Archive | March, 2014

The Father of Survival Shows ~ Survival in the Bush

The Father of Survival Shows ~ Survival in the Bush

By on March 22, 2014 in Master Woodsman

Filmed in 1954, Robert Anderson, an National Film Board of Canada producer, and Angus Baptiste, a Native guide, allow themselves to be marooned in the bush with only an axe and their wits as means of survival. They eat off the land, build their own birchbark canoe and make their way out.  Other great documentaries […]

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The author and his Whelen Lean-To. (Photo: David Wescott)

Origins of the Whelen Lean-To by Thomas Ray

By on March 14, 2014 in Classic Camping, Fieldcraft, Master Woodsman

Simply stating that Colonel Townsend Whelen (1877-1961) was just an outdoorsman is like saying that Babe Ruth was just a baseball player. According to the dust jacket flap of On Your Own in the Wilderness (Whelen and Angier), 1958, Whelen wrote his first outdoor magazine article in 1901 and afterward, his work appeared in outdoor […]

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Cool_Pyre_Mark_Warren_Article

Wilderness & Nature Quotes

By on March 12, 2014 in Books, Classic Camping, Master Woodsman, Nature & Conservation

When we started this site, for a while we were sending daily quotes via Twitter (@MasterWoodsmen).  Unfortunately, most quotes wouldn’t fit in a tweet.  All that being said, the quotes we had prepared are now all in a dedicated page under RESOURCES in the toolbar.  We will continue to update quotes there moving forward.  For […]

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Ernest Thompson Seton reintroducing friction fire to Native Americans.

Steve Watts Bow Drill (1985 video)

By on March 9, 2014 in Master Woodsman, Primitive Skills

As our great friend Steve Watts says, “…without the context, it’s just arts and crafts.” To briefly put into context, the video below was shot in 1985, almost 30 years ago. That was BEFORE the internet. You remember, that time in our history when people actually shared outdoor living skills in person because they didn’t […]

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From Gene Fear's Surviving the Unexpected Wilderness Emergency.

Great Survival Quotes

By on March 7, 2014 in Books, Master Woodsman

Below are a few wilderness survival (or survival-like) quotes that resonate with me personally.  Please be aware that some quotes won’t mean much or could be misinterpreted without the surrounding context from the author.  Therefore, they are NOT intended to be survival advice, although I am sure you will find many you will like and […]

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That's the way to run a culture...

That’s the way to run a culture…

By on March 1, 2014 in Master Woodsman

Neat story in the video… Hard to imagine thinking that far ahead as busy as we all are these days.  In managing timberland as I did years ago, there was always planning for a rotation or more ahead (50+/- years), and I was always cognizant about future impacts to riparian zones and wildlife corridors. Sadly […]

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