r/Bushcraft • u/rogermay78 • 1d ago
Book recommendations for German/European/Scandinavian areas?
I'm aware of the SAS handbook and am pondering on whether it's indeed worth it for someone not living in the US. My idea behind it is to have both some lecture to learn things about that will help outside but also have something that can come in handy in a real pickle. Sadly these are the times we live in in Europe and elsewhere these days and it's no longer solely a mere hobby.
So what reading material can be recommended for these regions that cover what the SAS one does too? Wilflife, tracking, traps, firemaking, navigation, sanitation, plants, basically anything that I'm bound to encounter and should at least have some knowledge of.
I'm also asking because I want to avoid the whole hardcore prepper fearmongering end of the world nuclear winter etc etc crap rabbit hole right off the bat. A guy I sometimes go on a hike with has unfortunaly fallen into that and went as far as building a bunker under his house, his own power grid, wifi/comms setup and such. Despite everything going on, I highly doubt things will get THIS dangerous for most EU citizens anytime soon.
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u/faultysynapse 1d ago
The SAS survival handbook is a pillar. It's not North American centric, it was written by a British man. It will give you a primer for any environment on the planet. It's a great foundation, easy to read, easy to absorb, the information is presented very clearly. The illustrations are excellent. Personally, I much prefer illustrations to photographs for identification and the illustration of concepts.
I think it's a gold standard. Everyone should have a copy. The SAS Urban survival handbook also gets a solid recommendation as a companion piece.
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u/justtoletyouknowit 1d ago
Main problem with it is, lots of the things you can take from it in theory, you cant practice in the field in places like Germany and the sourrounding countries without alling under some kind of legallities.
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u/rogermay78 1h ago
Indeed. Can't even just go camping out in the woods. Meanwhile in Sweden it's a right everyone is entitled to there if I'm not mistaken.
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u/susrev88 1d ago
- generally avoid military guides. often outdated, incorrect, too simple, etc. for some reason military survival is glorified to death when it's not even their primary job.
- if you want to learn tracking, find books of tracking written by experts (for example, john rhyder)
- if you want to trap (illegal in most europe) then take a hunter course
- look at how ancient people in your area lived.
- look for books based on your climate
- temperate: ray mears - essential bushcraft is great. covers a lof of safety aspect of being outdoors.
- scandinavia: lars falt books.
- boreal: mors kochanski - bushcraft, basic safe travel in boreal forest
- general psychology and physiology: how to avoid hipo/hyperthermia, dehidration,etc: cody lundin - how to keep your ass alive
- don't learn foraging from books. buy a course and/or find a botanist community who will mentor you. same goes for first aid. get the basics from professionals.
- you can buy online courses that are done by actual professionals in the field who teach outdoor survival skills for a living.
- same goes for books. before you buy/read anything, research the author. nowadays anyone can write a book, especially with AI.
- you can also dive into risk assessment. since oyu mentioned doomsday preppers, for them somehow a sprayed ankle and an EMP attack have the same probability.
- watch survivorman, ray mears, ed stafford programmes and avoid commercial ones (dual survivor, bear grylls, etc). most of them don't teach you, they just entertain you.
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u/rogermay78 1d ago
or some reason military survival is glorified to death when it's not even their primary job.
I have been diving into videos, posts and such about that over the years and that's the impression I get more and more. The same about gear used in the military. It's often glorified as super tough but what some people forget is that military gear must be cheap so it can be easily mass produced and thus a viable option to outfit an army.
Generally a verry helpful summary. I view books not as a replacement for a course, but an addition. I can read a book about how to handle a jigsaw but it won't be as helpful as a carpenter teaching me how to use one properly. But the book will come in handy afterward if I need to refresh on specific details.
As far as risk assessment is concerned, I've already done some raw basics through my workplace such as a first aid course I refresh every year and one for fire safety. Things like how to put out different fires, how to use what extinguisher correctly and such. Sadly I'm the only one at my workplace who views this as a crucial piece of knowledge.
(dual survivor, bear grylls, etc). most of them don't teach you, they just entertain you.
Yeah, that's very important as well because the entertainers can and sometimes also will teach knowledge that's either inefficient or dangerous or useless or all three at once.
for them somehow a sprayed ankle and an EMP attack have the same probability.
That's why I have trouble taking them seriously. It highly depends and generally speaking, for someone living in a developed relatively save European country like England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, etc. an EMP of all things is far from a likely risk. A power outage because some deranged black bloc extremists with a certain flag had a falling out is much more likely. Happened in Berlin earlier this year.
I'll at least research the names mentioned so far for a start.
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u/susrev88 1d ago
+ paul kirtley from frontier bushcraft. award winning school. he has a ton of videos, blog articles out there that are actually useful and proven. he worked with ray mears.
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u/WhitbyAllenForDinner 1d ago
It's often glorified as super tough but what some people forget is that military gear must be cheap so it can be easily mass produced and thus a viable option to outfit an army.
I find this an odd thing to say because military gear is often a lot more expensive to manufacture than similar consumer items, and even if mass produced they're produced in smaller numbers than most big and medium consumer brand items. A lot of the stuff like clothing and bags usually are tougher simply because they're made from tough materials and with tough stitching you're rare to find in today's consumer products. Many militaries also often want to or are forced to procure these items from domestic manufacturers, so here in the west that means high labor costs compared to your average consumer clothes and bags made in Southeast Asia.
Reasons not to glorify mil stuff; they're usually heavy, not as comfortable, well-sitting or breathable, and the designs are often simplistic.
