Customer Reviews

Participating in Nature: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ever wonder how to start a fire with a bowdrill, weave a basket, build a stone oven, blow a coal-burned cup, or make reliable and comfortable shoes? Which plants are edible or medicinal, and what material makes the best bows and arrows? I've thought about these things and others, never really dwelling on them for long. None of these were on my list of things to learn to do for 2001Ñbut they should have been. I moved to the country to be closer to nature and to be more a part of it, and it's about time. So where do we start?
Take a beautiful quiet morning, before sunrise. Sit on a peaceful overlook with a view that you know will be breathtaking once the morning light touches it. Watch the stars shine until they fade into the half-light. Feel the dew on the grass and in the air. Listen to the day birds begin their chorus. Notice the smells that waft by on a soft breeze. Watch the animals begin or end their regular rituals as the morning breaks. Write a book.
This is how Pony, Montana resident Thomas J. Elpel wrote Participating in Nature. It begins before daybreak, and is written so that as you grow in understanding of many things natural, a day unfolds and runs its course. By evening, near the end of the book, you have learned how to do several things, and why.
This is not a survival book written for guerillas, though they might find it very useful. It is a book written for the average worker who wants to get away from it all or the family that wants to do something special together. It's those who want to learn something new, a new way of doing something old, or enrich their relationship with nature. It's a must-read for anyone who is interested in doing something on a personal level to help maintain and restore Earth.
Even if you don't consider yourself an environmentalist, you probably don't mind saving money, stimulating your brain, or learning a new stress-relieving habit. Learning skills such as those found in Participating in Nature could also help answer questions like "what do you want to do this summer?" or even the ever-annoying "are we there yet?"
Throughout the pages of this "Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills," you'll find pictures of the author's work with other medium also. Some of the photography is his, and most of the artwork, making it a book that is not only useful but attractive as well. Now that you understand the utilitarian and aesthetic qualities of the book, I'll move on to the style. In this, I've saved the best for last. He may describe it as a field guide, but don't let the name fool you. This is no dry instruction manual filled with only technical descriptions and directions for use. Oh, the step-by-step is there so you'll know you're getting it right, but there is so much more than that within these pages.
As I mentioned before, he wrote this as a day that progresses, and his details take you to the very spot where he sits wrapped in a blanket, leaning agaist a fir tree as the morning gradually pushes the night westward. By sunset, he has explored and explained Mind, Shelter, Fire, Water, Cooking, Plants, Animals, and Clothing. These are the chapters of the day that is the book. Of course, he adds a bibliography and a fairly comprehensive index.
"My tea is hot. I put away my journal and my pen... Then I sit back and think about what it is that I am seeking....
"I have always been drawn towards the idea of being able to move lightly, freely, almost invisibly through the ecosystem, to be like the breeze, being present, but invisible.... and I am referring to the Indian scouts from another era, is symbolic of that desire.
"...it is something I seek distinctly for myself. It is my dream to be able to move and live as the scout, to travel unhindered, hopping, skipping, and gliding through the wilderness."
Of course there are "trade-offs" that the author recognizes: "For me taking less gear means I can travel farther and faster, but it also means I have to spend more of my time providing for my sustenance....
"Thus I seek to balance what I take and what I bring so that I can have both the lightest load and the most free time."
Thomas Elpel writes from his experience with nature. "Primitive living is a metaphor we participate in. We journey into the Stone-Age and quest to meet our basic needs. We learn to observe, to think, to reach inside ourselves for new resources to deal with challenging and unfamiliar situations."
Aren't those the skills we need for everyday living even in the Space-Age?
-Deb Anne Flynt

As a survival instructor and naturalist for one of the largest state parks in the US (420 square miles) I was very impressed by PARTICIPATING IN NATURE. Elpel has some wonderful insights not only into primitive technologies, but also on people's roles in ecosystems, the human race's responsibility for our environment, and applications of primitive technologies in current times. This is more than an anthropological review or a crafts book. Elpel shares personal insights that inspire others to live with nature.

The title says it all. Elpel encourages the reader to participate in nature, to be at home in natural surroundings and to take an active and responsible role. While most of my courses are taught in deserts in the US, Mexico, and Australia, the philosophy of this book, using the Northern Rockies as a large part of its setting, is the same. As a published author on wilderness survival, I highly recommend this book.

There are many great books on Primitive Outdoor Living Skills or what some call Wilderness Survival Skills. Elpel's book is no exception. It is wonderfully original not only because it contains unique skills not found in other books, but it also includes insights on our role as humans in the greater ecology of the planet.

Along with fire making and shelter building techniques, among others, the reader is given some insight into minimizing their impact on the land and blending in with the immediate landscape. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is the emphasis on being flexible with one's specific environment. For example, some types of primitive shelters are clearly better suited for wetland environments than up high in Alpine meadows. This book, rather than simply give instructions for different skills, gives the reader a systematic way to think about how to get what they need in a diverse set of circumstances. It also emphasizes ways to minimize the work involved for various tasks, so that one can spend more time enjoying and exploring their surroundings (e.g. identifying plants, writing, napping).

On a final note, I would recommend using this book in conjunction with other Primitive Outdoor Skills books for a unique look at this growing interest among outdoor lovers.

Wow, this book is for someone who wants a little more nature than I could handle! I'm very glad the deer gutting is in black and white - I am still a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information in the book. Haven't read it cover to cover yet, but can see why it's getting such high ratings.

I'm not about to go into the deep woods or mountains, gut deers and make my own purified water....but I sure think it would be major fun, making our own fire and some ash cakes in the back yard.

My kids are in Scouts, as well as 4-H and Special Olympics....I can see MANY things in this book that could be used, especially in the Scouts, for the kids to learn and have fun - my favorite way - HANDS ON.

