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Trailside Guide: Hiking and Backpacking, New Edition |  | Author: Karen Berger
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $1.06
as of 11/21/2009 04:58 CST details
You Save: $17.89 (94%)
New (30) Used (60) Collectible (5) from $1.06
Seller: bayfrontbooks
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 79841
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0393313344
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.51
EAN: 9780393313345
ASIN: 0393313344
Publication Date: February 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Smart, instructive, and beautifully designed, every book in the Trailside Guide series contains the essential information readers need to master outdoor activities and have fun in the process. Norton proudly reissues these best-selling guides with fully revised "Sources & Resources" sections (including where to find the Web sites, gear, services, books, clubs, and organizations that make for foolproof outings); updates to reflect the latest in gear technology, wilderness medicine, and first aid; and advances in techniques. You can take it with you: Trailside Guides are designed to be used on the trail. Their handy size makes them easy to take along on outdoor adventures.
Picture this: Trailside Guides show you how it's done. Each book has more than 100 color photographs and dozens of informative, full-color technical illustrations you'll refer to again and again.
Buying Guide: Each Guide has all the information readers need to make informed decisions about what gear is available, and what they should buy.
Step-by-step: Tutorials take readers through every aspect of a given outdoor activity. Each Guide covers planning and preparing for a trip, getting in shape, technique, safety, and first-aid tips, and how to have more fun along the way!
Easy to use: Trailside Guides provide information quickly. Every book contains detailed illustrations, information-packed sidebars, and a complete index and bibliography.
Technique tips: Any physical activity is more fun when it's done right. Trailside Guides are written by experts and contain lucid explanations that help the reader quickly achieve proficiency.
It's a big world out there. Get into it with the Trailside Guides. Color photographs and drawings throughout.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 out of date, skimpy, inaccurate July 12, 2009
Benjamin Crowell
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is way out of date. It's billed on Amazon as a "New Edition," but actually it's not. The ISBN is the same as the 1995 edition, and the publisher's info actually states that it's a "reissue," not a new edition. I checked using the "click to look inside link," and it really does appear to be identical to the 1995 edition. (The index and table of contents have identical page numbers, and some random pages that I checked were identical.) It's listed as "Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1st edition (February 2003)," but this is misleading; it's just a reprinting of the first edition, which was published in 1995.
The fact that it's out of date really is a problem. For one thing, backpacking equipment has changed a lot in the last 14 years. For example, the discussion of navigation does have a good explanation of how to use a topo map and a compass, which is likely to be useful to a beginner. But there is no discussion of altimeters, and GPS, described as "new," is mentioned only briefly, in a sidebar, with no discussion of how to use one, what its limitations, are, etc.
Another place where the book's age shows is in the discussion of bears. There's a long discussion of "how to bear-bag," including a big diagram. Well, actually, it's been at least 8 years since you could pick up a wilderness permit in any of the national parks in California without being told very firmly that bear-bagging was not allowed and didn't work, that bear canisters were mandatory, and that if you didn't have a bear canister, you were required to rent or buy one on the spot. The book only briefly mentions bear canisters, treats them as an option rather than a requirement, not-so-subtly tries to convince the reader not to use one.
The discussion of bear canisters isn't the only place where the book is inaccurate. In the discussion of snakebite, the most prominent option listed is to keep the victim immobile and go and get help. That contradicts everything else I've read on the subject, which states that it's vital to get the victim to the trailhead, get medical help to the trailhead, and do all of that in the minimum possible time.
The book is extremely skimpy. Lots of topics are skipped over extremely quickly. I would have liked to see less of the page count taken up with the lavish color illustrations, and more devoted to information. As a random example of a topic was not treated in enough detail, and was also treated inaccurately, the author's advice with respect to human waste is the following: "You'll need a small plastic trowel with which to dig a 6-inch-deep hole. Fill it when you're done. Bacteria will do the rest." Well, no, bacteria will not do the rest when it comes to your toilet paper. The two options most commonly practiced today are (1) to pack out the used toilet paper (this is the option that rangers in California national parks will tell you is mandatory when you pick up your wilderness permit), or (2) to burn it. Leaving it in the hole, which the author seems to be telling you to do, is simply not an acceptable option.
This book is heavily oriented toward beginners, and heavily oriented toward the East Coast. A tent is described as a near-absolute necessity, which makes sense in the East, but not for summer backpacking in the West. There is no discussion of the lightweight and ultralight styles of backpacking that were first popularized by Ray Jardine.
For anyone who wants a less outdated and more complete book, a much better choice would be the latest edition of The Complete Walker, by Fletcher and Rawlins (e.g., the 2002 edition is titled The Complete Walker IV).
 Good beginner's guide! June 13, 2009
T. Lee (Louisville, KY)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm planning on taking up hiking, and this book has done well spelling things out for me. The language is plain and understandable, and I feel like I've got more realistic expectations on what's in store for me.
While I still intend on finding experienced hikers to glom on to for my first hikes, I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to get into hiking as a good intro on what to expect.
 Beginners Apply Only April 8, 2009
David Hartley (Atlanta, GA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This little, fun book is a great one to pick up for beginners! It has a number of interesting illustrations and runs the gamut of topics from how to choose equipment to first aid on the trail.
Unfortunately, nothing in this book is very deep. It scratches the surface of nearly everything it tries to cover and probably covers a few unneeded items as well.
If you are brand new to hiking, pick this up (especially if it's used!). It is a great book for building some inspiration to go get out on the trail. But if you've had any kind of experience, have a good friend who can mentor you, or have read anything else on hiking, don't count on finding anything new here.
P.S. If you want to learn about wilderness first aid, make sure you pick up a book specifically about it or take a class. The chapter here is not worth the entrance fee except as a reminder to first timers.
Great book for begginers and serious backpackers!!! October 11, 2007
Barbara D. Tindell (Knoxville, TN)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book looking for a guide of some kind to help me know what to exspect, equipment I needed, and how to plan a trip. I got all I was looking for and more, I live and have grown up what most would consider a typical countryboy and have been hunting, camping, and fishing since I was old enough to walk, but I had never been on a long backpacking trip and have really always wanted to try it and this book is a great way to do it, it tells you everything you can think to ask and some you hadn't.I am going to head out on my first trip with confidence and ready for things that are going to happen. I have to say this guy knows what he is talking about andI would recamend you to buy this if you are planning even a short day hike. also the book is made to carry along in your pack with its plastic covered covers and pages. I would like to thank the auther in closing for this book it may have saved me alot of problems and maybe alot of injures.
Fantastic! August 26, 2006
Brian K. Varbel (Claremont, CA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'm new to backpacking. I bought a few backpacking books recently, and none of them are more interesting and clearly written than this book. Karen Berger has a great, down to earth writing style without being too "breathy" or wordy. She gets down to the point, shows specific examples,and breaks things down in a way that can be understood by anybody.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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