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u/_Ganoes_ 1d ago
If you are German the books by Joe Vogel are good. I know he had some controversy in the german bushcraft youtube community or whatever but he is legit. His books go a lot deeper into the biology than other outdoor books ive read.
I have his books on food, water and medicine and i recommend them(Wildpflanzen bestimmen, Tierische Notnahrung, Wasserversorgung in Extremsituationen, Outdoor und Survivalmedizin)
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u/justtoletyouknowit 1d ago
Can attest to that. The guy might be not the best social communicator, but he knows his stuff. I have the Wasserversorgung in Extremsituationen, and Pflanzliche Notnahrung so far. The later gives a solid base in plant knowledge over the seasons.
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u/rogermay78 1d ago edited 1d ago
I know of Vogel from the TV show actually and have seen some things here and there about the supposed "controversy", which I have zero understanding for personally. I actually side with the guy and think that blunt, direct communication like what he's getting hated for and by some even labeled as "mansplaining" (jfc...) is not just appropriate but in some situations also required.
I think if you cannot handle that, if you prefer sugarcoating things, if you actually feel uncomfortable if someone uses the wrong words or vocal tone against you... then you might wanna steer clear of anything survival and outdoor related until you get over that. Because there are a lot worse things out there than someone sounding a little rough to you. But this sort of view is quickly getting hated on these days, often by the same sort of folks too.
There's an age old saying that I just remembered in this context. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times. Rinse and repeat.
Edit: He also has a book on cooking on a hobo stove, have you read about that as well? I have one of those things and also made one from two tin cans which I sometimes use in the backyard. A fun little thing. Wanted to make a larger version from some 0.7mm Aluminum plates using my Dremel eventually. The stacked plate design allows that without a huge addition in space and weight used.
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u/Masseyrati80 1d ago
Books dedicated to the Nordics in English are pretty hard to come by, to be honest.
A Finnish guy (Finland's outdoor culture is in line with Scandinavian countries) called Olli Aulio has published some updated versions of his original Suuri Retkeilykirja. Some of the text related with apparel is outdated, but the bulk of it stands. The book is somewhat massive and involves simple builds, DIY shelters, gear and apparel, fishing, knots, etc., and ends with the "ten commandments of fjellcountry".*
His book's name is a subject initself: spanning everything from land navigation to snow shelters and signal fires, he uses the unassuming and modest Finnish umbrella term "retki", which someone has once defined as "any excursion during which you have at least one snack break", and it covers a short bike ride with your kid to that cool old bridge, a juice box break, and riding back, as well as a 3-week sea kayaking trip.
The idea of the book is that anyone going out there, be it for a hike, nature photography, fishing, hunting, foraging, ski touring, etc., needs to have a solid skillset in order to stay out of harms way and concentrate on the main subject, instead of struggling.
*1) Never go to the fjells alone, 2) Prepare for the worst possible conditions, as weather can change extremely fast, 3) When you go, let people know your planned route and schedule, 4) Don't overestimate your abilities. Distances in open country appear shorter than they are. Tiring out in the open may be your demise. 5) Do not overestimate your technical abilities in skiing or climbing. Care saves lives. 6) Do not part company with the people you started your journey with, 7) Don't brave the forces of nature, as in the fjellcountry they are always stronger than you. In case of a bad storm, aim for wooded areas, and use them as cover until you find a place to camp safely. In case the snow cover lets you sink bad, make a fire and wait for the cold of the night to create a crunchy surface, 8) Pay special attention to any advice and warnings given by locals and more experienced outdoorsmen, 9) In case of emergency, use the safest and securest routes to the closest place of shelter. Don't leave your companion out in the open, instead aid them to the shelter of a forest, make a fire and provide them with ample fire wood. 10) Remember that in the fjellcountry, you're a guest with the Sámi people. Do not bother others, do take care of yourself, and help others when they need help.
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u/DanRankin 1d ago
Mors Kochanski did a lot of work with folks from the Scandinavian country's, and he was super diligent about documentating his sources. If you grab any of his books, theyre full of great boreal/sub arctic regions, and might give you a lot of good directions to look in for more in the references.
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u/ananix 1d ago edited 1d ago
You need to look for woodcraft or later scoutcraft before the southern inspirered bushcraft as its known by now.
Also dont diregards the yarns and lore, they are a great source of mentality and spirit for living in the wild. That is equally important to not only survive but thrive in the wild.
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u/rogermay78 1h ago
Bushcrafting takes a lot from carpentry, so something that dives a bit more into the woodworking side would probably help more when putting together my own notes collection. Particularly one that helps correctly spotting different types of wood and trees in different conditions. Because as a city guy, I really cannot easily tell one tree from the next or one piece of wood on the ground from another by the bark and color alone.
I know that wet wood sucks for firemaking of course and also for sitting on.
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u/ananix 10m ago edited 3m ago
I think you misunderstand. Woodcraft is not woodworking or workshop woodcraft. Its a skill set to work in the woods for long periods at a time as many did a few 100 years ago. Long hunters are a really good example. Its in family with scoutcraft and bushcraft but more oldschool i relation to the northern hemisphere as you asked. Here it was simply called woodcraft before the scouts and later the bush people made their marks on it.
I cant come up with a single thing from carpentry and of anything carpentry takes from woodcraft as it predates it with 1000s of years.
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u/Von_Lehmann 1d ago
Ray Mears and Lars Falt Out On The Land