Primitive Skills and Crafts: An Outdoorsman's Guide to Shelters, Tools, Weapons, Tracking, Survival, and More [Paperback]

Richard Jamison (Compiler), Linda Jamison (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2007

Anyone eager to master survival skills for outdoor vacations, or simply to find a fun new family activity for a Saturday afternoon, will be educated and inspired by the practical advice presented here by archaeologists, anthropologists, primitive practitioners, craftsmen, and artisans. These experts help modern readers rediscover the skills that have served humanity for millennia: fire-making, camp cooking, basket weaving, pottery making, animal tracking, and much more. You can even learn how to turn seashells into arrowheads or make glue from yucca plants. Plus, there’s intriguing information on the benefits of a hunter-gatherer diet. More than just a how-to, this handbook provides inspiration to live life to the fullest.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard & Linda Jamison are published authors and are known for these publications:

*The Best of Woodsmoke: A Manual of Primitive Outdoor Skills

*Primitive Outdoor Skills

*Woodsmoke: Collected Writings on Ancient Living Skills 

*Woodsmoke 
*Primitive Skills and Crafts 

Richard & Linda Jamison are published authors/editors and are known for these publications:

*The Best of Woodsmoke: A Manual of Primitive Outdoor Skills

*Primitive Outdoor Skills

*Woodsmoke: Collected Writings on Ancient Living Skills 

*Woodsmoke 
*Primitive Skills and Crafts 

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (August 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602391483
• ISBN-13: 978-1602391482
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Survival Skills
  • #18 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Instructional
  • #60 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a how to, but a good read filled with idea, November 3, 2009

By 

Stream Hiker (Northern California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Primitive Skills and Crafts: An Outdoorsman's Guide to Shelters, Tools, Weapons, Tracking, Survival, and More (Paperback)

I gave the book 3 stars because I was expecting a "how to" book; this book is not an instructional at all. Rather, this book seems to be a compilation of ideas, methods, and skills that are all described very superficially.

Fun to read, but if you were going to be out in "no where" for the rest of time you'd want something far more detailed.

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1994 Woodsmoke Reprinted, November 25, 2007

By 

Outside - See all my reviews

This review is from: Primitive Skills and Crafts: An Outdoorsman's Guide to Shelters, Tools, Weapons, Tracking, Survival, and More (Paperback)

This is a book of collected articles previously published as "Woodsmoke, Collected Writings on Ancient Living Skills" (Menasha Ridge Press 1994). No revisions, but then the articles were good then anyway. This book is the second in which the fire piston is covered (the first that I am aware of came out in 1972). Beside the philosophy (waxing poetic) of the Jamisons and a poor bit on tracking, the book offers the reader some well laid out "how-to" information from the likes of Steve Watts, David Wescott, Jim Riggs and Larry Dean Olson. Atlatl, Pottery, blowguns, Hide Glue, stone tools and bark baskets are some of the topics introduced in this book. If you are interested in the primitive skills, this book is worth getting.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master the Art of Survival, September 19, 2007

By 

John J. Browne "bookaholic" (Brooklyn, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Primitive Skills and Crafts: An Outdoorsman's Guide to Shelters, Tools, Weapons, Tracking, Survival, and More (Paperback)

This is a very interesting book which describes in remarkable detail various primitive crafts and survival techniques. Skills such as making blades and axes from stone to various methods of primitive cooking are described in detail. There are sections on primitive basket making and pottery as well as blowgun making and stalking. After reading this book I was left with both a profound admiration for our primitive ancestors as well as some potentially useful newfound knowledge. Since many of the techniques described were utilized by Native Americans this book will be enjoyed by students of this subject as well as by Boy/Girl Scouts who will find many sections which they can utilize on camping trips. This book will also be enjoyed by fans of shows such as "Survivor Man" and "Man vs. Wild" and should be required reading for anyone planning to compete on "Survivor".