The purpose of e.IA.f.t. is – in the words of the NRA – is to provide you with the “knowledge, skills and attitude” to safely handle your firearm, to protect yourself, your family and those around you and to survive. 

Knowledge is the understanding of your environment and the tools at hand.  A skill set can only be learned by doing – whether it be shooting, canoeing, wilderness survival, fire building – you have to be able to successfully perform these skills in a consistent manner.  And a learner must always have an open attitude – to learn from everything - their friends, instructors, experiences and various authors.

What I have listed on “The Bookshelf” are the books I have acquired and read over the years that pertain to five primary areas:  Canoeing, Hiking, National Parks, Shooting and Survival.

Personal defense covers quite a bit or ground – in covers more than your skill with a firearm.  You need to survive the encounter; you may need to survive in a much more primitive environment for an undetermined length of time.  This may be due to natural events (hurricanes, tornados, windstorms, etc) or it may be due to a break down in our society.  Either way, personal defense can easily include a survival element much broader than putting down an immediate physical threat.

Obviously, many defensive situations can be emulated on a shooting range.  However, past that, other skills that can come in handy are better suited for wilderness practice.  Some examples would be navigation, fire building, building and using different types of shelter, knot tying, determining what should be in your backpack, water purification, wilderness hygiene, the proper way to poop in the woods  – to name just a few.  Over the past 40 years I have traveled the country learning and using these skills, sharing them with folks and simply having a lot of fun.  My two most enjoyable pastimes are canoeing and hiking.  And, my two favorite areas are Glacier National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) between Minnesota and Canada.  There are many, many other places I have enjoyed, yet these two are at the top of my list.  My reading material reflect things I have focused on learning.  My treks, canoe trips and weekend overnights have been spent practicing what I have learned.

I hope you find as much value in these books and their authors as I have.  If you have some offerings to add, please, pass them on and I will include them.

Enjoy!