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 enlarge | Author: Rick Curtis
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $9.16
You Save: $6.79 (43%)
New (29) Used (18) from $9.16
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 29593
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Upd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 1400053099
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.51
EAN: 9781400053094
ASIN: 1400053099
Publication Date: May 24, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080904214033T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great book, but riddled with typos November 26, 2007
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a great book for anyone looking to get into backpacking or as a reference is the field for the seasoned trekker. The book contains plenty of up to date information covering almost everything you would need to know. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is just stacked full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. A couple even in sections giving you numeric statistics and info. Apart from that... awesome book!
 The Best Backpacking/Hiking Manual Out There! August 27, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Simply put, the first edition was great and the revise editions just keeps everything up to date. This is a great book, a must for any serious backpacker or wilderness leader. Highly Recommended!
Excellent if you don't stray too far from civilization July 25, 2007
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
A distinction must be made between "outdoor" books that assume that your trip into the wilderness happens in the context of a working civil society, i.e. you buy food at the store, you have your tent, your map, maybe a GPS, and if you are in trouble a competent attempt will be made to rescue you. Then there are the "survival" books which assume that if you don't do "it" (gather food, build a shelter, find water, etc.) yourself, it ain't gonna happen. Maybe you can get help, but maybe other humans even pose a danger to your life, perhaps because of violent behavior, stupidity, clumsiness, or for whatever reason.
This book falls mainly into the first category, but makes interesting forays into the second. Perhaps the strongest impression is left by the First Aid section (which is also the longest). If you are really in an emergency, in which case you will definitely not have the time to read five pages on the Heimlich maneuver or whatever, this is probably the book you should pick up in a hurry. Of course ideally, you should know the content of the section by rote, but the descriptions are short yet detailed enough that they can be read quickly and confer all the vital information. A variety of more obscure illnesses are included that you will probably not find covered in other First Aid texts.
The nutrition section is quite short and the recipes are probably not something you would want to eat every day -- burritos, pizza, pesto. Don't expect any information on game, edible berries or the like...
A number of good sections cover such things as crossing a river or bearproofing your camp. These are well-written and stress the importance of understanding the situation first before acting. Along the same lines, there is an extensive review of leadership skills -- this is definitely an outdoor book for the thinking man.
All in all a thorough book, but if you are in situation where help does not arrive after a short while, it might not be enough. The SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea would be an excellent complement to this book and nicely covers those things which the BFM leaves out.
Solid Backpacking May 25, 2007
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
I have Backpacking since the 1960s and yes an old dog can learn new tricks. Sometimes it is good to review our old habits. This is one of those good uptodate Backpacking books.
Good All-Around Book January 27, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Backpacker's Field Manual is probably one of the better introductory books out there. Not only that, but it has valuable information for even the most experienced backpacker. It is layed out fairly well, and written in a fairly straightforward manner.
The biggest downside I see is the author's ideas of Leave No Trace camping, which seem to be taken to an extreme (the author says that one should scatter sticks, pinecones, and such over your campsite after you break camp so as to look like no one has been there). While this is, in my opinion, a backpacking style difference, it was enough of an issue for me to drop it down from a five star to a four star.
Not only that, but the author is primarily interested in sharing tradional (heavy) backpacking advice, with little to offer the lightweight of ultralight backpacker. Still, some of the techniques mentioned are excellent advice for any backpacker and the section on first aid is very detailed.
While this book is called a field manual, I would leave it at home due to the weight of this book. That said, it's definately one I feel every backpacker should have at home!
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