I've read through this whole thread and have put together a book list from most of what's been mentioned. I want to add it to this thread as a downloadable resource. Who do I send the PDF to for perusal/approval?
I've read through this whole thread and have put together a book list from most of what's been mentioned. I want to add it to this thread as a downloadable resource. Who do I send the PDF to for perusal/approval?
http://www.adn.com/article/20150712/...ality-tv-shamePilot's genuine Alaska survival story puts reality TV to shame
Colleen Mondor
July 12, 2015
81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness
By Brian Murphy; Da Capo Press; 2015; 264 pages; $24.99
On Dec. 21, 1943, a B-24 Liberator on a cold-weather training flight departed from Ladd Field in Fairbanks and disappeared. The aircraft’s last reported position was 10 miles east of Big Delta; 81 days later, the sole survivor walked out of the Bush. First Lt. Leon Crane’s incredible story, along with that of a modern journey to the wreckage of the Iceberg Inez, is shared through Brian Murphy’s new book, “81 Days Below Zero.” As survival tales go, this one is epic, which makes it all the more surprising that it is so little known in Alaska.
Ladd Field, now known as Fort Wainwright, was home to a staggering amount of aviation activity during World War II. As Murphy explains, Fairbanks was not only a key transit point for lend-lease aircraft en route to Russia, but also a proving ground for aircraft operating in northern latitudes.
The plan for the five-member crew of the Iceberg Inez the day it crashed was to conduct feathering tests. After attaining appropriate altitude, one of the four engines would be shut down, simulating a failure, and the propeller then adjusted until they offered the least airflow resistance. This was a standard test for pilots but, as Murphy writes, “nothing in Alaska’s super cold is routine.”
Through ample research, as detailed in chapter notes and a selected biography and source list, Murphy was able to piece together the events that led to the crash of the Iceberg Inez and the loss of most of the crew. He also determined why the search was so difficult and why Crane, who no one thought was alive, had to find his way out of the bush. (He accomplished this largely by following the 88-mile Charley River.)
Military records and a recorded interview with Crane in 1944 filled in many of the blanks about the path he took and critical supplies he discovered in a cabin. His unlikely, nearly miraculous journey is grippingly retold here and Murphy has done an excellent job of showing how his survival was improbable, yet possible.
It is unexpected to find in the midst of Crane’s saga, however, a dual narrative that visits the Iceberg Inez 50 years later. Murphy picks up the saga of the downed aircraft in 1994 when National Park Service historian Douglas Beckstead initiated his efforts to have an official military team sent to the wreck. After sighting it within the boundaries of the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, the B-24 became his obsession. He researched the crash and learned how Crane later flew out with a team from Ladd Field for an overflight of the site.
Beckstead visited the Iceberg Inez and became convinced that the fragmented remains of the aircraft’s pilot-in-command, 2nd Lt. Harold Hoskins, had to be within the wreckage. It took years of evidence gathering and doggedly making his case to persuade the Pentagon to send out a special forensic team from Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in 2006. Murphy makes the outcome of that investigation as thrilling as Crane’s trek and Beckstead becomes an unlikely hero, a man to be admired for his steadfast dedication in seeing Hoskins home.
"81 Days Below Zero" is a traditionally crafted narrative that balances historical details with themes of adventure and unlikely survival. But there is more here than just an unexpected World War II story, which is compelling enough. With Beckstead’s trips to the aircraft, Murphy shows how close the 21st century is to the events of the past and the quietly heroic actions a historian can take. Reality television has very nearly convinced us that it takes manufactured drama to get our attention. Kudos to Brian Murphy for reminding readers how far from the truth that assertion can be.
Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.
Alaska, the Madness! Bloggity Stories of the North Country
"Building Codes, Alaskans don't need no stinking Building Codes." Sourdough
Yes, I have wifi in my outhouse!
And yet another situation in which a private person spent years making his case to get JPAC to get off their dead azz and do something. They almost require the body to walk into one of their many offices with 5 forms of picture ID. If I were only King.
Good post, 1st. 81 days is an amazing feat.
@ Dynamim - We are limited to 19.5 Kb on documents. If the list is smaller than that you can upload it yourself or you can send it to me and I will upload it.
This is a list of most of the books mentioned in this thread so far. I haven’t included books that seemed fictional, but I haven’t read them, so if you feel that any other books should be included in this list, please let me know. I also have this list as a PDF. Send me a message or let me know in the thread. If you have any ideas on how to make this a better resource, fire away.
