Title How to Survive in the Woods
Author Brandford Angier
Year Published 2001
Kind of Book Wilderness Survival Guide
How strongly I recommend it 8/10
My Impressions This book teaches you to do what it says it will do. Since it tries to cover so much in only a couple hundred pages, some of the tactics in here will require further reading. For example you can't really learn how to skin and cook a deer by reading the 2 paragraphs on how to do it in this book. With that caveat, I learned a lot and definitely felt a lot more prepared on my subsequent backwoods backpacking adventure.
Date Read July 2021
Practical Takeaways
Remove the entrails (or at least empty them. Before) eating the animal
(eating frog) If rations are scant, you can use the entire skinned frog after removing or at least emptying and cleaning the entrails, perhaps boiling the meat briefly with some wild greens.
Sneak up on an owl and knock it down to kill and eat
Run at predatory bird like an owl, eagle, or hawk to try to scare it away from its fresh kill and then eat the animal it killed
gathering enough wood before you start the fire to keep it going throughout the night. (don't leave your fire to gather more)
Throw stores at geese to kill them. Follow them if they try to get away
If you are trying to steal dinner from a bear, or just help to clean his plate, be aware of at least two distinct escape routes. Even if the bear seems to have left the vicinity, approach with quiet caution and stay alert. Bears often sleep soon after—and nearby—their last meal.
Even ripe eggs should not be overlooked when one needs food.
Kill and eat porcupines (they are slow and stupid) Hit it on the head with a stick. Before cooking, skin the porcupine completely, using caution, by first making an incision on the smooth underbelly.
(porcupine quill in your skill) pull it out immediately
Use a small light to attract and eat moths and mayflys
Eat Grasshoppers, cicadas, Termites, locusts, and crickets (remove hard portions such as wings and legs)
Eat lizards and snakes (The only time snake meat may be poisonous is when it has suffered a venomous bite, perhaps from its own fangs.)
To prepare the reptiles, decapitate, skin, remove the entrails, and cook like chicken
Do not to pass up any reasonable food sources if you are ever in need.
All freshwater fish are likewise good to eat.
Animals should not be bled any more than can be helped if food is scarce.
Don't eat commercially made leather
Crack bones and suck out the marrow. Eat the marrow from the bones of a dead animal if desperate
When food supplies are limited, nothing should be cooked longer than is considered necessary for palatableness. (The only exception is when there may be germs or parasites to be destroyed.)
Be sure to eat the fat of the animal as well as the lean meat
(if unsure whether or not a plant is poisonous) Try a very small sample of a strange plant, then if all went well a slightly larger sample, and so on. This process should be stretched over as long a period as reasonable, certainly no less than twenty-four hours, because of the slowness in which some poisons act.
All acorns are good to eat. Just shell the nuts and boil them whole for at least two hours, changing the water (at least four times) each time it becomes light brown in color. The acorns can then be dried in the sun. Eat them as is or grind into a fine meal, which can then be formed into cakes and baked on a hot stone.
(eating dandilions) eat raw in salads and, especially when older, or after it had been boiled just long enough to become tender.
Maple seeds are edible for humans ( boil them.)
Do not expend all your resources and energy catching fish when other meat sources are available. (because they contain so few calories)
Be selective about how you spend your calories. *sometimes it is smarter to lounge by the campfire than to go out hunting/foraging. (lounging comfortably before a campfire may consume only about 100 calories per hour, whereas struggling through the bush he can burn six times as much.)
All seaweeds are good to eat. (raw or boiled)
Seek food sources near water sources
Snails are edible
The turtle can be killed by concussion or by decapitation, care being taken even after it is dead to avoid both jaws and claws. (The enormous nutritional value of turtle fat is guaranteed to renew strength.)
Entrails can be easily removed after slitting the fish from vent to throat. Generally, removing the head from smaller fish is needless and can in fact produce a greater hassle by loosening bones in the flesh.
(fishing with no bait) Tie a small strip of bright cloth to the hook. The corner of a handkerchief will do when the fish closes his mouth over the cloth, give the line a tug.
(fishing with no bait) A button is often successful as a lure. So is any small bright bit of metal.
