Jack Mountain Bushcraft School Bibliography by Tim Smith

Naturalist John Muir said, “Books are but stepping stones to show you where other minds have been.”

When it comes to outdoor living skills, books are a great way to take advantage of a Master Woodsman’s experience and see “where their mind has been.” We have worked hard to put together an extensive bibliography at Master Woodsman to include downloads and that is general in nature to accommodate our wide audience range.

While many instructors will reference an influential book or two, it is rare to have one share their entire bibliography. Our good friend, Tim Smith, Registered Master Maine Guide and owner/operator of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School has done just that and we are extremely grateful.  Especially appreciate his comments on certain books and sections, especially his “Twenty-One Most Important Books.”

As a side note, last year, I heard first hand Mors Kochanski’s remark on the quality of Tim’s bibliography, you don’t get stronger endorsements than that. Thanks for sharing Tim!

Jack Mountain Bushcraft School Bibliography

by Tim Smith

Contents

1  Alternative Energy
2  Anthropological Studies
3  Bears
4  Bow Making and Archery
5  Braintanning and Leatherwork
6  Bush Living Skills and Camping
7  Canoe and Kayak-Using and Building
8  Composting and Sanitation
9  Cooking, Nutrition, Food Preservation and Fasting
10  Cordage,Knots,andNet-Making
11  Crafting and Specific Skills
12  Essays
13  Experiential Education And Learning Theory
14  Fiction
15  Firearms
16  History and Human Development
17  Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging
18  Mushrooms and Plants
19  Navigation and Astronomy
20  Northwoods Nature and Ecology
21  Outdoor Leadership And Guiding
22  Philosophy And Teaching of Bushcraft
23  Primitive Living Skills
24  Science of Bushcraft
25  Sensory Perception
26  Shelter Design and Construction
27  Survival
28  Teaching Outdoor Skills to Children
29  Tracking
30  Trapping
31  True Stories and Memoirs
32  True Stories and Memoirs – Maine and New Hampshire
33  Weather Understanding and Forecasting
34  Wilderness Medicine: Modern and Traditional
35  Winter Skills
36  Woodworking, Woodworking Tools and Wood Heat
37  Miscellaneous Skills and Topics
38  The Twenty-One Most Important Books

This bibliography is a work in progress.

1 Alternative Energy

• Dean, Tamara. The Human-Powered Home: Choosing Muscles Over Motors. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2008.

2 Anthropological Studies

• Barker, James H. Always Getting Ready; Yup’ik Eskimo Subsistence in Southwest Alaska. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993.
• Berkes, Fikret. Sacred Ecology. New York: Routledge, 1999. Berkes has done extensive field work among the Cree of the James Bay region. He wrote Cree Trappers Speak (which I’ve been unable to obtain), where he set down an oral history of Cree trappers as an educational resource for future trappers. Sacred Ecology includes much of that information, as well as information on hunting and fishing, and examines the role of traditional ecological knowledge with regard to the modern science of ecology. Berkes defines traditional ecological knowledge as “A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. “(p.7).
• Bouchard, Serge. Caribou Hunter: Song Of A Vanished Innu Life. Toronto: Greystone Books, 2004.
• Cooper, John Montgomery. Snares, Deadfalls, And Other Traps Of The Northern Algonquians And Northern Athapaskans. Washington: Catholic University, 1938.
• Cree Hunters Of The Mistassini – Documentary Film – http://www.der.org/films/cree- hunters-of-mistassini.html
• Densmore, Frances. Chippewa Customs. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1929.
• Frenette, Jacques. The History Of The Chibougamau Crees: An Amerindian Band Reveals Its Identity. Chibougamau, QC: Cree Indian Centre Of Chibougamau, 1985.
• Hatt, Gudmund. Moccasins And Their Relation To Arctic Footwear. Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, Vol. 3, No.3, 1916.
• Helm, June Ed. Handbook Of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1981.
• Hough, Walter. Fire As An Agent In Human Culture. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1926.
• Lips, Julius. Trap Systems Among The Montagnais-Naskapi Indians Of Labrador Peninsula. Stockholm: Statens Etnografiska Museum, 1936.
• Mason, Otis Tufton. Primitive Travel And Transportation. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896.
• Mason, Otis Tufton. Traps Of The Amerind – A Study in Psychology and Invention. American Anthropologist 1900 Vol.2: 657-675.
• Nelson, Richard K. Hunters Of The Northern Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.
• Nelson, Richard K. Hunters Of The Northern Ice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.
• Nelson, Richard K. Make Prayers To The Raven; A Koyokon View Of The Northern Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.
• Netsilik Eskimo Film Series – Documentary Films – http://www.der.org/films/netsilik.html
• Ojibway and Cree Cultural Center Films. Bush Toboggan. Outdoor Education. TamarackGoose. Traditional Snowshoe. Traditional Winter Fishing. – http://www.occc.ca/
• Osgood, Cornelius. Ingalic Material Culture. New Haven: Yale University Publications InAnthropology, 1949.
• Popov, A. A. The Nganasan: The Material Culture Of The Tavgi Samoyeds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966.
• Tomkins, William. Indian Sign Language. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.
• Turner, Lucien M. Ethnology Of The Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory. Washington,DC: Smithsonian, 1894.
• Vaillancourt, Henri. Documentary Films. Beavertail Snowshoes. Building an AlgonquinBirchbark Canoe. Indian Hide Tanning. – http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/
• Vuorela, Toivo. The Finno-Ugric Peoples. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Pub-lications, 1964.
• Whitehead, Ruth Holmes. Elitekey; Micmac Material Culture From 1600 To The Present. Halifax: The Nova Scotia Museum, 1980.
• Winterhalder, Bruce A., and Smith, Eric Alden. Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

3 Bears

Bears are often seen either as marauding killers or curious oafs. The truth, as it is with most subjects with opposing extremes, lies somewhere in the middle. If you’re heading to bear country and are worried about storing your food, remember this; you don’t need to manage your food, you need to manage your food smells. Bears are scent-driven. Manage the smell and you’ve taken care of the problem.

• Herrero, Stephen. Bear Attacks; Their Causes and Avoidance. New York: Lyons and Burford Publishers, 1985. Herrero is a biologist from Alberta who writes with authority on bear attacks. Required reading if you live or camp in bear country.
• Kaniut, Larry. Alaska Bear Tales. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing Co., 1983.
• Kilham, Benjamin. Among the Bears; Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild. New York: Henry Hold and Company, 2002. Ben Kilham has raised several generations of bear cubs, and as such knows more about how bears live and think than likely anyone else in the world. His book isn’t about how to deal with problem bears, but rather his experiences with the bears he’s raised. Also see the film about him titled “Mother Bear Man”.

4 Bow Making and Archery

• Asbell, G. Fred. Instinctive Shooting. Self Published, 1988.
• Asbell, G. Fred. Stalking and Still Hunting: The Ground Hunter’s Bible. Twin Lake,Michigan: Hunter Image Productions, 1997.
• Bear, Fred. The Archer’s Bible. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1968.
• Callahan, Errett, ed. Roving Handbook. Lynchburg, Virginia: Piltdown Productions, 1999.
• Comstock, et al. The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible, Volume1, Volume 2, Volume 3. Azle, Texas: Bois d’Ark Press, 1992, 1993, 1994.
• Comstock, Paul. The Bent Stick. Self Published.
• Hamm, Jim. Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans. New York: Lyons and BurfordPublishers, 1989.
• Kidwell, Jay, Ph.D. Instinctive Archery Insights. Cassville, Missouri: Litho Printers, 2004.
• McPherson, John and Geri McPherson. Primitive Living & Survival Skills; Naked Into the Wilderness. Randolph, Kansas: Prairie Wolf, 1993.– Building Wood Bows Video Primitive Bowmaking Video by McPherson

5 Braintanning and Leatherwork

• Edholm, Steven, and Wilder, Tamara. Wet-Scraped Braintanned Buckskin. Boonville,California: Paleotecnics, 1997. A great book. Since I don’t tan with alkaline soaks as described in
  Matt Richards’ book, I’m that much more enthusiastic about this one. Great chapter on using buckskin.
• Miller, Jim. Brain Tan Buffalo Robes, Skins, and Pelts. St. Clair, Michigan: Sundborn Inc., 1997.
• Richards, Matt. Deerskins Into Buckskins; How to Tan with Natural Materials. Rexford, Montana: Backcountry Publishing, 1997. Everyone who has heard of braintanning in the last decade has heard of Matt Richards’ book, and for good reason. Clearly written, a simple process, and an easy writing style, with a large website and active message boards to answer any questions that might arise. Excellent.
• Richards, Matt. Deerskins Into Buckskins. Instructional DVD.
• Riggs, Jim. Blue Mountain Buckskin. Self Published 1979. P.O.Box 627, Wallowa, Oregon 97885. Like many tanners from decades past, I started with Jim Riggs’s book. I made my own scraping tools from a truck leaf spring and tanned my first hide while checking his book to make sure I wasn’t screwing up. I haven’t dry-scraped a hide in ten years, but the book is an old friend.
• Wilder, Edna. Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1976.

