Customer Reviews

Wilderness Survival: 1st Edition

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Greg Davenport's simple approach to Wilderness Survival is the key to this user friendly educational text.

Greg posts on several of the wilderness survival forums. Through his book and posts I have come to understand his unique approach to wilderness survival. He believes that it is based on ones ability to do three things:

1. Stop and recognize the situation for what it is.
2. Identify your "five survival essentials" and prioritize them, in order of importance, for the environment that you are in.
3. Improvise to meet your needs using both your manmade and natural resources.

His book covers this process. It explains in step by step format how to meet your "five survival essentials" in every global environment. Davenport believes that these essentials are constant and the only thing that changes (from one climate to another) is the order and method in which they are met. These "five survival essentials" are:

1. Personal Protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. Signaling (manmade and improvised)
3. Sustenance (water and food ID, procurement, and preparation)
4. Travel (with and without a map and compass)
5. Health (psychological stress, traumatic and environmental injuries).

Davenport covers this information and more in his book (preview the table of contents). If you travel outdoors and are interested in learning about wilderness survival buy this book! You will not be disappointed.

Wilderness survival and wilderness living are not the same thing!!!

Like the previous reviewers - I have read most of the survival books on the market and I agree that this is hands down the best one out there. It covers all aspects of survival:

1. personal protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. signaling
3. sustenance (water and food)
4. travel (using a map and compass)
5. health (psychological stress, traumatic and environmental injuries)

I agree with a previous post -- its navigation chapter is the best I have seen and has really helped me master this skill. In addition, Greg Davenport's medical experience is apparent - his health section is by far the best I have seen in a book related to wilderness survival...

In a time when most survival books are actually about living in the wilderness ... it is good to find a book that focused on teaching the skills needed for those who play and work in the wilderness... I look forward to reading Mr. Davenport's newest book -- Wilderness Living -- which does focus on wilderness living skills.

This is a no nonsense book on adapting and surviving in the wilderness. A former Air Force SERE instructor, Davenport breaks survival down to its basic essentials (personal protection, sustenance, signaling, travel, and health), teaching the reader to evaluate his/her situation, prioritize needs, and take life-saving action. Many survival books are just a catalog of exotic skills, poorly illustrated, and giving the reader no clear idea of how or when to employ them. I liked this book because it follows the KISS approach--surviving is 90% common sense. The other 10 is the ability to apply basic skills, which the book clearly details. If I were going to carry one survival manual with me into the bush, it would be this one.

Although survival has been a constant throughout time, it is refreshing to find an expert who presents the information in a user friendly format. Greg Davenport's design makes it easy to learn basic and complexed survival skills. Like other books, Davenport provides insight into shelter and fire skills. However, unlike other books, Davenport goes one step further and breaks ground by providing comprehensive chapters on Signaling, Navigation, and Wilderness Medicine. In fact, his Navigation chapter is perhaps the best I have ever seen (I learned more from this chapter then from books devoted to this subject only). If you want one book that covers all the skills you need to survive -- then this is the book for you!!!

For those of you who take the time to read Gregory Davenport's book you'll find it covers all aspects of survival (not backpacking). The book focuses on the survival skills needed to stay alive should your outing turn bad. It is clear, concise, and covers each task in a step-by-step format.

The post stating the book lacks detail and fails to give alternatives (using the lean-to example) is misleading. I went back and read the passage the reviewer refered to. Here is what I found,

"A lean to is most often used in the warm temperate and snow environments.
1. Find two trees about 7 feet apart with forked branches 4 to 5 feet high on the trunk.
2. Break away any other branches that pose a safety threat or interfere with the construction of your lean-to.
3. Place a ridge pole (a fallen tree that is approximately 10 feet long and the diameter of your wrist) into the forked branches. Note: If unable to find two trees with forked branches, lash the ridge pole to the trees."
4. Lay several support poles......."

