I recently had the privilege of spending a week with one of the Godfathers of Survival, Mors Kochanski. While Mors’ resume includes 40+ years as an outdoor educator, researcher, author, and scholar, which unto itself is impressive, it simply does not do Kochanski justice. When it comes to Wilderness Living Skills and Survival, simply put, […]
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Horace Kephart Days Celebration October 10th & 11th, 2014
This year’s Horace Kephart Days Celebration will be held October 10th and 11th at the Cradle of Forestry in the Pisqah National Forest (western North Carolina). Keep checking the website, HoraceKephart – An American Legend and their FaceBook page for updates. This will be a great opportunity to join Steve Watts and the Acorn Classic Camping Demonstration team from the Schiele Museum too. Hope to see you […]
Why Carry A Knife (and Fire-starter and Cordage)
There are very few things in this world outside of breathing, eating, etc. that I feel I need to do. Of those few, one of them is carrying a knife. I know I am not the only one, many of you reading this feel just like me. Perhaps it’s in our DNA. Personally, this desire of having […]
Camp-Fire Club of America Outings
Last year I wrote an article which included an excerpt from the book, On Your Own in the Wilderness by Townsend Whelen and Bradford Angier. In that article was a quote mentioning the Camp-Fire Club of America (CFCA). I, and my friends who study and appreciate Classic Camping, have seen mention of the CFCA in text […]
Destroying the Trapping Myth
I post this as my supplement to Ross Gilmore’s (Wood Trekker) blog article, Trapping and The Modern Woodsman. I look forward to seeing where he goes with the series. My $0.02 First and foremost, it worth reminding, or perhaps enlightening, those opposed to hunting and trapping, that animals in the wild don’t die of old […]
Edible Wild Plants for Survival, (Not) So Fast!
One of the Survival 101 maxims is “Learn my top edible wild plants for survival!” Equipping yourself with this knowledge is empowering according to most instructors, whether it is a fight for survival or a recreational walk through the woods. Whichever experience is being sold, it comes down to being self-reliant. Therefore, many put learning […]
Emergency Management – Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (2 of 8)
Danger Will Robinson! Danger!!! So where do we get on the on-ramp to the road of Emergency Management? How do we know what our weaknesses are? Are we prepared for what comes our way? Do we have the right stuff? How much stuff do I need? What events should our families be practicing? If any […]
Emergency Management (1 of 8)
News alert! There is a deadly virus that is bringing people back to life!!! The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us!!! What do we do? We throw our hands up in the air and run around in circle screaming!!!!! No wait I have “prepped” for this; I have food stored, ammo stashes, fuel and water stockpiled. […]
1 degree; Wilderness Fire Starting Considerations
NEXT TO KNOWING HOW TO DRESS WELL, FIRE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSH SKILLS THERE ARE, BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE FEW MEANS AVAILABLE TO MAKE UP MOST GREAT DEFICIENCIES. Master Woodsman Mors Kochanski’s excellent quote above sums it up. Next to knowing how to dress well (reducing heat loss), fire is […]
Get Ready for Rabbitstick 2014!
We keep an updated list of great Gatherings and Symposiums on our EVENTS page. I strongly suggest you check out the page as these events are great places to learn, share, network and even socialize at a very reasonable cost. The mother of all of them, in my opinion, is Rabbitstick. As the event is […]
Survival TV Sucks!
Unless you have been living under a rock, it’s likely you’ve heard the news that Cody Lundin was fired from the Discovery Channel’s hit TV show, Dual Survival. This being the result of “differences over safety and health concerns…” Just in case you missed it, the details can be found on Lundin’s FaceBook Page. While I admit […]
The Liebster Award
Ross Gilmore has a very popular blog, Wood Trekker, of which we have had listed in our Blog Roll since our inception. He recently tagged Master Woodsman for the The Liebster Award. Thank you Ross. Per Ross’ take on the award: The award is bestowed by bloggers on other bloggers and intended to allow people to learn […]
Blade Show 2014
I believe this is my 11th Blade Show in the last 14 years. Those first years I attended, I was really into knives, a huge fan of the late Rob Simonich (nicest guy ever, I still carry a Bitter Root everyday). Nowadays, I am really there just as much for the social aspect, maybe even more. […]
Huaraches
I had a question on my personal YouTube channel about acclimating your feet to huaraches. So I am here to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you are not familiar with Huaraches, they are the (tire) sandals of the Taramurhara Indians of northern Mexico. It’s also worth noting other cultures from around […]
Punkwood
When the realization set in to all the things punkwood offers with fire, and how available it is in the woods, I did the quintessential face-palm. This also happens frequently when I read the classics from Kephart, Jaegar, Beard, Seton, et. al. and see those simple and cool solutions that I didn’t take advantage of in […]
Natural Insect Repellents
I was in my early twenties the last time I used manmade insect repellent. I hated what DEET did to my gear, especially plastic. And one can’t help wonder what it was doing to me! At that time in the eighties, I was really into hunting and fishing. Luckily those bug jackets that hold the netting […]
Trip Report: Australia
Just got back from more than a week in Australia. While work took me there, I was fortunate enough to take my wife Stacie and spend a few days exploring the bush, learning from the Aborigines, and hitting some of the tourist attractions. For this report I will break it into four parts. First, the […]
The Father of Survival Shows ~ Survival in the Bush
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 […]
Origins of the Whelen Lean-To by Thomas Ray
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 […]
Wilderness & Nature Quotes
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 […]
Steve Watts Bow Drill (1985 video)
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 […]
Great Survival Quotes
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 […]
That’s the way to run a culture…
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 […]
Water Filtration Using Plant Xylem
In the continuing search for potable water solutions in developing countries, researchers have turned to plant xylem. Below are the highlights of the just published research paper on this solution. I strongly suggest you read the entire paper if this is of interest to you (link below). If you are in the Cliffs Notes fan […]
The Woods Life
A couple years ago, David Wescott turned me on to a great blog about woodcraft and traditional camping, The Woods Life. They have been in our Blog Roll under Online Resources ever since. It is long overdue we point out some of the great articles over there. And, as I have been studying Sleeping Bags lately, […]
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Survival Entertainment, Friend or Foe? An exclusive interview with Cody Lundin
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Leave No Trace killed Woodcraft… almost
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Steven Miles Watts
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Promoting Outdoor Living Skills
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Your Guide To Survival Using A Trash Bag
- Why the GBS with Kochanski and Wescott | Master Woodsman: […] first conversation is a podcast with Mor...
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Kent: The link is no longer working...
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Ross Hinter: Thank you Chris, excellent article. Sure looking f...
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Randy Clark: Can't believe I found this website. I only came ...
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Chad Thomas Colorado: Looking foreword to it!!! I have learned so many s...
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