6 Bush Living Skills and Camping

There is considerable overlap between this section and the Primitive Living Skills section.

• Beard, Daniel Carter. Camp-Lore and Woodcraft. New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 1920. Dan Beard was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Breck, Edward. The Way of the Woods. New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1908.
• Buzzacott, Francis H. The Complete American & Canadian Sportsman’s Encyclopedia of Valuable Instruction.
• Cheley, Frank H. and Philip D. Fagans, ed. The Camper’s Guide. New York: Blue RibbonBooks, Inc., 1933.
• Cook, D. The Ax Book. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Alan C. Hood & Company, Inc., 1981. Formerly published as “Keeping Warm With an Ax; A Woodcutter’s Manual“, this is the classic on axe use and lore from Mainer Dudley Cook.
• Dart, Joe. Alaskan’s How To Handbook. Fairbanks: Interior Alaska Trappers Associa- tion, 1981. Written for subsistence trappers and hunters, this has lots of information on things like building a dog sled, making snowshoes, and building a fish wheel, amongst other things. Outstanding.
• Edwards, Ron. Australian Traditional Bush Crafts. New York: Shocken Books, 1977.
• Galton, Francis. Francis Galton’s Art of Travel, 1872 (or Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries), (Reprint). Wiltshire, England: Redwood Press Limited, 1971.* Now available for free on the web, this was the text used by generations of British explorers and is filled with interesting nuggets of knowledge.
• Gibson, W. Hamilton. Camp Life In The Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and T rap Making. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1899.* A classic on trapping and building your own traps, this is now available in a free online version. I searched through used bookstores for years before I found a copy, then a year later they reprinted it, and now you can get it on the web for free.
• Graves, Richard. Bushcraft; A Serious Guide To Survival and Camping. New York: Warner Books, 1978. I’ve had two copies of this long out of print book. As a kid and teen it was my bible of woods lore, even though I was in New Hampshire and the author wrote from, and about, Australia. Now available in a free online edition.
• Hall, Ed, ed. A Way of Life. Yellowknife: Government of the Northwest Territories, 1986. This book is about the subsistence lifestyle in the Northwest Territories. Included is information on trapping, building snowshoes and spruce bark canoes, and shingling a house with flattened cans of white gas. A great book about living in the bush without much of the junk that comes when they’re written by “guru” writers.
• Jaeger, Ellsworth. Wildwood Wisdom. Bolinas, California: Shelter, 1945. Great line drawings and diagrams on a variety of bush lore.
• Kephart, Horace. Camping and Woodcraft. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1988. A classic outdoor text. Encyclopedic in its scope, a must read by all who spend significant amounts of time in the bush.
• Kochanski, Mors. Bushcraft. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1987. Formerly titled Northern Bushcraft. In my opinion, the most valuable book on bushcraft. Chapters on knife, axe, fire, shelter, saw, and bits on appropriate plants and animals. Kochanski is the grand old man of bushcraft. If you buy just one book, this would have to be it.
• Kreps, E. Camp and Trail Methods. Columbus, Ohio: A.R. Harding Publisher. Kreps, E. Woodcraft. Columbus, Ohio: A.R. Harding Publisher.
• Mason, Bernard S. Woodcraft. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1973.
• Nessmuk. Woodcraft and Camping. New York: Dover Publishing, 1920. George Washington Sears wrote under the pen name Nessmuk about the Adirondacks and bush living in general. He would travel very light by birchbark canoe, and is revered for his knowledge, quotations, and knives. While I’m not a fan of his writing, it deserves to be read at least once.
• Provencher, Paul. I Live In the Woods. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Brunswick Press Limited, 1953.
• Provencher, Paul. The Complete Woodsman. Toronto: Habitex Books, 1974.
• Graydon, Don, ed. Mountaineering; The Freedom of the Hills. The Mountaineers; Seattle,1962.
• Riviere, Bill. Backcountry Camping. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1972.
• Riviere, Bill. The Camper’s Bible. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1961.
• Riviere, Bill. The L.L. Bean Guide to the Outdoors. New York: Random House, 1981.
• Roth, Charles B. The Sportsman’s Outdoor Guide. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1953.
• Rutstum, Calvin. The New Way of the Wilderness. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1958.
• Wescott, David. Camping in the Old Style. Salt Lake City: Gibbs-Smith Publisher, 2000. Wescott studied the old camping texts to put together this compendium. Drawing on numerous resources, it catalogs the pithy quotations from older books, as well as photos. A great introduction to traditional camping.
• Whiting, Robert M., Ed. The Art Of Outdoor Living: Basic Junior Maine Guide Text. Gardiner, ME: Maine Camp Director’s Association, 1977.
• Wood, Pamela, ed. The Salt Book; Lobstering, Sea Moss Pudding, Stone Walls, Rum Run- ning, Maple Syrup, Snowshoes, and Other Yankee Doings. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1977. – Somewhat like a Foxfire book, but specific to Maine.
• Wiggington, Eliot. The Foxfire Book. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1972.(numer- ous volumes)

7 Canoe and Kayak – Using and Building

• Adney, Edwin Tappin and Howard I. Chapelle. The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983.
• Back, Brian. The Keewaydin Way. Salisbury, Vermont: Keewaydin Foundation, 2004. The history of Keewaydin camp, the oldest canoe tripping camp in the US. Some great how-to information mixed in with the history and personnel profiles.
• Beard, Daniel Carter. Boat-Building and Boating. Kingston, Washington: Dixon-Price Publishing, 1911. This was written for boys with little money, but a desire to make their own boat with the materials they had on hand.
• Coffin, Stewart. Black Spruce Journals: Tales Of Canoe-Tripping In The Maine Woods, The Boreal Spruce forests Of Northern Canada, And The Barren Grounds. Williston, VT: Heron Dance Press, 2007.
• Conover, Garrett. Beyond The Paddle; A Canoeist’s Guide To Expedition Skills. Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, 1991. The best information on poling a canoe I’ve seen. If you can’t learn from a credible instructor, read the chapter on poling. Other chapters on lining, portaging, and canoeing in and around ice, as well as a section on the the author’s ideal northwoods canoe, make this a great addition to the paddler’s library. Written by a Maine Guide with years of experience.
• Dowd, John. Sea Kayaking; A Manual for Long-Distance Touring. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981.
• Evans, G. Heberton. Canoe Camping. Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Company, Inc., 1977. Evans was a trip leader for the Keewaydin camp. This shows some of their tested techniques.
• Evans, G. Heberton. Canoeing Wilderness Water. Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Company, Inc., 1975. This shows more of Keewaydin’s techniques, as well as the most significant discussion of the tump line I’ve seen.
• Gidmark, David. BirchBark Canoe. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 1997.
• Gilpatrick, Gil. The Canoe Guide’s Handbook. Freeport, Maine: Delorme Publishing Company, 1981. Since reprinted as the “Outdoor Leader’s Handbook”, this is a great book on guiding a canoe trip written by a Guide with decades of experience.
• Hutchinson, Derek. Eskimo Rolling. Camden, Maine: Ragged Mountain Press, 1988.
• Jennings, John. Bark Canoes: The Art And Obsession Of Tappan Adney. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2004.
• Jennings, John. The Canoe: A Living Tradition. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2002.
• Kimber, Robert. A Canoeist’s Sketchbook. Post Mills, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1991.
• Mason, Bill. Song of the Paddle; An Illustrated Guide to Wilderness Camping. Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books, 1988. This was Mason’s opus on canoe camping, and lives up to the hype. While I don’t share his love for the campfire tent, the book is highly recommended.
• Mason, Bill. Path of the Paddle. Richmond Hill, Ontario: Firefly Books, 1984. Probably the best of the general books available on canoeing. As Mason wasn’t from the northeast there’s very little on poling canoes, but other than this it’s a great text and reference. It’s a great complement to his videos on paddling.
• Nute, Grace Lee. The Voyageur. Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1931.
• Riviere, Bill. Pole, Paddle, and Portage. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,1969.
• Stelmock, Jerry. Building the Maine Guide Canoe. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 1992.
• Stelmock, Jerry. The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga. St. Paul: MBI Publishing, 2002.
• Stelmock, Jerry and Rollin Thurlow. The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to Its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance. Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, 1987.
• Warren, Graham and David Gidmark. Canoe Paddles; A Complete Guide To Making Your Own. New York: Firefly Books, 2001.
• Bill Mason DVD
• Becky Mason DVD
• Steambending for Woodworkers DVD – from www.wooden-canoes.com/

8 Composting and Sanitation

Although there is some interesting information in this section, most of it is either ill-informed or superfluous if you’ve read Jenkins.

