Adventure Skills Guides – serie

Learn how to survive in the wilderness until help arrivesYou need one vital tool to stay alive in a dangerous situation: good information! So forget everything you think you’ve learned from your favorite survival shows on TV and the movies. Outdoor Survival skips the gimmicks and parlor tricks. It is a straightforward guide for the everyday person—who most likely won’t have perfect conditions or expensive gear. Author Benjamin Sobieck served as editor for a survival magazine and lived through a weeklong wilderness survival situation, and he’s sharing his expertise with you.In most real-world situations, the best strategy is to remain calm, sit tight, and wait for rescue. This guide covers everything that happens until help arrives. Learn some easy rules to remember, like 3-3-3 and S.T.O.P.—and why shelter, fire, and water are top priorities. Discover time-tested techniques for making yourself easier to find. Topics in this Adventure Skills Guide include everything from building a shelter and making a fire to surviving in a vehicle and administering first aid, as well as advice on knives, emergency kits, and more.Outdoor Survival provides the information you need in the simplest of terms. It’s conveniently sized to keep in your glove box, backpack, or back pocket. Remember: You will survive, you will get home, and you will have a great story. The key is to use good information to keep you safe and alive.

Learn to identify, collect, and prepare wild edibles!Step into your backyard, garden, or nearby green space, and harvest an abundance of free, nutritious, and organic greens, tubers, and fruits. Foraging in North America introduces you to 12 widely accessible wild plants that can be gathered safely. Compared to cultivated garden plants, these wild edibles require no care, are hardier, and are amazing sources of nutrients.Throughout much of our history, wild plants were the mainstay of human diets. They were rich in micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals that nurtured good health and strong immune systems. Foraging in North America is a simple guide that introduces readers to those foods—including such overlooked superfoods as dandelions, lambs quarters, and nettles. Learn how to find and identify those wild edibles and more, while avoiding toxic or inedible look-alikes. Expert forager Tom Anderson also shares tips on best practices for collecting and even some ideas on how to prepare your finds for the table, based on 30 years of experience. The easy-to-use information is accessible for everyone from beginners to experts.Foraging is also an excellent family activity. It helps children to learn about the natural world while simultaneously giving them the satisfaction of contributing to the household. Bring this photo-illustrated quick guide on your next outing. Its pocket-sized format makes it easy to tuck into a daypack, camping cook kit, or glove compartment.

Manage hiking, camping, backpacking, and outdoor emergenciesThere’s never a good place for a medical emergency, but some locations are much worse than others. If you are out in nature, far from help, when the unthinkable happens, you must be prepared. Outdoor Medicine is your handy, portable, easy-to-understand guide that helps you to follow the correct course of action. Whether it’s illness, injury, or life-or-death conditions, author Patrick Brighton, M.D., FACS, is there to lend his experience in assessing and managing backcountry emergencies. The author’s expertise—as a board-certified trauma surgeon and a mountaineer, climber, kayaker, and member of a mountain rescue team—has allowed him to develop concise descriptions of the diagnosis, treatment options, and evacuation strategies for several common medical emergencies. This tabbed booklet is organized by type of injury, so you can quickly reference the information you need to evaluate and treat the condition. There’s no need to wade through time-consuming data that you won’t use. The easily digestible instructions help you to assess the situation and decide how to proceed, with tips on what to do and what not to do. The guide also takes into consideration the variable challenges you might face: limited resources, weather, victim/rescuer capabilities, and evacuation options.With strategies based on the latest research from the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, and Dr. Brighton’s decades of experience, you can be certain that you’re getting the best advice available. So get this pocket-sized guide to outdoor medicine, and hope that you never have to use it—but take comfort in knowing that it’s there if you do.

Learn to tie 21 knots for the outdoors and everyday life!You never know when you’ll need just the right knot. Maybe you want to haul something atop your car. Perhaps you have to stake a tree or tether your dog. From tying a kite string to mooring a boat, Essential Knots has you covered. This pocket-sized booklet contains 21 versatile knots for getting things done at the campsite, on the dock, and at home. Author Karen Berger provides easy-to-follow instructions—supplemented by full-color, step-by-step illustrations—to help you quickly and correctly tie the knots you need. With this guide in hand, you’ll always know which knots to use and when, even if you’re a beginner. It’s conveniently sized to keep in your glove box, backpack, back pocket, or desk drawer, so it’s always there when you need it. Get Essential Knots and find a handy spot for it. You’ll be surprised how often you use it.

