Participating in Nature: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills

Discover nature by using it! Learn to meet your needs for clothing, shelter, fire, water and food from natural resources. Tom’s guide gives you a direct, hands-on experience of the world around you. With this book you will discover the thrill of staying warm and comfortable without even a blanket! Experience the magic of starting a fire by friction. Butcher your own deer and braintan its hide to make warm buckskin clothing. Learn about edible plants of the Rocky Mountain region, plus processing techniques and "primitive gourmet" skills like making wild strawberry ashcake pies or stir-fry cooking without a pan.

This book is the source for in depth coverage of tire sandals, bedroll packs and pack frames, felting with wool, quick bows and bone arrowheads, sinews, hide glue, trapping, fishing by hand, water purification, birch bark canisters, willow baskets, primitive pottery, wooden containers, cordage, twig deer, stalking skills, simple stone knives, flint & steel, bowdrill and handdrill fire-starting.

Participating in Nature includes dozens of innovative skills and an incredible 350 pictures and illustrations plus a thoughtful philosophy. Tom does extensive experiential research. He places an emphasis on publishing new information that is not found in any other source.

Thomas J. Elpel had the rare opportunity as a child to spend hundreds of hours with his grandmother Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.

"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was to go to Grandma’s house," Tom said. "When she moved from Virginia City to Pony, I followed her. Renee and I eventually bought land just a couple blocks from her place."

At the age of 16, Tom went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School. The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown’s Tracker School in New Jersey. Tom spent thousands of hours practicing and developing survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains. He is now the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School , LLC in Pony, Montana. Participating in Nature grew from Tom’s desire to help people become more aware of the natural world around us. Tom is also the author of four other books inspired by nature: Botany in a Day, Shanleya's Quest, Direct Pointing to Real Wealth, and Living Homes.