• Appelhof, Mary. Worms Eat My Garbage. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Flower Press, 1982. – A great plan if you’re a fisherman, as you’ll have lots of worms for a trip to the pond or river.
• Campbell, Stu. Let It Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting. Pownal, Vermont: Storey Communications, 1975.
• Jenkins, J.C. The Humanure Handbook; A Guide To Composting Human Manure. Grove City, Pennsylvania: Jenkins Publishing, 1994. The book on composting. We’ve been using the system since 1996. It works, it’s simple, it’s cheap, and it dispels common myths that are annoyingly spouted off by people who don’t know any better.
• Hampton, Bruce, and Cole, David. Soft Paths. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1988. Minimum impact camping advice for environmentally sensitive areas.
• Martin, Deborah L. and Grace Gershuny. The Rodale Book of Composting. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1992.
• Meyer, Kathleen. How To Shit In the Woods. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 1989. I hated this book. It should be titled “how to transport your shit out of ecologically sensitive southwest canyons”, as it has nothing to do with the woods. Written by a rafting guide in the southwest, its another example of the high-tech, sensitive ecology recreation crowd forcing their beliefs on everyone. If you read the book you’ll notice she’s not talking about the woods, as is describe in the title. Read Jenkins instead and learn how to sustainably manage human waste.

9 Cooking, Nutrition, Food Preservation and Fasting

This section has a variety of food related topics, from cooking to food preservation to fasting for both health and survival reasons.

• Alaskans. Cooking Alaskan By Alaskans. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books, 1983. Great cookbook on wild game, sourdough, cooking on woodstoves, preserving food, etc.
• Audette, Raymond V. Neander-Thin; A Cave Man’s Guide To Nutrition. Dallas: Paleolithic Press, 1995.
• Bragg, Paul. The Miracle of Fasting. Santa Barbara, California: Health Science. The story I heard was that Paul Bragg died at age 97 in a surfing accident. A great introduction to fasting for health, but valuable to the wilderness survivor in that they might have no other choice but to fast.
• Child, Mrs. The American Frugal Housewife (Reprint). Bedford, Massachussetts: Applewood Books, 1832.
• Dunaway, Vic. From Hook To Table; How To Clean and Cook all Fish. Miami: Wickstrom Publishers, Inc., 1991.
• Eaton, S. Boyd, and Shostak, Marjorie, and Melvin Konner. The Paleolithic Prescription. New York; Harper and Row Publishers, 1988.
• Fadala, Sam. Game Care and Cookery. Northbrook, Illinois: DBI Books, Inc., 1989.
• Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions. San Diego: ProMotion Publishing, 1995. Traditional nutrition and food preparation, based on anthropological research of tradtional cultures by the Weston Price Foundation. Highly recommended.
• Fears, J. Wayne. Backcountry Cooking. Charlotte, North Carolina: Fast & McMullen Publishers, Inc., 1980. Great general book on campfire cooking. Chapters on dutch ovens, reflector ovens, etc.
• Fleming, June. The Well-Fed Backpacker. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.
• Ford, Frank. Pack To Nature; Nutrition Made Easy In the Home Or In the Woods. FortWorth, Texas: Harvest Press, Inc., 1974.
• Gordon, David George. The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998.
• Herter, George Leonard and Berthe E. Herter. Bull Cook. Waseca, Minnesota: Herter’s, 1960.
• Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2003.
• Kephart, Horace. Camp Cookery. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1946.
• Kephart, Horace. Camping and Woodcraft. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,1988.
• Larsen, Joan S. Lovin’ Dutch Ovens. Salt Lake City: LFS Publications, 1991.
• Mollison, Bill. The Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition. Tyalgum, Aus- tralia: Tagari Publications, 1993.
• Older, Julia. Cooking Without Fuel. Dublin, New Hampshire: Yankee Books, 1982.
• Ririe, Robert L. Let’s Cook Dutch. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1979.
• Shelton, Herbert. Fasting Can Save Your Life. Tampa: Natural Hygiene Press, 1978.
• Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. The Fat of the Land. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957. Stefansson’s anthropological treatise on diet. Includes his experience on the eskimo diet while living in New York City.
• Taylor, Ronald L. Butterflies In My Stomach; Or, Insects In Human Nutrition. Santa Barbara, California: Woodbridge Press Publishing Company, 1975.
• Thomas, Dian. Roughing It Easy. Salt Lake City: Dian Thomas Company, 1994.
• Weiss, John. Trail Cooking. New York: Van Nostrad Reinhold Company, 1981.

10 Cordage, Knots, and Net-Making

• Ashley, Clifford W. The Ashley Book of Knots. New York: Doubleday, 1944. The biggest book on knots. If you only get one, this is it.
• Dahlem, Ted. How To Make and Mend Cast Nets. St. Petersburg, Florida: Great Outdoors Publishing Co., 1996.
• March, Bill. Modern Rope Techniques In Mountaineering. Cumbria, England: Cicerone Press, 1973.
• Art of Castnet Throwing Video
• Rope DVD by Karamat.com
• Mors Kockanski Pocketbook

11 Crafting and Specific Skills

• Adkins, Jan. Moving Heavy Things. Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat Publications, 2004. This was given to me by a past student after I mentioned a rock in the woods that would be great by our fireplace. If you’re looking to learn how to move heavy things, this is your text.
• Bealer, Alex W. The Art of Blacksmithing. Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1969.
• Callahan, Errett. The Basics of Biface Knapping in the Eastern Fluted Point Tradition.Lynchburg, Virginia: Piltdown Productions, 1977.
• Gibbey, Evard H. How To Make Primitive Pottery. Liberty, Utah: Eagle’s View Publishing, 1944.
• Griswold, Lester and Kathleen. The New Handicraft. New York: Van Nostrad Reinhold Company, 1969.
• Hart, Carol and Dan. Natural Basketry. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1976.
• Hodges, Henry. Artifacts; An Introduction to Early Materials and Technology. London: John Baker, 1964.
• James, George Wharton. Indian Basketry. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972.
• Kochanski, Mors. Bush Arts. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1989.
• McNair, Paul C. The Sportsman’s Crafts Book. New York: Winchester Press, 1978.
• Montgomery, David R. Indian Crafts and Skills. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1985.
• Navajo School of Indian Basketry. Indian Basket Weaving. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971.
• North House Folk School. Celebrating Birch: the Lore, Art And Craft Of An Ancient Tree. East Petersburg, PA: Fox Chapel Publishing, 2007.
• Schneider, Richard C. Crafts of the North American Indians, A Craftsman’s Manual. New York: Van Nostrad Reinhold Company, 1972.
• Sjoberg, Gunilla Paetau. New Directions for Felt. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1996.
• Spark, Patricia. Fundamentals of Feltmaking. Coupeville, Washington: Shuttle Craft Books, 1989.
• Verdet-Fierz, Bernard and Regula. Willow Basketry. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1993.
• Vivan, John. Building Stone Walls. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing, 1976.
• Waldorf, D.C. The Art of Flint Knapping. Branson, Missouri: Mound Builder Books, 1993.
• Waring, Dennis. Making Wood Folk Instruments. New York: Sterling Publishing Com-pany, 1979.
• Weygers, Alexander G. The Complete Modern Blacksmith. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1997.
• Whittaker, John C. Flintknapping. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.
• White, George M. Craft Manual of North American Indian Footwear. Self Published, 1969.
• Wiseman, Ann. Making Things; The Hand Book of Creative Discovery. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1973. I picked this book up for a quarter when our local library was getting rid of it. It’s filled with lots of ideas for simple crafts you can do with both kids and adults, and was worth every cent I paid for it.

12 Essays

• Kimber, Robert. A Canoeist’s Sketchbook. Post Mills, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1991.
• Rutstrum, Calvin. Once Upon A Wilderness. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2002. (Originally published in 1973.)
• Rutstrum, Calvin. The Wilderness Life. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2004. (Originally published in 1975.)

13 Experiential Education And Learning Theory

• Bain, Ken. What The Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
• Claxton, Guy. Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less. New York: The Ecco Press, 1997.
• Drury, Jack K. and Bruce F. Bonney. The Backcountry Classroom; Lesson Plans for Teaching In the Wilderness. Merrillville, Indiana: ICS Books, 1992. Outlines and lesson plans on a variety of topics. Focused on modern, low-impact camping.
• Ford, Phyllis and Jim Blanchard. Leadership and Administration of Outdoor Pursuits. Venture Publishing, 1993.
• Graham, John. Outdoor Leadership; Technique, Common Sense, and Self Confidence. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1997.
• Priest, Simon and Michael A. Gass. Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics, 1997.

