Primitive Wilderness Living and Survival Skills - by John McPherson, Geri McPherson
"If I could carry only one book with me, knowing that my plane was going to crash in the wilderness, this would be the book." Rub two sticks together (the right sticks, the right way) and you can make fire. (Yes. It works.) Dig some clay out of the ground, prepare it, fire it and have a cooking vessel. Take weeds, fur, or bark and make rope. You get the idea. It's all here, written by two men who don't just teach it, they live it!

Tracking & the Art of Seeing : How to Read Animal Tracks & Signs - by Paul Rezendes
"A wonderfully thorough, well-illustrated compendium, Rezendes's text covers a wide range of North American animal species, including rodents, hoofed animals, bears, raccoons, opossums, and members of the weasel, rabbit, dog, and cat families." In this newly revised and updated edition of his highly acclaimed field guide, renowned nature photographer and tracking expert Paul Rezendes brings the fields and forests to life with his unique observations on North American wildlife and their tracks and sign. Illustrated with hundreds of his original photographs, Tracking & the Art of Seeing provides complete information on the behavior and habitat of over 50 animal species and shows you how to identify animals by their tracks, tail patterns, droppings, dens, scratches and other signs.

The Morrow Guide to Knots - by Guido Regazzoni, Mario Bigon
"...this compact, practical guide takes full advantage of color photography to teach readers how to tie 70 of the most useful knots they can know. Unlike illustrations, the photos show every step looking over the shoulder of the tier. Color-coding makes the ropes easy to distinguish. 647 photos." A handy resource for anyone who enjoys sailing, fishing, camping, and/or climbing.

Wilderness Survival - by Gregory J. Davenport
15 b/w photos 100 drawings 5 x 8Authoritative information presented by a certified USAF Survival School instructor Concise explanations and illustrations of the five critical survival elements Organized and indexed for easy reference Anyone who has hiked the wrong path into the woods can appreciate the importance of making the best of a bad situation. In this easy-to-use guide, USAF instructor Greg Davenport explains, in clearly written text and detailed diagrams, the most efficient ways to ensure personal safety in the wild. Creating shelter and heat, procuring food and water, and navigating unfamiliar territory are just a few of the survival basics Davenport examines as he describes the most efficient ways to maintain health and well-being in an unfamiliar environment.

U.S. Army Survival Manual - by Department of Defense
Describes and clearly illustrates a vast array of topics, including; The Will to Survive, Survival Planning, Survival Medicine, Weapons and Tools, Water procurement, Wild Plants for Food, Wildlife for Food, Shelter, Firebuilding, Water Crossings, Direction Finding, Signaling, Desert Survival, Tropical Survival, Arctic and Subarctic Survival, Sea Survival, Poisonous Snakes, Knots, Climate, Weather. Also packed with a ton of hands on applications for outdoor survival from treating insect and snake bites, to finding water, to building fires and shelters, and much, much more.

Camping and Wilderness Survival : The Ultimate Outdoors Book - by Paul Tawrell
A nice introduction for those just starting out, this covers a very wide range of subjects (therefore not quite as in depth as some other books we've referenced in this section of the Great Outdoors Club). Those with families may like it best for its creative ideas you can use for projects for kids.

The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide : The Classic Handbook - by Mark Harvey
Illustrated throughout with instructional drawings and photos and featuring lists of equipment, the Wilderness Guide covers: selecting equipment -- including discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of products, the latest "leave no trace" camping techniques, traveling safely and sensibly -- including vital information on maps, compasses, and tips on crossing difficult terrain, backcountry cooking, with tips on building fires and tricks for making gourmet meals, Search-and-rescue techniques, including how to organize a self-sufficient search group and when to call in professional rescue teams.

Be Expert with Map and Compass - by Bjorn Hjellstrom, Newt Heisley (Illustrator)
More than 500,000 copies sold, this updated edition includes everything the beginner needs to know about orienteering: understanding map symbols, traveling by map alone, by compass alone, by map and compass together, traveling in the wilderness, and much more.

Wildwood Wisdom - by Ellsworth Jaeger, Lloyd Kahn (Introduction)
This historical guide, originally written in 1945, includes information on making fires, canoeing, using axes and knives, and crafting shelters from hand-gathered materials. Readers also learn about clothing, gear, and useful plants. This book also is an account of life in the 1800s, when survival in the wild depended on one's skill and ingenuity. Included are also many nature craft ideas coming from the Native American background. These ideas would do well in a cultural art class.

Participating in Nature: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills - by Thomas J. Elpel
Review From the Island Park News - Rocky Mountain Expressions, January 7, 2002: "[The book] 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."

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (And Not So Wild Places) - by Steve Brill, Evelyn Dean
Using line drawings for each plant, this book provides excellent information on finding, identifying, harvesting, preparing, and uses of edible wild plants. Includes thorough information on poisonous plants to avoid and poisonous "look-alikes" to beware of. "Steve "Wildman" Brill leads the field in combining an herbal and edible plant field guide, which is readable, comprehensive, and most important ACCURATE. His final chapter of recipes will make most readers want to head into the backcountry just to find the proper edibles."

Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine - by Eric A. Weiss, Rod Nickell (Illustrator), Butch Collier (Illustrator)
Small enough to fit in a first aid kit, backpack, etc., this is one tool you will want handy for all trecks into the wilderness. Extremely well organized, you'll find life-threatening emergencies covered right at the beginning of the book, with a thorough alphabetized index covering a very wide range of medical emergencies (such as "Abdominal Pain - When To Worry"). Also note: the improvised techniques are important in wilderness situations when equipment is very limited. A small price to pay for a very valuable resource!

Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine - by Auerbach, Paul S. Auerbach
This quick-access guide is compact enough to fit in a backpack, yet detailed enough to include the definitions, clinical presentation, and treatment of the emergencies you're likely to encounter in the wilderness. Includes useful appendices such as the pediatric wilderness kit, priority first-aid equipment, antibiotics, and medicines specific to women's health as well as a 16-page full-color insert with 36 illustrations for full-color identification of skin rashes, insects, snakes, plants, and more.

Mammal Tracks : Life-Size Tracking Guide - by Lynn Levine, Martha Mitchell
This mammal tracking guide contains life-size tracks as well as illustrating movement patterns. The guide uses the four basic movement patterns (walkers and trotters, waddlers, bounders and hoppers) as the key to identification. Track measurements are provided along with a ruler on the edge of each page. Printed on waterproof paper makes this tracking guide practical for outdoor use.

Basic Essentials: Weather Forecasting, 2nd Edition (Basic Essentials) - by Michael Hodgson, Devin Wick (Illustrator), Michael Basic essential Hodgeon
Straightforward advice for predicting and noticing shifts in weather patterns aimed directly at the novice who wants to enjoy a safe journey in the wilderness. With this updated edition, you'll learn to understand how and why different types of weather occur, cloud formations and what they have to tell you, variations in geography and how they affect the weather, and basic meteorological concepts for weather awareness.

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs : Eastern Region (Three compact discs and 64-page booklet) - by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes, Lang Elliott
For some, it's easier to identify birds by sound rather than sight. Here's a great set consisting of three CDs and a guide booklet covering the sounds of 372 species living in Eastern North America.

The Great Atlas of the Stars - by Serge Brunier (Compiler), Akira Fujii (Photographer)
The beauty of the skies at night while in the wilderness far away from "light pollution" can make you thirsty for knowledge on the stars. Here it is. The product of 20 years face-to-face with the sky in all latitudes of this blue planet, The Great Atlas of the Stars was created to give the lay-person and amateur astronomer a map of the principal constellations and grand stars seen in the whole Northern Hemisphere. It covers the 30 most important constellations of the 88 visible from Earth. These 30 constellations are the most rich and beautiful. Here you will find the most brilliant (and pretty) stars and remarkable nebulas and galaxies, that are the most interesting to observe. Each receives a full-page "identity card" which features the known characteristics: distance, luminosity, dimensions. For each of the constellations, 3 to 6 principal stars are shown in detail and located in a map of their sector of the sky.

Field Guide : Dog First Aid Emergency Care for the Hunting, Working, and Outdoor Dog - by Randy Acker, Jim Fergus (Contributor), Christopher Smith (Illustrator)
This is the first pocket field guide that will cover the injuries and problems that your dog can encounter in the field, presenting the symptoms and treatment. This first aid guide is 4 x 6, pocket -sized and spiral bound for easy use.

Trail Safe : Averting Threatening Human Behavior in the Outdoors - by Michael Bane
"Michael Bane's Trail Safe: Averting Threatening Human Behavior In The Outdoors is the first title specifically designed to prepare the outdoorsman and vacationer to defend themselves against criminal behavior in our nation's public parks as well as other rural and wilderness areas. Trail Safe presents the three-pronged self-defense mechanism centered around intuition, awareness, and fear; the nuts and bolts of risk assessment and planning; and a self-defense decision tree that will enable the reader to determine appropriate reactions to a violent encounter, should one occur."

Outdoor Leadership : Technique, Common Sense & Self-Confidence - by John Graham
Something a little different... Girl Guide/Scout Troup Leaders may find this book worthy of interest. "Outdoor Leadership's discussion, advice and techniques for learning and improving leadership skills will prove invaluable to anyone, hard-core mountaineer or not, in the outdoors or any other part of your life."

Recipes for Roughing It Easy - by Dian Thomas
From high-energy breakfasts to delicious deserts and everything in between! These are some of the best recipes you'll find anywhere for outdoor and campfire eating fun. Unique ideas are a bonus - like wheelbarrow barbecues, or barbecue chicken in a backpack, or bread on a stick. Any of her recipes could be cooked indoors or outdoors on a grill or on your stove.

Cooking In The Great Outdoors - For more great recipe and idea books for outdoor cooking be sure to visit our Outdoor Cooking Bookstore.