Living Off the Land: Tracking, Building Traps, Shelters, Toolmaking, Finding Water and Food [Paperback]

Christopher McNab (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

A comprehensive guide to surviving and thriving on various terrains

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Trained soldiers will tell you that the art of survival relies heavily on two essential skills: finding food and finding water. In any survival situation it is vital that you adapt to your surroundings as quickly as possible and make good use of the sustenance nature has to offer. Living Off the Land contains everything the survivor needs to know about thriving in nature, from making tools and finding water to eating plants and catching fish. With over 120 illustrations, this book is packed with practical information and insightful tips such as how to make a fire without the use of matches and how to master the art of making traps and snares to capture food. Later chapters adapt these principles to a variety of terrain, including the desert, the Arctic, and the jungle, with a special chapter devoted to survival at sea.Because nature can be a dangerous place, the book also instructs the reader how to identify and avoid dangerous animals such as snakes and spiders, the art of extracting poison, and how to tell edible plants and fungi from poisonous ones. This book will be an invaluable help to anyone who ventures into the out-of-doors. The information it contains might just save your life. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2, 192 pages, illustrations)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585745243
• ISBN-13: 978-1585745241
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs down, March 6, 2006

By 

Outside - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living Off the Land: Tracking, Building Traps, Shelters, Toolmaking, Finding Water and Food (Paperback)

This book is a good looking disaster. While attempting to learn about the authors qualifications, I soon realized he has none thus the glaring lack of anything about him anywhere in/on the book. Who is Chris McNab? The content, other than the illustrations which are quite fine indeed (they were done by two illustrators named only in small print inside the book not on the cover) is lacking in so many ways. Page 89 has a picture of a man throwing a spear via a "spear thrower", not an Atlatle, merely a three foot long split log with a handle below and a groove on top in which to rest the spear. The launcher is thrust forward and down to send the spear on its' way. No mechanical advantage is gained, in fact much is lost. Hide tanning is covered in about seventy words and the bow and drill in four scant paragraphs...where does he get his information? Not worth the postage.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars dont buy it!!! read my review., February 2, 2011

By 

Jacob - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living Off the Land: Tracking, Building Traps, Shelters, Toolmaking, Finding Water and Food (Paperback)

This is a terrible book! I bought it used for $19 and I think I should get my money back and then some. The author clearly has never been in the wilderness without a motorhome and a generator. I suppose if you know absolutely nothing about wilderness self-reliance, you could learn a thing or two, but even then I would not recommend it to anyone. On the front cover of the book it has a list of things the book supposedly covers, and one of them is "constructing shelters", and let me tell you there is not one damn thing in this book that even remotely talks about shelter building. I even looked in the glossary, and there isn't even the word shelter back there.
Honestly if you have internet, (which you most likely do if you are reading this) you can find so much information on the subject of wilderness self-reliance AKA survival on youtube.com. I mean books are great and all but as long as you have internet, youtube is free! Even Dave Canterbury (from the discovery show Dual Survival) is on youtube.com.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Living Off the Land, February 27, 2009

By 

Nola J. Byers "Motor Wheels" (Ripley, W. Va.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living Off the Land: Tracking, Building Traps, Shelters, Toolmaking, Finding Water and Food (Paperback)

Given as a gift. It was a perfect gift for the person who has most everything and they told me they really enjoyed reading it.