(fishing with no hook) use safety pin or bent nails
Try grasshoppers as bait for fishing
(fishing with no pole) catch fish by forming a sort of cave with your cupped hands held motionless against a bank. Trout in particular will investigate, whereupon by the acquired art of closing the hands quickly enough but not too hurriedly you’ll have them.
(fishing with no pole) Make a pile of stones in the shallow water then chase the fish into the rock wall and bash them to death
with a rock //sim to how native Americans hunted fish with nets and a large group running at them
(creating a death pit) At signs of a game trail, dig a hole that is deep and wide enough to completely submerge that particular game species. At the bottom of this earthen orifice,
place several posts with sharpened edges pointing upwards. Then fashion a grillwork of sticks which will hold, at ground level, a scattering of leaves and grass (whatever available natural camouflage) thus disguising the hole with an appearance of solid ground.
All Birds Are Edible
(gutting a bird) pull the bird open, grasping it above and below the ribs. When we take out the viscera thus revealed, most of us will save the heart and liver. The gizzard is good, too, once it has been opened and emptied.
(Skinning Animals) Hang by the separated hind legs. Cut around each ankle. Slit up the inside of the leg to join a long cut made from the vent up the abdomen of the animal to the throat. Do the same with each foreleg. Then pull down the skin, using the cutting edge whenever it becomes necessary to free the hide from the body. Carefully open from the ribs being careful not to puncture the stomach. Save the Liver, kidneys, and heart
Store mean in dark cool places like a cave (to protect it from flies and maggots)
(drying the meat) Cut the lean, fresh red meat in long wide strips about half an inch thick. Hang these on a wood framework about four to six feet off the ground. Under the rack, build a small, slow, smoky fire of any nonresinous wood. Let the meat dry in the sun and wind. Cover it at night or in rain. It should dry in several days.
(water) Assume all water is impure until it has been proved otherwise, positively and recently.
(water) boil water to purify
(water) use two halazone pills to purify a quart of water. *unless very dirty water use 4 per quart
(water) avoid waterholes around which green plants are not thriving (it could be an indicator or toxic chemicals in the water
(water) Follow the incline of the land downwards to find water
(water) Follow animal foot prints to a water source
(water) If coming to a dry stream bed and you're desperate. Look for the lowest place in the stream and dig down several feet for water
(Navigation) learn to identify Polaris aka The North Star
(Navigation) If a trail seems to have stopped, return as quickly as possible to the last blaze you saw
(Navigation) an hour before sunset, find a place to camp
(Navigation) Don't travel at night
(Navigation) When lost or stranded it is usually best to stay where you are. (Other will be able to find you easier and if you move you will probably venture further from the trail.
(Navigation) Make three fires or three smokes for the universal sign for help
(Navigation) Blow whistle three times
(If in airplane crash) Never abandon the airplane. (That is where the rescuers will come) If you must leave. Leave a note at the crash site as to where you went.
(Airplane is about to crash) Don't start bracing for the crash too soon
(Airplane is about to crash) pee yourself (reduced the chance of internal injury)
(Airplane is about to crash) Turn around in your seat so your back is facing forward and your forehead is facing the seat. Firmly clasp your hands over your head behind your neck
(Navigation) before going into the wilderness with a group. Agree on a set of signals and precautions you will take if you get separated
(Navigation) Don’t shout or call. Blow the whistle if you have it. (save you energy/voice)
(Signaling rescue team) Cross arms in front of body to show that you need help or put arms above head
When you park an automobile beside the highway with the idea of perhaps fishing for an hour, jot down where you will be on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, and slide it under the windshield wiper
(Navigation) If lost in thick woods, climb a tree to look around to see if you can see any landmarks
(Hiking) Rake frequent short breaks rather than one long break after a long time hiking
(Hiking) Never step on anything you can step over, and never step over anything you can step around.
(Hiking) when in doubt, get your feet wet rather than jump from rock to rock
(Hiking) Never to carry anything in the hands that can be toted on the back.
