Survival Resources - Media Room

See what people are saying about the book written by our Managing Director,

John McCann. Click on the image below.

We accept the following credit cards:

In Volume 15, Issue 4, of Wilderness Way Magazine, our Director, John D. McCann, is featured in the "MEET THE MASTERS" Section. The article provides a little history of John and how Survival Resources was started. In the article, they talk about John's book, Build the Perfect Survival Kit, and how he came to write it. The article also discusses why John started offering survival courses, and why they are successful.

On Monday, October 5, 2009, our Director, John D. McCann was interviewed by Jack Spirko on The SURVIVAL PODCAST. They discussed EDC (Everyday Carry Items), survival kits, both urban & wilderness survival, and the training courses offered at Survival Resources. If you would like to listen to that Podcast, just CLICK HERE!

In Volume 15, Issue 2, of Wilderness Way Magazine, our Director, John D. McCann, had a 5 page article published on "Weaving in the Field" with many colored photos. He explains how to do hand weaving as well as how to build a 'Field Expedient Loom" so that you can quickly make straw mats, a windbreak for a survival shelter, or other type of device from dried grasses, reeds, etc.

The September issue of Hudson Valley Magazine featured an article by Greg Ryan who is a staff editor and had attended one of our survival courses at The Mohonk Preserve. The article is called "Survival by Numbers - A look at the tools you need to persevere in the wilderness" and it features our Neck Pouch Survival Kit. Lots of color photos and descriptions of the components. He did a nice job on this article and if you want to see it online, CLICK HERE.

The Post-Standard, a Syracuse, NY paper, did an article on our Outdoor Skills Courses titled "Former Marine Offers Course in Wilderness Skills." The Staff writer, Glenn Coin, did a nice job explaining the types of skills we teach in our Survival Skills Weekend course. To see the web edition of that article click here.

On Thursday, October 2, 2008, our Director, John D. McCann, appeared on "Getting Your Money's Worth with Judith West." He showed and discussed various survival kits. He also talked about the survival courses he offers and the type of people who attend these courses. Judith West was very interested in all aspects of John's profession and actually appeared excited when discussing the kits, as well as his book, Build the Perfect Survival Kit. You can click here to watch the video (John's is the 2nd interview down), which should also be up on Youtube in a short time. John has been invited back to discuss evacuation kits, as well as preparing for emergencies.

On Friday, September 26, 2008, our Director, John D. McCann, appeared on national television as a guest on the "Martha Stewart Show." He showed how to make a survival kit in a small mint tin. He discussed the contents and demonstrated how to use an oven bag as a water container to purify water and how to use safety pins to make fish hooks. He also discussed the survival courses he offers as well as his book, Build the Perfect Survival Kit, which was shown by Martha Stewart. The entire studio audience received a copy of John's book, provided by the publisher. If you would like to watch the video, or check out the contents of the Mint Tin Survival Kit, you can click here to see them on a designated page on Martha's website called "Survival Kit in a Tin."

We were very fortunate to have The New York Times do a Feature Article about our Survival Skills Weekend Course. The article titled "They Will Survive" was featured in the "Escapes" section on Friday, August 1, 2008, and was written by David Wallis, a NY Times Reporter, who attended our course. We were surprise to see we got the cover of that section with a 8" x 11-1/4" color photo of Denise starting a morning fire without matches, and an additional 2/3's page on page 6 of that section. The photographs were taken by Les Stone, an award winning photographer, who also spent the weekend at our camp. It was a very favorable article about our course, and survival training as a whole. Obviously we are proud! To see the web edition of that article click here. For more photos taken by Les Stone at our Survival Skills Weekend Course, see our Photo Album.

Our Director, John D. McCann, had a five page Feature Article about Survival kits, called "Save Yourself" published in the November 2005 issue of Field & Stream Magazine. The article provides the basics of survival kit building and shows three specific kits for hunters. The end of the article also shows John's book, Build the Perfect Survival Kit To view that article click here

In Volume 12, Issue 4, of Wilderness Way Magazine, our Director, John D. McCann, got the cover with an article entitled Natural A-Frame Shelter, Adirondack Style. The article shows how John built a shelter while on a 10 day trip to the wilderness canoe area of the Adirondacks in New York State. Lots of pictures with good explanation of how you can build a shelter like this.

