Practical Outdoor Survival: A Modern Approach

I have read several, well more than several "survival books" and I believe this is the best one that I have read. It is very informative and well written.

Most of the survival books I've read focus on living like an aborigine, which is not what the average backpacker needs. I wanted a book that would tell me what I needed to take in the woods with me to prevent troubles from happening in the first place, and tell me how to get out of trouble if something went wrong. This book is ideal for civlian backpackers and campers who want serious advice about surviving in a real world survival situation.

I often kayak alone on remote lakes, and before I found Practical Outdoor Survival I was always afraid that I might be forced aground by foul weather in a place that was too far from my truck to reach on foot. This book makes that prospect a lot less frightening. Not only does it contain great information about which emergency items I should pack, it tells me how to pack them, and how to use them effectively. I own a number of good wilderness survival manuals, but this is the one I take with me when my life might depend on the advice I get from a book.

Thanks to Lyons Press for publishing Len McDougall's PRACTICAL OUTDOOR SURVIVAL. Thumbing through other books on living in the outdoors, I find many of them interesting and useful on the topic of surviving a calamity in the wilderness, but this book hits the mark by being both thoroughgoing and compact. If you could pass this on to Mr. McDougall I would appreciate it.

I have been a survival instructor for 5 years and have used military survival manuals in the past. With the growing number of civilians wanting practical survival skills I needed to find a book that would teach from a civilian view point. This book is exactly what I have been looking for. While giving the basics needed to survive the book is very easy to read and understand. The chapters are organized well and cover everything a hunter, camper, hiker or outdoors person would need to survive for either a short or long period of time. Len McDougall tells it like it is and does not pull any punches when making reccomendations on equipment to purchase. This book will be utilized by myself in any future civilian survival courses I teach.