Antanas Sileika on a book you can use to kill a porcupine

The Total Outdoorsman Manual: Canadian Edition details 408 survival skills to help the average person master the great outdoors. Author and regular The Next Chapter columnist Antanas Sileika considers himself pretty indoorsy, but he lets his "inner outdoorsman" out in this conversation with Shelagh Rogers. This interview originally aired on January 18, 2016.

ON EMBRACING A GUILTY PLEASURE

I bought this book semi-secretly. I mean, it has this gigantic Buck knife on the cover and it's got metal edges on it so that you can throw the book at a porcupine and kill the porcupine. But then for three months, this was number one on the nonfiction bestseller list in Canada, so in the end I realized I could take this book out of the closet, because there were more people out there reading it. 

ON OPENING A BEER WITH A KNIFE AND OTHER IMPORTANT SKILLS

There are a lot of things you have to know when you're going out into nature! Most people I know don't go out into nature very often, and those who do go about it in kind of a high-tech fashion, with expensive tents and all these lightweight things. This book isn't for them. This book is for people who stop at Bass Pro Shops after picking up a 2-4 at the Beer Store. It gives you tips like how to open up a beer with a knife. Because that's the kind of thing you might need to know! It assumes things, like that you want to drive an ATV or that you'd get just as much, or more, satisfaction from sleeping under a tarp as you would under a thousand-dollar tent.

ON BEING PREPARED... FOR THE APOCALYPSE

This book is for most of us who are reading too much apocalyptic fiction. I know people who were freaked out about losing their power for 12 hours. I know people who won't come out to my remote properties because there's an outhouse. This appeals to the dark side. If everything goes wrong, what will we know how to do? I know people who don't own a screwdriver. If it all goes to hell, you won't be able to call a handyman. 

Antanas Sileika's comments have been edited and condensed.