14 Fiction

• Smith, Edmund Ware. The One-Eyed Poacher And The Maine Woods. Camden, ME: Down East Books, 1955. The tales of Thomas Jefferson Coongate, the one-eyed poacher of the Maine woods and Robin Hood of Mopang Forest. Great stories of how he and his cronies live in the forest by hunting and fishing and staying one step ahead of the game warden, all while enjoying an occasional jug of Hernando’s Fiery Dagger rum. A treasure.

15 Firearms

There are countless books on firearms. These represent only the ones that I’ve read.

• Laycock, George. The Shotgunner’s Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1969.
• Lyons, Larry. The Gun Owners Handbook. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2006.
• Rinker, Robert A. Understanding Firearm Ballistics. Mulberry House Publishing, 1995.
• Riviere, Bill. The Gunner’s Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1965.

16 History and Human Development

• Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.
• Bronowski, J. The Ascent of Man. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1973.
• Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel; The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999.
• Morgan, Elaine. The Aquatic Ape. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1972.
• Morgan, Elaine. The Descent of Woman. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1982.
• Pyne, Stephen J. World Fire, The Culture of Fire on Earth. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.
• Shepard, Paul. Coming Home to the Pleistocene. Washington D.C.: Shearwater Books, 1998.

17 Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging

• Barker, James H. Always Getting Ready; Yup’ik Eskimo Subsistence in Southwest Alaska. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993.
• Dalrymple, Byron W. Hunting for the Pot, Fishing for the Pan. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1981.
• Dunaway, Vic. From Hook To Table; How To Clean and Cook all Fish. Miami: Wickstrom Publishers, Inc., 1991.
• Gibbons, Euell. Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop. Putney, Vermont: Alan C. Hood, Pub- lisher, 1964. Guide to foraging at the seacoast.
• Gordon, David George. The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998.
• Gruenwald, Tom. Hooked On Ice Fishing. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1995. Introduction to ice fishing with an emphasis on modern, high-tech gear.
• Irwin, R. Stephen M.D. The Providers. Blaine, Washington: Hancock House, 1984.
• Kerasote, Ted. Bloodties; Nature, Culture, and the Hunt. New York: Kodansha International, 1993. An interesting look at the culture of hunting. The book is broken up into three parts. In the first, the author is subsistence hunting with a native on the west coast of Greenland. In the second, he’s with trophy hunters in Alaska. In the third, he’s having a civilized discussion with the leader of an animal rights group. There is some interesting information on factory farm crop production, and the author makes a convincing case that as an environmental advocate his eating of wild game that he hunts himself is better for the planet than a vegetarian diet based on mass-produced crops.
• McClane, A. J. ed. McClane’s Standard Fishing Encyclopedia and International Angling Guide. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965. Common in used book stores and on the web, this now out-of-print encyclopedia of fishing has something about everything.
• McPherson, John and Geri McPherson. Primitive Living & Survival Skills; Naked Into the Wilderness. Self Randolph, Kansas: Prairie Wolf, 1993.
• Nelson, Richard K. Hunters of the Northern Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.
• Nester, Tony. The Modern Hunter-Gatherer: A Practical Guide To Living Off The Land. Flagstaff, AZ: Ancient Pathways, 2009.
• Ross, David A., Ph.D. The Fisherman’s Ocean; How Marine Science Can Help You Find and Catch More Fish. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2000.
• Stewart, Hilary. Indian Fishing. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
• Taylor, Ronald L. Butterflies In My Stomach; Or, Insects In Human Nutrition. Santa Barbara, California: Woodbridge Press Publishing Company, 1975.
• White, Charlie. Living Off The Sea. Surrey, British Columbia: Heritage House Publishing, 1985.
• Whitlock, Dave. LL Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook. New York: The Lyons Press, 1996.
• Course Notes on Optimal Foraging Theory -http://www.biology.eku.edu/RITCHISO/behavecolnotes2.htm

18 Mushrooms and Plants

This section omits the countless books on edible and medicinal uses of wild plants for the simple reason that there are hundreds, if not thousands of them. The books included represent knowledge that isn’t covered in the rest of the literature.

• Arora, David. Mushrooms Demystified. Berekely: Ten Speed Press, 1986. The book on mushrooms. Big, expensive, and encyclopedic.
• Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day; Thomas J. Elpel’s Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, Montana: HOPS Press, 1996. I learned to organize plants by botanical family in Boyd Shaffer’s “Field Botany of South Central Alaska” class at Kenai Peninsula College. It’s a great way to learn plants. I had the first edition of Elpel’s book, spiral bound, and I’ve had every edition since. I use it in all of my classes.
• Erichsen-Brown, Charlotte. Use of Plants for the Past 500 Years. Aurora, Ontario: Breezy Creeks Press, 1979.
• Heinrich, Clark. Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 2002. Thought provoking and good to keep in mind when you pass an Amanita muscaria on your travels.
• Kuhnlein, Harriet V., and Turner, Nancy J. Traditional Plant Foods Of Canadian Indigenous Peoples. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers , 1991. The book on edible wild plants for Canada and the northern USA. Out of print and hard to find, it includes text by Nancy J. Turner and tables of plant nutrients.
• Ratsch, Christian. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants; Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1998. This is a huge book that contains immense amounts of information.
• Turner, Nancy J. and Adam F. Szczawinski. Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1991. Other books on poisonous plants say that a plant is toxic, or occasionally very toxic. This book talks about what the toxins are, how they affect people, and dosages that are dangerous.

19 Navigation and Astronomy

• Burch, David. Emergency Navigation. Camden, Maine: International Marine, 1986. This book is the graduate level course on navigation without any tools. The premise of the book is that you just purchased a million-dollar yacht, you’re sailing offshore, and you simultaneously get hit by lightning, get your maps swept overboard by a wave, and lose your compass (you decide how). David Burch has advanced degrees in astrophysics, so the book contains some math and science, but if you can make it through them the payoff is it will be impossible to ever be lost on Earth again if you wear a wrist watch.
• Burch, David. Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation. Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press, 1987. Burch turns his considerable knowledge to the topic of navigation for small, paddle-propulsion crafts in coastal waters.
• Fisher, Dennis. Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings; How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Tools. Camden, Maine: International Marine, 1995.
• Gatty, Harold. Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1999. (reprint of Nature Is Your Guide) Essential for the student of bare- hand navigation. Unlike Burch, this isn’t technical but is clearly written and interesting to even the casual weekend navigator.
• Gatty, Harold. Nature Is Your Guide; How To Find Your Way On Land And Sea. London: Collins Press, 1958.
• Gatty, Harold. The Raft Book. New York: George Grady Press, 1943. A survival and navigation manual that used to be included on life rafts.
• Kjellstrom, Bjorn. Be Expert With Map and Compass. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955. The text for our map and compass workshops, and probably many other schools as well.
• Levy, David H. Skywatching; A Nature Company Guide. McMahons Point, New South Wales, Australia: Weldon Owen Pry Limited, 1995. – A coffee table-type book with lots of photos. Nothing special about this specific book, but such a volume is useful to have as they usually have simple explanations of solar lore as well as understandable diagrams.
• Mooers, Robert L. Jr. Finding Your Way In the Outdoors. New York: Outdoor Life Books, 1972.
• Owendoff, Robert S. Better Ways of Pathfinding. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company, 1969. Owendoff invented the shadow-stick method of navigation. This book features that and other methods of navigating without modern materials.
• Popular Science Monthly Editorial Staff. Astronomy For Amateurs. New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, 1934. Clear, easily understood explanations and experiments. If you can find a copy it’s highly recommended.
• Rey, H. A. The Stars; A New Way To See Them. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1952.
• Rutstrum, Calvin. The Wilderness Route Finder. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.

20 Northwoods Nature and Ecology

• Ames, Thomas Jr. Hatch Guide For New England Streams. Portland, Oregon: Frank Amato Publications, 2000.
• Coulombe, Deborah A. The Seaside Naturalist. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984.
• DeGraaf, Richard M. and Mariko Yamasaki. New England Wildlife; Habitat, Natural History, and Distribution. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2001.
• Halfpenny, James C. Winter: An Ecological Handbook. Boulder, Colorado: JohnsonBooks, 1989.
• Heinrich, Bernd. Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 2003.
• Marchand, Peter J. Life In the Cold. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1987.
• Marchand, Peter J. North Woods. Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1987.
• Scarola, J.F. Freshwater Fishes of New Hampshire. Concord: New Hampshire Fish andGame Department, 1973.
• Stokes, Donald W. A Guide To Nature In Winter. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1976.
• Wessels, Tom. Reading the Forested Landscape. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 1997.

