Tim MacWelch - 10 Oct

This may be the end of the book, but my hope for you is that this is just the beginning of your education in the great outdoors. You and I are living proof that our forebears made a successful living by collecting their supplies and their meals from the wild, using a lifetimes worth of acquired skills. And while we may never achieve the levels of mastery that our predecessors once knew, we can strive to learn something new every day. Study your local ancient history, to find out how people provided for themselves in your home region. Learn from naturalists, to unlock the secrets of the plants and animals around you. Read everything you can get your hands onand above all else, practice your skills! Youll learn from both mistakes and successes as you practice your bushcraft and primitive living skills, and your education doesnt ever need to stop. The late great outdoorsman Horace Kephart said it best: In the school of the woods, there is no graduation day.

Thank you for reading .

From growing his own veggies and raising livestock, to being a multiple New York Times bestselling author, Tim MacWelch is truly a modern day renaissance man. He is the author of Prepare for Anything, Hunting & Gathering, How to Survive Anything, and The Ultimate Winter Survival Handbook . He has also been an obsessed practitioner of survival and outdoor skills for over three decades, and he has been teaching the skills he loves for over two of those decades. Tim became interested in survival skills and woodcraft as a teen, while backpacking in remote areas he decided in would be a smart plan to learn some skills. The majority of his training has involved testing survival skills and devising new ones, but the biggest leaps forward came from teaching.

Tim has spent hundreds of hours volunteering with Boy Scouts, youth groups, and more as well as working with and training adults in all walks of life. Tim and his school have been featured on Good Morning America , several National Geographic programs, and in many publications including Conde Nast Traveler , the Washington Post, Business Insider, and American Survival .

Since late 2010, Tim has written hundreds of pieces for Outdoor Life magazine and many other publications. Tims current and past articles and galleries can be found at outdoorlife.com and you can learn more about his survival school at

www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com. When hes not teaching survival or writing about it, he lives a self-reliant lifestyle with his family in Virginia.

Since it was founded in 1898, Outdoor Life has provided survival tips, wilderness skills, gear reports, and other essential information for hands-on outdoor enthusiasts. Each issue delivers the best advice in sportsmanshipas well as thrilling true-life tales, gear reviews, insider hunting, shooting, and fishing hints, and moreto more than 1 million readers. Its survival-themed web site also covers disaster preparedness and the skills to thrive anywhere from the backcountry to the urban jungles.

While every skill in this book has been fact-checked and field-tested, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, that the information is appropriate for every individual, situation, or purpose, and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.

The information in this book is presented for entertainment value only, for an adult audience. Before attempting any new activity, make sure you are aware of your own limitations and have adequately researched all applicable risks; this book is not intended to replace professional advice from an experienced outdoor guide.

Always follow all manufacturer instructions when using the equipment featured in this book. If the manufacturer of your equipment does not recommend use of the equipment in the fashion depicted, you should comply with the manufacturers recommendations.

You assume the risk and full responsibility for all of your actions, and the publishers will not be held responsible for any loss or damage of any sort, whether consequential, incidental, special, or otherwise that may result from the information presented.

Mariah Bear : 072 (wooden bowl); Katadyn: Micropur tablets, 073, Water filter, 074: courtesy of Katadyn; Mark Hendricks : Frontispiece, Table of Contents, Author's Introduction, Chapter One Introduction, 007: Essential Gear, 009: Go Really Old School, 017: Whetstone, 030: Pick the Right Axe (both photographs), 038: Shelter, main image, 064: Water, main image, 077: Signaling, main image, 085: Find a Way, main image, 138: Build a Survival Kit (detail), Chapter Two Introduction, 088: Fire, main image, 090: Gather Your Tinder, 094: Know the Rules of Tinder, 096: Build a Bird's Nest, main image, 097: Try a Tinder Taco, 110: Flint and Steel (Materials, and Sparks), 110: Spin a Bow Drill, main image,138: Fishing Kit, detail, 159: Go Out for Dinner, main image, Chapter Three Introduction, 168: Stay Safe by the Fire, main image, 200: Containers, main image, 203: Carve a Bowl, 219: Waterproof your Basket, 220: Primitive Skills, main image; Tim MacWelch : 019 (shell), 057 (tent), 104 (matches), 114 (fire saw), 237 (leaf compass); Tradition Creek : Maple Bucksaw, 018; Tweed Media International : Andrew McKean Introduction.

All other photography courtesy of Shutterstock.

Conor Buckey: Chapter Icons, 02, 1113, 20 (background), 24, 32-37, 40, 44, 49, 54, 59, 60, 67, 80, 110, 112, 114 (pro tip), 120, 143145, 151, 154, 171, 176, 185, 186, 189, 191-193, 196, 197, 208, 228, 231, 242, 243, 246, 247, 251, 252, 255; Hayden Foell: 15, 20 (zooms), 26, 27, 29, 30, 75, 106, 162, 202, 221, 225, 245; Vic Kulihin: 53, 142, 167, 170, 172, 181183, 194, 201; Raymond Larrett: 50, 76; Liberum Donum: 05, 9 Bushcraft Uses For: Tree Bark, Hot Rock, Antlers, Tripod, Mud, Animal Fat, 42, 43, 46, 52, 61, 69, 111, 113, 114 (steps), 163, 165, 175, 259, 266; Christine Meighan: 129, 139, 149, 164, 180, 211, 216, 224, 230, 233, 235, 263; Lauren Towner: 96, 131, 134, 153, 157, 159, 212, 219, 223, 236, 257.

To my brother in bushcraft, PAUL DISNEY:

Thank you for the gift of your friendship, and thank you for the countless hours you have spent planning, researching, collecting materials, and teaching bushcraft at my school.

I am deeply grateful for everything you have done to help me.

And to my brother in wilderness, MARK HENDRICKS:

Thank you for your friendship and support, and thank you so much for the amazing photographs you took for this book. Through your photos, you share your unique view of the natural world, with the eye of an artist and soul of a poet. I wish you all the success in the world.