Im Josh, and Im interested in being a missionary. I was curious where I could find info (preferably a book) on survival, not in the sense of in a emergency situation, but in the sense of surviving in the wilderness with the intention to be there. I would like to know natural growing edible plants, skills for wilderness living, and anything else in this genre. If it is neccesary to be region specific, I am looking for north and south american area info. If someone could point me in the right direction for research, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Wow.

You realise that there are almost as many books on survival as there are books on cooking or weight loss? Where were you thinking, and what is your existing knowledge level?

Hey man. That's awesome your thinking about the mission field in South America. Me and my buddy were thinking about doing the same thing and possibly taking steps to start that this summer. I'd like to talk to you about it. Maybe we can trade survival ideas. The Amazon is no joke to say the least. Countless lives have been lost, etc etc. My AIM name is StealthBlueNinja. Yahoo is spellfiresilver - msn/email = moosemekanik@lycos.com

Hit me up bro.

yeah... but i just kind of wanted some direction on something that was about living in the wilderness as opposed to being stranded in an emergency situation. I dont have much knowledge at all, but I would like to learn about edible plants, trapping, natural medicine, and whatever else would be beneficial for living in the wild. As for location, southeastern usa (or anywhere else in the us), canada, and central america.

Josh, Please don't take my words wrong. Missionary work is always seen as GIVING people something. The cultural reality is we take things away and don't always replace them in kind. You might recall Harrison Ford trying to bring ice to the Amazon. Rather than some tome on birdtraps, why not take a few general classes in anthropology so you understand the dymanics of your endeavor. Your best instructors will be the people. It seems to me a Yanamamo would be a better missionary for your conversion to survival expert. At least they would have been, many first nations are being destroyed by mining, timber, cattle and farming ( including narcotics) interests faster than a burning rainforest.

There are two that I know of......I have the first. It is called Naked into the Wilderness. The second book is the 'other half'. It may be NITW 2 or something like that. From the first book I have learned lot. They have learned by trial and error. It is a great place to get info.

You might also want to check out the foxfire series of books. This is all about old Appalachian Mountain homesteading and such, really good info for most of central North America. I found Foxfire one, two and three especially captivating and informative.

In a similar vein, you might want to look into the Buckskinning community. They are a group of epople who do events based on life in the eary 1800s. All of their items have to be authentic, including hand sewn clothes, and period correct cooking. Although they drive to the events, and are allowed ot have ice on hand, you can get a lot of "live off the land" information for how they do things. One frind of mine even brain tans his own deerskin to make into clothing.

Although I cannot point you to a particular text, perhaps a book on how the area natives lived prior to Europeans arriving. Or, perhaps a book about how the early Europeans survived and settled in the area without all of the nifty gear that we have now.

You might also find some answers in a living history museum.

I hope that you will be able to post some updates once you arrive and see things for yourself.

I definetly agree that there is not enough giving. My interest in trapping and such is really more for in the Us and Canada, wanting to spend time as a contemporary mountain man. As for in Central America, specifically Guatemala, I would definitely love to go and live there and meet people i could learn from while evangelizing and discipling. Thanks for the criticism.