Introduction

This is not written as a survival book—it’s a compilation of most of the basic skills that original peoples around the world used in their daily pursuit of life, known as “primitive living skills.” Knowledge of such skills will allow you to live in the wilderness with nothing except for whatever nature at hand has to offer. In essence, the skills presented here are the ultimate in self-sufficiency. Being capable of heading into the wilderness with absolutely nothing and making a life there, not simply surviving, is the very definition of survival knowledge. So, I guess this is in some manner a survival book.

Today, everything around us—all goods manufactured by humans, whether it’s the concrete we drive on, the vehicles we’re driving, many foods that we’re eating and the utensils that we eat them with, the computer I’m writing this on, even the paper that you’re reading it on and the ink it’s printed with—everything comes from the Earth! In our case we (“we” being mankind today) have modified parts of the Earth to create other things, manmade things. Precious few of the components of everyday “things” around us (Ford pickups, space shuttles, bread wrappers, clothing, and so on) contain elements from the Earth that are unmodified. Everything that we’re familiar with has come from the Earth but has been modified and tinkered with by so many hands that it’s impossible for us to see any semblance with the Earth itself. Ask most anyone to gather materials from the Earth and make the simplest of necessities, then watch ’em squirm. Primitive man, by contrast, took everything that he used in his daily living directly from the materials that nature provided.

Not only will this book show you how primitive peoples accomplished this, but here you’ll learn, step by step, how you too can accomplish that. The purpose of this book is not to entertain; there’s more than enough media out there to do that. Rather, it was written to teach you, the reader, how to actually do the skills addressed.

Several things set this book apart from other in-depth ones on the market:

We, Geri and I, have done the skills we write about. We’ve done them a lot. So we write only what we’ve personally experienced. And it does work! If you want to know how to do it, read about it here—and you will know.

Each chapter was first written as a complete book of its own. It was written on one or two particular subjects or skills for the purpose of teaching another person—you—how to do it. Often a publisher will dictate a list of subjects for an author to write on (whether or not the author is familiar with it), and you the reader end up with a lot of theories and wild ideas instead of facts. Here we decided what you need to know.

These skills don’t follow any one culture or peoples. The idea is for you to be able to understand what makes a skill work, which will enable you to travel anyplace on the planet where resources are available and for you to use that skill effectively. The rules that we developed for ourselves are to be able to take from nature only, using nothing modified by mankind.

This book covers primitive wilderness living skills only. You’ll find nothing that is superfluous. Information on edible and medicinal plants, camouflage, tracking, spirituality, and art must be found elsewhere.

There’s no big secret to mastering any of this. It’s all just basic physics. Once it’s learned, you’ll say, “Well, hell yes—why didn’t I think of that!” Some of it (no, much of it) is time-consuming, especially in this day of instant everything. But I’m finding that many, many people are pretty sick and tired of all the hustle. This consumer-oriented industrialized society that we belong to has made most of its inhabitants dependent on others for even the simplest of needs. These skills, once learned, because of their simplicity, will be with you from now on till forever—and that’s a mighty long time, folks. They need not be applied or practiced every day to stay fresh in your mind. And the comfort that comes from just knowing them will give you the freedom to know that you’ll be self-sufficient to the extreme.

You gotta walk before you run, though. Understand where you’re headed, and be aware that that path can—and likely will—change as you proceed. Pick one or two of the skills in this book that interest you the most, then try to gain an understanding of how and why they work. The learning and practice of most primitive skills can be done in your backyard, garage, basement, or even living room (depending on the tolerance of your wife or husband or partner). You can become proficient in them without ever venturing beyond these bounds. And if you should find yourself in a primitive situation, either by choice or by chance, though you’ll find that the application isn’t as easy as when done in your own backyard, you’ll also find that through repeated practice you’ve developed the understanding and “feel” of the basic functions, the muscle memory as well as the confidence that you “know” how to apply the various methods. You’ll own that special feeling of freedom that comes from knowing that you need depend on no other man, woman, or beast.

Learn the wilderness under controlled conditions. Use a tent, modern sleeping gear, backpacks, and fire making. Hike and camp in familiar surroundings where getting lost or in trouble isn’t a part of the equation. Get out there in all the elements—not just when the sun shines. Learn what it’s like to protect yourself in the rain and snow, especially when you’re wet and cold. Add primitive things a bit at a time. Remember, though, that it would be rare to impossible for you to be placed in the outdoors with absolutely nothing, unless you do it voluntarily. Certain of the skills we detail in this book are necessary for survival: fire, cordage, traps, tools, shelter, and containers. These six skills are the basis for any living or survival situation. Everything else will grow from these.

We’ve read, within the past coupla years, of a group that spent some time in the wilds of northwest Montana. They had “primitive” down to a T. All their clothing, bedclothes, and gear were primitive, whether brain tan or otherwise. Primitive bows. Primitive pots. Plenty of primitive containers. Primitive fire-making sets. They had primitive under control. But, when they placed themselves “out there” in the wilderness, it appears to me that they found they lacked much of a grasp of the wilderness part. Although they commented that mice or other rodents were around and in their campsite, they never did catch any for food. In 18 days, the only food harvested by the group was reported to be one fingerling fish. When it rained they moved from their shelter to the protection of boughs of trees in their attempt to stay dry and comfortable. Oops? Maybe, but the experience will have enlightened them to this fact—a part of the learning curve. I’d bet that, next time, they encounter fewer problems.

As you read this book, you’ll notice some references in the form of a thank-you scattered here and there, but no list of references. This is because, for the most part, we have learned the skills we present through a lot of fieldwork and trial and error. We, meaning all of us human beings, are the result of everything that we’ve encountered before. For sure, Geri and I have read or heard somewhere that to make fire by friction we need, for example, two pieces of wood to rub together. Yet it was through our own personal efforts and labor that we’ve learned the little steps involved to make that effort result in a fire on a somewhat regular basis. No one to credit here except us.

We learned early on that, in our day (the 1950s through the 1970s), there was no easy way for us to master skills like this. Most books on the subject only glossed over the information that we were looking for—there was absolutely nothing available that we could find to teach us “How To.” True, there were a coupla books that tried to cover many of the skills described here, but we soon discovered that their authors had a lot of talk but little walk behind them. Some depended on the knowledge of others (the perpetuation of myths) and since they, the authors and editors, knew nothing about this, they had no idea that what they were passing along was for the most part garbage. It might make for good reading but failed miserably as field manuals. The reason that I early on depended on the use of a great many photographs to illustrate techniques was to reinforce to you, my readers, that we’ve actually done these skills, in the manner that we’re presenting them to you. They do work! (Other authors can draw anything.)

The primitive lifestyle isn’t for everyone—in fact, it’s for very few. But the knowledge of the skills needed to live this lifestyle is within reach of anyone.

Enjoy your experience, wherever your path may lead.

 

John and Geri McPherson

Randolph, Kansas

January 2008