A practical guide to mastering outdoor skills and staying alive in challenging environments, the Outdoor Survival Guide enables everyone - expert and novice alike - to answer the call of the wild with confidence.

ONE OF THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS is thought to have remarked, "Any fool can be uncomfortable" - probably after a washed-out camping holiday. Whether attempting to dry out your bedding on a rainsoaked campsite, or trying to stay alive after some unexpected disaster, it helps immeasureably to know the basic principles of outdoor life. These include how tents and shelters are erected, choosing or making sleeping bags and beds, building a fire, and preventing or treating blisters and other health complaints.Understanding more specialized principles of survival, such as safe navigation across different types of terrain, or water purification, is as interesting and useful to recreational users as it is vital and life saving to those unfommate enough to become "survivors".

CHAPTER 1 ARE YOU A SURVIVOR ?

  Physical Condition

   Nutritional Needs

 Adapting to the Environment

      Fitness

  CHAPTER 2 BASIC EQUIPMENT

  The Right Clothing

     Footwear

  Personal Camp Kit

   Basic Survival Kit

Sleeping Bags and Beds

      Tools

   Ropes and Knots

    Using Ropes

CHAPTER 3 LIVING IN THE WILD

 Choosing a Campsite

   Choosing a Tent

   Erecting a Tent

  Dismantling a Tent

  Building a Shelter

    Snow Shelters

   Tropical Shelters

  Long-term Shelters

 Running a Safe Camp

        Camp Fires

       Building a Fire

       Lighting a Fire

       Striking Camp

  CHAPTER 4 FINDING WATER

   The Importance of Water

      Collecting Water

    Natural Water Sources

      Water Purification

   Carrying and Storing Water

CHAPTER 5 FINDING AND PREPARING FOOD

     Food for Travelling

       Edible Plants

      Poisonous Plants

   Roots, Tubers, and Bulbs

       Nuts and Fruit

      Fungi and Lichen

       Plants as Food

       Invertebrates

    Invertebrates as Food

      Freshwater Fish

      Saltwater Fish

     Angling Equipment

    Angling Techniques

    Fishing Nets and Traps

 Using Fishing Nets and Traps

  Preparing Fish for Cooking

     Cooking Utensils

     Stoves and Ovens

     Cooking Methods

      Preserving Food

 CHAPTER 6 ON THE MOVE

   Travel Planning

   Finding Direction

     Using Maps

 Finding Your Location

   Navigation Basics

 Assessing the Weather

   Preparing to Move

      Walking

Walking in Snow and Ice

 Travelling Over Snow

   Crossing Deserts

  Travelling Through Jungles

    Safe Climbing

Emergency Climbing Techniques

    Crossing Water

   Dangerous Water

    Building a Raft

 Using Rafts and Boats

    Using Vehicles

   Other Transport

      APPENDIX A

   Abandoning Ship

   Surviving at Sea

  Dangerous Creatures

   Natural Hazards

   Extreme Weather

     Signalling

      APPENDIX B

      First Aid

      Glossary

  Checklist for Survival

       Index

  Acknowledgments