How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere
Tucked inside was a note:
This is an "oldie (1956) but goodie" - written back when the synthetic fabrics and high-tech electronic aids didn't exist, so what really mattered out int he woods was what you had between your ears. We first read it back in the 70's and liked it a lot, hope you might find it a fun read even now.They were right. I am enjoying it - because when the rubber meets the road, no matter how prepared I think I am, there will be something I've overlooked. It will sit on my shelf next to the late-19th-century books (reprints) on farming and mountain men.
I've been reading it piecemeal when I have a few free minutes, and this paragraph gave me a laugh:
The sluggish porcupine is the one animal that even the greenest tenderfoot, though weak with hunger, can kill with a weapon no more formidable than a stick. All one usually has to do thus to collect a meal is reach over the animal, which generally presents the raised quills of back and tail, and strike it on the head. Being so low in intelligence, the hedgehog requires a lot more killing than might be expected.
The book is written in a fairly colloquial tone, almost a string of asides that have been organized into rough chapters. The vocabulary and style is early-20th-century and a real pleasure to read.
Highly recommended.
2 comments:
Good book. Bradford Angier, the author, had his own favorite Randall Knife that the Randalls still make in his memory.
One of my MANY collection pursuits are original 'outdoor' books, in which Brad Angier is a prominent name.
Kephart, Whelen, Keith, et al, as well.
Funny to see these things 'discovered' anew.
Happy reading!
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