Wilderness Living [Paperback]

Gregory J. Davenport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

Authoritative information presented by a certified USAF Survival School Instructor

Organized and indexed for easy reference

Living, not just surviving, by choice in the wild can be a rewarding experience. This easy-to-use guide looks beyond the fundamentals of survival and examines the art of living long-term in the wilderness. Hunting techniques, meat preservation, clothing improvisation, shelter design, and tool- and basket-making are just a few of the basic skills described. Expert advice, clear prose, and detailed illustrations combine to make this book the authoritative text on primitive living.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Davenport, a former USAF Survival Instructor, is the founding member of Simply Survival, a wilderness education program based in Stevenson, Washington. He has consulted or appeared on 48 Hours, BBC, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, ABC PrimeTime Thursday, and Outdoor Life Network.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811729931
• ISBN-13: 978-0811729932
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Survival Skills

More About the Author

Greg Davenport, a former USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Specialist, is considered one of the best survival experts in the world. For over 30 years, he has had students from around the world, with a myriad of backgrounds, follow him into the mountains and deserts to learn both basic and advanced wilderness skills. In addition, Davenport is a well known motivational speaker addressing survival related skills such as stress abatement, leadership, and teamwork. Greg has written six books, discussing his survival concepts. His first, Wilderness Survival, has been published in multiple countries and is considered a staple in the survival arena. Finally, Davenport has a Master's Degree in Physician Assistant Studies with an emphases in Wilderness and Emergency Medicine and will complete a Doctor or Health Science degree in March 2012. He is a proud husband and father of seven adorable children ranging in age from 27 to 2.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All you [might] need to know..., July 26, 2004

By 

Ralph White (New England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wilderness Living (Paperback)

Gregory Davenport's book is a masterpiece of clarity and brevity, and it covers all the bases. Use it as a reference book, as opposed to a cover-to-cover read. For instance, it starts off with a chapter on making buckskin. It's just the right level of detail if you're tanning a hide, but too much for the casual reader. Another example is the wonderful chapter on making snares. Davenport lists some nineteen types, all illustrated, and all with a practical application. Davenport's education was clearly of the outdoor variety, at the expense of the indoor variety, resulting in some cumbersome syntax, and excessive passive voice, but perhaps his editor is more to blame for that. Overall, it is a genuine masterpiece, and my copy is already dog-eared with use.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable prefatory reading for any nature enthusiast, December 10, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilderness Living (Paperback)

Gregory Davenport's Wilderness Living is a fascinating and informative guide that looks beyond merely surviving in the wilderness and envisions the art of living with nature in the long term. Among the many skills taught in detail are hunting and trapping techniques, meat preservation, improvising clothing, finding water, designing shelter, and making tools and baskets. The black-and-white illustrations clearly depict the braiding, trap-building, knot-tying and many other abilities described. Wilderness Living is indispensable prefatory reading for any nature enthusiast who wants to learn how to live on their own, away from the comforts and conveniences that saturate modern civilization!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent basic longterm survival skills, June 7, 2008

By 

Jennine L. Wardle (Kenmore, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wilderness Living (Paperback)

Wilderness Living contains all the basic information you might need for a long-term living arrangement in the wild. It covers all sorts of methods for providing shelter, water, food, clothing, tanning and tools/implements in a primitive environment, even if you have limited or no "man-made tools" available to you. I thoroughly appreciate that the author states right up front that your ingenuity is your best survival tool... because, while this book has lots of examples, it certainly doesn't cover everything you might need if you're out in the bush for extended periods. The author gives you the basic knowledge and assumes that you will be able to take his examples and expound on them to devise whatever else you might need to survive and prosper... which is exactly how someone living in the middle of nowhere needs to be able to perform!

Anyone planning an extended trip into the wilderness should tuck this book into their pack "just in case"!