Product Description
Smart, instructive, аnԁ bеаυtіfυƖƖу designed, еνеrу book іn thе Trailside Guide series contains thе essential information readers need tο master outdoor activities аnԁ hаνе fun іn thе process. Norton proudly reissues thеѕе best-selling guides wіth fully revised “Sources & Resources” sections (including whеrе tο find thе Web sites, gear, services, books, clubs, аnԁ organizations thаt mаkе fοr foolproof outings); updates tο reflect thе latest іn gear technology, wilderness medicine, аnԁ first aid; аnԁ advances іn techniques. Yου саn take іt wіth уου: Trailside Guides аrе designed tο bе used οn thе trail. Thеіr handy size mаkеѕ thеm easy tο take along οn outdoor adventures.
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Trailside Guide: Hiking аnԁ Backpacking, Nеw Edition
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I’m planning on taking up hiking, and this book has done well spelling things out for me. The language is plain and understandable, and I feel like I’ve got more realistic expectations on what’s in store for me.
While I still intend on finding experienced hikers to glom on to for my first hikes, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to get into hiking as a good intro on what to expect.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this book looking for a guide of some kind to help me know what to exspect, equipment I needed, and how to plan a trip. I got all I was looking for and more, I live and have grown up what most would consider a typical countryboy and have been hunting, camping, and fishing since I was old enough to walk, but I had never been on a long backpacking trip and have really always wanted to try it and this book is a great way to do it, it tells you everything you can think to ask and some you hadn’t.I am going to head out on my first trip with confidence and ready for things that are going to happen. I have to say this guy knows what he is talking about andI would recamend you to buy this if you are planning even a short day hike. also the book is made to carry along in your pack with its plastic covered covers and pages. I would like to thank the auther in closing for this book it may have saved me alot of problems and maybe alot of injures.
Rating: 5 / 5
Valuable informaton throughout. Well-written. Eye-catching photos. Even the paper used for the book is stronger than most should you want to take it in the field.
I read this book as a novice backpacker, and it help take me to the next level.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a great book for the newcomer or begining hiker and backpacker. I have been backpacking for some time but I even found very helpfull information inside. I like this series of books so much I am buying the whole series.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is way out of date. It’s billed on Amazon as a “New Edition,” but actually it’s not. The ISBN is the same as the 1995 edition, and the publisher’s info actually states that it’s a “reissue,” not a new edition. I checked using the “click to look inside link,” and it really does appear to be identical to the 1995 edition. (The index and table of contents have identical page numbers, and some random pages that I checked were identical.) It’s listed as “Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1st edition (February 2003),” but this is misleading; it’s just a reprinting of the first edition, which was published in 1995.
The fact that it’s out of date really is a problem. For one thing, backpacking equipment has changed a lot in the last 14 years. For example, the discussion of navigation does have a good explanation of how to use a topo map and a compass, which is likely to be useful to a beginner. But there is no discussion of altimeters, and GPS, described as “new,” is mentioned only briefly, in a sidebar, with no discussion of how to use one, what its limitations, are, etc.
Another place where the book’s age shows is in the discussion of bears. There’s a long discussion of “how to bear-bag,” including a big diagram. Well, actually, it’s been at least 8 years since you could pick up a wilderness permit in any of the national parks in California without being told very firmly that bear-bagging was not allowed and didn’t work, that bear canisters were mandatory, and that if you didn’t have a bear canister, you were required to rent or buy one on the spot. The book only briefly mentions bear canisters, treats them as an option rather than a requirement, not-so-subtly tries to convince the reader not to use one.
The discussion of bear canisters isn’t the only place where the book is inaccurate. In the discussion of snakebite, the most prominent option listed is to keep the victim immobile and go and get help. That contradicts everything else I’ve read on the subject, which states that it’s vital to get the victim to the trailhead, get medical help to the trailhead, and do all of that in the minimum possible time.
The book is extremely skimpy. Lots of topics are skipped over extremely quickly. I would have liked to see less of the page count taken up with the lavish color illustrations, and more devoted to information. As a random example of a topic was not treated in enough detail, and was also treated inaccurately, the author’s advice with respect to human waste is the following: “You’ll need a small plastic trowel with which to dig a 6-inch-deep hole. Fill it when you’re done. Bacteria will do the rest.” Well, no, bacteria will not do the rest when it comes to your toilet paper. The two options most commonly practiced today are (1) to pack out the used toilet paper (this is the option that rangers in California national parks will tell you is mandatory when you pick up your wilderness permit), or (2) to burn it. Leaving it in the hole, which the author seems to be telling you to do, is simply not an acceptable option.
This book is heavily oriented toward beginners, and heavily oriented toward the East Coast. A tent is described as a near-absolute necessity, which makes sense in the East, but not for summer backpacking in the West. There is no discussion of the lightweight and ultralight styles of backpacking that were first popularized by Ray Jardine.
For anyone who wants a less outdated and more complete book, a much better choice would be the latest edition of The Complete Walker, by Fletcher and Rawlins (e.g., the 2002 edition is titled The Complete Walker IV).
Rating: 2 / 5