The Backpacker's Field Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Backcountry Skills

by Rick Curtis

Book Overview

Provides information on the essential skills and equipment needed by backpackers and campers, including first aid, determining the weather, and making repairs at camp.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517887835
• ISBN13: 9780517887837
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
• Length: 374 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Very helpful and handy guide!

This is a great little book that covers everything and anything a beginner backpacker needs to know! I feel like I learned a lot from it and appreciated how thorough it was, covering a bunch of scenarios I wouldn't have even thought of on my own. I ordered an acceptable copy and the while the cover was dirty, the book itself was in perfect condition! Love it. *I am editing this review as I mixed my initial review up with a separate backpacking guide I ordered at the same time. Whoops. This one was great!

Don't Leave Home Without It

This book was written by Rick Curtis, director of the Outdoor Action Program at Princeton University, one of the most succesful college outdoor programs around. It's not the kind of book you sit down and read, rather it's a good reference to keep handy when you have questions about things. Here's a bit of what it covers: -backpacking equipment -cooking and nutrition -hygiene and water purification -"leave-no-trace" hiking and camping -weather -safety and emergency procedures -first aid -trip planning Every backpacker knows that space is limited and you can only carry the essentials- which definitely includes this book. In 10 chapters, a mid-size font, and 440 pages, it covers it all and will be the only backpacking guide you'll ever need. Hikers suffering with plantar fasciitis might also be interested in The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution.

Excellent if you don't stray too far from civilization

A distinction must be made between "outdoor" books that assume that your trip into the wilderness happens in the context of a working civil society, i.e. you buy food at the store, you have your tent, your map, maybe a GPS, and if you are in trouble a competent attempt will be made to rescue you. Then there are the "survival" books which assume that if you don't do "it" (gather food, build a shelter, find water, etc.) yourself, it ain't gonna happen. Maybe you can get help, but maybe other humans even pose a danger to your life, perhaps because of violent behavior, stupidity, clumsiness, or for whatever reason. This book falls mainly into the first category, but makes interesting forays into the second. Perhaps the strongest impression is left by the First Aid section (which is also the longest). If you are really in an emergency, in which case you will definitely not have the time to read five pages on the Heimlich maneuver or whatever, this is probably the book you should pick up in a hurry. Of course ideally, you should know the content of the section by rote, but the descriptions are short yet detailed enough that they can be read quickly and confer all the vital information. A variety of more obscure illnesses are included that you will probably not find covered in other First Aid texts. The nutrition section is quite short and the recipes are probably not something you would want to eat every day -- burritos, pizza, pesto. Don't expect any information on game, edible berries or the like... A number of good sections cover such things as crossing a river or bearproofing your camp. These are well-written and stress the importance of understanding the situation first before acting. Along the same lines, there is an extensive review of leadership skills -- this is definitely an outdoor book for the thinking man. All in all a thorough book, but if you are in situation where help does not arrive after a short while, it might not be enough. The SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea would be an excellent complement to this book and nicely covers those things which the BFM leaves out.

Incredibly readable and useful-a real nuts & bolts book

This book is a wonderful combination of practical and useful information. It covers everything you need to know to hike or backpack safely and with basic equipment. I particularly enjoyed the information and about maintaining your equipment (I'm a klutz). I also liked the fact that it went into detail as to how to keep clean on the trail and how to maintain cleanliness and leave no impact on the campsite/environment. Unfortunately I left my first copy under my blankets in my tent cabin in Yosemite and now have to buy another copy.

Everything you need to know!!

This is absolutely the most thought out, realistic, pertinent, and easiest to read book reagrding wilderness adventure I have seen yet. The book not only covers things like what food to bring, but increases in nutritional needs for the rigors of backpacking, and how to maintain optimal health. The order which material is presented is cohesive and sound, with tips and strategies to help your every need. I could not reccomend this book enough. It offers a wealth of pictures and diagrams, from the basic types of packs, diagrams of stoves and their parts, to weather systems, and examples for tying food up in trees or making survival shelters. If you need a lot of visual guidance and don't want to read a boring manual about something you are trying to maintain excitment about then this book is it! It will inspire you to be out there and will enable you to "leave no trace" of having ever been!