98.6 Degrees, the Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive by Cody Lundin is one of the better books about survival and outdoor activities that I have read. As advertised, it is a no BS look at how to keep yourself and your friends and family alive and relatively safe until you either get out of your situation yourself or the SAR team fiends you. This book is broken down in a very simple and very entertaining way that makes it a fast read and easy to digest and remember and is aimed at people who have are both novices and experts around the woods or wherever the trail finds you.

This book is not a primitive living skills book. It is all about survival and how to avoid a survival situation. He opens the book talking about the psychological aspects of getting lost or getting into a situation and then he discusses the physical aspects. He discusses clothing and the science of body heat and the effects of water on the system. I learned more from this book than any other survival book I have read and I will probably say this quite a few times. .

He stresses a few things over all. Mostly maintaining your core temperature to prevent your body from being weakened by environmental conditions, namely hypothermia and heat related injuries. He stresses a good attitude, which as most of us know, will get you a lot further than you think. He also pushes the issue of water like I have never seen. Being a Marine, water is your life and you aren’t drinking it all the time, you are wrong, at least that’s what I tell my Marines. He states the three gallons a day is adequate for a survival situation, but you could use more. Maybe I haven’t read as many survival books in my life, but I have yet to see that number anywhere. He also discusses setting yourself up for a successful outdoor excursion by letting someone responsible know what you are doing. Who what where why and when will you be back, that sort of thing. He also gives tips on how to get yourself found if you need rescuing and what to leave for the SAR party at your vehicle, for example, a piece of foil with your boot tread pattern and name on it to aid the trackers.

Now for the part I know you have all been waiting for, the survival kit. His kit is great, with a few exceptions. I have modeled one similar to his based on what he wrote in the book as most of it is a good idea, but I have heartburn with some of it.

First off, the kit covers all the things that a normal PSK would have except the snare wire and fishing gear and has some things that one of our PSK’s may or may not have. All the items are easy to use and he suggests that you wrap bright tape around the each item so you can see them. How many times have you set a knife down and almost walked away with out it? Or is that just me? The food gathering groups are left out for a good reason, you really need to know what you’re doing to set a snare and for his area of the world (the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona) I assume he doesn’t need too much fishing gear. I will touch on this a little later as well. His kit is very complete and in building one yourself you have a better appreciation for its components and uses, and to top it off, you probably have most of what he suggests in your field gear. It has all the major groups of our PSK’s but it is larger, and by that I mean the parts are much larger. The entire kit is over four pounds!! It does have almost triple redundancy in all areas (signal, water and fire) but not much in the way of food gathering. This, as he states is due to the fact that this kit is for 72 hours, not extended stays in the bush.

As I have said the kit is large and there is a reason for it. All the implements can be operated in a state of shock or cold or whatever. He explains in detail the levels of motor skills your body has and how they are affected by stress and the environment. This is why I agree with his large tools and kit. After doing some dry runs with the PSK I built before reading this book I see where he is going with it. I ran three miles and the immediately tried to open my PSK and start a quick fire tender (like Doug’s). I wanted to introduce some stress into the process you see. Getting into the kit was clumsy due to my body’s state and trying to finger around inside my otterbox was difficult due to its size. Using Lundin’s kit, it is much easier for me to break out a cotton ball with Vaseline on it and strike a flint on it.

Now I know what you’re going to say, “You should calm down first before you do anything.” I know, but what does the average person know. But, put any inexperienced hiker or soccer parent in the woods with one of our PSK’s and see what happens.

I know that some of you will take issue with his use of liquid iodine as a water purifier, but he is pretty adement about it and looking at it from a fiscal standpoint, he makes sense, 3 dollars for 50 pills, or 59 cents for many gallons or “good” water. But then again, how much is your life worth.

The very serious issues I have with the kit however stem from only a couple of small issues. The first is the magnesium black. He likes this a lot as it has double use, having a striking surface and as tender for a fire. But his example of how to use the block doesn’t work. He states that using the broken edge of a hacksaw blade (I don’t mean the teeth) you can scrape enough off to get a large pile of shavings in minutes. Well I tried this and I got nothing. After about ten minutes of experimenting with holding the blade this way and that, I finally got a system down where I use the teeth on the saw and cut on it like I am cutting bread. You get a big pile of Mg dust, but not real shavings. Also, you have to use the teeth of the blade to get any kind of a spark out of the metal match, again, contrary to what he states. Maybe I had a bad blade, or my bock is old, or whatever, but I could not do it like he states. Mg also makes a hell of a mess after it is done burning, which can make your wife upset if you do it while she is right next to you. Will I leave it out? Probably not, I can use it as a last resort.

Second is the kit weight. I see and understand the need for items that are easy to use when you are cold and in a state of panic or shock, but the whole kit is over 4 pounds. This weight does include the homemade first aid kit (which I will talk about in a minute). He includes a full size space blanket (in addition to the smaller thinner types), a 2 gallon collapsible water bag {on top of two unbreakable bottles (NALGENE type) he suggests carrying} a LARGE (3x5) signal mirror, barrel liners and an extra fixed blade knife. All of these have their uses, but when weight and cubic space are at a premium, something’s got to give. I have slimmed mine down based on his kit and it still takes up a full pocket on my camel back M.U.L.E. I am reviewing my pack job. I know I just got done talking about how good the large kit is, but I have to play devil’s advocate here as well.

The next issue I have with the book is that he starts to talk about subjects and never really gets into them, namely the first aid kit. He shows his and talks about it, but only spends about a page a half on it. He states that your kit will be dependant on your situation, and I understand that, but he needs to be more in depth with that part. I built one for myself to augment my issue FAK, but I wish he would have spent more time going over the kit itself. All he really said was to have one and get some first aid training, kind of a cop out in my opinion. He also likes to introduce subjects are not applicable to the book at all, and then drops them like hot potatoes. For example, he states that surveyors tape makes weak cordage, but then says that with the proper knowledge it can be woven into a strong cord, but that’s all. Why mention that at all? He also shows you in the picture section, how to make a juniper bundle, something exclusive to certain parts of the country, and never explains it in the book.

All my gripes and complaints aside, the book is great. I have completely re-evaluated my outlook on my PSK and what should go in it. I never once considered my mental and physical state when I pushed to get the smallest stuff possible. I will keep the old kit, but I was able to make a kit based off the Lundin model for about 5 dollars as I already had most of it in the house or in my camping and hiking gear. In learning how your body reacts to stress, heat and cold and how much of a role water plays in your day to day and survival life, I have already noticed that I am much more comfortable and even more at ease in the bush. And I did even have to make any drastic changes.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is remotely interested in outdoor activities whether you are a weekend hiker or ultra-light camper, you will learn something or get a tip that may help you out in the future. Give this book a serious look and I assure you, you will be entertained and educated even if you don’t agree with his views or ideas.

I hope this helps. I have reviewed it a few times to make sure I did restate things too many times, but thanks for reading this, let me know what you think.

Garrett