also being a computer feller i'm sure you are familair with google just type in a key word such as firestarting or primitve fire skills or starting a fire w/o matches or natural navigation( ifn ya do that a great article by my mentor will come up)
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also being a computer feller i'm sure you are familair with google just type in a key word such as firestarting or primitve fire skills or starting a fire w/o matches or natural navigation( ifn ya do that a great article by my mentor will come up)
Check out your local college to see if they offer outdoor field studies. For instance I just checked College of Dupage a local jr college that offers a bunch of outdoor classes
http://www.cod.edu/academic/field/courses.htm
Introduction to Outdoor Pursuits
Camping: Learning the Basics
Backpacking: Springtime in the Shawnee
Backpacking: Utah's Canyon Country
Canoeing: The Boundary Waters
Canoeing on the Blue River
Fly Fishing Workshop
Fly Fishing Adventure
Wilderness First Aid and CPR: Solo Certification
Wilderness Survival Skills
Winter Hiking in Our State Parks
Now your local college might not offer an actual wilderness survival class, (I’m completely surprised my local one did, I might have to check that out) but it if they offer some of the basic camping, backpacking and fishing classes it will be worth it for you just to get used to getting out into the woods. Most people who start looking into wilderness survival are already “outdoor” people, they camp, hunt, fish, etc. So getting started with the very basics would be a good place to start.
Welcome to the wolfpack para (and ericka too) I'm surprised Sarge wasn't the first one all over this, but if you want to start with basics, I'm not kidding here dude, get a Boy Scout's handbook. Tack on the 1st Aid and some of the "how-to" workshops that Rick was talking about and you're on your way.
You're going to find that most stuff you want to learn is common sense, relative to the environment you're dealing with (wilderness or urban)
That hurt, didn't it Sarge.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Sarge47
The older Handbooks are the best. Trax, as my pupil you get an "A"!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by trax
A? Man, that guy sucks up to everyone. First Nell then Old Coot and now you. The next thing you know he'll want to bum some of my twinkies.
Among Other Books I Have. I Always Have "Edible Wild Plants And Herbs: A Pocket Guide" By Alan M. Cvancara And A Regional Animal Book With Me When I Go Out. The Animal Book Has A Picture, Tracks, And Strides For Each Animal In The Local Area. I Also Keep A "Rite In The Rain" Note Book With Me.
First of all, welcome to the forum. Secondly, when I graduated college, I spent a year teaching English in Japan. What an experience! Thirdly, I didn't start camping/spending time outdoors until I was almost 30 years old. I didn't grow up with a family that spent much time outdoors, other than fishing or playing baseball. When my son was about 3, I thought it would be fun to take him camping, but I had no gear. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. There was a sale at Dick's Sporting Goods where I bought a 9x7 tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 not so qualility sleeping pads, a couple of flashlights, and off we went. We stayed at a campground. You mentioned in your post that you don't want to do the "camping" thing with grills and electricity, etc., but I'd suggest you do it once. Even setting up your tent for the first time can be an experience.
Do an internet search of trails in your area and go hiking. Just being outdoors you will learn things you didn't normally consider.
Of course, this forum is filled with a lot of information. There are tons of other sites out there. Best of luck. Gambatte Kudasai
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Oh stop pouting, muffin. A quick correction here...that guy sucks up to everyone except Rick, feel better now? You just wish you'd come up with my answer is all this is.
parafish - I think the very best book I could recommend to you is:
John 'Lofty' Wiseman's
New Edition of SAS Survival Handbook
from Collins Publishers.
ISBN: 978-0-00-715899-7
RRP: US$24.95
As far as I'm concerned it's a must-have. Cheers, Reiver
I have to agree with you on this one. This book is in my lil kit I am working on right now. It has a COLOR (whippee) section showing plants and animals. It also has a lot of information packed into it. Welcome to the forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiver
Jeff
A great way to learn heaps of homesteading skills, which it seems you're also interested in, is to go woofing www.wwoof.org. You stay with people who have a small farm, homestead or whatever, there's also people listed in remote areas who can probably teach you some "survival skills".
