've got the same book, but found it not a very interesting read. When I'm reading it I get the feeling it's written in a hurry. Just cramped in as much info as possible, yet being not complete to be clear enough

 

[Mike Ameling]

He was also writing during the heyday of "modern" camping - where you wouldn't go camping without a full trailer-type camper or huge cabin-type tent, and bring along everything including a kitchen sink. So what he was writing about was a lot different from the ... regular market ... at that time.

I have his book Wilderness Gear You Can Make Yourself. It's pretty basic, but still worth it.

Another "early" writer was Richard Graves -- BUSHCRAFT: A Serious Guide To Survival And Camping. Or W. Ben Hunt's The Complete How-To Book Of Indiancraft, or Beard's Shelters Shacks and Shanties. And everybody seems to remember Nessmuck, but what about Kephart? There were a number of those early 1900's "bushcraft" writers.

And even that hoky early 1950's Jacknife Cookery book has some good stuff in it.

There was a lot of good stuff written before the modern revival of "bushcraft". And it is sometimes very surprising where you can find good info.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Hoodoo]

It's one of the great classics of outdoor survival, written at a time when there was precious little reading material available on the topic in bookstores. At the time that book came out, about the only other books you could get on the topic were the Boy Scouts Manual, Larry Dean Olsen's book Outdoor Survival Skills, and Richard Grave's Bushcraft. The book was often imitated, so lots of folks have stood on Angier's shoulders. He defined the genre for a decade or more and helped spur a tremendous interest in the outdoors that occurred in the late 60s and all through the 70s, here in the US. By the same token, Angier borrowed heavily from military surival manuals. Nevertheless, Angier was not an armchair outdoor writer, and actually left a comfortable life in the "big city" to live with his wife in the Canadian wilderness.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Mark Elbroch -- Wilderness Survival: Living Off the Land

This is my favorite book, Nicely written well laid out. (omo)

 

[Barney]

I bought "How to stay alive in the woods" and "Outdoor Survival Handbook" at the same time. They were the first two books I bought on bushcraft skills.

When I had a choice it was the first one I went to if I wanted to read, Rays was almost like a comic book in comparison.

I can still go back to that now and find something new even though I have read it cover to cover twice. Last night for instance( I now have all the modern bushcraft and survival hand books but I still end up with this close to hand) mullein, the hand-drill wood, can also be crushed and used to stun fish in ponds or rivers it leaves no taint to the flesh.

I like its well written easy going style. I am going to buy some of the other "old time" books I think.

 

[spiritofold]

When i was still at primary school i had a book bought for me called "Bushcraft", by R.Graves. Its amazing the effect 1 book can have on your life! Still got it on my library shelf