While it is true he doesn't cover lashing here (should he cover it everywhere that it is referred to?) it is covered at the end of the book in Appendix A (lashing and knots). The lean-to is just one of many natural shelters describe in this well thought out book. Others alternatives include, tree pit, A-frame, platform bed, hobo shelter, snow cave, and snow A-frame. In addition, he gives step by step instruction on how to build four various tarp shelters. When you read this book you'll find Davenport's attention to detail doesn't just stop with the steps needed to meet your survival needs, he also covers safety concerns related to each task.

Wilderness Survival covers clothing, shelter, fire, signaling, water and food procurement, navigation, and health issues better than any book out there. I have almost every survival book there is and none match the detailed step-by-step approach seen here. If you want a book on how to camp, buy a book on camping. If you want a book that teaches you the next step--survival--this is the one.

I?ve lived in various parts of the world, and have always chosen to spend as much time as possible, as far from my fellow man as I could. I?ve spent more than twenty years as a wildlife photographer and artist. I?ve captured images of the world?s rarest and most dangerous game on every continent. My assignments have taken me Pole to Pole, and all points in between. The risk of finding myself alone and in trouble in the wilderness has always been a very real possibility and has come to light several times so far in my career. I hesitantly anticipate more of these possibilities in the future. On a side bar, the rumors of having heightened senses after such an encounter are very accurate.

To my review. I was intrigued about this book because of the background of the author. Knowing that the military spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on training their pilots and other airmen, I could only imagine how much time and money they must?ve spent on training their instructors whose job it was to keep these men alive. If an airman were to find himself stranded in the wilderness, for whatever reason there might be, he would need to know the essentials of survival for many different climates and geographic locales. That is where this book excells. It gives the reader an intelligently structured set of instructions that offer anyone the best odds of survival in nearly every circumstance.

I have read every book on the subject of wilderness survival and there are many fine ones in print. This book by Davenport seems to bring them all together. It is concise, very well written, very informative, and most importantly it is organized better than any other wilderness skills book I have read. It serves as the new center piece in my library on the subject. If a book, or manual, or article has been printed on the subject of wilderness survival, I own it. There are other books that delve deeper into particular areas of wilderness survival but none encompass the totality of the subject as well as Greg Davenport?s. This book is clearly meant to serve as the cornerstone of one?s education. It offers an excellent foundation with enough specifics that the reader is presented with several different options or plans to follow in the case of an emergency. If I were to recommend only one book on the subject, this would certainly be the one. It will accompany me on all future assignments and I feel more secure in knowing that it will always be by my side.

I've read every survival book out there. It is refreshing to find one that is straightforward and easy to follow. Greg's book isn't filled with philosophy...it's full of valuable information that is useful for all backcountry travellers!!!!

I would say that this book tends to lean towards one finding themselves in an unprepared survival situation. It does not have an endless list of items to have when going into the wilderness. This book is a must for even those that are prepared seeing it will give knowledge to add to your survival package. This book is easy, simple, and quick. The chapter on land navigation is an added extra and again simple. I also enjoyed trapping wild game. The universal edibility test on plants was new to me and valuable. However, I felt Mr. Davenport could have been more informative on listing edible plants. The characteristics of plants to avoid is good information and new to me as well. The section on water procurement is excellent! The more I read this book the better I like it. I will find a book on edible plants to compliment this book. I would recommend this book highly and read it until you know it by heart!

I am very impressed with Davenport's book. It covers the essentials (he lists five) of survival without adding a bunch of stuff you don't need to know. I carry it in my backpack as a reference. Mr. Davenport has also written an excellent book on primitive survival skills called "Wilderness Living" and has a series of books out under the series title "Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness."

I like his clear and concise writing style and his basic approach to survival in the various global climates. I urge all those who explore the wilderness to pick up his books. All of them.

"Wilderness Survival" is the most user friendly book I have ever read on survival--and I have read them all. Its straight forward, no nonsense approach provided me with the information I was looking for and unlike other books I didn't need to weed out all the authors comments or spiritual beliefs. "Wilderness Survival" is a book I'd recommend for anyone who travels into the backcountry.