In exchange for working a few hours a day and learning new skills, you get free food and accommodation and can pick people's brains. The listing details what sort of set-up people have, what kind of skills you can hope to pick up (ie cabin building, bee keeping, growing fruit trees, raising horses etc etc etc). It's an international organization, so it's also an awesome way of travelling and meeting the local people. But there's heaps of places in the States, you should be able to find something in your area. Much better than sitting down with a book. It's really great, that's how I learned how to use a chainsaw and some rudimentary building skills.
I also wrote a blog on here about one way that works and makes sense for moving out into the country or bush, you can go and read that.
You know, WW, you always come up with great ideas. I would guess (that's all it is) that if you have an Amish (or similar) group near you that you could volunteer some time on the week-ends. The amount of knowledge you'd acquire would be pretty incredible since they rely on the "old ways" of doing things.
Here is the Canadian Boy Scout Manual in a pdf download file.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/downloads...coutmanual.pdf
Here is a great Survival Training Manual in the same format called AIDS TO SURVIVAL
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/downloads/pdf/aids22.pdf
It's from the Western Australia POLICE ACADEMY COMMAND & LAND OPERATIONS UNIT. It covers many survival techniques.
The Command & Land Operations Unit was introduced to provide members of the Western Australia Police Service with the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out their duties in outback Western Australia and to enable them to co-ordinate or participate in emergency operations and advise on outback safety.
Check this link, it has all sorts of training manuals, the above and many more. It includes The US Army Survival Manual, all the manuals can be downloaded.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=4344
i still say the best book is the one you make from google or what have you too many books go into to many different climate zones which i do not need to study at this time, comcentrate on the basics master them and own them then worry about what they do in australia, if your planning on going there then by all means study that terrain but other than that study your climate zone
WE, if you read or even looked at the AIDS TO SURVIVAL, you would have seen most of the information is basic and can be used anywhere. You really should take a look see.
Thankya much. :D
i agree, cpr is cpr no matter where in the world you use it my point is that i am not going to pay for a book that is 50 percent based on survival elsewhere i want geographic specific, (alas i figured this out after my inital craze a few years ago of oh look a new survival book lets buy it) now i have some books i have not refered to in years for that very reason
WE, all those manuals in that link are free (in pdf files), just download and read any time you want to. And the one called AIDS TO SURVIVAL is more than 80% based on survival elsewhere.
well thats my point why do i want to read on survival else where i have enough to focus on here. i do not travel and if i did it would be in the boreal forest in which i live
Sorry WE, I meant; AIDS TO SURVIVAL is more than 80% based on survival anywhere...
ok that might help i will check it out since i respect and value your advice and opinions
Collines Gems SAS Survival Guide
Deja vu all over again.
Dude!!!! You live less very close to one of the most pristine natural environments in the US, teaming with fish, wildlife, lumber, and mild winters--the ATCHAFALAYA BASIN. When you get back home, buy a flat bottom boat with a trolling motor, a GPS, and start exploring. Get a camp in the swamp. Start hunting and fishing like everybody else in South Louisiana. Start camping in the swamp, and just get more and more primitive. If you have to survive, boil water and eat gators/nutria/fish. Deer everywhere. Read books about tropical medicine, because survival here is the easy part. Staying healthy would be the hard part.Quote:
Originally Posted by ParaFish
Wow! All kinds of advice and information in your first post. How about heading over to the introduction section and tell us about yourself. Thanks.
Gators? See? That just screams "Stay out of the swamp!"
Rick when I hear gators what I hear is grease popping on the stove and the smell of fresh gator cooking to a nice golden brown. Équipez qui est consommation d'un certain bon
I am with you on the picking up survival as a hobby as I enjoy hiking, camping, and the whole deal too. Glad to see all of the help her and recommendations for books, etc.
