Book Review by Aarene Storms: Field and Stream Outdoor Survival Guide

Field and Stream Outdoor Survival Guide: survival skills you need by T. Edward Nickens and the editors of Field and Stream magazine

Whether you want to be able to start a fire with or without a match, avoid bear attacks, signal for help using a mirror or a smokey fire or a pile of clothing, or you just want to know which bugs and snakes are edible (scorpions=yummy!), this practical, easy-to-read guide offers common sense and ingenius solutions to survival situations in the wilderness. There are lists of things to stuff into your pockets before you head out (a ball of shredded duct tape makes excellent fire tinder--wrap tape around a tongue depresser and use the wood chunks in your fire), equipment you can make part of your standard apparal (replace your boot laces with 550 parachute cord, and you can take apart the cord to produce nearly 25 feet of cord rated to 50 pounds!), and new uses for equipment you never leave home without (like your pocket knife and your cell phone).

I admit to being kind of a "survival guide geek", but even by my standards, this is a terrific book. The pictures are clear, the instructions are easy to follow (and remember), and the authors are authorities on getting into trouble and getting back out again. At $9.99, this would make an outstanding practical and fun gift for the survivalist or Katniss-wannabee on your holiday list.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true. --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS