Book Review - TO TREAD IN WILD PLACES

My first encounter with Sam Larson was on his YouTube Channel.

I really enjoyed his videos. He impressed me. One of my first comments (ever) on a video (anyone’s) was … Sam, you are a breath of fresh air in the bushcraft community.

He is every bit of that and a lot more.

Sam went silent for a while. His channel wasn’t being updated. He wasn’t posting on Facebook. Then, low and behold, we see him in British Colombia in the first season of ALONE.

Shirli and I ordered a copy of Sam’s book … TO TREAD IN WILD PLACES, AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO WILDERNESS LIVING SKILLS … on the heels of his announcement that he had written and published the book.

Why did Sam write this book?

He answers the question in his introduction.

“I wrote this book, because I wanted to write the book that I wish I had read as a youth. I wanted to write a book for the indoor oriented folks who are curious what adventure might lie beyond highways and cell phone coverage. I wanted to write a book that would give the young, or beginning woodsman a well-rounded view of what it takes to live comfortably in the wilderness with limited equipment. I wanted to write a book that my parents could have simply handed to the 13 year old Sam and said, ‘go for it.’”

TO TREAD IN WILD PLACES, in my mind, is more than an introductory guide to wilderness living. 

TO TREAD IN WILD PLACES, while it does focus primarily on the skills and tools necessary in wilderness living, is also a ringing bell inviting all of us, regardless of our age or length of time in outdoor adventuring, to adjust our focus on why we are involved in the bushcraft community.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this book as an addition to any outdoor living skills library. In fact, TO TREAD IN WILD PLACES would make an excellent handbook for a series of Basic Skills classes.

Sam Larson … Woodsong Wilderness Leadership School … can be contacted through his website at woodsongwilderness.com .