Camp Chef SHP RL High Pressure Single Burner Cooker with Detachable legs and Round top Black
June 16, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Camp Chef SHP RL High Pressure Single Burner Cooker with Detachable legs and Round top Black
Camp Chef High - pressure Single Burner Stove for fast, easy meal prep! It’s the perfect companion to take with you on your camp-out. The perfect system for boiling and deep frying. It shoots out the heat with it maximum output 75,000 BTU cast burner for fast warm-up of soups, stews, water or for frying those steaks or fish at camp. Or, put it to use at home for brewing or canning. Great for large capacity cooking or home emergencies. Hot details: Maximum cast burner with 75,000 BTU; Reversible leg design for more compact travel and storage; Needle valve temperature control for easy adjustment of output; Cooking area measures 13 x 13″ (169 sq. in.) with 11″ height; Wagon wheel cooking surface is great for all types of outdoor or indoor cookware; Weighs 18 lbs. Stovetop size is 16″ diam. Tank not included. Can’t take the heat? Take the kitchen outdoors and order today! Camp Chef High-pressure Single Burner Stove
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Powerful outdoor burner for cook food restruant way
Ever wonder why the resturant food tasted better than home cooked? This burner solved that mystery. Most home stoves are boiling the food, not really fry them. This burner put out so much heat, it evaporates the water in the juice, so the juice from food can stay with the food. Flavor is much better in the food cooked on this burner.
Ever since we have this burner, we don’t go out to the restruant that much any more. You can really taste the differences from home cooking!
Amazon is so good offer free shipping of this item!
5 Stars I love it !
Very good to use and also take a small space.
I bought the cooker bag to and that is excellent.
Regards Wasakira
Mammal Tracks and Sign A Guide to North American Species
June 6, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Mammal Tracks and Sign A Guide to North American Species
Stackpole Books Animals By Stackpole Books
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Tracking
I first read about this book in the Fur Takers magazine and was curious so I ordered it from Amazon. The book is very well written and is full of colored pictures which is a tremendous help. I have read it completely and go back often for refference. It opened my eyes to the many things going on in nature around me and I believe it would benifit anybody with an interest in nature wether you live in a city or in the country.
4 Stars Comments from one who has a lot to learn
I am a novice to tracking. Primarily my goal is to learn more about the wildlife on my own property … what all is here and what they are doing. I’ve learned a lot in the short time I’ve had this book. It would be helpful if there were photos of the actual animals; and, very, very helpful if there were lots more comparative analysis between similiar tracks, etc., like the one comparing dog tracks versus coyote tracks … much like in National Geographic’s Complete Birds of North America, where they cross reference birds of similar appearance (a very helpful feature).
5 Stars Mammal Tracks & Sign
Excellent color photos of animal tracks as well as black & white sketches help identify wildlife. Written descriptions are well presented.
5 Stars excellent resource!
This is like an encyclopedia of North American animals. Too heavy to carry in the field, but great to come home to. Take field notes and use this volume to continue your research. Wonderful!
5 Stars Amazing!
This is an amazingly detailed book with many examples of the evidences of our four-footed friends sharing this space with us. The author shares stories from tracking experiences, many, many photos of homes, marks on trees, scat, tracks and anything else that helps identify what was there before you. Our hikes are much more interesting now as we look at the damaged bark of trees and marks on the paths. Our friends are impressed with the knowledge we share that we have learned from this book. We highly recommend it!
Camp Chef SH 140L High Pressure Single Burner Cooker with Detachable legs and Clover Leaf Surface Black
June 2, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Camp Chef Maximum Output Single Cooker… crank up the heat with 60,000 BTUs! Hook up some propane to this Single Burner and kick your camping trip into high gear! Cook up a hot breakfast or fry up the fish you caught earlier in the day! Features a high-pressure 60,000 BTU / hr. burner. Perfect for using alongside your larger stove as a “side dish” grill, too! Has a 13 x 13″ cooking area and weighs 21 ozs. Propane not included. Get yours today! Camp Chef Maximum Output Single Cooker
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great “Cajun” cooker!
I’ve had my sh-140L for about 8 years and it has really done the best job for me. I am a beer brewer and this unit is solid, easy to use and easy to clean. The height is just right for my 40 QT pot. It easily generates enough heat to bring 5 gallons to a hard, rolling boil and has more to go.
The stand and top are very sturdy and obviously well constructed. The removable legs makes it easier to store (although I leave mine assembled most of the time). The high pressure delivery does sound a bit like a jet engine, but that’s not any kind of problem.
I highly recommend this cooker for beer brewing, cajun boil or deep frying a turkey. I cannot imagine that you would not be as pleased as I am with this cooker.
5 Stars For Homebrewing
This is the same cooker sold on many brewing supply websites. It is very sturdy, and I feel very confident having 12 gallons of boiling water on top of it. Absolutely get the ignitor; the attachment holes are already on the cooker.
4 Stars BTU rating is only 60000
The Product features on Amazon listing says it is a 75000 BTU/hr burner.
The box the product came in says it is a 60000 BTU/hr burner.
Bayou Classic DB250 Double Burner High Pressure Cooker with Extension Legs
June 1, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Bayou Classic DB250 Double Burner High Pressure Cooker with Extension Legs
High/low cooker. Cooking area will accommodate two large sized (60-quart) pots. Independent flame control for each burner from two brass control valves, U.L Listed 3′ hose, regulator, valve assembly included. Tall 13″ base frame; unit length 31-1/2″, cook ing surface 14″ diameter.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Bayou Double Burner
This double burner cooker is functional enough and good value. I use it for homebrewing. The burners produce a strong flame due to high pressure propane. The build of the unit could have been sturdier-It is a bit delicate.
My other double burner is a Camp Chef which costs almost twice as much, but has low pressure burners which are great for cooking. They are not as suited as the Bayou burnes for homebrewing.
1 Star Bayou DB250
Purchased DB250 - shipping was perfect. Hooked it up and could only get one burner to operate correctly. I believe the regulator was bad. I called manufacturer - they said to work with Amazon. So I returned the burner to Amazon because I was in the 30 day window. Amazon was great to work with.
CATALINA AquaOdysseas The Living Travel Guide
May 22, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
CATALINA AquaOdysseas The Living Travel Guide
30 minute AquaOdysseas presents Santa Catalina Island! Only 22 miles off the coast of southern California, this beautiful island getaway provides many adventures for visitors from fishing and diving to parasailing and relaxing.
Know before you go to Catalina using our 3D interactive map and at the press of a button learn in depth knowledge of the best the island has to offer. A fully interactive, educational
travel experience — featuring
virtual reality and live action –
that allows the vacationer to explore Catalina and plan a better experience– with the who, where and how to make it happen.This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com’s standard return policy will apply.
Woodalls North American Campground Directory with CD 2009
May 15, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Woodalls North American Campground Directory with CD 2009
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Just One Complaint about Woodall’s
Okay, make that two. I have used Woodall’s for years. I have started only going with 4 W’s or higher when checking the quality rating for a campground. 3’s can be terrible. They need to double check the accuracy of reviews. Sometimes it seems a laundry list of facilities gets a high rating without any consideration for the condition of the campground.
Also, they need to include the actual address of the campground so that it can be plugged in to a navigation device. Get with the times!
2 Stars A little disappointed
While this book has lots of detailed information, I was disappointed that it lists the campgrounds under states in a regional format. I would have ordered a Trailer Life Directory instead. It just takes a bit more time to determine what region the state is in, then look it up.
2 Stars CD-ROM won’t open.
The 2009 Woodall’s North American Campground Directory is thicker and more informative than the 2006 version I replaced it with. But, I bought this latest version from Amazon primarily because of the free CD-ROM included in the book.
Unfortunately, the CD does not open on my Dell laptop. I just get the error message “Access Denied”. I called a representative of Woodall’s Technical Service Dept., but this representative did not have direct knowledge of this problem. The representative said that I would be put on a “list” should replacement CDs become available. The representative could not give me any shipping date. So…….. 2 stars.
Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America
May 13, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America
World-renowned birder Kenn Kaufman addresses a long-running paradox of bird field guides with his Focus Guide. While beginning birdwatchers prefer photographic guides like those by Donald Stokes, the physical traits that make identification easier are more readily discerned in the idealized paintings of illustrative guides like those by Roger Tory Peterson and National Geographic. Kaufman’s groundbreaking work combines the best of both approaches by digitally enhancing photographic images to show the characteristics that are sometimes not apparent in photographs.
Some other distinguishing features include:
- The guide is organized by bird family groupings rather than strict taxonomic classification; this is a feature that will appeal especially to beginners.
- Text descriptions and range maps for each species appear on the page facing the plate of respective bird images.
- Important field marks are highlighted.
- Color-coded tabs identify each grouping of birds (waders, warblers, sparrows, etc.) for quick thumb indexing.
Kaufman’s efforts follow the auspicious tradition of Roger Tory Peterson, whose portable field guide system was the first of its kind to meet the needs of the average birdwatcher. “It’s the guide I’ve always wanted,” says Kaufman, “and I suspect most birders will feel the same way.”
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Beautiful pictures
I ordered two of these guides. One for me and one for a birthday gift for a friend. I like it very much.
5 Stars Kaufman Bird Field Guide
This book has been very useful in identifying many birds in my back yard.
Lots of color pictures.
4 Stars Complete but not the best
I bought this (from Amazon) because an Audubon person was using this same book at a bird rookery I visited. The pictures are good, complete with clear bird identification markings. The strange choice of background color for the pages detracts from the image quality. Most of the pages are either pale blue or pale yellow. When I recently saw the new National Geographic bird guide with pictures depicted on white pages, the National Geographic birds come through with much better perceived quality. All the text and range maps are in the Kaufman book and they are fairly complete with good descriptive text and maps on the same page as the subject bird. I would have rated this 5 stars if not for the slightly detracting way the bird images are portrayed. This is not a real big deal if you purchase this one instead of one of the others it is in competition with. You won’t be disappointed.
5 Stars The Best Field Guide for Birds of North America
My sister dropped her Kaufman’s field guide in a lake and so I gave her a new one for Christmas. We have been birding for over 15 years using various bird books. We have found this one to be the best when using it in the field. The pictures are great. One of the best features is how Kaufman points out those small field marks that one might miss. The maps are also a plus. They are very easy to read.
5 Stars Birds in he Northeast
This is a good book to have in the house. Finding various birds is always fast and easy.
Bayou Classic SP50 Tall High Pressure Outdoor Gas Cooker
May 12, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Bayou Classic SP50 Tall High Pressure Outdoor Gas Cooker
This single-burner outdoor cooker loads into the truck to boil up hearty soup at a fall tailgate party or stovetop macaroni at a campsite. However, it can also be parked permanently in the backyard to whip up sauces for grilled chicken or other barbecue accompaniments. Equipped with a 14-inch-diameter gas burner, this outdoor stove can accommodate up to a 60-quart stockpot and so is versatile enough to melt butter one afternoon and deep-fry a turkey the next. The gas-powered burner delivers 55,000 BTUs, which is plenty strong for most meals, and has a 360-degree windscreen to keep the flame from going out on cooler days. The stove’s heavy-duty welded steel frame is hefty enough to support an oversized pot or cast iron skillet and stands 21 inches tall, which is a fairly comfortable height for most people. The stove comes with a regulator kit, valve assembly kit, and a 30-inch pressure hose, plus full instructions on how to safely connect between the LP gas cylinder and the cooker. A whole host of other safety precautions and detailed instructions on proper placement are also outlined in the manual to ensure an enjoyable outdoor cooking experience. This cooker is covered by a 1-year warranty. –Cristina Vaamonde
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Outside canning
Needed a method for outdoor canning as I’ve had my smooth top range break while canning on it. I have only used the Bayou Classic for two tomato hot water bath canning sessions outside, but it has worked well both times. Plan on using it for pressure canning my green beans within next few days.
5 Stars great product
the picture and specifics such as the height and color was very useful, it came fully assemsbled and ready for use.
5 Stars This is a nice burner.
Nice burner for the price you pay. Plus you get free shipping from Amazon. It doesn’t get any better. The product seems to be very durable. Don’t listen to others say that the welds are cheap. I used to weld, and these are nice welds on the legs and surface.
1 Star Bad Design or Did I Just Get a Lemon?
I’ve owned other turkey fryers, and just received this one from Amazon. (Superb shipping and order handling, as always!) Two big problems with this unit — bad design, or did I just get a lemon?
1. The knob you turn to increase and decrease the gas is BACKWARDS! Nope, I’m not losing my marbles — on this one you turn the knob clockwise to INCREASE the amount of gas (and the height of the flame!) This is the exact opposite of any other knob you’ve ever used (such as a sink or spigot or other propane appliance). Who cares? Well, if you have a grease fire and rush to turn the fire off, you’re probably going to give that knob a big yank in the wrong direction (based on every other knob you’ve ever used), thereby making the flame BIGGER, not smaller.
2. These fryers usually come with a simple air control valve — it lets you adjust how much air mixes with the gas. This helps you make the flame a nice blue color (good) instead of mostly yellow (bad). On other units I’ve owned this is basic and easy to use. On this model the valve is very flimsy, and you seem to have a choice of setting the knob from Wide Open to Wide Open! (It never really closes much!) I was unable to set the flame to the right consistency, which is necessary for proper cooking.
