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Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival

Review Last Updated: March 25, 2020
Product Features
  • 256-Pages
  • Written by survivalist expert and co-owner of a top survival school, Dave Canterbury
  • Paperback
  • Available on Kindle + Audiobook

Introduction

Today we’ll be exploring Bushcraft 101: The Art of Survival.

Having all the training in the world won’t prepare you for an emergency. As only when you’re faced with crisis will you know exactly how you will think, act, and feel.

That said, training yourself mentally and physically to tackle survival situations will give you the proper preparation to brace you for life’s unexpected encounters.

Survival books are an excellent way to provide you with relevant knowledge to undertake a range of survival tasks.

But what makes a survival book worth your attention?

You’ll want to acquire a survival book that has a guided format, providing in-depth instructions on how to survive the wilderness, with illustrations to help visualize potential survival situations.

That’s why we’ve reviewed the Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival.

The book has grown in popularity over the last five years and is continuing to do so in today’s busy market, and we believe it is an excellent choice for you to read before or during your meeting with the wilderness.

Continue reading to explore the accessible survival guide, which has been added to many outdoor-enthusiasts survival kits.

Pros

  • Budget-friendly
  • Advice is easy to follow
  • Useful for beginners with its basic wilderness skills
  • New York Times (Sports & Travel) bestseller

Cons

  • Lack of illustrations
  • Information, at times, is oversimplified

Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival Product Review

Bushcraft 101: The Art of Survival, written by Dave Canterbury, offers survival-minded people a 256-page guide to all things bushcraft, wilderness, and survival.

You can comfortably read the book knowing its author is the co-owner and a survival instructor at the Pathfinder School, which is also one of the top 12 survival schools in the USA. You will acquire the knowledge and wisdom to better your understanding of what the wilderness will ask from you during severe conditions.

The survival guide is designed to prepare you for the unknown of the outdoors. It covers a range of survival skills you’ll need to adopt, such as manufacturing tools and protecting yourself from harsh weather.

What you will learn:

  • Building out your kit
  • Manufacturing tools and supplies
  • Food collection
  • Cooking
  • Protection from the elements

The author focuses primarily on wilderness survival, so don’t expect to learn how to prepare for terrorist attacks or global catastrophic events in this survival guide. However, there is a generous offering of bushcraft advice, which is useful if you’re a beginner wanting to strengthen your necessary survival skills.

That said, there are plenty of survival skills needed in the wilderness that can be applied to more everyday environments. You will take or leave what you need or don’t need from the book to prepare you for different types of survival situations.

Although there is a predominant focus on wilderness skills, a lot of the information featured in the guide is common-sense. It makes you question the age demographic the author is targeting.

It is clear that even though this is a useful book for survivalists with high levels of expertise, it is an excellent choice for beginners.

However, it is worth noting that there is a lack of illustrations in this book, which might turn-off some amateur survivalists. If you learn better with visuals, you might want to find a book that offers a more illustrative guide.

At times, the book emphasizes the science and history behind the techniques, rather than how to perform the techniques. This overview might feel like a waste of time, distracting you from quickly taking in the methods.

Overall, the book is a balanced survival guide that will assist anyone wanting to prepare for the demands of the wilderness, including trapping, gathering, and cooking in the wild.

It includes a range of information, advice, wisdom, and, most importantly, experience. And to top it off, the book is a compact size that can be stored nicely in your backpack or apparel, for quick access to information.

Summary

The publisher says that Canterbury’s advice will not only prepare you for a range of climates and situations, it will also teach you how to use the art of bushcraft to reconnect with nature in ways you’ve never imagined.

The one major drawback to the book is its lack of illustrations throughout, which can make the guide feel mundane and not as enjoyable to walk through. A guide with an adequate amount of pictures can make a book more inclusive.

That said, the wording of the book makes it accessible for people of a range of ages. The information and ideas shared in the book are often over-simplified, which can be mistaken for common-sense.

The over-simplification of the ideas can miss out on some crucial parts to a specific task that needs your utmost attention to perform successfully.

We hope this review was useful to you and has helped you decide on what survival book to go to prepare for future adventures.

Have you read this book? What did you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

Please share your survival book suggestions that you want us to review. We’d love to hear from you!

Happy Reading and Happy Prepping!

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