Me and Sam went book shopping last week and I found and AMAZING book. The title is "The Urban Homestead, Your Guide To Self-suffiecent Living in the Heart of the City" It is by a husband and wife team that lives in Los Angeles. It has some cool projects and advice. It has some humor to it, the writer often worries about zombie invasions. The next book in the series is called "Prepare Now" It is about preparing for any sort of disaster. I plan to get that next trip to the bookstore. If it is anything like the last I will enjoy it.
So what books have you guys (and gals) found to be helpful, preparedness wise. There already is a thread on survival books.
Jeff
I got an interesting book called "Zombie Survival: 101 ways to survive the living the dead." not a bad read but kinda dull... lol.
Deep Survival: Who live, who dies, and why by Laurence Gonzales The best book I've ever picked up on the subject of the psychology of survival (and my BA is in Psych). If nothing else, browse the 12 Rules of Survival on Gonzales' website (link). The book is well crafted, enjoyable to read (he's a great story teller, especially if you pick it up on audiobook) and has researched the topic thoroughly. Avoid his latest book, Everyday Survival, it's a waste of paper, IMHO.
If you work in the urban jungle and fear the world coming around you and want some of the lessons learned from 9/11 burned into your soul, then The Unthinkable: who survives when disaster strikes and why by Amanda Ripley is another well researched book on the psychology of survival. While I do think she gives a little too much away to luck, her collection of stories and research on disaster survival is compelling and up to date. It covers everything from why people stayed in New Orleans during the Katrina to the Morgan Stanley security guard who saved thousands of lives in the WTC on 9/11.
A World Made By Hand by James Howard Kunstler is a new novel that tells the story of a small upstate New York town 15 years after the global economic, political, and social collapse following Peak Oil and a number of related disasters. There's no question from the first page that the author has done his homework in researching our societies vulnerabilities and what technology with fail and survive after the grid goes down. Frankly, the book should scare the hell out of you because he's so right on. While he goes in some directions that are a little funky in places, the overarching story is compelling and a page turner that will keep you up late at night to get to the next chapter.
I am reading right now, Walden by Thoreau. So far (about half way through) the physical survival has been extremely minimal. It focuses more on the need to escape and survive and the reason to do it. Survival may be tough, but not near as tough as shattering the shackles that hold us to society.
Ive been reading Tom Brown's Field Guide wilderness survival.It's a great book to read and learn from but, it was written in 1983. I wanted to get a few more Survival books to read but, alittle more up to date. So if anyone has any suggestions on some good books i would love to know about them.
...and i saw Les Stroud has a new book out. Anyone get a chance to look at it?
Just finished a book called, Blood Riveer, by Timothy Butcher. He is a journalist who covered many war-torn areas, but became obsessed with The Congo. His intent was to follow the route that Stanley took charting the Congo River back in the 1870's. Butcher made his trek in 2004, published the book in 2008. It's crazy to see how bad off the Congo has become.
This is not a survival story, and no doubt this guy took chances and could have wound up dead by a rogue bullet. However, it's a pretty good read.
You asked for it so here is my list:
1: Nature Bound, pocket field guide: Ron Dawson
ISBN 0-9609776-7-8
this a great pocket book that should be a part of your kit!
2: Camping & Wilderness Survival: Paul Tawrell
ISBN 1-896713-00-9
well writen and covers most of what you need to know
3: The SAS Survival Handbook: John Wiseman
ISBN 0-00-217185-6
There are probably a couple of others that I am forgetting right now.
Great book! I took an entire semester-long course on Thoreau in college and was amazed at how many layers each paragraph contains. He was an incredible author, but I would agree; it's not so much about physical survival as about coming to terms with society through learning to view it from the outside.Quote:
Originally Posted by ride_gnu
I just finished his book and thought it was really good. Lots of good info.Quote:
Originally Posted by SurvivorMan002
Excellent book!Quote:
Originally Posted by klkak