Customer Reviews

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival (Survival school handbooks / Tom Brown, Jr)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Tom Brown is a charismatic, inspiring story teller...one of the best. But if you are interested in learning these skills, you'd be much better off with McPherson's "Naked into the Wilderness" or "Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski or Larry Dean Olsen's "Outdoor Survival Skills". For hide tanning (brain tanning) check out "Deerskins into Buckskins" by Matt Richards, tracking try "Mammal Tracking in North America" by James Halfpenny. Just about any edible plant guide will out do this book.

Tom has inspired more people's interest in wilderness living/survival, and for that he deserves kudos. His most inspirational reading is "The Tracker". Get it and it will change your life. But if you want to actually learn the skills, you're better off elsewhere.

I have read most of Tom's books, some of them repeatedly, and attended two of his survival classes. My experience says that Tom is an unusual person, who writes unusual books, based on his unusual life. Tom told us in one class that he estimates that from the time he met Stalking Wolf up through high school age, he spent an average of 40 hours a week in the woods. In his classes and books he attempts to teach not only specific skills but also a way of life, attitudes, and as much as he can of actual experience rather than descriptions ABOUT experiences. This is a tall order for any teacher.

This book is about skills which Tom has used to live year round and in all sorts of weather from Canada to Death Valley, wilderness to the heart of New York City. They do work. However, keep in mind that it is impossible to teach skills - actual experience - through a book. And keep in mind that Tom was taught, and teaches himself, in a manner which expects the student to question, investigate, experiment, discover, and learn on h/is/er own. He would consider anything else a cheap way of cheating the student. If you can approach the contents of this book, and his others, in this spirit, you will have enough here to learn from for many years.

I've read all of Tom's books, and he is one awesome story-teller, but when it comes to teaching hands-on skills...well he's really just ok. I've been teaching primitive wilderness living skills for years, and there are quite a few topics in this book that his treatment and understanding of, are less than satisfactory.

Get Tom's book The Tracker from amazon.com, to experience him at his best. For better survival skills info get Primitive Wilderness Living by John McPherson, or Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen.

I read this book before moving to Va and living alone in the woods for 5 years. I also have the US Army Survival Handbook. Tom Brown's Field Guide is far superior to the US Army version.
I practiced many of these pages again and again in the woods of Va. I am going to check out the other books recommended above but I have to say this is a great book. The drawings are great. A few of the figure 4 traps are hard to understand but the rest of the traps are well drawn and and easy to understand.
Again this book is far superior to the US Army version. They should just use this book instead.

Let me start by saying I love all of Tom Brown's books! He writes just the way he wants,its the American way. The survival information within this book is great, if not for a little time consuming to retrieve. Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry D.Olsen is more to the point,better yet, get yourself a copy of all of "The Woodsmaster" videos by Dr.Ron Hood. I could not figure out how to do my bow-drill fires all these years untill I got them. Ron Hood presents survival info with a sense of humor and a grain of salt.I wish he was my uncle. .....Back to Tom Brown Jr.s Book.While I complain about the books content and arrangement, let me also say the book is a "must have" because I have found that it does take information presented by different people to sink into numbskulls like myself,and others. On 4-2-99 made my first bow-drill fire!ooooo-baby! Peace and God Speed to all.

This wonderful book, which teaches you to live in harmony with the earth, and not in a struggle with it, is packed full with invaluable information. This book has taught me to survive without the aid of any commercialy avaiable products. Once you read this book you will feel at home in any wilderness setting.

This book is one of the most in depth wilderness survival books you will find anywhere. The book give s broad spectram of of survival info. You will learn about shelters, edible plants and herbs, animal snares, and the basics of tracking and camouflage. this book holds alot of information, and no matter how many books I have on survival and tracking, I still relate back to it often.

This book is the best starting place for those wishing to learn about wilderness survival. The book is well organized and a pleasure to read. The subject matter can be dry, but Mr. Brown does a good job of interlacing his personal experiences with the instructional material. There are two reasons I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. 1) I think it could use more diagrams and pictures. Without an instructor by your side it would be easy to misunderstand some of the more technical skills covered. 2) This book is mainly for temperate regions. While much of the material is useful for any climate, it is missing tropical and artic specific information. Mr. Brown's knowledge of survival and tracking techniques is second to none. His field guides should be on every outdoor enthusiast's book shelf, and this book should be in your pack with you at all times.

when i say treasure i don't use that term lightly. i originally read this book in it's entirety and really enjoyed it, then put it down for awhile. However, I have spent numerous hours in the outdoors as of late and have found this as a guide to just about anything i want to do in the outdoors.

I have used it to guide me through making baskets and containers in the wilderness, (and an easter basket for my wife), for skinning a wild animal, for making knifes, arrows, etc. from flint and bone, for guiding me to some edible wild treats. I could go on and on about the uses for this book. And even if this book isn't complete on a particular subject it will guide you to a book that does. Whether it's to one of his books or another field guide series.

This book is a great place to start if you're interested in learning outdoor survival. Very practical, not just what to do, but how to think when you're if you're stuck in a survival situation. Clear directions, simple illustrations. Not as dry as, say, a Boy Scout manual.