The Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual

What if you were dropped in the woods with little more than a knife, your wits, and the (hopefully warm) shirt on your back? Could you survive? If you’d read this book, the answer is yes!

Survival! It’s one of our most primal fears, most basic needs. What do you do when everything is stripped away except your will to prevail? In this book, survival expert Tim MacWelch examines how native peoples around the world and throughout history have made their own shelter, weapons, tools, and more, as well as clever MacGuyver-esque ideas for using anything you might find in your pockets or pack. Whether your goal is to test yourself against nature, be prepared for any catastrophe, or learn more about traditional ways of survival, this is the one book you need.

Packaged in a durable, wipe-clean flexicover with metallic corner-guards, this practical manual withstands heavy-duty use indoors and out.

CHAPTER ONE: Bare Necessities - The stuff you need to survive short term wilderness emergencies (72 hours to one week)

The Survival Priorities (& why you need them): Shelter, water, fire, food, first aid and signalling distress

Tools of the Minimalist: Knife, Axe and Saw - use and care; Clothing selection

Shelters: Pick a safe shelter location; How to build leaf huts, lean-tos, jungle platforms, thatched roofs, log huts, wicki-ups, pit houses, and more (different homes for varied climates)

Water Gathering and Disinfection: Finding springs, boiling with hot rocks, rain and precipitation collection, water storage, primitive filters, water from plants

Fire: Tinder, kindling, fire lays, flint & steel, bow drill, hand drill, bamboo fire saw, fire plow, pump drill, and other friction methods

Signalling for Help and Self-Rescue: How to signal and communicate with old school techniques; How and when to fight your way out

CHAPTER TWO: Finer Things - Skills and techniques to collect food, and live more comfortably in the wild (weeks to months)

Foraging for Wild Edible Plants: How to identify and use wild plant foods; Recipes like our ancestors would have eaten

Trapping: Ways to catch game with new and old school, low-tech traps

Primitive Fishing: How to catch fish with thorns and other improvised tackle

Ancient Weapons: Bow and arrow, spear, spear thrower, bola and sling, primitive forging of metal

Hunting: Skills and game processing; 10 things to never do on a hunt

Primitive Tools: How to make stone blades, knives, axes, stone drill bits, mallets and wedges for wood splitting, digging sticks

Hygiene: Keeping clean; Natural toilet paper; Soap from plants; DIY latrine

CHAPTER THREE: Long Term Living - The skills of our ancestors and the things you'd need for long term primitive living (years)

Food Storage: Drying, smoking, food caches, freezing

Containers: How to make several different basket styles; Bark containers; Wooden bowls; Soapstone bowls and pots; Primitive ceramics

Hides and Furs: DIY buckskin, fur, rawhide and leather; Making clothes and outerwear (moccasins, mittens, hats, etc.)

Primitive Cooking: Cook in the coals; Spits and skewers; Green stick grill; Rock for frying pan; Stone ovens, steam pit, earth oven (in-ground hearth system)

Tracking: Man tracking and animal tracking

Natural Navigation: How to find your way by using the stars, the landscape, the weather and many other methods

Wild Medicine: Teas, compresses and poultices to help you heal