Product Description

Studio: Stoney Wolf Productions Release Date: 12/09/2003

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36288 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English
• Running time: 134 minutes

Customer Reviews

Excellent video - useful, clear information - entertaining too
This video does an excellent job of providing useful information using clear, easy-to-follow examples. As one reviewer pointed out, it is not a primer on primitive survival, but then it's not advertised as such either. Ron Hood has well over a dozen videos out that cover just about every aspect of survival, including primitive techniques. This particular volume is designed to provide valuable information to the average hiker/hunter/etc. in a format that is easily understood by those with little training or experience. In that, he succeeds admirably. The tools he demonstrates while "synthetic" are real world, easy to find items. Primitive skills are valuable to have, but the average individual either cannot or will not invest the time necessary to acquire them. This video provides everyone with techniques that are quickly understood and mastered. It is well done and while not designed to teach you to survive with nothing, it may give you the knowledge you need to get out of a bad situation while having only a minimum of equipment. I suspect some of those who find this video useful will explore survival skills a bit farther (maybe eventually learning primitive techniques as well). Overall, the video is well done and certainly worth your time and money.

A pretty good overview of survival tips
A pretty good overview of outdoor survival tips in a cool weather alpine terrain. A little campsite selection, a little field orienteering, some trapping, a little fire building, etc. Good tips for using small, common, household items for survival; hint, put them in your car.

Put this movie in between those that are geared for people who panic when they are not tracked by satellite in their SUV and your typical special forces vet. It's too remedial to be of use to a Brock Sampson, but if that's who you are, you don't need such a movie. Its a good first step/overview on basic living in the wild for a few days. For people who don't get out into the wilderness very often it is good to see how things work in the field with a video as opposed to just descriptions in a book.

I'd like to see some more movies from the producer on surviving in other climates.

Survival Basics 1&2
First things first. There is an old saying that if you purchase a book, video, lesson, etc.. And you get even just one thing that you like and use then it is worth the price. If you are talking survival, then one useful thing may indeed save your life and that you can't put a price on.

With that in mind, I think anyone will come away with at least one useful bit of information from this DVD.

On the flip side, in my opinion, calling this video survival basics is misleading. This video is geared more towards synthetic survival skills rather than pure survival skills.

What I mean by that is most of what is covered involves having some item that comes off your local hardware or tackle shops shelf. Fish hooks, steel wool, flashlight, paracord, etc...Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that these principals do not work. Knowing them may indeed save a persons life...literally.

However, if you want to learn the 'real' basics of wilderness survival, I recommend researching other material. One for example would be Tom Brown Jr.'s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival as well as some of his other field guides to expand on what you learn in the first one. The meat and potatos of that book is to teach you to survive with nothing. Not a knife, not a piece of string, not a fish hook, not even the very clothes on your back. That is the true basics of survival.

Even better take one his classes, or anyones for that matter, that can teach you the fundamentals of wilderness survival with only what you find out in the wilderness.

If you are interested in learning as many survival methods as you can, and you should, by all means check out this DVD. But if you are just starting on the path to learning wilderness survival make sure you learn to survive with nothing. If Mr. Murphy has any say so...and he usually does...you may end up stranded in the woods without your survival pack. And then you may be in a world of hurt.

When you can survive with nothing...you will have everything. And if you find yourself in a survival situation and you have any of the items demostrated in this DVD, your task at survival will be all the easier.