Enjoy the Bounties of Summer and Autumn All Year Long!Whether you forage, garden, or buy fresh produce, you want to utilize your delicious harvest. Learn the skills of canning and preserving, and savor those tantalizing flavors any time you choose. Author Michele N. Harmeling has been foraging, canning, pickling, and preserving for most of her life. Now, she’s sharing her expertise with you in a handy, convenient Adventure Skills Guide.The easy-to-follow booklet introduces the basics of canning and preserving.Find out what equipment is needed, with directions on how to assemble and use the various gear.Then discover the differences between hot-water-bath canning and pressure canning. Harmeling provides eight recipes for each method to help you safely practice and perfect each technique.Canning & Preserving goes on to cover essential food warnings and safety precautions. Plus, you’ll find a FAQ section, information about storing and using your preserves, and charts for cooking temperatures and altitude adjustments.There are few things more satisfying than preparing, canning, and preserving your favorite popular foods. If you are just starting out, you’ll appreciate the simple methods presented here. If you have experience with food preservation, this is an ideal quick-reference source. So keep this photo-illustrated guide handy. Its pocket-size design makes it easy to store, and its convenient format makes it fun and simple to use.

Improve Your Skills with This Simple Guide to Catching FishGet started fishing or get better at it with secret tips and easy-to-follow instructions. Skip all the fluff and go straight to the information you want to know in this photo-illustrated booklet.Pocket-size format—easier than laminated foldoutsIntroductory information for beginners, including everything you need to know about rods, reels, lines, lures, and more“Target species” section focusing on desirable types of fish, with equipment recommendations and tricks for catching each speciesIdeas for preparing your fish for the tableExpert author with a lifetime of experience

Your Quick Guide to Clouds and the WeatherThe weather fascinates us. It’s captivating, beautiful—and sometimes dangerous. It’s a part of our everyday lives, and it influences everything from travel plans to daily routines. The weather deserves our attention and understanding. To that end, meteorologist Ryan Henning provides a straighforward, easy-to-understand introduction to weather basics in a conveniently sized booklet.Weather Basics begins with an identification guide to clouds, broken into identifying them from below and from a distance. Next, the booklet explains various forms of precipitation, including rain, snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Perhaps the most important section of the booklet is about severe weather safety. Ryan explains how to identify weather conditions that could produce severe weather. He details the causes, potential effects, and what you should do in the event of occurrences like thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes, and blizzards. That section is followed by one on fair weather observations, including sun dogs and rainbows. An introduction to weather forecasting rounds out the booklet, where readers learn about interpreting weather forecasts and available model information.This meteorology reference presents the types of phenomena you might encounter at home or in nature. It’s pocket-sized format makes it handy to keep in your glove box, tent, or desk drawer, so it’s always there when you need it. Whether you’re at home with your family or on a solo backpacking adventure, this guide can give you the information needed to stay safe and enjoy the great outdoors.

Your Quick Guide to Ocean and Gulf FishingWhether you’re an expert freshwater angler or are new to casting a line with rod and reel, saltwater fishing is a unique experience. Coastal waters along the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico are filled with fish—many of which are reachable without a boat. Fishing from piers, jetties, or in the surf is wonderful fun and can be very productive. However, it’s different than fishing in a lake or river. Acclaimed author and expert angler Dave Bosanko provides the information you need to get started catching saltwater fish.Applicable to all coastal waters, this handy guide covers such topics as where to fish, what tackle to use, how to rig your line, and which types of bait are best. The pocket-sized booklet is organized and color-coded by fishing location for ease of use. Depending upon where you are, turn to the pier, jetty, or surf section to find the details most applicable to you. Surf & Pier Fishing also includes safety tips, plenty of full-color images, and an instructional illustration for reading the surf. Dave further provides his favorite tips—so you’ll be fishing like a pro along the coast in no time.With this guide in hand, you can quickly and economically learn what you need to know. It’s conveniently sized to keep in your tackle box, backpack, or back pocket, so it’s always there when you need it. Whether you’re visiting the coast or are a coastal resident, this guide can get you started catching saltwater fish.