Outdoor Survival Skills

This book is still used and recommended by the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, possibly the most reputable school in the business. Larry Dean Olsen, the author, is a guru in the field, and quite an amusing writer as well. This book is a classic, having come out originally in 1967 (my copy is the 30th anniversary edition from 1997). This is not a book for weekend backpackers, it is a text for those who want to explore and preserve true primitive survival skills - living off the land, friction fires, etc. If that is what you are looking for, this book is a great choice.

On reading some of the foregoing reviews, I can't believe we're talking about the same book. I received my first copy of Outdoor Survival Skills in the late 60's and it was the first of the best. There have been many excellent survival/primitive living skill authors since - Tom Brown Jr., John McPherson, Richard Jamison, Kochanski, Mears, Graves, Janowski, more recently, Cody Lundin, and the list goes on. By the way, the reason it was my first copy, was because I lent it to someone, who I guess, appreciated it as much as I did, so I never saw it again.Even though the first edition came out sometime in the late 60'sthe information is just as thorough, valuable, and accurate as it was then. Anybody that does not find this book so, should stick to outdoor writer's like Cliff Jacobson, who it appears, believes the only reason to carry a knife in the outdoors is to spread peanut butter.Well done, Mr. Olsen, I thank you.

I was impressed with the number of snares that were contained in this book. There were also very good sections on primative archery,hunting skills,and water aquisition. The pictures of plants in the back of the book are nice, but would have been better in color. Great book for getting back to the very basics and roughing it.

If you are strapped naked in the wild and ten thousand miles away from civilization, Larry's book will show you how to survive with the tools that mother nature has given us. Good pictures and layout. A great piece of work. I highly recommend it.

Years ago, long before I became an outdoors columnist/writer, I read Outdoor Survival Skills on a lark. To say that it changed my life would be an understatement; it showed me the road my life would take.In one small book, Larry started a movement that did what the hippies couldn't do. It showed people how to truly use the natural resources that surround us all, from how to tan hides and make snares to weaving tree bark and building shelters. Best of all, it shows us how to do all of these things without spending a dime--as it was done in days gone by.As a teacher, Larry is the best and the rest of us owe what we have to him. If you have any interest in how things were done before there was a Wal-Mart at every corner, get this book! I cannot say enough about it.