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Tom Brown (naturalist) Early Life[edit] Brown was born on January 29, 1950 in Toms River, New Jersey, and graduated from Toms River High School in 1968.

Tom Brown (naturalist)

In his books, Brown claims that from the age of seven he and his childhood friend Rick were trained in tracking and wilderness survival by Rick's grandfather, Stalking Wolf, who had relocated to the Pine Barrens wilderness near Toms River to be closer to Rick's family. Brown writes that Stalking Wolf died when Brown was 17, and that Rick was killed in a horse riding accident in Europe shortly thereafter. [1] Brown claims that he spent the next ten years living in different wilderness areas of the United States, working on his skills and using few manufactured tools to survive. Brown then returned to New Jersey and set out to find people who were interested in the abilities he had developed through first-hand experience with nature.

The Tracker School[edit] Books & Articles[edit] Brown has written 18 books to date. References[edit] External links[edit] At Home in the Wilderness. Can You Survive the Wild?

At Home in the Wilderness

If you're ready and willing, the Teaching Drum School can show you how to survive in the wilderness. Back in MOTHER NO. 71, wilderness survival expert Tom Brown Jr. (known worldwide as The Tracker) showed us how to construct the leaf hut-an expedient and reliable short-term survival shelter. Basic Skills and Lost-Proofing. Related Content Survival Vocabulary With all the TV shows depicting "survival", I will sort through the various groups and argue that th...

Basic Skills and Lost-Proofing

Can You Survive the Wild? If you're ready and willing, the Teaching Drum School can show you how to survive in the wilderness. Many of you will recall our popular seven-part series on basic survival skills, "At Home in the Wilderness," which appeared in MOTHER EARTH NEWS from September/October 1981 through September/October 1982 (issue numbers 71 through 77). At Home in the Wilderness Survival training involves far more than just learning basic survival skills necessary to endure hardship.

Sadly, the conveniences our civilization has devised have separated most of us from nature. Tracker School and Tom Brown Jr. Tom Brown, Jr's Tracker School. BE A BACK-TO-BASICS BOWYER. Related Content Can You Survive the Wild?

BE A BACK-TO-BASICS BOWYER

If you're ready and willing, the Teaching Drum School can show you how to survive in the wilderness. I'm an ardent primitive hunter. That is, I pursue game as the American Indians did: I pick up an animal's trail, identifying species, size, and (sometimes) sex . . . stalk the prey to within pulse-quickening distance . . . and bring it down with a well-placed arrow. Now bow hunting is a challenge in itself, but the experience can be further enhanced by making a bow and arrow, using—as far as possible—the same materials, tools, and techniques that have been employed by bowyers for millennia. I've fashioned many different types of bows, each designed to fit a special hunting need: short, highly reflexed, sinew-backed weapons like those developed by the American Plains Indians . . . long, recurved wooden bows in the style of those used by Eastern Woodlands Indians . . . The Language of Archery. Making Natural Cordage. Cordage — that is, thread, string or rope — is all but indispensable in a survival situation.

Making Natural Cordage

It can be used for (among other things) bowstrings, fishing lines, trap triggers, snares, and lashings. Most people would likely despair if forced to make string or make rope. However, suitable natural materials are plentiful in most places (our Sources of Cordage Materials list will help), and the techniques required for making cordage are actually quite simple to master. Materials and Their Attributes Just about any strong, flexible fiber can be used to produce good cordage. The dried inner skin of the stalks of fibrous plants will also serve your purpose, as will fibrous leaves and even dried grasses. Animal sinew can be used to produce exceptionally strong rope or twine.

The longest sinew is found in the white cords that run along either side of an animal's backbone, but you can get usable lengths from the tendons and ligaments attached to muscles and bones, as well. AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS: ANIMAL TRACKING. AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS PART V: EDIBLE PLANTS. Tom Brown, Jr. was brought up in the ways of the woods by a displaced Apache named Stalking Wolf.

AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS PART V: EDIBLE PLANTS

At Home in the Wilderness. Many early native American people believed that water was the Earth Mother's blood.

At Home in the Wilderness

And the purpose of the sacred substance—in the minds of such individuals—was to give life to all the world's beings. Therefore, men and women were expected to be careful to avoid dirtying it in any way. Unfortunately, in these "modern" times, our feet have become far removed from the earth, and much of humankind has lost its respect for water. Hence, more and more pollutants are being dumped into our aquatic reserves. It's hard nowadays to find a stream, lake, or river—anywhere in this country—that hasn't been contaminated.

In today's world, then, a survivalist who needs water faces a twofold task: finding water and rendering it potable. At Home in the Wilderness. Tornado Survival Tips.

At Home in the Wilderness

Part III: Fire. Related Content Funky Fire Starters You can make your own fire starters from cardboard, sawdust, lint and melted candle wax or buy them ...

Part III: Fire

Tom Brown, Jr. was brought up in the ways of the woods by a displaced apache name Stalking Wolf. Today, he is one of our country's leading outdoor authorities, author of 17 books and fieldguides, and head of one of the largest tracking and wilderness survival schools in the U.S.Tom has agreed to do a series of special features for MOTHER EARTH NEWS, articles that will help all of us learn how to survive—in comfort!