If you intend to use what you learn from the books (yes, some people really do that!) and not just use them as mental stimulation, then I suggest you start with the fundamentals, if you don’t already know them. This means that you should select books that deal with survival scenarios that you’re most likely to encounter. They should take into account the topics, gear, climate, region, terrain, materials, flora and fauna that are most likely to affect you. There’s no point in starting with books that have a ton of information in them that you may never use; unless the book covers what you need in adequate or extensive detail. Use your time and energy wisely by applying and really understanding the theory in the books you choose. Know what gear you need to supplement your experience level. Practice the skills you learn. Apply the knowledge. Rinse and repeat. This is what you need to do if you’re serious about learning essential survival skills. Let me repeat this: essential for your most-likely scenarios.
All the information in other books will just be nice-to-know or entertaining. Until you’re hanging off a rope, crossing a chasm, trying to decipher Morse code instructions from Mongolian nomad on how to escape a rabid mountain lion. Then oh how you’ll wish you read the book you just bought, “All You Wanted to Know About Escaping Rabid Mountain Lions With The Help Of A Morse-Code-Fluent Mongolian Nomad But Were Afraid To Ask”.
Things happen in life that you couldn’t have predicted. That’s the way it goes. It’s your attitude... your spirit, and the flexibility with which you apply your fundamental knowledge that will get you through.
Survival psychology
- Survival Psychology - John Leach
- Survival Secrets - Brian Emdin
- Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why - Laurence Gonzales
- The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why - Amanda Ripley
Survival knowledge, skills and equipment
- 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your *** Alive - Cody Lundin
- A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America - Lee Allen Peterson and Roger Tory Peterson
- A Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants: North America North of Mexico - Roger Caras and Steven Foster
- A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians - Robert C. Stebbins
- Building the Alaska Log Home - Tom Walker
- Bushcraft, Outdoor skills and Wilderness Survival - Mors Kochanski
- Camping & Wilderness Survival: The Ultimate Outdoors Book - Paul Tawrell
- Cloudburst a handbook of rural skills and technology - Vic Marks and Ted Turner
- Country Comforts, designs for the homestead - Christian Bruyere and Robert Inwood
- Country Women, a handbook for the new farmer - Jeanne Tetrault and Sherry Thomas
- Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why - Laurence Gonzales
- Discovering wild plants - Janice Schofield
- Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, The Northwest - Janice Schofield Eaton
- Edible Wild Plants And Herbs: A Pocket Guide - Alan M. Cvancara
- Grandma's Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the Way We Cooked - Joanne Lamb Hayes and Jean Anderson
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere - Bradford Angier
- Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places - Steve Brill and Evelyn Dean
- Making Plant Medicine - Richo Cech and Sena K Cech
- Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills - The Mountaineers and Ronald C Eng
- Mushrooms Demystified - David Arora
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms - Gary H Lincoff
- Nature Bound: Pocket Field Guide - Ron Dawson
- Nature of Southeast Alaska: A Guide to Plants, Animals, and Habitats - Robert H. Armstrong and Rita M. O'Clair
- North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi - Orson K. Miller
- Northern Bushcraft - Mors L Kochanski
- One Man's Wilderness - Keith Proenneke
- One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey - Richard Proenneke and Sam Keith
- Outdoor Survival Skills - Larry Dean Olsen
- Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America - Steven Foster and James A Duke
- Prescription for herbal healing - Phyllis Balch
- Prescription for Natural Cures: A Self-Care Guide for Treating Health Problems with Natural Remedies Including Diet, Nutrition, Supplements, and Other Holistic Methods - James F Balch, Mark Stengler and Robin Y Balch
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements - Phyllis A Balch
- Primitive Technology: a Book of Earth Skills - David Wescott
- Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness - John McPherson and Geri McPherson
- Root Cellaring - Mike and Nancy Bubel
- SAS Survival Guide - John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman
- SAS Survival Handbook - John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman
- Secret go the wolves - RD Lawrence
- Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties: The Classic Guide to Building Wilderness Shelters - Daniel Carter Beard
- Survival, Evasion, and Recovery - Multiservice Procedures For Survival, Evasion, And Recovery - Air Land Sea Application Center
- Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere... Alive - Les Stroud
- Surviving A Wilderness Emergency - Peter Kummerfeldt
- Surviving the Extremes - Kamler
