Desert Survival Skills

Comment: This is not a "downed in an airplane into remote wilderness book/ living off the land temporarily".

This book is for city people who get stuck in the desert with a vehicle.

It has very bad suggestions. For example, it talks about setting your tires on fire to make a signal fire (anyone hear of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire in 2002? The girl set off a signal fire in tinder dry forests & burned over 716 square MILES of forest!). This is a bad idea in the desert southwest! Use a (automobile)mirror to signal news helicopters flying overhead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodeo-Chediski_fire

It also talks about eating your children's crayons for food, etc.

If you are a city person who is ill prepared to go in the desert, well this is the book for you.

I hate to say it, but this book seemed to be for complete bimbos heading out into the desert.

Don't be starting ANY fire in the southwest for ANY reason!

Comment: "Desert Survival Skills" is enjoyable to read and very informative. While written specifically about the Chihuahan desert (mainly Texas, New Mexico and Mexico), much of the information is applicable to other US deserts. The section on navigation is limited, but then the topic is desert survival, not land navigation. He provides a great deal of excellent instruction regarding plants (for food and medicine) and animals. You will also gain a good understanding about things you should not do (assuming you don't enjoy snake bites). In addition, he provides sound guidance on selection of survival equipment and how to help Search and Rescue teams locate you. Also of interest are true-life stories of others who have found themselves in desert survival situations. Some of these ended well - many did not. These (very brief) accounts are sprinkled throughout the book and help illustrate his points. I found the book easy to read and well worth the money.

Comment: This is strictly a desert survival book, not a desert hiking book; i.e. it is mostly about surviving until rescue once things have gone very wrong. But don't look for a lot of information on how to plan a desert hike, learning to navigate, recognizing and avoiding all types of poisonous snakes, or checking out groundwater sources so as to avoid having to use those survival skills. Desert Survival Skills is written by the late David Alloway, who learned his desert skills at at Big Bend National Park. It is a good resource for survival skills in that part of the country, though it is true that some of his book doesn't translate to other deserts of North America and the world. I give it three out of five stars.

Comment: This is a good book on desert survival, though it is a little uneven. It is at its best in describing survival in the Chihuahuan Desert (Texas, New Mexico) of North America. Its usefulness in other desert areas is limited; in particular the sections on finding water and food, or plant and animal dangers, are really targeted to that particular bioregion.

Comment: Great Book, great content, well written, well worth the money spend if your a desert traveler. Knowledge can be gained for survival skills that might be needed in most any area of the world from this book. Best of the market.
Jose