Surviving the Desert (Simply Survival: Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness) [Paperback]

Gregory J. Davenport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2004

Travel safely through extreme environments

Find water, dress for the environment, create a campsite, signal, and navigate in the desert

Series author Greg Davenport has appeared on ABC's Primetime Thursday and CBS's 48 Hours

The techniques and equipment necessary for surviving in the desert are made more challenging by the intense sunlight, wide temperature range, sparse vegetation, and sandstorms, but Greg Davenport shares how to deal with the toughest conditions. Learn how to avoid insects and snakes. Photos and drawings illustrate gear and techniques necessary for survival in the rough and dangerous terrain.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Davenport, a former USAF Survival Instructor, is the founding member of Simply Survival, a wilderness education program based in Stevenson, Washington. He has consulted or appeared on 48 Hours, BBC, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, ABC PrimeTime Thursday, and Outdoor Life Network.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1 edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811730719
• ISBN-13: 978-0811730716
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Davenport, a former USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Specialist, is considered one of the best survival experts in the world. For over 30 years, he has had students from around the world, with a myriad of backgrounds, follow him into the mountains and deserts to learn both basic and advanced wilderness skills. In addition, Davenport is a well known motivational speaker addressing survival related skills such as stress abatement, leadership, and teamwork. Greg has written six books, discussing his survival concepts. His first, Wilderness Survival, has been published in multiple countries and is considered a staple in the survival arena. Finally, Davenport has a Master's Degree in Physician Assistant Studies with an emphases in Wilderness and Emergency Medicine and will complete a Doctor or Health Science degree in March 2012. He is a proud husband and father of seven adorable children ranging in age from 27 to 2.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Desert Lite, January 20, 2005

By 

Peter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surviving the Desert (Simply Survival: Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness) (Paperback)

Surviving the Desert is one of a series of books by Greg Davenport, in which the author attempts to provide survival advice on every single kind of outdoors environment - forest wilderness, oceans, the arctic, etc. This time, it's the deserts of the world. I think Davenport's other books on forest and mountain survival are pretty good, but this desert version doesn't live up to his previous work.

To me it would seem nearly impossible to write a survival guide or to acquire vast experience of all types of environments, especially deserts, unless one has traveled them for years and acquired knowledge and expertise from both personal discovery and the local inhabitants. First of all, most deserts aren't at all alike, yet most desert survival books treat them identically. They vary tremendously in weather patterns, terrain, plant and animal life - and any survival book, to be truly useful, must note how these differences affect how to obtain shelter, what navigation methods to employ, how to find water (and which methods are realistic versus only hopeful), how to avoid dangerous creatures, how to negotiate dune sands versus lava rock, etc, etc. Not to mention appropriate hiking gear, clothing, expedition vehicle modifications, health concerns, etc. Davenport's book doesn't cut it, and most of the advice is fairly generic. If you really plan to backpack the desert or to explore in a vehicle away from immediate aid, and want the best book on the subject, try The Ultimate Desert Handbook by Mark Johnson.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good desert survival information, April 8, 2010

By 

Tradecraft (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Surviving the Desert (Simply Survival: Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness) (Paperback)

Surviving the Desert by Greg Davenport is a very solid book on desert survival. While there are differences between deserts throughout the world this book provides a basic primer on surviving in this difficult environment. This book will not provide you with the nuances of surviving in each of the different desert environments so you will need to conduct further research.

Surviving the Desert is broken down into 13 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Three step approach to wilderness survival.

Chapter 2: Desert Climates
Types of deserts and how they form: high pressure deserts, rain shadow deserts, continental deserts, and cool coastal deserts.

Chapter 3: Gear
Basic overview of different types of gear to include: backpack, CamelBak, tent, bivouac, tarp, emergency blanket, sleeping bag, blankets, sleeping pad, knives, saw, stoves, headlamp and cooking pots. Good information.

Chapter 4: Clothing
Good information on clothing especially for the desert. In my experience many people just don't understand the proper clothes to wear that can really assist in a survival situation. This chapter covers: UV, SPF and UPF, heat gain and loss, what to wear, material, shirts and pants, parka and rain pants, boots, socks, gloves, headgear, eye protections, and skin protection.

Chapter 5: Camping
Basics of selecting an appropriate campsite and the old adage of location, location, location matters. Utilization of a tent or bivy, emergency tarp shelters, and natural shelters.

Chapter 6: Fire
Different methods of fire starting to include information on stoves, sterno and solid compressed fuel tablets. Also talks about matches, lighters, metal matches, flint and steel, and pyrotechnics. Discusses the use of primitive methods of fire starting to include bow and drill, hand drill and pump drill. Reviews fire basics of tinder, kindling and fuel.

Chapter 7: Signaling
Use of flares, smoke, signal mirror, strobe light, whistle, ground to air patterns and cell phones.

Chapter 8: Water
Davenport states that one should never drink urine, salt water or blood. Lists indications of water sources, water impurities and water purification.

Chapter 9: Food
Covers foods to take, plants, bugs, crustaceans, mollusks, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. Shows different traps and snares to catch food as well as food preparation and skinning.

Chapter 10: Navigating
Basics of map and compass.

Chapter 11: Traveling in Hot Climates
Basics of different traveling techniques and types of terrain.

Chapter 12: Health Issues
General health issues, traumatic injury, heat and cold injuries. Very basic information.

Chapter 13: Desert Creatures
Discussion on snake, lizard and animal bites.

Overall, a very good book that I recommend.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Bad Book If Your Just Getting Started, July 12, 2010

By 

Joshua L. Peterson (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surviving the Desert (Simply Survival: Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness) (Paperback)

Pretty much all the basics are covered in this book, as with any survival book it is generalized for all deserts. It's not written with much negative opinion, example... in the fire starting section not much credit is given to the StrikeForce (which is an awesome tool to always have on your person) and no mention of how crappy the BlastMatch which sucks hard and is almost impossible to use to light tinder. ??? What ever i guess maybe he's never tryed eather one. Alot of talking about rubbing sticks together to get fire which i didnt care for. Dry book in general, library had this book and i checked it out.

Buy it if your just getting started i guess, read it for free if your already tooled up and have been into survival for some time.