Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills

Thomas Elpel practices primitive living skills and is the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School (HOPS) in Pony, Montana. This book is not essentially about how to survive in the wilderness, nor is it about abandoning the modern world and living a primitive, pre-industrial lifestyle. Elpel seeks merely to remind us of our place in the ecosystem and to show us how to get along in the wilderness without the modern conveniences we benefit from in our daily lives. In the second chapter, Mind, he spends some time thinking about the primitive and the modern. "As for a philosophy about technology and society," he writes, "remember that all technologies are relative, and that they are neither good nor bad, but it is how we use them that makes them that way." Speaking of fire during the early ages of humankind, he reminds us: "Fire was a means to keep warm and cook food and makes tools, but it was also a technology that could be used to wage war and ravage ecosystems, both of which happened." (pg 13) The rest of the book is about what some of us would think of as skills and knowledge for survival: shelter, fire, water, cooking, plants, animals, clothing. But his focus is on enjoying those skills and knowledge now, in non-survival situations, as a means to realize or rediscover our place in nature, to "participate in nature", as the title suggests.It is an extraordinary book, and I would evaluate it beyond the 5 stars Amazon provides. It is certainly well beyond the 4 stars I gave to Davenport's Wilderness Survival in an earlier review. Without the need to create a comprehensive survival manual, Elpel is allowed to go into detail and talk to us, without haste yet to the point, about the procedures he is showing us, and to tell us what has and what hasn't worked for him. The book is, in that sense, a personal book, but it is not egocentric, and it is certainly not cloying with emotion, although there are emotions expressed.His chapters on shelter and fire are excellent. He analyzes the concept of shelter into the four elements of shingling, fire, insulation, and air-proofing, because "instead of merely giving you some various shelters to replicate, I want to teach you how to think shelter." (pg 28) He spends a good amount of time discussing the bow drill and the hand drill, but does not neglect other methods, including flint and steel. In his chapter on Cooking he shows in detail how to find and prepare clay and how to form it and fire it into cooking pots.The chapter on Plants is, frankly, overwhelming. Many of the illustrations in this chapter are line drawings, not photos, so this is not the place to learn the identification of edible plants, but Elpel does cover a large variety of them, with helpful information on harvesting - where and when, and how long it might take with a simple digging stick - and how they are best prepared and eaten. He is writing from experience, not untried knowledge. The book is not a compilation from other books. It is a report from the field.It should be no surprise that someone as enthusiastic about primitive living skills as Elpel should prefer hunting with tools he has fashioned by hand. In the chapter on Animals he shows in detail how to construct arrows and a simple bow by hand, using a modern knife. He discusses hide glue and using tendons for sinew. Then he spends several pages, complete with photos, explaining how to butcher a road kill deer. Lastly, he mentions the spear and throwing stick, and briefly discusses deadfall traps, but says little otherwise in this chapter about hunting and trapping.Having shown us how to butcher deer, he then shows us, in the chapter on Clothing, how to braintan its hide. There is a lot of rich detail here. Elpel is a practitioner of primitive living skills, not just a compiler, so he has years of experience - learning from his own experiments, mistakes and achievements - from which he teaches these skills to others. The chapter continues with making tire sandals and felting wool. As the book nears its end, he shows us how to make a primitive backpack, with or without a frame, and gives us a list of what he takes with him when he camps during the various seasons.Primitive living skills can be enjoyed in themselves and are useful for wilderness survival. Whatever the basis of your interest, this book is an excellent source and a great pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

This is one of my all times favorite bushcraft type of books. It is written in a more compelling way than most books in this genera. Most books are a rehash of Kochansky's Bushcraft or when it comes to survival a rehash of the Air Force survival manual. This is much more entertaining taking a day in the life of a bushcrafter. It was a very enjoyable read and is every bit as valuable as any other book on the subject if not more so.It is worth addressing what seems to be the most common criticism of the book. One could write 1000 pages on fire starting alone. That would be a super detailed book. And impossible to sell to nearly anyone. To learn the skills of making a dead fall or friction fire you must practice it. All the detailed instructions in the world will not allow you to go out and be successful the first time you try it. It shows a real lack of knowledge in this area (aka dirt time) to think that it can.Buy this book and practice the techniques over and over again and you will become proficient.

Wow, this book is for someone who wants a little more nature than I could handle! I'm very glad the deer gutting is in black and white - I am still a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information in the book. Haven't read it cover to cover yet, but can see why it's getting such high ratings.I'm not about to go into the deep woods or mountains, gut deers and make my own purified water....but I sure think it would be major fun, making our own fire and some ash cakes in the back yard.My kids are in Scouts, as well as 4-H and Special Olympics....I can see MANY things in this book that could be used, especially in the Scouts, for the kids to learn and have fun - my favorite way - HANDS ON.I don't think the book should suffer less than 5 stars from me just because it's bursting with so much information I had a mild nature overdose while reading. I'd absolutely rather have so much info I might not use it all, than the other way around. I don't think it would be possible for me to ever 'outgrow' all the info in this book. So a solid ***** five stars.

My favorite part of this book is how local and realistic it is. I felt like I could actually use the tips if I ever needed to. The shelters were built in terrain and out of "supplies" that I'm familiar with. I, also, love the little projects. They're fun, small projects that would be a great way to introduce kids to nature (like grass doll making). All of this was presented in a fun, interesting way. The author did a great job of injecting a little humor and real life stories into the book that made it much more interesting to read than a lot of survival books.

Great book. Information is straight forward. We are implementing tips and tricks from this book in with a homeschoolNature group (How Not To Die in Nature) being formed.

Excellent and self-explanatory book. I live in a different climate and geography than the the author, so it was interesting to see how universal survival skills such as shelter, fire, obtaining good water and cooking are done elsewhere. If the author also participates in live classes in outdoor education for educators and volunteers, it would be nice to be added to email notification.

I bought this book for a wedding present and didn't read it because I hope never to need it. Perhaps I should.The book was everything that was advertised and I had it come direct to me and will send it on with another book I ordered.I was very pleased with the receipt and handling of this book because it arrived in good time and shape. Amazon is THE BEST!

This book is fine for understanding and harmonising with Nature, but as a survival book it is very limited.If you want a good survival guide for any and all situations, I would recommend Ron Foster's "The Rural Ranger.....". This man trains emergency response people and his guide is up to date and practical.Seriously,David Highum

Interesting book

Great book, can't wait to start practical uses

A bit more story-like than I expected, but lots of great info.

There is so much info contained within this book! A phenomenal resource for natural campers, extreme hikers, and even those who simply wish to decrease their footprint. I will be recommending this book to EVERYONE.