What books to buy?

[mazadan]

the books i have are the two by RM essential bushcraft and out door survival and also the Mors Kochanski, the lofty wise man book i bought one day and ditched the next. i am not a survivalist but i am a bushcrafter the two for me are different for me bushcraft is a connection or at least for many of us a reconnection to the landscape and the practicieng of skills that make the journey of camping smooth.
i also have Nessmuk and Keppard. ..........................

but i was also in the army in the 70s and learnt a little then but also from my dad as well

 

[stephendedwards]

Nessmuk and Gonzales are in the "worth carrying" pile IMO. Anything else is an information source or skills training guide.

Stephen

 

[crackonchief]

i agree the early Ray Mears books are very useful if the UK is your place also try bushcraft & survival skills magazine

 

[hog]

Would be great if Ray would bring out a book with the skills in a pocket size simmilar to Loftys book but without the military element, having said that Loftys book is probablt the difinutive guide to survival, what we need is the difinutive guide to bushcrafting for the pocket.

 

[VirusKiller]

The Survival Handbook in Association with the Royal Marines Commandos

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1405322365/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Simply superb. Seems to encompass most of what's in Ray Mears' Bushcraft, but better illustrated and more detail on all of the techniques.

 

[Elines]

Just ordered Animal Tracks and Signs (Pocket Nature Guide) - Preben Bang - based on recommendations on this site and am hoping for great things.

Went for a weekend walk in the snow with Higher Management and we saw lots of animal and bird tracks (but only one actual animal - a mad hare that seemed to think it was March) and could only really identify the rabbit tracks.

Hoping this will make me more aware of the wildlife because I very rarely actually seem to see any.

 

[Broch]

"It's my Delight" by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald. Mine is first edition 1947 (and other such books).

All modern books are just re-writings of old wisdom; try and get stuff from when people did live from the land.

Broch

 

[haw_thrn]

"bushcraft" by mors kochansk
"wildwood wisdom" ellsworth jaeger. This is an older book (1945) but covers a huge range of bushcraft / primitive living techniques. Almost 500 pages in length and packed with tons of information. You can even find the original voyageur cup design reproduced by ray mears in his series northern wilderness on page 199.

cheers Jeff

 

[ghillieman]

Since a few days, i have wildwood wisdom from Elsworth Jaeger, among other books, like the ones from Ray Mears, i find it one of the best ones i have in my bookshelf, among Wiseman , Mears and others.
Simply written , a lot of things you can make your self at low cost, it even seems to me, Ray Mears had it as a birtday present when he was a youngster

 

[320]

jaeger's book is great!

he also had one, "tracks and trailcraft" that's pretty good too. even has hippo tracks for when the zoo's fences fail.

you might look at bradford angier or calvin rustrum, as well. more north american but the skills are the same.

for survival you living in the uk have some of the best writers. if you can find a copy of "survival psychology" by john leach and read it with gonzales's "deep survial" i think you'll never look at surviving in the same way again.

i've been reading this stuff for over fifty years, even the crap is interesting, as long as you can recognize for what it is.

 

[ghillieman]

searchin in the world of survivalbooks you should read " Come Back Alive " from Robert Young Pelton, he wrote a fantastic book that put your feet back on the ground again.

 

[susi]

Am I allowed to recommend my own book, Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iranian-Rap...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260093230&sr=8-1

It's an adventure travel book about my recent hitchhiking from Essex to and then around the Islamic Republic of Iran, and although not a bushcraft book per se, it does contain some interesting bushcraft info. If you're in North America you can get it in all good book stores or if elsewhere then on Amazon. Here's the publisher's blurb and a couple of reviews:

A backpacker’s charming, hilarious account of the secret world of counterculture Iran. Iran looms large in the psyche of modern America. For decades, it has been “the enemy,” its government taunting us and attacking our Western, secular lifestyle. That is largely the Iranian government, however, not the Iranian people. Here’s the proof.

When Jamie Maslin decides to backpack the entire length of the Silk Road, he decides to travel first and plan later. Then, unexpectedly stranded in a country he’s only read about in newspapers, he decides to make the best of it—but wonders whether he’ll make it out alive. Maslin finds himself suddenly plunged into a subversive, contradictory world of Iranian subculture, where he is embraced by locals who are more than happy to show him the true Iran as they see it—the one where unmarried men and women mingle in Western clothes at secret parties, where alcohol (the possession of which is punishable by lashings) is readily available on the black market, where Christian churches are national heritage sites, and where he discovers the real meaning of friendship, nationality, and hospitality.

This is a hilarious, charming, and astonishing account of one Westerner’s life-altering rambles across Iran that will leave you wondering what else you don’t know about Iran and its people. 24 color illustrations.

"A timely and valuable book by a young Westerner who decides to see Iran for himself. Maslin is naive upon his arrival--having no idea what to expect--but keeps an open mind and invites the reader along on his fascinating and colorful adventures. His experiences reveal the lies that mainstream media are telling us about the country. Having read this book, I may visit Iran in the near future." ----Richard Kendrick, author of Déjà Vu

"Bill Bryson meets Jack Kerouac." --Simon Van Booy, author of The Secret Lives of People in Love and Love Begins in Winter

"Jamie Maslin follows a long line of intrepid young Britons, from Laurie Lee to Paddy Leigh Fermor and, most recently, Rory Stewart, who set off on a journey to distant parts with little money but lots of curiosity; and return to tell their tale. Maslin has a good ear for dialogue and a keen eye. The result is a hitchhiking odyssey across Iran that provides a fascinating, and timely, behind-the-scenes glimpse of a country the news anchors never reach." --Simon Worrall, author of The Poet and the Murderer

"Jamie Maslin's book is Iran from the ground up, and a total surprise to those who only know the media version of that country. A fascinating likeness of a complicated people." ----Anthony Brandt, editor of the Journals of Lewis and Clark and The National Geographic Adventure Classics series

I'm nearing the end of Jamie's book. Absolutely fantastic. Written in such a style that I feel I am myself travelling. 5 stars (from 5 of course)