The Poughkeepsie Journal did an article on our Director titled "Ex-Marine Loves Teaching about Survival in Nature." Nancy Haggerty, the author of a column called "Without Limits," said "When you're in the woods, rarely do you walk in a straight line. And so maybe it makes sense then that John McCann's path to the woods had some turns, some detours. There are things done for money. And things more meaningful... The 54-year old Hyde Park resident resolved several years ago to do what makes him happy. And his definition is unique. McCann, a former Marine drill instructor and private security provider, is the founder of the LaGrange-based survival school, Survival Resources... McCann, whose company (also) sells survival kit components (he even outfitted a group doing an Egyptian dig), authored the well-received 2005 book "Build the Perfect Survival Kit." The book's jacket extols him as a survival (expert) kit guru but it's a label he shrugs off. 'The first thing I tell students is don't read the back of the book... The problem with experts is they're people who know it all, so they stop learning. I'm never going to be done learning, I'm a student of survival...' All is geared toward McCann's goal to 'leave something behind.' 'I've been around the world. I'm truly where I think I truly belong,'... I'm not doing this for the money but for the satisfaction.'"

Our Director's book is discussed in the "Outdoor" column in the Times Herald-Record titled "Survival of the Smartest," dated January 15, 2008, by David Dirks. David states that "McCann, of Poughkeepsie, has taken the concept of "survival" to another level. Knowing that much has been written on survival techniques, McCann has devoted many years to developing expertise around personal survival kits. In 2006, he published a book entitled 'Build the Perfect Survival Kit.' It's one of the only books I know of devoted to building personal survival kits for all kinds of situations... In his book, he explores in detail the process of selecting the right components for the right situation... 'Build the Perfect Survival Kit' is well-written and full of detailed photographs on a subject rarely covered in any detail at all." To see the entire article with photos, as well as a podcast, click here.

In the November, 2007 issue of Field & Stream Magazine, there was an article under the "Sportsman's Notebook" called "The Survival Kit Necklace." The article explains how to build your own survival kit necklace, and it is not one for sale, such as the pre-made one by Ranger Rick. Although the article was written by Keith McCafferty, who is not associated with Survival Resources, he indicated that all of the items used in the necklace he shows, except the knife, where available from Survival Resources, and provided our telephone number and web site. The phone has not stopped ringing.

In Volume 12, Issue 2, of Wilderness Way Magazine, our Director, John D. McCann, had a large article published on "Making Your Own Knife Sheaths." It is eight pages in length with color photographs. It describes with both words and pictures, how you can make your own leather knife sheaths. It even explains the tools you will need and where to buy all your supplies.

Our Director's book is discussed in a column in the Poughkeepsie Journal titled "Local Author Pens Useful Safety Book," dated July 27, 2006. The article discusses Orson S. "Old Mountain" Phelps and says "Not all of us have skills necessary to take off into the woods, as Phelps would say on a random scoot, carrying little more than clothes on our back. But there is a guy in Dutchess County who can. His name is John McCann. McCann hails from Hyde Park and is the managing director of a consulting firm that teaches modern-day skills that can be employed to handle an age-old problem - surviving under adverse conditions." The article then discusses John's book, "Build the Perfect Survival Kit." He sums up the book stating "As for the content, it is right on point. Unless you have a tremendous amount of outdoor experience, there is something in this book - one little thread of knowledge - that could be just what you need someday to pull your chestnuts out of the fire."

In Volume 11, Issue 3, of Wilderness Way Magazine, Our Director's book is again mentioned in an article called What Should We Be Learning From Hurricane Katrina? The article indicates that "For putting together your Evacpack, in-depth information can be found in the book Build the Perfect Survival Kit, by John D. McCann.

In Volume 11, Issue 2, of Wilderness Way Magazine, our Director's book, Build the Perfect Survival Kit, was reviewed by Dude McLean with high praise. Dude states that he "strongly believes it belongs in every outdoorsman's library" and in his opinion "John McCann has written an instant classic." To review the entire article, click on the picture of the book in the left border.