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Nevertheless, I am going to try and find a paperback version if one exists. My son went home with book that was falling apart.The other comments regarding the outdated writing are right on the money. We were passing this book around in the days following Christmas when we noticed that the inner back binding was torn. There is no flexure in the spine of the book.
He's hoping to do some hiking and all in the great outdoors. this was a gift for the son, and he absolutely loves it. Says it has wonderful information, and is just what he had been looking for.
I highly recommend both seller and this book. This book is one that I believe everybody need to have and to own. The seller sent it faster then I could have ever thought, especially considering it was Christmas time.
This is one of the first of many "survival skills" books that I have read and is generally the one that I recommend people read first (that or the "SAS Survival" book by Wiseman, which is also pretty good)highly recommended. It is impossible to teach people "How to Stay Alive in The Woods" in one book -- especially one that is as small as this one. But Angier does a very good job of covering some of the fundamentals and pointing you to areas that will later need further study.
First off, it's important for the potential buyer to realize that this book was written in the 1950's. The author stresses preparedness, common sense, and choosing the proper gear to carry with you while trekking in the wilderness. The author assumes some familiarity with roughing it on the part of the reader, and does not give in-depth instructions on some survival skills such as procuring food - making this book less than ideal for the rank beginner. This book is not nearly as in-depth as the U.S.
I think this book is mainly useful as a general work on the subject of survival - and it does give you an interesting insight into how old-timers managed to live off the land in days gone by.But with a little brains and common sense most of the tricks in this book can be adapted to different types of terrain, vegetation, and climate, and outdated survival kit items can be substituted with more modern ones. This book is more of an overview of important things to consider for your survival, not an instruction manual.This book was written in the 1950's, so some of the instructions (particularly for medical supplies and other kit) are a bit out of date, but there is plenty of timeless, common sense advice at hand. This book focuses mainly on survival in the North - i.e. Not a must-have book, in my opinion, as there are better survival guides out there these days, but it was an interesting read and does contain some solid tips for survival, I think. the Canadian wilderness, but there are some tips on survival in desert climates, as well.There are probably better manuals out there for practical survival skills, and this book suffers from a lack of clear illustrations and step-by-step instructions, But much of this lore comes straight from those who truly DID have to survive in the woods - trappers, prospectors, and the independent spirits who simply wanted a simpler way of life. This is a handy book - if you already have some experience with the out-of-doors.
I found the information on finding one's direction and not getting lost in the first place to be quite useful - but understand that this book was written in a different time, and for a different audience than today's casual hiker or vacationer. However, there are plenty of valuable tips and skills outlined in this book that it would be good for the beginner to learn - and this book can serve as a starting point for figuring out which skills you need to learn more about. Army Survival Manual - it's not designed for anything like the same purpose, however.
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