Don't Get Sick: The Hidden Dangers of Camping and Hiking

by Rick Bennett and Buck Tilton

* Teaches campers and hikers how to avoid backcountry illness and even death due to food-borne diseases, sanitation problems, polluted water sources, and more * Handy pocket-sized guide gives practical, even humorous, information on camp cleanliness, waste disposal, water treatment, and germ prevention, with helpful appendices and charts Nothing soothes the soul like a great escape into the wilderness for a hiking or camping adventure, but what about your physical health? Without the proper awareness of the protozoa and parasites that await you, outdoor adventures can quickly become a nightmare of viruses and infections. Add animal-borne diseases like tick fever rabies, and trichinosis and many would-be adventurers might never leave their homes...unless, of course, they have this book. This valuable resources describes food- and waterborne diseases and explains how to prevent them; how to keep a clean camp; how to choose the best water filter; how to select, manage, handle, and prepare foods; how to dispose of human waste and solid waste; and how to use the Leave-No-Trace ethics of backcountry living and travel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898868548
• ISBN13: 9780898868548
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

The Medicine Man does it!

Very good and informative book a must for any long distance hiker. The "Medicine Man" comes through as usual.

This Book Will Keep You Well

Tilton & Bennett have produced a very good text for Mountaineers Books. Every out-door lover, wilderness hiker and mountain back packer should read "Don't Get Sick". Through nine absorbing chapters they inform about all the various diseases (from staph to lyme disease to bubonic plague) one may contract from living out doors. The book is small and will fit into a pocket (take it with you for reference on your next trek). T & B's comfortable, and non technical, writing style allowed me to read all 108 pages in just one week of the National Scout Jamboree. T & B identify many diseases, suggests cures, define periods for illness, and discuss how to shield one from sickness. They offers explanation about the four microbes that make us sick: viruses, bacteria, fungi and yeast, and protozoa. They also highlight their prevention and cures. More than a dozen graphs and tables illustrate healthy ways to avoid wilderness illness and how to set up a germ free living space. T & B also provide a helpful reference section, for each chapter, at the end of the book (demonstrating their state of the art research). With 20+ years of wilderness hiking and pack backing experience I was delighted to learn more from T & B. For example, tetanus lives in the soil (just another reason not to go bare footed in unfamiliar environments), on page 23. And sixty-six percent of all raw poultry contains salmonella (cook it thoroughly), page 62. This book is recommended to all who spend time hiking, eating, and sleeping in the wilderness. If you enjoy the outdoors, T & B will help you love it more with good health.