- Tactical Tracking Operations: The Essential Guide for Military and Police Tracker - David Scott-Donelan
- Tappan on Survival - Mel Tappan
- The Alaskan Bootleggers Bible - Leon Kania
- The Alaskan mushroom hunters guide - Guild Vanhoesen
- The American Boy's Handybook Of Camp Lore And Woodcraft - Dan Beard
- The Complete Tracker - Len McDougall
- The Dangerous Book for Boys - Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
- The Forager's Harvest - A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants - Samuel Thayer
- The Homesteader's Handbook - Martin Lawrence
- The New Way of the Wilderness - Calvin Rutstrum
- The Outdoor Survival Handbook: A Guide To The Resources & Material Available In The Wild & How To Use Them For Food, Shelter, Warmth, & Navigation - Ray Mears
- The Search - Tom Brown and William Owen
- The Survival Handbook: Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure - DK Publishing and Colin Towell
- The Tracker - Tom Brown
- The Tracker's Field Guide: A Comprehensive Field Guide for Tracking in the United States - James C. Lowery
- The Traditional Bowyers Bible - Jim Hamm
- The Vision - Tom Brown
- The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
- Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival - Tom Brown
- Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants - Tom Brown
- Tom Brown's Science and Art of Tracking - Tom Brown
- Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification - C. Frank Brockman and Rebecca Marrilees
- When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes - Cody Lundin
- When Technology fails - Mathew Stein
- Wilderness Living - Gregory J Davenport
- Wilderness Survival - Gregory J Davenport
- Wildwood Wisdom - Ellsworth Jaeger and Lloyd Kahn
General recommendations:
- Anything by Edward Abbey
- Anything by Louis Lamour
- Cookbooks from the great depression and WWII. Some pretty inventive stuff to make when you have very little.
Last edited by Dynanim; 07-16-2015 at 08:52 PM.
(Continued from "Book list - Part 1")
Prepping and homesteading
The Encyclopedia of Country Living - Carla Emery
The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City - Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
Back To Basics - A Complete Guide To Traditional Skills - Abigail Gehring
Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival - Jack A. Spigarelli
Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook - James Talmage Stevens
Free miscellaneous resources
- Army field manuals – (http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...olicy/army/fm/)
- http://www.archive.org – a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, and more. Search for keywords like: survival, wilderness, bushcraft, etc.
Downloadable books from Bushcraft UK (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/con...-bushcraftuk):
- 10 Bushcraft Books (mobi & epub versions) - Richard Graves
- Carving an Ash Flat Bow – George Aitchison
- Brain Tanning a Fallow Deer Hide – George Aitchison
- Bone Knife and Bark Sheath – George Aitchison
- Woodsmanship – Bernard S. Mason
- Woodcraft and Camping – George W Nessmuk
- FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual
- Guide to Animal Tracking
- Survival, Evasion and Recovery
- Manual for Solar Box Cookers
- The Prairie Traveler
- Pioneering Knots & Lashings
- Guide to Nature Observation & Stalking
- Axe Manual of Peter Mclaren
- Experiments on Knife Sharpening
- Construction Plans for a Folding One-Man Kayak
- Hunting with the Bow and Arrow
- Handbok Overlevnad
- A Developing Gathering Ethic
- Canadian Scout Manual
- Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making
- Basic Blacksmithing
- Aids to Survival
- Walden or, Life in the Woods
- US Army - Map reading and Land Navigation ‘Table of Contents only’
- In The Wake - Tools for Gridcrash
- Net Making
- How to make Old Time Clothes
- How To Make Soap
- Handbook of Knots and Splices
- The Foxfire Book
- Desert Survival from the state of Arizona
- Bushcraft, Scouting and Woodlore notes
- 14 foot Canoe plans
- 10 Bushcraft Books (PDF) – Richard Graves
Last edited by Dynanim; 07-16-2015 at 08:55 PM.
Cool list....thanks for the computation.
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Most excellent!! Gave you a little rep for the effort.
Why thank you kindly Sir Richard!
Which THREE books would each of you seasoned wildlings recommend to people new to wilderness survival? Why?
What's the best way to get the previous questions in front of as many people on this forum as possible?
Started reading _old farts survival guide_. By Ron Foster. It’s a kindle ebook. It’s wordy. I’d give it a one out of five stars so far.
Of course its wordy, it's written by an old fart!
Think about it.
We are all either Pi$$ed off, and talking to no one, and would never even start a book.
Or we are talking your ear off about crap you didn't even ask about.
If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?
This is what is written on the back cover.
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skysmotor.co.uk sells the following products online: brushless electric motor, servo motors, stepper motor drivers, planetary gearbox and can be purchased online if required.
Last edited by Baker2024; 08-13-2024 at 12:01 AM.
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