New survival books

[nameless]

Im looking to get some more survival books or books in and around that catagory to add to my coolection which is just starting out, i have "SAS how to surrvive on land and sea by john wiseman" and "Ray Mears essential bushcraft" so does anyone have any ideas they would be greatly appricated

 

[giancarlo]

Worth a look through here:
Amazons - Outdoor Survival Skills Category

I haven't got any real recomendations, but i'm sure some of the other guys will be able to help you out.

Hope it helps

cheers
Carlo

 

[sargey]

books you really want:
mors kochanski's bushcraft. the ray mears survival handbook (very hard to find) and outdoor survival handbook.

books that are really interesting:
wildwoods wisdom, by elsworth jeager, on your own in the wilderness by whelan and angier. kepharts camping and wood craft, nessmuks woodcraft and camping.

books you only want if they're free:
commando survival handbook, mcmanners. "anything" sas by barry davies. ultimate survival guide by chris ryan.

do a google search for the us army survival book. there're several places where you can download it free!

cheers, and

 

[Stuart]

I have to agree with sargey the only good survival book with SAS on the cover is Loftey wisemans, forget all the rest even if they are free they have alot of mis-information

ignore anything with any mention of the marines, SAS, barry davies etc

 

[nameless]

thanks for the info and would you want those books even if they where free?

 

[sargey]

would you want those books even if they where free?

well i'd want some of the pages and photo's out of them at least. :-D

stuarts right that the problem lies with the stuff that is just plain wrong. if you don't know enough to sort the good info from the bad, you're better off without.

mcmanners' book for example, has some great gems of info. the dioramas showing what to look for in a campsite for example. his jungle pole bed pics are good. (they ought to be!) he covers a wide range of info on available kit. there're photos of him in a tiny leanto with light shining through the very sparse thatch, bit crap if it rains, flint lined fireplaces, potentially very dangerous, and hugh with a dozen different things round his neck on bits of string, just silly really. there was a survival gameshow, "the bare necessities" where it was obvious that he could do it properly. i don't doubt that he knows his stuff. his "falklands commando" is a great read btw.

chris ryans book has the interesting if not very well explained photos of him dispatching a sheep. as far as i can tell there's no reason to give barry davies books room on the shelf at all (imho).

cheers, and.

 

[ditchfield]

I agree. One example of wrong information is where he says, when talking about NATO wind/waterproof matches, something like "these are covered in a layer of varnish that must be scratched off before use. This could be dangerous to someone that didn't know different.

 

[Stuart]

their are many things in barrys books which are wrong and potentionally dangerous

I advise that a beginner stay well clear of them untill they know better

It is worth mentioning that i have spent a weekend in the woods with barry.......... but i have nothing nice to say so I wont say more than that

 

[sargey]

cheers and.

 

[Adi007]

It was Lofty Wiseman that opened up the who;e SAS survival market. He was a survival instructor and a darn good one. Most of the others only got survival training (many years ago) and are capitalizing on it.

Most "SAS survival" books are a disappointment :-(

 

[Mikey P]

If you are interetested in bushcraft, I would argue that most of the military books don't have a lot to offer - other than the Wiseman book -and are largely repetitive.

I agree with the recommendations of the Mears ('The Survival Handbook'), Kochanski ('Bushcraft') and Kephart ('Camping and Woodcraft').

If you are interested in survival, I'd still say the above as I reckon (and this is probably worth a thread of its own) that survival is simply a small subset of bushcraft. If you know good bushcraft, you know survival. Survival is knowing just enough bushcraft to stay alive; bushcraft is knowing how to live.

 

[sargey]

If you are interested in survival, I'd still say the above as I reckon (and this is probably worth a thread of its own) that survival is simply a small subset of bushcraft. If you know good bushcraft, you know survival. Survival is knowing just enough bushcraft to stay alive; bushcraft is knowing how to live.

there're a couple of threads round here sort of looking into that. i'd be tempted to suggest that it's actually the other way round. ie bushcraft is only one small component of survival :yikes: as already stated, liferaft survival is obviously survival, but hardly bushcraft. perhaps bushcraft is more temparate zone woodland survival? albeit a very highly developed form of survival.

cheers, and.

 

[Gary]

Im in total agreement with Sargey.

Bushcraft - while many facited is dependant upon woodland. When I first started out on the bushcraft trail I did a woodlore course where a fellow student asked what he should do if his plane crashed in the mountains? The instructors advice - get down to the tree line!

The BBC didnt call it Ray Mears EXTREME BUSHCRAFT because they knew they'd be visiting many and varied enviroments!

Survival and survival training should be much more versitile in its nature for a survivor might find themselves on a snow capped peak or adrift at sea. Ideally we should learn all the bushcraft disaplines as applicable to each type of terrian and enviroment not just woodland this would be the best of all worlds.

Another consideration is tools - bushcraft while having coined the phrase carry less by knowing more is actually carry more by knowing more, an axe, billy, fire steel, knife etc etc.

In true survival situations the survivor has only their wits and common sense to rely upon. Ideally you would or should have a survival kit (not the crappy little military tin kits either - these are only ideal if your carrying a rifle and a bergen full of gear) that gives you limited gear and resources.

The best way I think you can view the difference is this -

Survival is about excepting the world (enviroment) we suddenly find ourselves trapped within and learning to live and thrive within it - we can hope for rescue but ultimately we will only survive if WE adapt - nature will not bend for us.
Bushcraft is about taking ourselves out and creating an artificial world from which we can leave at any time.

The true native hunter in the sub artic, the Sami reindeer herder or even the Masai warrior - people who live the life dont practice bushcraft they practice survival.

Bushcraft is one colour in the survival spectrum. It is a hobby not a way of life.

 

[larry the spark]

*MOVED*

 

[Justin Time]

Does this new discussion not belong in one of the threads in Bushcraft Chatter?

Getting back to Adam's question I was thinking there's a couple of books, which aren't "textbooks" but are certainly inspiring:
Cache Lake County, by John J Rowlands
and
Dangerous River, by R.M. Patterson

Both are accounts of life in the Wilds of Canada, in the early 20th Century. Sure, these guys took a pile of kit with them to set up camp but they showed the value of skills and knowledge in surviving and thriving. They could also travel light when they wanted to.

Cheers

Justin

 

[larry the spark]

You are right JT...sorry for deviating from the thread!

I'll move my reply to the appropriate thread though its been cold for a while now!

 

[Justin Time]

Nae problem, I'm a passionate thread drifter myself but the "what is bushcraft/survival/wilderness skills" topic is likely to run and run

Cheers
Justin