I don't think the book should suffer less than 5 stars from me just because it's bursting with so much information I had a mild nature overdose while reading. I'd absolutely rather have so much info I might not use it all, than the other way around. I don't think it would be possible for me to ever 'outgrow' all the info in this book. So a solid ***** five stars.

A day in the life... of a man using primitive, and some non-prim skills. This book really is done in an interesting way. Combining philosopy, skills, aquired wisdom, and a "day in the life" kind of story telling method, I can say this book is a really wonderful addition to any outdoorsmans library. I dare say it's one of the top three books that one should buy if they're interested in primitive skills.

Reviews on amazon.com suggested there was much more value in this book than what I found. Several of the techniques were quite poorly described, and the almost complete lack of clear photographs or diagrams make certain sections of the book nearly useless ( for example, anyone trying to learn to construct a Paiute deadfall will be sorely disappointed ). The book is quite liberally padded with Elpel's ineffective flowery descriptions and ideas which have nothing to do with learning wilderness survival techniques, though some with little experience in nature may find his writing inspires them to get out and and get their hands dirty. Elpel's somewhat pretentious writing style and techniques show him to be a Tom Brown disciple, so don't get this book if you don't like seeing the pronoun "I" in every third sentence or if you don't like being preached at by the author. Overall, this book could only be recommended to someone who never plans to practice survival techniques, or someone who wants a complete wilderness survival library, since there is a handful of good information and ideas I have not seen in print elsewhere. The most disappointing part of the book was when Elpel claims to be the only author to describe how to safely harvest roadkill, but neglects to offer more than the obvious warning that a section of the animal will have bone fragments in it. There are many books available which are far better and some of these are considerably cheaper.

Discover nature by using it with the help of Thomas Elpel's Participating In Nature, a superbly informative guide which covers everything from how to tan hides from a fall hunting trip to fishing by hand and using willow baskets. Any studying primitive skills or survival methods will find Participating In Nature packed with both innovative and traditional skills in this important hands-on guide for the outdoorsman.

Thomas Elpel practices primitive living skills and is the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School (HOPS) in Pony, Montana. This book is not essentially about how to survive in the wilderness, nor is it about abandoning the modern world and living a primitive, pre-industrial lifestyle. Elpel seeks merely to remind us of our place in the ecosystem and to show us how to get along in the wilderness without the modern conveniences we benefit from in our daily lives. In the second chapter, Mind, he spends some time thinking about the primitive and the modern. "As for a philosophy about technology and society," he writes, "remember that all technologies are relative, and that they are neither good nor bad, but it is how we use them that makes them that way." Speaking of fire during the early ages of humankind, he reminds us: "Fire was a means to keep warm and cook food and makes tools, but it was also a technology that could be used to wage war and ravage ecosystems, both of which happened." (pg 13) The rest of the book is about what some of us would think of as skills and knowledge for survival: shelter, fire, water, cooking, plants, animals, clothing. But his focus is on enjoying those skills and knowledge now, in non-survival situations, as a means to realize or rediscover our place in nature, to "participate in nature", as the title suggests.

It is an extraordinary book, and I would evaluate it beyond the 5 stars Amazon provides. It is certainly well beyond the 4 stars I gave to Davenport's Wilderness Survival in an earlier review. Without the need to create a comprehensive survival manual, Elpel is allowed to go into detail and talk to us, without haste yet to the point, about the procedures he is showing us, and to tell us what has and what hasn't worked for him. The book is, in that sense, a personal book, but it is not egocentric, and it is certainly not cloying with emotion, although there are emotions expressed.

His chapters on shelter and fire are excellent. He analyzes the concept of shelter into the four elements of shingling, fire, insulation, and air-proofing, because "instead of merely giving you some various shelters to replicate, I want to teach you how to think shelter." (pg 28) He spends a good amount of time discussing the bow drill and the hand drill, but does not neglect other methods, including flint and steel. In his chapter on Cooking he shows in detail how to find and prepare clay and how to form it and fire it into cooking pots.

The chapter on Plants is, frankly, overwhelming. Many of the illustrations in this chapter are line drawings, not photos, so this is not the place to learn the identification of edible plants, but Elpel does cover a large variety of them, with helpful information on harvesting - where and when, and how long it might take with a simple digging stick - and how they are best prepared and eaten. He is writing from experience, not untried knowledge. The book is not a compilation from other books. It is a report from the field.

It should be no surprise that someone as enthusiastic about primitive living skills as Elpel should prefer hunting with tools he has fashioned by hand. In the chapter on Animals he shows in detail how to construct arrows and a simple bow by hand, using a modern knife. He discusses hide glue and using tendons for sinew. Then he spends several pages, complete with photos, explaining how to butcher a road kill deer. Lastly, he mentions the spear and throwing stick, and briefly discusses deadfall traps, but says little otherwise in this chapter about hunting and trapping.

Having shown us how to butcher deer, he then shows us, in the chapter on Clothing, how to braintan its hide. There is a lot of rich detail here. Elpel is a practitioner of primitive living skills, not just a compiler, so he has years of experience - learning from his own experiments, mistakes and achievements - from which he teaches these skills to others. The chapter continues with making tire sandals and felting wool. As the book nears its end, he shows us how to make a primitive backpack, with or without a frame, and gives us a list of what he takes with him when he camps during the various seasons.

Primitive living skills can be enjoyed in themselves and are useful for wilderness survival. Whatever the basis of your interest, this book is an excellent source and a great pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

What I liked most about this book is that the author tried to strike a balance between using only the most basic and natural tools and using resources derived from civilization.

This book is best described as an overview. It lacks detail and covers too many subjects.