Mountain Project Logo

Best Wilderness Survival Guide

Original Post
BJB · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 195

I wanted to poll the audience and get some opinions: What is the best wilderness survival guide?

I am looking for something with a particular emphasis on how to find food in the wild. I do most of my outdoors adventures in the Wasatch Range, but will be moving to CA if there are any manuals that have an emphasis on those areas.

Austin Baird · · SLC, Utah · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 95

There's only one real expert to trust. You know who it is:

This is how he does

climber57 Jones · · Saint John, NB · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 60
Don Ferris III · · Boulder, CO · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 186

Tom Brown's Wilderness Survival is fascinating. Pretty comprehensive. Literally covers trapping bears.

BJB · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 195

I was kind of thinking about surviving off the land in case of an emergency. And what exactly do you mean by a "spot locator."

Lee Green · · Edmonton, Alberta · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 51

Survive! by Les Stroud is probably the most realistic, no-BS guide to how to live long enough to get out or be rescued when things go sideways in a variety of environments that I've encountered.

Mikey Seaman · · Boise, ID · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 5

+1 for Tom brown's field guide. He covers a lot of plant finding and IDing, too. And fishing and snares. And he's from NJ! His book The Trapper is also really cool and a quick read

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
SinRopa wrote:Unless you fall into that first category, the time/money you'll invest in becoming a survival expert might be better spent on a SPOT locator or something similar, especially if all you're looking to do is stay alive in the event one of your outdoor adventures goes awry.
Agreed. Your best "survival" tool is this:



A satellite phone will work anywhere you have a clear view to the sky. The service is normally expensive ($2-3 a minute for prepaid plans), but if you only use it for emergencies, it is not that expensive. It is possibly better than the SPOT because the prepaid plans do not have monthly contract charges. Also, unlike some of the SPOT devices, a satellite phone is, well, a phone so you can have a two-way conversation.
20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346

haha, they even market to climbers now.

dholte · · Mountain View, CA · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 491
SinRopa wrote:Quick disclaimer: I've done a ton of outdoor survival training, and honestly, most of these guides are SO detailed and have SO much info that you can't retain it all, so unless this kind of thing is your full time hobby, you'd better have it with you in your time of need. Most times common sense and some prior planning will keep you out of situations where you'd need to find food in the wild...just my 2 cents...
This^

In general: You can survive without 3 weeks w/o food, 3 days w/o water (and 3 min w/o air - 3 is just a good # to remember). Finding wild edibles can fun, but really is more or less unnecessary, unless you get REALLY lost.
wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674

There's a difference between 'primitive living' skills and 'survival' skills.

If you are interested in finding food as in setting snares or gathering edible plants, you might want to look at "Outdoor Survival Skills" by Larry Dean Olsen. Survival skills plus some primitive living skills.

If you are interested in surviving short periods of time in hostile conditions like you got lost and the weather turned to pig poop, you might want to look at "98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive" by Cody Lundin. Mostly short term survival skills.

Some of the other books like the SAS survival manual or FM 21-76 are a bit overwhelming.

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
dholte wrote: and 3 min w/o air
This guy would disagree:

huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/…

That said, I can barely hold my breath for 30 seconds. I guess I am not cut out to be a SAR swimmer.
RockinOut · · NY, NY · Joined May 2010 · Points: 100
ACR ResQLink 406

No subscriptions needed. You just pay the price of the unit and thats it. Yea, there's no way to communicate but you're sending a signal at 5 watts (0.5 watts for the SPOT) using the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) frequency. If you do use the beacon all you have to do is send it back to ACR with a briefing on what happened and they'll replace the unit.
Gunkiemike · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 3,492

Consider this - people who get lost die from dehydration, injuries, and/or environmental exposure (heat or hypothermia). They don't starve to death.

Fat Dad · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 60

Competency outdoors is a great skill to have but if you're alone, a SAT phone is a great way to save your bacon in an emergency. Any time I go on an overnight in the backcountry, my wife requires I take one with me. You can rent them online. They mail it to you and you mail it back when you're done with it.

Buff Johnson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 1,145

don't forget to take your pas -- you can make it into a cross to guard against demonic possession, and vampires.

andyrambers · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2016 · Points: 0

I like guides from shepherdsurvives website. I learned a lot of new survival practices there

BigB · · Red Rock, NV · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 340

just face it....

Yer Gunna Die!

Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945
RockinOut wrote: ACR ResQLink 406 No subscriptions needed. You just pay the price of the unit and thats it. Yea, there's no way to communicate but you're sending a signal at 5 watts (0.5 watts for the SPOT) using the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) frequency. If you do use the beacon all you have to do is send it back to ACR with a briefing on what happened and they'll replace the unit.
We had a fatality on Mount Washington in NH last year where a woman used her emergency beacon and they still were not able to locate the woman. The signal was bouncing all around the ridge, I want to say within a mile radius or something like that... an impossible search area. That event alone changed my perception of the beacons... I'd go with a GPS Sat phone if I had a choice. Hands down.
McHull · · Catoctin Mt · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 260

This is a great book that gets into how your mental and emotional state plays a huge role in how successful you are in surviving an emergency situation in the backcountry.

Deep Survival

BigB · · Red Rock, NV · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 340

For those of you considering a sat ph....
forbes.com/sites/marcwebert…

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
Post a Reply to "Best Wilderness Survival Guide"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.