If you wear glasses, always carry an extra pair when headed out into the backcountry
(Fording a stream) Us a pole or long stick to test the area you are going to plant your foot
(Fording a stream) Have pack unbuckled so you can ditch it if you need to
Learn how to tie a few basic knots
(Walking on ice) take a long stick to test any spots that look like they might break before walking over them
(Walking on ice) make sure you and the people you're with are at least 20ft apart from one another
(Walking on ice) carry a sheath knife to use if you fall in the water to pull yourself out by stabbing the ice
Don't worry about wolves (they don't attack humans)
If you come face to face with a large animal who doesn't run away, stand perfectly still, talk in a calm voice until they walk away
(Frostbite) don't rub frozen area. Cup it with your warm palm
(Frostbite) never thaw frozen area with gasoline, oil, or salt water
(Frostbite) never rub snow on a frostbite
Don't stay moving if it is very cold. Conserve your energy and try to avoid sweating
Try to avoid sweating if it is very cold out
Don't drink alcohol to keep warm. (It makes you feel warm, but actually prevents the body from heating itself properly)
(Quicksand) duck underwater quickly to loosen your feet
(Quicksand) sacrifice your shoes (ie. Slip out of them)
Take a first aid kid and know how to use it anytime you are more than a day from civilization
(Snakebite) carry a snake bite kit when in snake country
(Snakebite) Keep as calm and quiet as possible (so it doesn't circulate through the bloodstream quickly)
(Snakebite) Tie a band 1½ inches above both bite and swelling if possible to restrict the flow of the lymph vessels and veins. A handkerchief, torn strip of clothing, or lace will serve. Loosen the wrap if the limb numbs or becomes cold. Remove band for a minute about every ten minutes
(Traveling) Avoid eating ground meat when traveling abroad (likely to be contaminated)
(Wound) Stop heavy bleeding ASAP
(Wound) As a last resort, stop the bleeding by heating the blade of a knife in a fire and then searing the skin together (sim to branding)
(Tourniquet) Remove or loosen the tourniquet every 20 minutes to minimize the risk of gangrene
(Person not breathing) if person has swallowed their tongue, hook it free with a forefinger
(Ticks) never crush ticks after removal.
Opt for the more expensive/high-quality knife (they are safer)
Surprising Facts
porcupines are dumb and the easiest forest dwelling animal to kill //animals with shells don't
do very well long term. They getg trapped in their armor
Snake meat is not poisonous. Only if it has been bitten by another venomous snake or himself)
moose and rabbit excrement is sometimes used for thickening boiled dishes.
commercially tanned leather, the answer will be simpler indeed, for such leather generally has scant if any food value.
The more food is subjected to heat, the greater are the losses of nutritive values.
A man can have all the rabbit meat he wants to eat and still perish because the mean is so lean and contains no fat
Historically it is much more likely for people to only resort to cannibalism if the person already died and there are no other food sources available
Because beavers don’t know how trees will fall, they are occasionally found trapped beneath trunk and branches.
If a beaver never gnawed into trees, a process which grinds down the amphibious rodent’s dramatically-inward-curving teeth, the teeth would continue to grow until they fully impaled the amphibious rodent’s head, killing it.
any section of plump fresh meat is a complete diet in itself, affording all the necessary food ingredients even if we dine on nothing but fat rare steaks for week after month after year.
fish yield lower calories than most meats
Lounging comfortably before a campfire may consume only about 100 calories per hour, whereas struggling through the bush he can burn six times as much.
Things are in reality lower than they appear underwater
Just one drop of water containing giardia can cause sickness
it's impossible to tell if water is pure in the wild
The most universally recognized distress signals are based on threes: three shots, three flashes, three whistles
If seen by the U. S. Coast Guard. A red light, red rocket, or flare at night indicates that you have been seen and that assistance will be forthcoming as soon as possible.
There are no confirmed reports of wolves in North America attacking humans.
When you run from a black bear it triggers their instinct to chase you
the most common cause of accidental death in the North, is not freezing. It is burning by fire.
It is a myth that you will fall asleep and not wake up if it is cold
A large percent of "accidents" in the wilderness are intentional. Ways of escaping responsibility in the eyes of others for their death (ie. Some accidents are really suicides)//sim. To Influence book about many car accidents being suicide attempts
Half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water is medically regarded as equal to commercial mouthwashes
Unknown Terms
Gangrene: death of body tissue due to a lack of blood flow or a serious bacterial infection. It commonly affects the arms and legs, including the toes and fingers, but it can also occur in the muscles and in organs inside the body, such as the gallbladder.