Rating:

The book is divided into chapters based on the topic, not like in some books where they are divided by type of environment. The first chapter “Art of Survival” should not only be read, but memorized prior to going on the trail. It lists types of survival responses, panic control, and how to assess a situation. If God forbid you find yourself in a survival situation that you did not intend to be in, you should at the very least know how you yourself will normally react. Are you going to be a leader? Proactive? Bewildered? What about the people you are planning to go with? Do you know their reaction?

Other chapters include shelters, food (from animals or plants), navigation, fire, water, signaling, injuries/illnesses, and dangerous environments. While all the chapters in the book are excellent, there is not a bad chapter in the bunch, the food from plants section is particularly well thought out. For the plants, it gives descriptions, habitats, uses, food, warnings (ie don’t confuse Cow Parsnip with Hemlock), and in the middle of the book there are several pages of photos of the plants mentioned which should help ease identification. In the animal chapter, not only does it mention how to trap the animal, but also how to clean, skin, and use the bone and how to save the blood. I would suggest not reading that chapter after dinner.

At ~230 pages and only weighing one pound, it’s a fairly standard sized paperback and about the right size to take on the trail. A few months ago, I reviewed another outdoor book “The Survival Handbook” which was an oversized, overweight book that was completely infeasible for a survival situation. In that review I stated “you might be better off bringing separate specialised books. They would be more effective and would probably consume less space.” I would like to change that just a tad, bring “Outdoor Survival Guide” instead, you will have almost all your bases covered (and much more effectively) and you would definitely use up less space. The only type I would suggest bringing as an additional book is if you are going into an environment that is not your typical woods, then certainly bring a survival guide on that particular environment in addition to this book as well.