Surviving the Great Outdoors: Everything You Need to Know Before Heading into the Wild

by Brendan Leonard

“Leonard’s durable tome (seriously, the cover is rubber) is stuffed with so many tips about surviving in the wild, you’ll be able to leave your smartphone behind.” —Entertainment Weekly, Best New Books This easy introduction to outdoor life will ensure that even a novice won’t get lost in the woods while finding an activity he loves to do in the great outdoors--whether it’s hiking a 14er or camping on ice. With 400 strategies for engaging in the outdoors, and expert tips and tricks, Surviving the Great Outdoors makes Mother Nature easier to understand than ever before. Brendan Leonard, writer, filmmaker, and outdoor adventurer, shows the reader how rewarding it can be to live life away from the computer and get outside. From mountain climbing, to skiing, sledding, and sailing, Leonard shows that you don’t need to be a risk taker to enjoy the outdoors. And if the reader does find himself at the point of man vs. nature, Leonard shares survival skills from how to bandage a wound and read a topographical map, to how to drive on sand and remove a tick from your skin—all organized thematically and written in short takeaway entries with helpful line drawings. Bound in a uniquely rugged (and waterproof!) PVC cover material, Surviving the Great Outdoors is a friendly way into the outdoor lifestyle, whether you're looking to dabble or go all in.

Genres: Nonfiction, Survival

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2019

About the author

Brendan Leonard is the creator of Semi-Rad.com and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Outside, CNN.com, Adventure Journal, Alpinist, Climbing, High Country News, Adventure Cyclist, and dozens of other publications. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A serviceable introduction for beginners, lightly covering a broad spectrum of outdoorsy topics. While there's some superfluous info that anyone who has camped more than a few times will already know, it also has solid basic tips for beginners looking to tackle a wide range outdoor activities. Plus the durable cover will keep it safe if you bring it along on a few of your first camping trips, if you can spare the extra baggage. You may want to seek out something more in-depth for the more intense outdoor activities though.

[Ashley Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge overview to nitty gritty details on a wide array of outdoor sports and experiences.
Overall I will hang onto this book for reference.
I particularly like that there are suggestions for places to go to other books to read as well.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily readable. This is not designed to go into depth on any one type of survivalism. Read it, figure out what you want to do, then get some additional books on that subject.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very easy to read, but it's very basic information so I didn't really learn anything.

[Timothy Baum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool, good stuff to know :) very basic stuff though