Leon Pantenburg

If you know nothing about wilderness or urban survival, just where do you start? One good choice might be to read "Bushcraft Basics: A Common Sense Wilderness Survival handbook."

"Bushcraft Basics" starts with helping people overcome some fears they might not know they have, such as fear of the dark. It progresses on to teach skills and techniques for avoiding panic. Survival is all about dealing with and overcoming obstacles that could be life-threatening, and these can be in both urban and wilderness settings.

Author Leon Pantenburg is currently a canoe guide and wilderness skills instructor on the Lower Mississippi River. Today he teaches common sense survival. That starts from the initial "Where do I start" phase and progresses on to more advanced survival techniques.

As an award-winning newspaperman and journalist for four decades covering stories about search and rescue events, Leon has seen floods and forest fires, hurricane and tornadoes, earthquakes, mud slides and other natural disasters. He’s also reported on too many tragic outcomes from wilderness emergencies.

Starting in 2001, Leon was actively involved in Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon as an assistant Scoutmaster. He was a Scoutmaster Wilderness Skills Trainer for the Boy Scouts’ Fremont District.

Leon now teaches common sense techniques to the average person in order to avert potential disasters. His emphasis is to apply thoroughly tested and practiced, simple techniques of wilderness survival. Every piece of equipment or skill recommended on this website has been vetted by real people in the field.

After graduating from Iowa State University in 1976, Leon completed a six-month, 2552-mile solo Mississippi River canoe trip from the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minn., to the Gulf of Mexico.

His wilderness backpacking experience includes extended solos through Yellowstone’s backcountry; hiking the John Muir Trail in California, and numerous shorter trips along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Other mountain backpacking trips include hikes through the Uintas in Utah; the Beartooths in Montana; the Sawtooths in Idaho; the Pryors, the Wind River Range, Tetons and Bighorns in Wyoming; Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Catskills in New York and Death Valley National Monument in southern California.

Some of Leon’s canoe trips include sojourns through the Okefenokee Swamp and National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, the Big Black River swamp in Mississippi and the Boundary Waters canoe area in northern Minnesota, and numerous small river trips in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Leon is also an avid fisherman and an elk, deer, upland game and waterfowl hunter.

Reviews:

Jim Cobb is a recognized authority on disaster readiness, known for his common sense and down-to-earth, practical approach. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Prepper Survival Guide magazine. Jim has written several popular books on the subject and is a sought-after speaker and instructor survival expert, writer and editor-in-chief of “Backwoods Survival Guide: Practical Advice for the Simple Life” and other several preparedness and survival periodicals and books.

“I purchased a copy of this direct from Leon so I could have it signed. I’ve been a fan of Leon’s for a while now. He writes from experience and knows his subject matter thoroughly. We also share many of the same opinions when it comes to knives!

“Bushcraft Basics is somewhat mis-titled, I think. Oh, it covers the basics very well, but it goes well beyond them, too. In 170+ pages, he covers mindset, clothing, shelter, fire, tools, kit building, and more. Each chapter is liberally sprinkled with full color photos, which is definitely appreciated.

“One of my favorite sections is Chapter 4 – Choosing Clothing. This is an area that far too few survival texts overlook or maybe give just a page or two of discussion. The reality is that the clothing we choose to wear when we head outdoors is one of the most important decisions we can make. Shelter is nothing more than what protects us from the elements, and our clothing is our first line of defense.

“I also always appreciate it when an author suggests materials for further reading and research. Leon shares with us 15 books that he recommends. I’ll definitely be looking into the ones I’ve not read yet myself.

“Probably my single-most favorite element of the book is the Flashback tidbits he has scattered throughout. These are small passages where Leon describes his real-life adventures and experiences and how they relate to the subject at hand. These not only help show his level of experience but also frequently illustrate that even the best laid plans can go awry. It is how we overcome those challenges that matters most.

“I really like this book quite a bit. Leon is a great writer and the reader is easily able to grasp the concepts he shares. Highly recommended.”

Lisa Bedford is the author of "The Survival Mom" website and bestselling author of a book of the same name.

“I’ve been writing as The Survival Mom since 2009, and I’ve seen dozens of survival experts come and go. Only a few have had staying power built on authentic experience. Nothing rings truer than words of wisdom and advice from the person who quietly demonstrates their expertise, and Leon is one of those persons. His information is sound, his instruction straightforward in a field where poor information can have life-threatening results.

I’ve had the benefit of his knowledge as a contributor to my blog, The Survival Mom, and consider him to be my friend.”

Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy

“Leon Pantenburg is a dedicated writer on preparedness topics and has been a leader in bushcraft and survival education at survivalcommonsense.com for many years. Whether you’re a member of the preparedness community or just want to get through the next storm, advice from Leon Pantenburg can help you succeed, even if everything else fails…”

(Joe and Amy Alton are the authors of the #1 Amazon Bestseller and 2017 Book Excellence Award winner in medicine “The Survival Medicine Handbook”. See their articles in American Survival Guide, Survivor’s Edge, Backwoods Home, and other great magazines.)

Michael P. on Bark River Survivalists Facebook page “Big shout out to Leon for this amazing book. If you don’t already have one, it should be on your “to read” list. Great guy, awesome book, lots of useful information. Easy to read, even for a guy who doesn’t read much (that’s me) but should and will. Lol thanks again.”

AMAZON REVIEWS:

Joy Neal Kidney

5.0 out of 5 stars

Make up your mind to prevail!

“I really like this book quite a bit. Leon is a great writer and the reader is easily able to grasp the concepts he shares. Highly recommended.

“This looks like it’s mainly for campers and wilderness hikers, but there’s so much information in it what would be useful no matter the crisis. The author has lived in a crowded apartment situation, so has thought through the “what ifs.” He’s also lived in the outdoors and taught what he’s learned on his website and to Scouts and other groups. This is a handy-sized book with glossy pages and good photos.

“Each chapter ends with a wrap up called “Remember This.” There’s recommended reading, the dos and don’ts of clothing selection and why, 12 tips for finding a safe location to camp, 10 things to look for in a survival knife and other survival tools, choices in making a fire and why to have along several choices.

“Each family needs a copy of this and needs to put his recommendations into practice. He cautions that it doesn’t d any good to accumulate survival gear without knowing what to do about it.

“He begins with developing a survival mindset, something most of us don’t even consider, leading the reader through the psychology behind a typical disaster reaction progression. Great stuff to think through, right from the start. Highly recommended.”

Bill

5.0 out of 5 stars

If you buy only one book on Bushcraft Basics, this is the ONE to buy!

“Leon Pantenburg’s Common Sense book tells reader how to react, think and ultimately survive emergency wilderness survival situations that are equally transferable to urban situations as well. He provides the info with calm clarity on all critical facets of wilderness survival. Not only does he write this very well, he practices what he preaches!

“And he puts it all in a ruggedly bound book easily taken with you anywhere.

“On top of all that, he humbly submits additional authors on various in depth discussions on many related topics such as survival food storage, medicine and psychology and many others.

“He also has a website SurvivalCommonSense.com and many associated YouTube Videos on same that are wonderful to watch. You learn from them, and they lower your blood pressure!

“An old adage I learned long ago – “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”

“You will not fail with Leon.”