21 Outdoor Leadership And Guiding

• Ajango, Deborah ed. Lessons Learned; A Guide to Accident Prevention and Crisis Response. Anchorage: University of Alaska Anchorage, 2000.
• Drury, Jack K. and Bruce F. Bonney. The Backcountry Classroom; Lesson Plans for Teaching In the Wilderness. Merrillville, Indiana: ICS Books, 1992. Outlines and lesson plans on a variety of topics. Focused on modern, low-impact camping.
• Gilpatrick, Gil. Outdoor Leader’s Handbook. Skowhegan, Maine, 2002. Gil Gilpatrick spent forty years guiding canoe trips on the Allagash, as well as other rivers. This book is a primer for the working guide. You won’t find a discussion of Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs, but you will find advice for the camp cook, advice on gear, and lots of advice on how to manage people. We’ve used it as a text for our guide training courses since it was published. It was originally called “The Canoe Guide’s Handbook”, but has been expanded into the current volume.
• Graham, John. Outdoor Leadership; Technique, Common Sense, and Self Confidence. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1997.
• Herter, George Leonard. Professional Guide’s Manual. Waseca, Minnesota: Herter’s Inc., 1960.
• Kosseff, Alex. AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership. Boston: AMC Books, 2003.
• Priest, Simon and Michael A. Gass. Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics, 1997.

22 Philosophy And Teaching of Bushcraft

• Claxton, Guy. Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less. New York: The Ecco Press, 1997.
• Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Self Reliance. Essays: First Series, 1841. If you read it in school because you had to, you should read it again because you want to. Its implications for bushcraft and living by your wits are many.
• Henderson, Bob and Nils Vikander. Nature First: Outdoor Life The Friluftsliv Way. Toronto: Natural Heritage Books, 2007.
• Isberg, Roger And Sarah. Simple Life “Friluftsliv”. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2007.
• Smith, Tim. Bushcraft Education. Masardis, ME: Jack Mountain Bushcraft School, 2010.
• Turner, James Morton. From Woodcraft To Leave No Trace. http://www.jackmtn.com/articles.html
• Van Horn, Paul. The Importance of Traditional Woodcraft Skills. Northland College. http://www.jackmtn.com/articles.html
• Van Horn, Paul. The Evolution of Modern Camping Skills, Attitudes and Techniques. Northland College.
  http://www.jackmtn.com/articles.html
• Williams, Christopher. Craftsmen of Necessity. New York: Vintage Books, 1974. I learned about this book from Mors Kochanski. Often philosophy takes on a new age spiritual connotation, but not with this book. Common in used book stores and on the web, it chronicles a the author’s journey through areas of non-industrialized people who adapt their lifestyle and building practices to their environment. A must read.

23 Primitive Living Skills

There is a lot of overlap between this section and the one on Bush Living Skills and Camping.

• Blankenship, Bart and Robin. Earth Knack; Stone Age Skills for the 21st Century. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 1996. A great book written by great people that I had the pleasure to study with.
• Callahan, Errett. Primitive Technology. Lynchburg, Virginia: Piltdown Productions, 1987. Diagrams and notes on a variety of primitive living skills, highly recommended.
• Brown, Tom Jr., and Morgan, Brandt. Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Living With The Earth. New York: Berkeley Books, 1984.
• Brown, Tom Jr., and Morgan, Brandt. Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkeley Books, 1983.
• Elpel, Tom. Participating in Nature. Pony, Montana: HOPS Press, 1992.
• Jamison, Richard L. The Best of Woodsmoke. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1982.
• Jamison, Richard L. Primitive Outdoor Skills. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1985.
• Jamison, Richard and Linda. Woodsmoke. Birmingham, Alabama: Menasha Ridge Press, 1994
• Living A Stone Age Life, The Report of a Creative Game. Research Project, 1976. I made a copy of this while a student of Errett Callahan’s Cliffside Workshops (highly recommended). It chronicles the experiment of some European people in a primitive living experience during the 1970s.
• McPherson, John and Geri McPherson. Primitive Living & Survival Skills; Naked Into the Wilderness. Randolph, Kansas: Prairie Wolf, 1993. The McPherson’s originally pub- lished a series of small booklets on primitive skills, eventually combining them into this volume and a second. This is one of my favorite books on primitive living skills. Their writing is a breath of fresh air in a genre dominated by professional writers who have no field experience with their topics. The McPhersons, in contrast, have less than polished writing skills, but like much of the information available on trapping, they write from their own experiences in the field. Well illustrated with numerous photos, this volume is a great introduction to primitive living skills as well as a great reference for people who have been at it for a decade. With chapters on braintanning, fire & cordage, bow & arrow making, traps and trapping, primitive cooking, processing deer, baskets, pottery, flintknapping and shetler building, it covers a wide variety of topics.
• Olsen, Larry Dean. Outdoor Survival Skills. New York: Pocket Books, 1973.
• Watts, Steve. Practicing Primitive. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2005. Watts is the president of the Society of Primitive Technology and a talented craftsman, and this is a great book with a focus on the southeastern US.
• Wescott, David, ed. Primitive Technology; A Book of Earth Skills. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 1999.
• Wescott, David, ed. Primitive Technology 2; Ancestral Skills. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2001.
• Wheat, Margaret M. Survival Arts of the Primitive Paiutes. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1967.
• Wilbur, C. Keith. The New England Indians. Chester, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 1978. – Wilbur has several books at our local store, and they’re all fantastic. Amazing line drawings and solid research make them both enjoyable to read and useful to use.

24 Science of Bushcraft

Contrary to those who think bushcraft is the domain of uneducated bumpkins, in reality it is the joining of history and science. These books cover the science aspect.

• Lyons, John M. Fire. New York: Scientific American Books, 1985.
• Dunn, Kevin M. Caveman Chemistry. Universal Publishers, 2003.
• Stewart, Ian. Nature’s Numbers. New York: Basic Books, 1995.

25 Sensory Perception

There are likely hundreds of books on the science of perception and sensory awareness, but few that have do do with outdoor endeavors.

• Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History Of The Senses. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.
• Elliot, Charles. The Outdoor Eye: A Sportsmen’s Guide. New York: Funk & Wagnals,1969.
• Brown, Tom with Brandt Morgan. Tom Brown’s Guide To Nature Observation And Tracking. New York: Berkely Books, 1983.

26 Shelter Design and Construction

• Beard, D.C. Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties. Bolinas, California: Shelter Publications Inc., 1914.
• Hakansson, Sven-Gunnar. From Log To Log House. Ottawa: Algrove Publishing Limited, 2003.
• Kochanski, Mors. Bushcraft. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1987. Formerly titled Northern Bushcraft.
• Koerte, Arnold. Toward The Design Of Shelter Forms In The North – Phase 1: Native Shelter Forms. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Center For Settlement Studies, 1974.
• Laubin, Reginald and Gladys. The Indian Tipi; Its History, Consruction, and Use. New York: Ballantine Books, 1957.
• Lyle, David. The Book of Masonry Stoves. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1984.
• Nabokov, Peter, and Easton, Robert. Native American Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
• Phleps, Hermann. The Craft of Log Building. Ottawa: Lee Valley Tools Ltd., 1982.
• Smith, Michael G. The Cobber’s Companion. Cottage Grove, Oregon: The Cob Cottage,1998.
• Walker, Tom. Building the Alaska Log Home (Revised Edition). Anchorage: Alaska North- west Books, 1998.

27 Survival

Next to losing weight, getting rich with no money down and making yourself more attractive to the opposite sex, there have probably been more books written on wilderness survival than on any other topic. But most of them are crap, written by people with no experience about which they’re writing. And the situation isn’t improving. With every trip to the bookstore I find one or two new books, each having a writer with a more-groomed pedigree than its predecessors. But their books still suck, and surprisingly seem to be getting worse. Now there are hundreds of instructional videos available as well, with varying levels of quality. Survival is not living off of the land, it’s living through a crisis. In my opinion the best two from this list that deal with actual survival, and they complement each other well, are Emdin and Lundin. If you’re looking for a book with facts and trivia about a variety of situations, try Maniguet.