I called the manufacturer’s toll-free number to get help with both of these items and they didn’t seem all that interested — all they could recommend is that I return it to Amazon (and that’s exactly what I’m doing!)
I DO recommend buying a turkey fryer — it’s a lot of fun if the usual safety steps are followed — but I do NOT recommend that you buy this one!
5 Stars Meets expectations
I bought this gas cooker for those times when I need to use large pots or cook smelly fried foods. It is everything I was hoping for. The construction is tough and durable, and it will probably outlast me! The shipping was fast and free, it arrived in about 4 days only.
Survive Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere Alive
April 29, 2009 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
Survive Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere Alive
From the sun-scorched sands of the Kalahari to the snake-infested jungles of the Amazon, Les Stroud has made a life of surviving in the harshest—and most remote—regions on Earth.
Now, the creator, producer, and host of the hit television program Survivorman transfers his decades of knowledge and experience to the pages of Survive!, a practical guide that gives everyday readers a no-nonsense look at the real world of survival.
Stroud offers readers the essential skills and tactics necessary to endure in any corner of the globe, along with a wealth of insider information born of his own experiences in the outdoors and unavailable in any other book. Readers will learn:
- How to make a survival shelter and why a lean-to is largely a waste of time.
- Why survival kits are important, and why you should make your own.
- Where to find water and why drinking contaminated water is sometimes warranted.
- How to locate and trap small animals and why the notion of tracking and hunting large game is largely a pipe dream.
Whether seasoned in the outdoor arts or new to adventuring, all readers will learn something from Survive!. Stroud’s many colorful anecdotes and cut-to-the-chase philosophy not only make for an entertaining read, but also enhance anyone’s ability to focus on the main goal when everything else has gone wrong—survival.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars False Pretense
The title refers not to Les but to me. I have not read the book. I wandered thru it one recent rainy afternoon in the bookstore, reading those sections about which I have some knowledge. I was impressed. But what impresses me more is that on his TV show “Survivorman” he makes no bones about showing his screw-ups and failures. He is totally without guile or pretense, and I respect him highly for this. He has done some things wrong and leaves them in for the world to see, but then gets it right in his book. I gave him 5 stars for his honesty, his knowledge, and for one important idea he has that I have seen nowhere else - take something along in your kit for when things aren’t going right (and they will go wrong) to raise your spirits. He has his harmonica. I would place this along with shelter, fire, and water as essential. You will get the most from Les if you watch his show AND read his book. I bought it and am reading it in its entirety.
2 Stars Not nearly as good as it should have been.
I’m amazed at all the glowing reviews to Les Stroud’s new book… frankly I found it extremely disappointing on many levels although I meant to give it 3 stars, not 2.
Before Les’ armchair fan-boys try to jump down my throat for insulting their hero, allow me to establish some points: 1) I’m the same age as Les. 2) I mentored my survival training since the early 1980’s under Mors Kochanski, a recognized world-wide expert on boreal survival. 3) I’ve taught survival courses in the foothills & forests of Alberta for 20 years. 4)I completed the BOSS 28 day Field Course in ‘89 & instructed on their Winter Skills course in ‘90, after which I introduced their director to Kochanski (beginning a long relationship between the 2). So, I’ve got my time in & done my homework (yes, I’ve actually previously done most of the survival skills that Les mentions) that allows me to be an intelligently critical consumer of survival literature & gear (TY to Mors for that conceptual paradigm).
So, I would likely love to spend time w/ Les & would no doubt find him a fascinating, like-minded person. I don’t watch TV much, but what I’ve seen of Survivorman is well done - I think Les’ 7 day solo approach is great & a breath of fresh air in the ’schlock-tastic’ glut of ‘reality’ TV. However, I’m just not thrilled w/ his book. Of course, authors often don’t get to write the book they really wanted to due to publisher concepts, budgets, etc. But many of my criticisms are w/in the control of the author.
Can I say anything good about the book… absolutely. Survive does provide & repeat many great adages of survival that everyone should learn about prior to heading off into the wilderness. Les tosses in several real gems to get people thinking about maximizing their equipment & creating expedients. Although in many of those situations, Les willfully destroys his equipment such as car seats & balloon because he knows what he’s embarking on… he’s already planned for a 7 day stint which is always hard for average folks confronted by a wilderness emergency to accept - so they won’t cut the seats out of their car readily. So you can find lots of good, solid information (but some I’ll contest below)… I just say it wasn’t done as well as it could be.
