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books - personal discussion with the author

3/5/2015

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wilderness surveying

fossil bog wood when Alaska was a tropics

Nenana tripod goes out worth 300 grand

I have a series of books out. Readers ask me questions like “How is the next one is coming along, when will it be out!?” Readers ask about style choice, various outlooks, where the thinking comes from. Some want more details, more information, or ‘how to’ or “Whatever happened to so and so?” Why didn’t I discuss such and such more? This would be the place to come and follow, discuss, read, get more insight into various aspects of the books, which is my life story. Slide show below may prompt questions and discussion.

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Remote income- How to make a living

3/4/2015

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gathering working selling local wood

build your own home with hand tools

barge hauls supplies to the wilds

The single most important aspect of living off the grid and a subsistence independent remote lifestyle is how take a living. How will the few bills get paid. There are not a lot of traditional jobs away from civilization. It’s about being self employed. It’s about being able to fix, build, invent, innovate, make do with what we have, trade barter for services and needs. There is trapping, crafts, photography, collecting wild plants, maybe seasonal work. Here is the place to learn, share, discuss, how the bills get paid and how we acquire ‘stuff’ we need. In my 45 years at this lifestyle I have done seen a lot of things I can share. Here is where to ask questions.

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Physical Health

3/4/2015

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3 compartment compost bin

grafting edible apple to crab apple

using fish wheel to catch salmon

It is almost impossible to live independent and off the grid without being health conscious. What we eat, where we get out food, how to preserve that food is important. How to take care of ourselves when we get sick, and there are no doctors around can mean the difference between life or death. I spent 30 years in the Alaska wilderness. I have pulled my own teeth stitched myself up, depended on medicinal plants. This is the place to ask, contribute, learn about do it yourself health issues.

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Knives

3/4/2015

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“A man with a knife is master of a thousand tasks,” was a line I heard that got me into knife making, especially when I found out in the wilderness how important a good knife really is. People who use and collect knives have a lot of questions about use, design, types of steel, hardening, doing it yourself, general ‘how to.’ I have some unique answers to standard questions that others have found interesting. I began without electricity. I operate on a low budget. I have minimal tools, I have had 45 years experience, and made over 500 knives. I have stated a knife is the single most important survival tool. Here is where to ask, share, discuss, these subjects.

D2 steel custom acid etched blade. Local birch wood handle opal centered pins. Skin a moose and still sharp

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Wilderness survival choices

3/1/2015

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On the river.

Survival choices

There are many choices we have in life. I like to think about that and control as much as I can, the direction my life goes. No one cares as much as we do about what happens to us, if we are happy, successful or not. I have lived my life as I wished, in control of it, mostly off the grid, self-sufficient, subsistence in the wilds. I call it a way of thinking. I can pass on tips, how to, lists, instructions, links, and answer personal questions on the subject of wilderness survival and self-sufficiency.

As some background - I have spent 45 years in the wilds and around remote villages of Alaska. I lived without a bank account, no ID or any paperwork for 25 years. No drivers license. No phone, no taxes, no bills of any kind. I traveled by dog team in winter, and boat in summer, living off the land nomadically. I built my own dog sleds, made my own harnesses with hand tools. My website has a lot of pictures, my bio, books I wrote, references, magazines I have written for etc. www.milesofalaska.net

I can answer questions on most aspects of self-sufficiency. I have made my own soap by rendering my own bear fat and making my own lye. I know about shelters, emergency wild foods, wild medicines, self-defense, homesteading, cabin building. Mostly it is a matter of what it is you would like to know? If ‘everything,’ I suggest getting my books! www.milesofalaska.net/book But right here you can ask a question and I will reply. Maybe others will have the same question, and be interested in an answer! If you like, you can fill out the form and get regular tips, discounts on my products, updates. Select a category if you wish, so you do not get bothered with information if it is of no interest. I’m involved in a lot of things. Knife making, art, writing, various raw materials others need that I offer. I can begin a discussion with

boat breaks down floated 5 days

What is the most important tool to have in a wilderness survival situation?

Let’s say your car runs out of gas. or slides off the road in a remote area you are passing through. Or your boat sinks. You are the survivor of a plane crash, get lost on a outing? What is it you absolutely must have if you wish to stay alive? I say it is a knife! “A man with a knife is master of a thousand tasks” I read once. and now believe. With a knife and knowledge you can carve a bow drill to start a fire. Or strike the right rock to make a spark. You can carve a trigger for a deadfall that will kill small game or even a bear. You can make a shelter, carve tools of all kinds, a wood shovel, cut birch bark to make a container to cook in, make a fish hook, cut tree roots for rope, magnetize a needle to make a compass, mark trees to make a trial, carve messages for rescuers, skin game, make items of skin. The list can go on. I think no other item you could have with you can have as many important functions. Yes it is nice if you have matches! Many would not want to face the wilds without a gun! A set of extra dry warm cloths is dandy all right. So is a flashlight and map! In fact when I can, and I have room, I have a whole hundred pounds of cool stuff I find handy for camping and staying safe. Even a ham radio and chair. (now that I am a senior!). Yet a knife can supply almost all those things if you know how to use it!

If anyone has a comment, disagrees, or has a question I’d be happy to reply!

Who cares! We are not cave men anymore, so why bother knowing this stuff?!

In some ways , this is true! The chances might be so slim any of this ‘survival’ stuff would ever be useful, it is not worth bothering with. Consider a few things however. There is more and more control over us, with fewer freedoms and rights. Prices go up for essentials like food and shelter. Jobs are harder to get, insurance less affordable. Some items are scarce or expensive that used to be readily available. I say some aspects of survival knowledge might be handy just to ease the financial burden it might be nice to grow your own foods, extract your own natural medicines, or know how to stay warm without a dependency on fuel oil. There is an interest in natural herbs, teas, medicines for example. Every bit as good as processed, that you can easily make or grow yourself. There are potential changes ahead due to events like global warming, overpopulation, growing governments around the world, and what not. Our good life might be more fragile when many are willing to admit! The ability to help others in their emergency exists if we have some basic knowledge. Knowing how to set a bone or make aspirin could mean the difference between life and death in situations any of us could find ourselves in. So who needs this knowledge, if anyone? Let me know!

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Author

Miles Martin here, hi.

My main life skill is wilderness survival. I have written several books on the subject, written for the New York Times, Geo in Europe, and Alaska Magazine. I spent 25 years alone in the Alaska wilderness as hermit, mountain man, subsistence person. Beyond just ‘off the grid.’ I was born and raised in the city, had few skills beyond what I learned watching Walt Disney and some minor family camping. I paid a pilot to drop me off in the wilds, cold turkey. I walked out a year later. I built a houseboat, lived off the land nomadically with no electricity no ID no bills with my sled dogs. I lived on $2,000 a year for many years. I’ve been an artist writer knife maker for a living, mostly in my later years. I’m a 64 year old senior now. I have spent time in my youth in the city, more years in the wilds, and some time in remote villages. I travel doing art shows so am at least familiar with a variety of situations. I feel I am in a position to comment and offer meaningful advice on a lot of survival situations.

books - personal discussion with the author

Remote income- How to make a living

Physical Health

Knives

Wilderness survival choices

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