• Air Force Manual 64-5. Survival, Search and Rescue. Department of the Air Force, 1969.
• Alford, Monty. Wilderness Survival Guide. Edmonds, Washington: Alaska NorthwestPublishing, 1987.
• Alloway, David. Desert Survival Skills. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.
• Anderson, E.G. Plane Safety and Survival. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, Inc., 1978.
• Davenport, Gregory. Wilderness Survival. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998.
• Emdin, Brian. Survival Secrets. Edmonton: Spotted Cow Press, 2002. Emdin is a retired Canadian military survival instructor, and his book demonstrates the importance of having a plan and implementing it immediately. Not a lot of background material, but excellent for teaching you what you need to do in a survival situation. A great complement to Lundin’s book.
• FM 21-76. Survival. Washington DC: Department of the Army, 1957.
• Fear, Gene. Surviving the Unexpected Wilderness Emergency. Tacoma, Washington: Survival Education Association, 1972.
• Ferri, Gino, Ph.D. Psychology of Wilderness Survival. Hanover, Ontario: Skyway Printing, 1989.
• Golden, Frank, MD, PhD, and Michael Tipton, PhD. Essentials Of Sea Survival. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2002.
• Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival; Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
• Greenbank, Anthony. The Book of Survival. London: Wolf Publishing, Ltd., 1967.
• Lundin, Cody. 98.6 Degrees; The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2003. – Explains what it takes to keep the body alive, then goes into detail about the background information involved. Excellent book and a great complement to Emdin’s book.
• Maniguet, Xavier. Survival; How To Prevail In Hostile Environments. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1988.
• Nesbitt, Paul H., Pond, Alonzo W. and William H. Allen. The Survival Book. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1959.
• Nester, Tony. Desert Survival. Flagstaff, Arizona: Diamond Creek Press, 2003.
• Robertson, Dougal. Sea Survival; A Manual. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. Robertson also wrote Survive the Savage Sea, based on his 37 days adrift in the Pacific in a life raft after his boat sank in 1972. This book is based on his experience and research.
• Schaffer, Boyd. Northern Wilderness Survival. Unpublished.
• Troebst, Cord Christian. The Art Of Survival. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1965.

28 Teaching Outdoor Skills to Children

• Beard, Daniel Carter. The American Boy’s Handy Book. Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, 1882.
• Beard, Lina and Adelia B. Beard. The American Girls Handy Book. Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, 1887.
• Beard, Daniel Carter. The Field And Forest Handy Book. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906.
• Brown, Tom Jr., and Morgan, Brandt. Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature and Survival For Children. New York: Berkeley Books, 1989.
• Cornell, Joseph. Sharing Nature With Children. Nevada City, California: Dawn Publications, 1979.
• Cornell, Joseph. Sharing the Joy of Nature. Nevada City, California: Dawn Publications, 1989.
• Gottleib, Jeff. Teaching Primitive Skills To Children; An Instructor’s Manual. Self Published, 1994.
• Mason, Bernard S. Boy’s Book of Camping and Wood Crafts. New York: The Derrydale Press, 2001.

29 Tracking

In my workshops I teach that tracking can’t be taught without a knowledge of the animal and the habitat. Some of the authors here disagree. As such, my bias is for those that take biology and habitat into account. In order, my top two are Elbroch and Rezendez. If your interests are academic, you should look at Liebenberg.

• Brown, Tom Jr. The Science and Art of Tracking. New York: Berkeley Books, 1999.
• Brown, Tom Jr., and Morgan, Brandt. Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking. New York: Berkeley Books, 1983.
• DeGraaf, Richard M. And Mariko Yamasaki. New England Wildlife; Habitat, Natural History And Distribution. Hanover, NH: University Press Of New England, 2001.
• Elbroch, Mark. Mammal Tracks and Sign. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2003.
• Halfpenny, James. A Field Guide To Mammal Tracking In North America. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, 1986.
• Liebenberg, Louis. The Art of Tracking; The Origin of a Science. Claremont, South Africa: David Phillip Publishers, 1990.
• Murie, Olas. A Field Guide To Animal Tracks. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1954.
• Rezendez, Paul. Tracking and the Art of Seeing. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.
• Rue, Leonard Lee 3rd. Complete Guide To Game Animals. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981.
• Rue, Leonard Lee 3rd. Furbearing Animals of North America. New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1981.
• Stokes, Donald and Lillian. Animal Tracking and Behavior. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1986.

30 Trapping

More than any other field, trapping represents democracy in publishing. This contains less than 1% of the available literature on trapping, with much of it written by practitioners in the field (unlike most of the junk that passes for survival literature). I’ve seen a bunch of other trapping books at trapper’s rendezvous. While some of it it is written by people with a limited grasp of language and grammar, they’re the one’s out there trapping, and it hasn’t been filtered through professional writers. This makes their information that much more valuable. Check out Fur-Fish-Game magazine for a bunch of information on self-published authors.

• Cooper, John Montgomery. Snares, Deadfalls, and Other Traps of the Northern Algonquians and Northern Athapaskans. Washington: Catholic University, 1938.
• Gibson, W. Hamilton. Camp Life In The Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and T rap Making. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1899.*
• Gilsvik, Bob. The Complete Book of Trapping. Columbus, Ohio: A.R.Harding Publishing Company, 1976.
• Harding, A.R. Deadfalls and Snares. Columbus, Ohio: A.R. Harding Publishing Co., 1935.
• Harding, A.R. The Trapper’s Handbook. Columbus, Ohio: A.R. Harding Publisher, 1951.
• Hawbaker, S. Stanley. Trapping North American Furbearers. Self Published, 1974. 258Hawbaker Drive South, Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania 17224.
• Krause, Tom. Dynamite Snares and Snaring. Self-Published.
• Krause, Tom. NTA Trapping Handbook. National Trapper’s Association, 1984.
• Kreps, E. The Science of Trapping. Columbus, Ohio: A.R. Harding Publisher.
• Lips, Julius. Trap systems among the Montagnais-Naskapi Indians of Labrador Peninsula. Stockholm: Statens Etnografiska Museum, 1936.
• Mason, Otis Tufton. Traps of the Amerind – A Study in Psychology and Invention. American Anthropologist 1900 Vol.2: 657-675.
• McPherson, John. Makin’ Meat 2. Randolph, Kansas: Prairie Wolf, 1992.
• Nelson, Richard K. Hunters of the Northern Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1968.
• Provencher, Paul. Bush Survival – Easy Way. Montreal: Sports/Famille, 1971.
• Rue, Leonard Lee 3rd. Furbearing Animals of North America. New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1981.

31 True Stories and Memoirs

• Anderson, William Ashley. Angel of Hudson Bay; The True Story of Maud Watt. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, 1961.
• Arseniev, V.K. Dersu the Trapper. New York: McPherson & Company, 1941.
• Bouchard, Serge. Caribou Hunter: Song Of A Vanished Innu Life. Toronto: GreystoneBooks, 2004.
• Boulanger, Tom. An Indian Remembers: My Life As A Trapper In Northern Manitoba. Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1971.
• Coffin, Stewart. Black Spruce Journals; Tales Of Canoe-Tripping In The Maine Woods, The Boreal Spruce Forests Of Northern Canada, And The Barren Grounds. Williston, Vermont: Heron Dance Press, 2007.
• De Poncins, Gontran. Kabloona. New York: Time Life Books, 1941.
• Finkelstein, Max and James Stone. Paddling The Boreal Forest: Rediscovering A.P. Low.Toronto: Natural Heritage Books, 2004.
• Hodgins, Bruce W. and Margaret Hobbs, ed. Nastawgan; the Canadian North by Canoe and Snowshoe. Toronto: Betelgeuse Books, 1985.
• Huntington, Sidney. Shadows on the Koyokuk. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books,1993.
• Kalifornsky, Peter. A Dena’ina Legacy – K’TL’EGH’I SUKDU: The Collected Writings OfPeter Kalifornsky. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 1991.
• Keith, Sam and Richard Proenneke. One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey. Seattle: Alaska Northwest Books, 1999. I first read Dick Proenneke’s book in the Kenai, Alaska library, when I was living in Sterling. It was an edition of Alaska Geographic, and I loved it. Some of my friends knew Dick, so I wrote him a letter. He wrote me back, and now his letter to me is my bookmark in his book. I was excited when his book was reprinted, and even more so when the video “Alone In the Wilderness” came out. It’s the runner-up favorite of our students, second only to “Dead River Rough Cut“. A great book.
• Leslie, Edward E. Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Com- pany, 1988.
• Merrick, Elliott. True North. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1933. Elliot Merrick graduated from Yale and had a short stint working in New York City, as documented in the first five pages of this book. He expresses his quiet desperation, then follows his passion. He moved to Labrador and taught school for a year. This book is the journal of his second year there, when he and his wife went into the interior of the province with the trappers for the winter. He documents his experiences poling up the Grand (since renamed the Churchill) river, snowshoeing, trapping, and living off the country. Well written and as good a story as you’ll be able to find. For years it was out of print and hard to find, but has recently come back into print. Highly recommended.
• Nansen, Fridtjof. Farthest North: The Epic Adventure Of A Visionary Explorer. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2008. (Originally published in 1897.)
• Nelson, Richard K. Shadow of the Hunter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
• North, Dick. The Mad Trapper of Rat River. Toronto: MacMillan of Canada, 1972. The story of Canada’s longest manhunt. Shrouded in mystery, to this day the identity of the man they were hunting isn’t known for sure. An incredible tale of endurance. Hollywood made a movie loosely based on the story called “Death Hunt” starring Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.
• Provencher, Paul. Provencher; Last of the Coureurs de Bois. Don Mills, Ontario: Burns & MacEachern Limited, 1974. Paul Provencher’s memoirs.
• Rowlands, John J. Cache Lake Country; Life In the North Woods. New York: Lyons and Burford Publishers, 1959. An enjoyable read with great diagrams and drawings in the margins.
• Shepardson, Carl – Margie – Tina & Randy. The Family Canoe Trip. Merrillville, IN: ICS Books, 1985. Chronicles the Shepardson family on their three year, 6000 mile canoe trip from New Hampshire to Alaska.
• Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Hunters of the Great North. New York: Paragon House, 1922.
• Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. My Life With the Eskimo. New York: Collier Books, 1913.
• Tetso, John. Trapping Is My Life. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates Limited, 1970.
• Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975.
• White, Stewart Edward. The Cabin. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1911.
• White, Stewart Edward. The Forest. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1904.
• White, Stewart Edward. The Mountain. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1904.
• Alone in the Wilderness DVD
• Snowshoes and Solitude DVD – Survivorman Les Stroud’s first wilderness film and the story of he and his wife’s year spent in the Wabakimi wilderness. I met Les at the Snow Walker’s Rendezvous years ago, before he became a star, and he plays men’s league hockey with a friend of mine from college. Great guy, great video.

