Calvin Rutstrum – författare

The essential resource on how to canoe, now back in print.Calvin Rutstrum’s fans have long known about his nuts-and-bolts approach to wilderness living. With this reissue of North American Canoe Country, a new generation of readers has the opportunity to learn time-tested secrets of a safe canoe adventure from a master outdoorsman. First published in 1964, North American Canoe Country is a complete treatise on the art of canoeing. Written as a guide for travelers who want to embark on self-sufficient trips deep into the wilderness, this book offers readers all the information they need to plan and undertake a canoe trip. Rutstrum gives the essentials on canoes, comparing birch-bark, wood, wood-and-canvas, and aluminum crafts. His paddling techniques are timeless-he describes strategies for rough waters and rapids, for boating alone or in tandem, including stroke diagrams. Portaging, safety procedures, direction finding, towing, and much more are systematically explained.

Indispensable advice on enjoying the great outdoors in winter.With the public’s growing interest in outdoor adventure and in simple pastimes, winter wilderness camping has again become an exhilarating alternative to sheltered urban life. Originally published in 1968, this classic guide for cold-weather enthusiasts by renowned wilderness expert Calvin Rutstrum is available again, now in an easy-to-pack paperback edition.Paradise Below Zero provides essential information on wilderness adventure in subzero temperatures. Readers benefit from Rutstrum’s knowledge of winter clothing, from choosing the proper mittens to selecting the indispensable footwear; traveling methods, including running a dogsled team; and emergency techniques, such as treating snow blindness and caring for someone who has broken through the ice. Rutstrum affectionately reflects on winter life and enthusiastically gives examples of how native peoples of the north and trappers have fought the cold. This colorful book will be of interest to anyone who has ever survived a northern winter.

The complete outdoorsman looks back on fifty years of wilderness adventures to find answers to today’s questions.Though he began his life as a Twin Cities resident, Calvin Rutstrum came to see noise, material wealth, and perpetual frenzy as the narcotics of the city dweller. Like Henry David Thoreau, he set out to live a simpler, more meaningful life. In his pursuit, Rutstrum came to appreciate the natural world and the skills necessary to survive in it. Part memoir, part guidebook, and part environmental treatise, Once upon a Wilderness is a treasury of wilderness wisdom.Rutstrum reminisces about lessons that his time in the wilderness has taught him. He writes about a range of backcountry issues, including environmental preservation, cultural sensitivity toward Native Americans, the urban versus the rural, and the artistic value of practical skills. Through his thoughtful consideration of the pleasure and value of wilderness, Rutstrum offers a clarion call for a saner, more socially responsible and environmentally sensitive way of living.