Outdoor Survival Skills (Paperback)

~ (Author), Robert Redford (Foreword) "As a boy I was filled with desert things..." (more)
Key Phrases: hot coal bed, sanding stone, tinder bundle, Old Badger, Great Basin, Harvesting Methods (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Celebrating 30 years in print, this updated classic teaches how to survive in almost any outdoor environment with little or no purchased equipment, by relying on what nature provides. 296 photos, 96 in color.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 6 Sub edition (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556523238
• ISBN-13: 978-1556523236
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,883 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Information but out of my range, February 10, 2000

By	Justin Coleman "[e-mail]" (Cheshire, Connecticut, United States) - See all my reviews

Personally, I thought the book was rather good. Some of the ideas this book provides are so simple and effective that you are amazed that you never thought of it before. The person who wrote it clearly has much experience in living in the woods with nothing, though. I didn't find many of the explanations to complete or clear enough. In addition, I live in Connecticut. The author really focuses on surviving in the desert and similar areas. This would make sense, as he was born in the Southwest, but for people like myself, this applies very little to the completely different woodland terrain.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Survival skills, July 25, 2003

By	Daniel Dow (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

I have read many survival books including: Wilderness Survival; the October 1970 edition of the Army Feild Manual; Living off the Country;Tom Brown's Feild Guide to Wilderness Survival;and this one as well as many others. Aside from Tom Brown's feild guide, this book is definately one of the best I have read. I would rate Tom Brown's feild guide higher than this one, but the two together make a great pair. Both cover topics such as the four great needs: shelter, water, fire, and food, as well as weapons, edible plants and animals et cetera, but they both explain different techniques and different ways of doing the above mentioned topics. The back of this book has color photos of many plants that are edible.
I strongly reccommend buying both books, they are very similar yet you can learn more from both than you can from just one.
If you don't wan't both then I reccommend Tom Brown's Guide. Either way you go, try to use your library and the internet in conjunction with the books.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to Read, by a man who knows his stuff, July 29, 2006

By	James A. Dees "Darkling Thrush" (Cascadia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is still used and recommended by the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, possibly the most reputable school in the business. Larry Dean Olsen, the author, is a guru in the field, and quite an amusing writer as well. This book is a classic, having come out originally in 1967 (my copy is the 30th anniversary edition from 1997). This is not a book for weekend backpackers, it is a text for those who want to explore and preserve true primitive survival skills - living off the land, friction fires, etc. If that is what you are looking for, this book is a great choice.