32 True Stories and Memoirs – Maine and New Hampshire

• Ahern, Jack. Bound For Munsungan: The History Of The Early Sporting Camps Of Northern Maine. Bradford, MA: Pear Tree Publishing, 2008. The history of the early sporting camps on the upper Aroostook River, where we spend a lot of time traveling by canoe.
• Averill, Gerald. Ridge Runner; The Story of a Maine Woodsman. Thorndike, Maine: North Country Press, 1976.
• Dead River Rough Cut DVD This has been the favorite film of our students, year after year. It chronicles Bob Wagg and Walter Lane, two Maine trappers, over four seasons of their living in the bush. They philosophize, drink, swear, and do a bunch of other things that make this probably not fit for children. But they’re also 100% real. And since most survival experts on TV these days are city people who spend a few weeks in the country each year, it’s good to see them trapping, swearing, and not trying to look their best for the camera. Reality cinema long before it was cool.
• Deitz, Lew. The Allagash. Camden, ME: Down East Books, 2000. The history of the Allagash region and the people who live there.
• Geagan, Bill. Nature I Loved… New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1952.
• Hamlin, Helen. Nine Mile Bridge. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1945. Helen Hamlin was the wife of a game warden in northern Maine. The books subtitle is “Three Years in the Maine Woods.” Highly recommended.
• Kidney, Dorothy Boone. Away From It All. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1969. Dorothy Boone Kidney lived at Lock Dam on Chamberlain Lake, on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. I’ve been there many times guiding canoe trips, and her memoirs are fun to read both for me and my clients.
• Kidney, Dorothy Boone. Wilderness Journal. Portland, Maine: Guy Gannett Publishing Company, 1980.
• Knowles, Joseph. Alone in the Wilderness. Boston: Small, Maynard and Company, 1913. Joeseph Knowles, in his 40’s, stripped to his underwear at King and Bartlett Camps, then walked into the woods for 2 months of living off the land. It came out after he was done that he might not have done everything he said he did, but to anyone who has spent time living off the land his book is refreshingly written by a kindred spirit. His detractors, who said he spent some time at a friend’s cabin, were unanimous in saying that he had the skills to have done that which he wrote about.
• Rich, Louise Dickinson. We Took To The Woods. Camden, Maine: Down East Books, 1942.
• Pike, Robert. Spiked Boots. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 1959.
• Pike, Robert. Tall Trees, Tough Men. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1967. The wild west is often seen as the defining American experience, and has been lauded by Frederick Jackson Turner in his frontier thesis as our defining characteristic. But much of the history of the west was invented by historians and novelists. The wild northeast, characterized by the lumber camps and log drives, was not invented. Pike recounts the history and the characters of northern New England’s lumbering past. The stories entertain and the characters are larger than life.

33 Weather Understanding and Forecasting

• Rubin, Louis D. Sr. And Jim Duncan. The Weather Wizard’s Cloud Book. Chapel Hill: Algoquin Books, 1989.
• Sloane, Eric. Almanac and Weather Forecaster. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1955.
• Sloane, Eric. Eric Sloane’s Weather Book. New York: Duell, Sloane and Pearce, 1952. This has long been a text in our semester program. Excellent..

34 Wilderness Medicine: Modern and Traditional

• Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, M.D. Your Body’s Many Cries For Water. Falls Church, Virginia: Global Health Solutions, Inc., 1992. www.watercure.com Examines the effects of chronic dehydration and points to it as the causative factor in degenerative disease. Also promotes the solvent, as opposed to the solute, philosophy of medicine.
• Dickson, Murray. Where There is No Dentist. Palo Alto, California: The Hesperian Foundation, 1983.
• Forgey, William W. Wilderness Medical Society Practical Guidelines. Merriville, Indiana: ICS Books, 1995.
• Root-Bernstein, Robert and Michelle. Honey, Mud, Maggots, and Other Medicinal Marvels. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. This book explores the science behind traditional medical practices such as those listed in the title..
• Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities. Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician prepared notes. Conway, New Hampshire: SOLO, 1995. These course notes are from the WEMT course I took with SOLO. Great course, if you can take one you won’t regret it.
• Tilton, Buck and Frank Hubbell. Medicine for the Backcountry. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot, 1999.
• Werner, David. Where There Is No Doctor. Palo Alto, California: The Hesperian Foundation, 1992.
• Wilkerson, James A. Hypothermia, Frostbite, and other Cold Injuries. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1986.
• Wilkerson, James A. Medicine for Mountaineering. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1975.

35 Winter Skills

• Alford, Montague. Winter Wise. Surrey, British Columbia: Heritage House, 1999.
• Conover, Garrett and Alexandra. A Snow Walker’s Companion. Camden, Maine: RaggedMountain Press, 1995.
• Danielsen, John. Winter Hiking and Camping. Glens Falls, New York: Adirondack Mountain Club, 1977.
• Fitzhugh, William W. and Susan A. Kaplan. Inua; Sprit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982.
• Gilpatrick, Gil. Building Snowshoes. Self Published, 1991. P.O. Box 461, Skowhegan, Maine, 04976.
• Gorman, Stephen. AMC Guide to Winter Camping. Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club Books, 1991.
• Halfpenny, James. Winter: An Ecological Handbook. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, 1989.
• Kochanski, Mors. Bushcraft. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1987.
• Macdonald, Craig. 2 Self-Published information packets on traditional winter camping.R.R.#1, Dwight, Ontario, P0A 1H0 Canada. Telephone: 705-635-3416.
• Randall, Glenn. Cold Comfort. New York: Nick Lyons Books, 1987.
• Rossit, Edward A. Snow Camping and Mountaineering. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970.
• Rutstrum, Calvin. Paradise Below Zero. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968.
• Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Arctic Manual. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944.
• Vaillancourt, Henri. Making the Attikamek Snowshoe. Greenville, New Hampshire: The Trust for Native American Cultures and Crafts, 1987.
• Wilkinson, Ernest. Snow Caves For Fun And Survival. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, 1986.
• Weiss, Hal. Secrets of Warmth. The Mountaineers: Seattle, 1988.

