New Book: Extreme Wilderness Survival | Review From The Author

If you were to write your own wilderness survival book and include all the things that are missing in the current offerings out there, what would it include? That is the question that was asked of me many months ago. My answer comes in the form of Extreme Wilderness Survival, published by Page Street Publishing and distributed by Macmillan Publishing.

Extreme Wilderness Survival

I am writing this to you so I can share why the book is unique and worthy of your consideration. I can easily break the reasoning down into several categories.

• Over four decades of wilderness training and experience
• Real-world stories
• Simple systems of learning

*Order you own Extreme Wilderness Survival book here!*

Wilderness Training and Experience

Unlike many today, when I grew up, my playground was the woods and fields of Kentucky. I was one of those kids who would go out in the morning and show back up at the house when I needed to go to bed. I was incredibly fascinated by the natural world and I wanted to understand how it works and how I could best use its resources to help me stay alive. Luckily, I had the great benefit of having a family that was involved in Pre-Revolutionary War re-enacting activities. This afforded me the opportunity to regularly go into the wilderness and “survive” with not much more than a flint and steel striker kit, knife, and a tomahawk. What people call “survival” is what I did for fun back then.

In addition to that, I was an avid hunter and trapper bringing home game for the dinner table. I got away from the wilderness experience while attending college and desperately missed it. In an effort to reconnect to my roots I engaged in two 30-day long sabbaticals in which I went into the wilderness with nothing more than a knife and the clothes on my back. Those experiences changed me forever. I learned what I know well and what I did not know well. It was from that point forward that I became a “survival scientist” of sorts. Testing, pushing, and training myself, as well as with other instructors, in the science and art of living off the land.

I now enjoy training others full-time as the Owner and Chief Instructor of my own Nature Reliance School. It is a reality based school in which we share our own experiences as well as the latest research on what it takes to survive in a wilderness and/or rural setting. We teach a range of students at our school ranging from average ordinary people like you and me, to survival training for the Department of Defense.

Real-world stories

I included this same type of training in this book. Each chapter starts off with a story taken from the real world in which someone experienced tragedy, including the death of some of those involved. I then take each of those stories and break them down to understand what went right and what went wrong. This is done in a desire for the reader to be better informed so you do not make the same mistakes these folks did. After this is completed I take a chapter topic and dive into the details of the subject matter. I also have a distinct portion of the chapters called “Put it into practice”, in which I show you how you can make our training methods your own and go about practicing wherever you find yourself.

Simple systems of learning

I had the strongest desire when writing this book to make it a worthy purchase for those that are new to outdoors training as well as those who have advanced skill sets. I borrowed heavily from my own experience and research into how we, as humans, react under stress as well as the stories and experiences of thousands of people that I have taught through my school. The conclusion I came to is that Colonel Jeff Cooper was brilliant when he said regarding training, “You will not rise to the occasion. You will instead default to your level of training.” In that regard, I have four distinct sections with several chapter in each that will help you become a more prepared person for disaster and surprise events in the wilderness:

• Mindset – how to bullet-proof your mind so you can get done what needs to get done under stress. This includes learning on controlling your ego, becoming more aware of your surroundings, and how to keep things simple. Simple works under stress. True survival situations are stressful. I want you to be able to take care of yourselves and the ones you care about when stress tries to bring you down.
• Skills – the basics are here such as: wilderness first aid, shelter building, fire-building, water purification, preparing food: edible/medicinal plants, trapping, hunting.
• Tactics – most survival training involves just a look at skills. I take a tribal approach to it and teach you how to work with others to achieve common goals. This section includes topics such as working with groups, becoming a good leader, as well as utilizing the group in a defensive nature against aggressors such as wild animals and armed aggressors.
• Gear – I have seen nearly all of it. People come to our classes with every conceivable variant of gear choices. Not only that, but I have also been a professional-paid gear consultant for various manufacturers for several years now. This means I know what works, and what doesn’t. I share that experience with you. More importantly I show you how you can carry it all.  I give you the methods to properly build your every-day-carry and move it forward with what I call your Tier 1 and Tier 2 carry in an effort to help you have the best gear without wasting money on useless purchases.

I am incredibly passionate about getting people outside more. It is good for all of us. At the same time there are risks when doing so. Rather than simply teach you the methods to react to those risks, in my book, Extreme Wilderness Survival, I show you to recognize them before they occur and prepare for them. If something does surprise you, I also give you the skills and training to handle the stress of it and perform like a champ.

Up Next: TUTORIAL: How To Use Your Tactical Flashlight As a Self-Defense Tool

Did you enjoy our post on Craig Caudill's new book: Extreme Wilderness Survival? Let us know in the comment section below!

For awesome survival gear you can’t make at home, check out the Survival Life Store!

If you're looking for a few products to prepare you for wilderness survival training, check out these options!

• Get your copy of Craig Caudill's Extreme Wilderness Survival, start training and keep this survival skills book at the ready!
• Preparing for survival situations is key, give this Hoffman Richter HR-30 Tactical Folding Knife a try and enhance your naturalist skills!
• Make sure you're training with a reliable Bug Out Bag!