Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

Surviving the Desert looks at a survivor's five survival essentials and how they apply in a myriad of desert settings. This approach keeps the reader focused on what his/her needs are and promotes a survivor mind for all the various desert terrains one might enjoy. And that is the key -- learning to use your survival mind.

Since all situations are different, you will never find a book on survival that gives a step by step approach to returning alive. Finding a book that teaches you how to use your survival mind, however, is like finding gold. This is what sets Davenport's books above the others (books that teach desert travel but don't develop a readers survival mind).

Davenport's 'Surviving the desert' is a gold nugget. If you travel into the desert (or in any outdoor environment) isn't it time you learn to use that survival mind!