36 Woodworking, Woodworking Tools and Wood Heat

• Bealer, Alex W. The Old Ways of Working Wood. Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1980.
• Beaudry, Michael. The Axe Wielder’s Handbook. Springville, UT: Horizon Publishers,2002.
• Cook, D. The Ax Book. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Alan C. Hood & Company, Inc., 1981.
• Donnelly, Warren. Poulan’s Complete Book of Firewood. Colorado Springs: Donnelly and Sons Publishing Co., 1974.
• Michael, David E. Saws That Sing: A Guide To Using Crosscut Saws. Missoula, Montana: USDA Forest Service, 2004.
• Miller, Warren. Crosscut Saw Manual. Missoula, Montana: USDA Forest Service, 1977.
• Sloane, Eric. A Museum of Early American Tools. New York: Wilfred Funk, 1964.
• Sloane, Eric. A Reverence For Wood. New York: Ballantine Books, 1965.
• Vivian, John. Wood Heat. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1976.
• Watson, Aldren A. Hand Tools; Their Ways and Workings. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1982.
• Weisgerber, Bernie. An Axe To Grind; A Practical Ax Manual. Missoula, Montana: USDA Forest Service, 1999.
• Wik, Ole. Wood Stoves; How To Make and Use Them. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, 1977.
• Filing Hand Saws DVD

37 Miscellaneous Skills and Topics

• Aaland, Mikkel. Sweat; The Illustrated History and Description of the Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Islamic Hammam, Japanese Mushi-buro, Mexican Temescal and American Indian & Eskimo Sweat Lodge. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1978.. This is a great cross-cultural study of sweat baths. The author traveled the world and wrote about his experiences in them.
• Back, Joe. Horses, Hitches, and Rocky Trails. Boulder: Johnson Books, 1959. Written by a horse packer for horse packers.
• Frazine, Richard. The Barefoot Hiker. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 1993.
• Hartley, Dorothy. Lost Country Life. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979.
• Herter, George Leonard. Professional Guide’s Manual. Waseca, Minnesota: Herter’s Inc., 1960.
• Howard, Kathleen and Norman Gibat. The Lore of Still Building. Fostoria, Ohio: Noguska Industries, 1973.
• Viherjuuri, H.J. Sauna; The Finnish Bath. Helsinki, Finland: Otava, 1952. History and how-to on the Finnish sauna.

38 The Twenty-One Most Important Books

1. Kochanski, Mors. Bushcraft. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1987. Formerly titled Northern Bushcraft. In my opinion, the most valuable book on bushcraft, or living in wild places. Chapters on knife, axe, fire, shelter, saw, and bits on appropriate plants and animals. Kochanski is the grand old man of bushcraft. If you buy just one book, this would have to be it.
2. Provencher, Paul. The Complete Woodsman. Toronto: Habitex Books, 1974. Provencher was a forester in the Quebec and Labrador country on the north shore of the St. Lawrence river. He traveled extensively with native guides who constantly demonstrated the tech- niques of living off the land, which he then wrote about in his books. All of his books are good, but if I had to choose just one, this would be it. Out of print and hard to find, if you do find a copy you’ll be rewarded. Very similar to his other book “I Live In The Woods” that is more commonly available.
3. Wescott, David, ed. Primitive Technology; A Book of Earth Skills. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 1999. This is volume 1 (of 2) of the first ten years of articles in the Journal of the Society of Primitive Technology. A variety of articles by a variety of authors. Thankfully in print and easy to obtain.
4. Wescott, David, ed. Primitive Technology 2; Ancestral Skills. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2001. This is volume 2 (of 2) of the first ten years of articles in the Journal of the Society of Primitive Technology.
5. Graves, Richard. Bushcraft; A Serious Guide To Survival and Camping. New York: Warner Books, 1978. I’ve had two copies of this long out of print book. As a kid and teen it was my bible of woods lore, even though I was in New Hampshire and the author wrote from, and about, Australia. Now available in a free online edition.
6. Nester, Tony. The Modern Hunter-Gatherer: A Practical Guide To Living Off The Land. Flagstaff, AZ: Ancient Pathways, 2009. Looks at the realities of eating a wild diet off of the land through hunting, trapping, fishing and foraging. Dispels many of the common myths while giving solid, practical advice and information.
7. McPherson, John and Geri McPherson. Primitive Living & Survival Skills; Naked Into the Wilderness. Self Randolph, Kansas: Prairie Wolf, 1993. The McPherson’s originally published a series of small booklets on primitive skills, eventually combining them into this volume and a second. This is one of my favorite books on primitive living skills. Their writing is a breath of fresh air in a genre dominated by professional writers who have no field experience with their topics. The McPhersons, in contrast, have less than polished writing skills, but like much of the information available on trapping, they write from their own experiences in the field. Well illustrated with numerous photos, this volume is a great introduction to primitive living skills as well as a great reference for people who have been at it for a decade. With chapters on braintanning, fire & cordage, bow & arrow making, traps and trapping, primitive cooking, processing deer, baskets, pottery, flintknapping and shetler building, it covers a wide variety of topics.
8. Schneider, Richard C. Crafts of the North American Indians, A Craftsman’s Manual. New York: Van Nostrad Reinhold Company, 1972. Written by a teacher with easy to follow text and clear instructions. One of the best how-to manuals for making traditional crafts.
9. Whiting, Robert M., Ed. The Art Of Outdoor Living: Basic Junior Maine Guide Text. Gardiner, ME: Maine Camp Director’s Association, 1977. Very difficult to find but an abso- lute gem. Detailed sections on most aspects of outdoor living in the forests of Maine.
10. Lundin, Cody. 98.6 Degrees; The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2003. Explains what it takes to keep the body alive, then goes into detail about the background information involved. Excellent book.
11. Kephart, Horace. Camping and Woodcraft. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1988. A classic outdoor text. Encyclopedic in its scope, a must read by all who spend significant amounts of time in the bush.
12. Burch, David. Emergency Navigation. Camden, Maine: International Marine, 1986. This book is the graduate level course on navigation without any tools. The premise of the book is that you just purchased a million-dollar yacht, you’re sailing offshore, and you simultaneously get hit by lightning, get your maps swept overboard by a wave, and lose your compass (you decide how). David Burch has advanced degrees in astrophysics, so the book contains some math and science, but if you can make it through them the payoff is it will be impossible to ever be lost on Earth again if you wear a wrist watch.
13. Jenkins, J.C. The Humanure Handbook; A Guide To Composting Human Manure. Grove City, Pennsylvania: Jenkins Publishing, 1994. The book on composting and dealing with human manure. We’ve been using the system since 1996. It works, it’s simple, it’s cheap, and it dispels common myths that are annoyingly spouted off by people who don’t know any better. Available for free online.
14. Sloane, Eric. Eric Sloane’s Weather Book. New York: Duell, Sloane and Pearce, 1952. This has been a text in our semester program since the beginning. Clear diagrams, easy to understand with out lots of jargon, and thankfully now back in print, this is the shortest route to understanding the weather.
15. Wessels, Tom. Reading the Forested Landscape. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 1997. Unlocks the history of the forests of New England and helps the reader uncover the tracks of past generations.
16. Williams, Christopher. Craftsmen of Necessity. New York: Vintage Books, 1974. I con- sider this great book to sum up the philosophy of bushcraft and Earth skills education. Often philosophy takes on a new age or spiritual connotation in modern wilderness skills, but not with this book. It chronicles the author’s journey through areas of non- industrialized people who adapt their lifestyle to their environment, and where the hero is the self-reliant craftsmen who is the prototypical bushcraft practitioner. Not directly about bushcraft or outdoor living, but a must read anyway.
17. Conover, Garrett and Alexandra. A Snow Walker’s Companion. Camden, Maine: Ragged Mountain Press, 1995. The theory and techniques of traditional, hot-tent winter camp- ing. Great sections on tents, snowshoes, toboggans, footwear, and probably the best in any book on dressing to stay warm in the winter. Written by seasoned Maine Guides with years of experience.
18. Mason, Bill. Path of the Paddle. Richmond Hill, Ontario: Firefly Books, 1984. Probably the best of the general books available on canoeing. As Mason wasn’t from the northeast there’s very little on poling canoes, but other than this it’s a great text and reference. It’s a great complement to his videos on paddling.
19. Riviere, Bill. The L.L. Bean Guide to the Outdoors. New York: Random House, 1981. Bill Riviere was a Maine guide and wrote numerous books based on his experience outdoors. This book is a compendium of knowledge on a wide variety of topics, from choosing tents and sleeping bags to canoeing and reading the weather. Long out of print, it is common and inexpensive at used book stores.
20. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Arctic Manual. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944. Out of print, expensive if you can find it at all, but dense with information. Written by Stefansson at the request of the Army during the 1940s. Based on his years of experience as an anthropologist in the arctic, the premise is to include everything a downed pilot would need to know in order to survive by “going native”.
21. Pocket Books by Mors Kochanski, sold by Karamat.com Titles:
    • The Compass
    • Knife Sharpening
    • Map Use
    • Tools of Survival and Survival Training
    • Basic Wilderness Survival in Cold Lacking Snow
    • Basic Wilderness Survival in Deep Snow
    • Top Seven Bush Knots and the Use of the Windlass
    • Wilderness Steam Bath
    • The Inuit Snow House
    • The Night Sky
    • Basic Netting
    • The Two Kilogram Survival Kit Field Manual
    • Survival Kit Ideas.

These great little booklets are small and concise, yet are a fantastic resource. There are a few other titles available, but these are the ones I recommend for the northeastern US and Canada.