The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide: The Classic Handbook, Revised and Updated [Paperback]

Mark Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 1999

The classic backpacker's handbook -- revised and updated -- providing expert guidelines for anyone who loves the outdoors.

The Wilderness Guide brings the savvy of the world's most famous and respected outdoor organization to everyone -- from the 16 million backpacking Americans to the more than 265 million people, tenderfeet and trail-hardened hikers, who visit our national parks annually. It covers:

• Selecting equipment -- including discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of products such as the internal frame pack, lighter-weight boots, and freestanding tents
• The latest "leave no trace" camping techniques
• Traveling safely and sensibly -- including vital information on maps, compasses, and tips on crossing difficult terrain
• Backcountry cooking, with tips on building fires and tricks for making gourmet meals
• Search-and-rescue techniques, including how to organize a self-sufficient search group and when to call in professional rescue teams

Illustrated throughout with instructional drawings and photos and featuring lists of equipment, the Wilderness Guide is a must-have for anyone planning to explore the great outdoors.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Since 1965, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has been teaching its students how to climb, kayak, and navigate; how to camp without leaving a trace; how to stay warm and dry in the wilderness; how to cope with a backcountry emergency; and how to effectively lead others through such experiences. There are many reasons for spending time in the remote outdoors. Awe-inspiring scenery, peacefulness, wildlife viewing, and exercise are all good reasons. Another is that such experiences build character: "The wildlands teach us to be smart, practical, resourceful, and observant. To hike ten hours through scabrous terrain, cross a brawny river, stay warm in a snowstorm, and navigate your way out of tangled woods tests and builds your best faculties." While no single book can prepare one for spending time in the wilderness--much less impart all the skills necessary to survive in the elements--the NOLS Guide is an eminently useful place to start. Chapters include primers on equipment (fitting boots and packs, choosing a tent, the "Five Commandments for Equipment Care"); appropriate dress for a variety of climates; and ways of traveling in the backcountry, from crossing scree fields to fording rivers. It's not a substitute for in-depth instruction in, say, snow camping, or reading a map and compass. But with a solid grounding in the basics, one can take that first boot-step into what Joseph Wood Krutch called "the great reservoir of energy, of confidence, of endless hope."

Review

Money magazine The Harvard of the wilderness schools.

Publishers Weekly Remarkably packed with information on everything from renting topographical maps to baking bread over a campfire...The only guide most backpackers will ever need.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (June 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684859092
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859095
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Survival Skills

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They don't call it "The Classic" for nothing., May 7, 2009

By 

Kate Sirianni - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide: The Classic Handbook, Revised and Updated (Paperback)

Mark Harvey's Wilderness Guide is the NOLS "classic" for a reason. Here's what this book is not:
1. a guide any kind of RV camping
2. a series of meditations to help you become one with nature
3. a tool to help identify birds, trees, or edibles
4. a necessary element to prepare for a day hike with your kids in the local nature park

Here's what this book is:
1. A clear and rudimentary guide to being a responsible outdoorsperson - utilizing the Leave No Trace guidelines.
2. A technical outline of wilderness travel and living techniques - including the best way to layer your clothes, pack a backpack, and tie your gear.
3. An overview of basic emergency procedures, from bear attacks to thunderstorms.
4. A tool for learning and teaching expedition behavior and outdoor etiquette.

As an active outdoor educator, I have read this book cover-to-cover many times and would recommend it to any aspiring outdoorsperson. Once you've read and mastered the techniques in this book, you can branch out into lightweight backpacking, adventure racing, or whatever strikes your fancy. Do you need this to go on a day hike with the fam? Heck no. But if you're ready to get serious about multiday trips and backcountry travel, this should be the among the first books on your shopping list.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide: The Classic Handbook, Revised and Updated (Paperback)

Overall, Harvey has created an outstanding example of what outdoor books should be all about. The Wilderness Guide mixes age-old, tried and true practices, along with modern examples. Harvey combines the 1960's and `70s ethics of Leave No Trace, with modern practical examples of why you should visit the wilderness in the first place and what you might learn out there.

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you Can't Take Mark Harvey Camping, Take His Book, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide: The Classic Handbook, Revised and Updated (Paperback)

As a carefree college student,I camped quite often, but today, as a thirty year old business owner, I prefer to enjoy the outdoors by day, and to sleep in my warm, safe, familiar home by night. Harvey's Wilderness Guide has not only helped me to more thoroughly enjoy my day hikes, but it has also served as a catalyst to reignite my enthusiasm in camping for more than a Sunday afternoon. Harvey delivers intelligent, informative information in an easy to understand and enthusiastic style. The Wilderness Guide is packed with information, but it is far from bland reading, for Harvey is not only intelligent and well written, but he has a sense of humor as well. I live in Aspen and have spent time with Mark Harvey on numerous occasions. Possibly I will be able to camp with him one day. If not, I always have The National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide.