'Fifty years into my life journey I realise that, while I love remote wild places and the peoples I meet there, it is in forests that I find the greatest joy. Of all the forests that I have explored, it is the great circumpolar Boreal forest of the North that calls to me most. Here is a landscape where bush knowledge really counts and where experience counts even more ... This book has been thirty years in the making.'
Out on the Land is an absorbing exploration of, and tribute to, the circumpolar Boreal forest of the North: its landscape, its people, their cultures and skills, the wilderness that embodies it, and its immense beauty. The book is vast in scope and covers every aspect of being in the wilderness in both winter and summer (clothing, kit, skills, cooking, survival), revealing the age-old traditions and techniques, and how to carry them out yourself. It also includes case studies of early explorers, as well as modern-day adventurers who found themselves stranded in the forest and forced to work out a way to survive.
So much more than a bushcraft manual, this book goes deeper, to the traditions and cultures that gave us these skills, as well as focusing on the detail itself. Ray and Lars's practical advice is wound around a deep love for the forest, respect and admiration for the people who live there and sheer enjoyment of the stunning scenery.
Author(s): Ray Mears, Lars Fält
Edition: 1
Publisher: Adlard Cole
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 336
Tags: survival, photography, bushcraft, nature, northern forest, boreal
Cover
Half-title
Copyright
Title
Dedication
Contents
Picture Credits and Acknowledgements
The Authors
Introduction
The Boreal World
Life in the forest
Outfit and Clothing
Getting organised
Shouldering responsibility
What to pack?
Cold Injury
Safety in the cold environment
How we lose heat
Liquid fuel at low temperatures
Alcohol at low temperatures
How we are affected by the cold
Acclimatisation to cold
Teamwork and organisation
Hygiene
Injury in the cold environment
Basic Forest Skills
How to pitch a tarp
How to use a knife
How to use an axe
How to use a saw
How to suspend a cooking pot
How to tie knots
How to make a withe
How to make a spoon
How to dry clothing
Navigation
How to be a good navigator
Bearings
Other measurements and navigational techniques
Fire
Tinder
Kindling
Sources of ignition
How to light a fire
How to extinguish a fire
The nying fire
The 3-log fire
The star fire
The Raappanan fire
Summer Travel
Preparing the mind, body and spirit
Practical considerations
Winter Travel
Special tools for winter
Moving on snow
Ice
How to live in a tent in the winter
Food in the Wild
Utensils and the wanigan
The importance of salt
Fishing
How to prepare fish
Willow grouse
Drying meat
Beverages
Breads
Dessert
Foraging
Survival
Survival mentality
Living from the land
Signalling
Your ‘Guardian Angel’
Communication equipment
Shelter
Water
Survival fire-lighting
Survival food
Long-range Bushcraft
Communication
Pocket first-aid kit
Crooked knife
Repair kit
Bucksaw
Axe repair
Repair
The forest as our friend
Index