On the style & layout: Not Les’ fault most likely, but using matte paper w/ only 2 colors of ink & B & W photos really diminished the potential value of the book. The B&W photos in particular are often unclear or indistinct - color w/ glossy paper would have added greatly to the learning value. The overall layout seems also indistinct. In a book of this nature, I would prefer to see many more headings & bold (clearer) type to easily guide the reader to finding pertinent information quickly & memorably. I also found many of his quaint expressions distracting & counter-productive… like ‘creepy crawlies’…’bugs’ or ‘insects’ work.
Let’s establish what the book purports to be: the subtitle is “Essential Skills & Tactics To Get You Out of Anywhere - Alive.” So, we can expect a well-organized, clearly descriptive book emphasizing many skills & techniques for anyone to use in practical, outdoor emergencies. Writing a survival manual that encompasses enough info to properly address survival anywhere on the planet is a daunting task indeed & rarely successful. The venerable SAS Survival Skills by Wiseman attempts to do this but suffers from it’s own problems. Instead, we seem to get a hodge-podge of miscellaneous stuff tossed together with many, frequent anecdotes of Les’ recent global adventures.
I’m stunned that people said the book was ‘well-written?’ Even given that he used a ghost writer, I found the book to be inconsistent, rambling & repetitive. He jumps around from region to region with various concepts then (sometimes) attempts to tie it all together at the end of the chapter. For example, in Water he mentions squeezing water from rotting birch wood (in the boreal forest), then immediately in the next sentence mentions banana & plantain trees (tropical). These were both in a section on water from plants, but still the organizational concept of the whole book seems to be that you could be dropped in ANY region of the earth at any time… which is likely illogical & confusing for readers who are typically going to be North American, European & possibly Australian. In the later chapters, he virtually repeats entire sections in Dangers & Hazards and Weather such as blizzards are bad for you. Organize the specialized info (i.e. Arctic, Tropics, etc.) into regions & leave it there.
Also, Les constantly refers to “consult a local expert beforehand” (to learn useful/dangerous plants, terrain, weather, etc.)… which seems another discordant tone on the providing ‘essential skills’ to keep the reader alive anywhere idea. Perhaps because Les’ recent adventures have all been pre-planned, he’s had the foresight & luxury to consult local experts. Realistically, I doubt most readers are neither going to the remote adventure locales like the high Arctic, Amazon jungle or Kalahari desert NOR are they likely to consult experts in what they consider their own back-yard region doing the activities they’ve always done.
On Shelters: he advocates the A frame w/ a small interior fire but poo-poo’s the classic open lean-to. He even goes on to describe the gross inefficiency of the small interior fire inside the A frame in that he has to keep waking every 20 min to add a few sticks & has an awful sleep. One of the very few paramount needs in typical survival scenarios is to be warm enough to get 6-8 hours of sleep each day/night period (that & enough water). Perhaps he needs to learn how to make a proper body-length, parallel fire in front of the lean-to (& lose the ridiculous reflector wall with pounded stakes taken from every bad army/air force survival guide - pile up your firewood logs instead) so that he can sleep about 1.5 hrs at a time in winter before adding more wood.
On fire: he mentions he made fire from combining potassium permanganate & sugar & he devotes a whole page of photos to lighting fire w/ potassium permanganate & glycerin on rhino dung. Unfortunately… he doesn’t at all explain how to really do this (but does reassure us that rhino dung - like most herbivores’ - doesn’t smell bad).
FYI, buy PP at a drugstore or swimming supply shop. To make fire w/ sugar: equal amounts of PP & sugar on a flat, dry stone; grind in a circular way w/ another flat rock - sparking, popping noises are followed shortly by flame - add tinder. With PP & glycerin, you MUST first re-grind the PP to a fine dust (it’s usual consistency is similar to white sugar) before sprinkling a few pinches onto a dollop of glycerin (also found at the drugstore).
Why bother mentioning this if he doesn’t explain how to do it fully? This sort of off-handed dropping of an idea occurs constantly. I doubt most people will master the Figure 4 dead fall trigger w/ the few blurry photos. Line drawings work much better for showing the detail cut angles needed. Rafts require a diagonal cross piece to prevent them from skewing out of shape. Essential Skills includes knots tied w/ no learning sequence (and FYI, his bowline is incorrect - it’s referred to as a Left Handed Bowline & considered by sailors for centuries to be inherently less secure - put the running end INSIDE the main part).
