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

Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival is written by Dave Canterbury. Canterbury is a survival expert who has appeared on Discovery channels Duel Survival.

The book was published in 2014 and made The New York Times Best Seller list. Canterbury has also published Survivability for the Common Man in 2011, and Advanced Bushcraft in 2015.

Bushcraft 101 is a great book for beginners looking to learn Bushcraft. Bushcraft is about thriving within the natural setting, it's also about learning the skills and information required to survive. It embraces fire making, hunting, fishing, shelter-building, foraging, among others.

Part 1: Gearing Up

“The man, who goes afoot, prepared to camp anywhere and in any weather, is the most independent fellow on earth.”
—HORACE KEPHART, 1904

Being a book for beginners, the book starts with gearing up. In the first chapter the book will tell you all the gear you will need to take with you. Remember to pack light, if you can't walk 10 miles with your pack its too big. Canterbury will teach you about the five C's of survivability which include:

1. Cutting tools
   
2. Cover elements
3. Combustion devices
   
4. Containers
5. Cordages

Those items and knowing the landscape are all you need to pack. You could add a few more things such as first aid or navigation to make things easier but they are not needed. The book continues to build on top of these principles.

Starting with covering the different types of tools you will need for survival. Everything from knives, to axes, and how to care for them. You will also learn how to spot quality tools, because quality could be the difference between a fun trip in the woods and not coming back.

Then it goes on to cover cordage. Including cords, rope, webbing, and mule tape. It also tells you how to make natural cordage as well as some knots. The book also goes over lashings, bindings, toggles and some tips and tricks for rope and cordage.

Following with the five C's of survival, it covers containers next. Containers like water bottles and canteens, cups, pots, skillets, planks, and rotisserie. It also covers cooking irons, stoves and burners, and tools for food handling.

Part one ends by covering combustion and shelter. Combustion things like lighters, ferrocerium rods, lens, sticks, and blades. Shelter like tarps and tarp tents, polypropylene, canvas, oilcloth, ground pads, thermal blankets, hammocks, sleeping bags, wool blankets, and natural shelters.

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Part 2: In the Bush

Shelter provides a micro-environment that supplements inadequate clothing or allows you to shed cumbersome layers, especially when you want to stop moving or when you want to sleep in cold weather. Shelter also enhances the effect of a warming fire.”
—MORS KOCHANSKI, 1987

Part two of Bushcraft 101 will tell you what to do when you actually get into the wilds. It will cover what you need to do to survive and navigate the terrain.

Things like setting up camp, navigating terrain, all about trees, and trapping game.

Where you set up camp is the most important decision you can make. The book has a simple checklist to go over when selecting camp, it's called the four W's. They are:

1. Wood
2. Water
3. Wind
   
4. Widowmakers

The book then goes into detail about each of the four W's. It also covers tarps, and many different types of fires. Such as long fires, Dakota fire pits, and keyhole fires.

The next chapter covers how to navigate the terrain. Navigation is an underrated skill to many people. Finding your way back to camp after a short scouting mission should always be manageable. It also covers things like compasses, terrain features and maps, measuring distance, obstacles, and figuring daylight hours

Trees are covered in the next chapter. Many plants you use has a short season you can use them in. Trees are a bit different, many of their resources are available year round. The important ones being construction materials and medicine. In this chapter Canterbury covers Pines, Willows, Black Walnut, Sassafras, Oaks, and tips for making use of trees.

In the final chapter the book covers trapping and processing game. Including, trap components, creating sign posts, bait, modern traps, improvised traps, water traps, specialty traps, primitive traps, deadfall traps, bird traps, fishing, and how to process everything you catch.

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Bushcraft 101 - Conclusion

This book is the perfect book for anyone looking to start bushcrafting, or surviving. The book is packed with a plethora of knowledge for people of any skill level. It would make a great addition to any bug out bag. I, and many others, would heavily recommend this book. There is a reason it is on the best seller list.