One reviewer mentioned the book gave a good overview of flora & fauna, yet I can’t find any descriptive text/illustrations of any animals or plants to support that comment? He claims to name the top 3 edibles in any environment… which is reduced to bland common name labels only (little info on how to prepare each item) with no illustrations or descriptions. We can pretty much assume that ‘rodents’ are recognizable by most people, but bull kelp is just another form of seaweed (or brown algae if you want to get technical, yet he lists them separately). He mentions “wild teas” as one of the ‘top 3′ more than once. Yet again he fails to specifically describe what plants make useful teas (oh yes…see: “consult a local expert before you travel there”) & teas contain virtually no caloric value, so they hardly qualify as a ‘top edible’ in my view. Knowing that the fairly toxic Bog Rosemary looks much like & grows in the same regions as the flavorful Labrador Tea is important to know… but you won’t find that info here.
Basically, if you are going to suggest eating more esoteric plants such as sea lettuce you really need to provide the scientific name, description, a distinguishing illustration & preparation/use instructions.
And… now I know sharks are a real hazard in my outdoor adventures??
In essence I got the feeling I was reading a pamphlet for fans of his show to vicariously enjoy many of his more recent, exciting adventures… most of which will never be available to the majority of the readers. Too many anecdotes about “the time I was on the….” and how almost all the individuals in the case studies he quotes survived because of watching his show. In many ways, the books seems like a semi-organized ‘memory dump’ of all of Les’ adventurous experiences, during which he’s made some serious mistakes (which he readily admits in his shows) as well as made many clever improvisations.
Lastly, I laughed out loud when I saw the pic on page 336… our man, w/ a steely eyed glare… holding his homemade spear to fend off ‘critters’ in Africa. What’s wrong w/ that pic? First, the knife is a joke… it’s one of the ridiculous Rambo knives created for the movie series - too big (for an efficient bushcraft knife w/ completely useless sawteeth on the back - real saw teeth on knives were only intended to allow aircrew to cut themselves out of plexiglass & aluminum aircraft - not for wood). Second, any seasoned survivalist will never advise lashing your likely only tool, the knife, to a spear where you can dull/bend/break it on the rocks, or worse, thrust it into an animal & watch it run off into the dark woods w/ your knife. Make several pointed, fire-hardened wooden spears but make them all about a meter longer than Les’ spear - any lion or leopard would still reach you w/ its claws before you pinned it w/ his short little spear. But NEVER tie your knife on a stick for a spear. Of course, maybe Les had that goofy big knife along as a spare, but again, he doesn’t explain the context adequately.
Seriously, I could critique this book far more than what I’ve mentioned already… I really do see that many holes in it. But then I’ve always despised when writers mention something superficially without adequately explaining it to a potentially novice reader. John Wiseman’s SAS Survival has it’s share of idiotic & erroneous material (sheet bend also wrong, spear thrower design is ridiculously inefficient & from the movie Quest for Fire - really, one column on how to make fire w/ a bow drill - go ahead rookie, that’s all the advice you need, etc), but it gets republished regularly.
Sure, buy this book if you can, it does have many nuggets of useful information & some novel ideas, but I wouldn’t take it as the bible of outdoor survival nor would I carry it in a pack… it could/should have been much better from a guy w/ Les’ experience. You’d be better to first read ‘(Northern) Bushcraft’ by Mors Kochanski on wilderness living skills; ‘98.6 Degrees’ by Cody Lundin; ‘Bushcraft’ & others by Ray Mears; and the recent DK publication ‘The Survival Handbook’.
5 Stars Les is a genius
Great book, full of information. This is like 6 years of boy scouts crammed into one book. Well worth the $20 or so you will spend on it.
5 Stars a great book!
A very practical and useful book. Everything in the book seems like anyone could do it and if there’s something not easily done, he’ll let you know.
5 Stars Don’t venture into the outdoors without this book!
This book covers everything from A to Z and will give anyone in a survival situation an upper hand to live another day. Les doesn’t give you a right or wrong way just a way that may help you survive. This straightforward book makes you think about living and gives you many options to make the best out of a bad situation. This is a very well written book, which is easy to follow from start to finish with great survival home, personal and vehicle checklists. I have made this book an integral part of my survival gear. I highly recommend this to any outdoorsman, hunter, angler or hiker who spends time away from civilization.
Looking for Campgrounds? Let a Guide Book Point the Way
November 6, 2008 by camping Guide · Leave a Comment
