5 stars (A great buy, at that price...) - For what you pay (less than 20 bucks), this book more than satisfies. The sheer breadth of the topics covered is astounding. But it seems that Tawrell went for quantity instead of quality when he wrote this. A lot of the information included in the book is too brief, whetting the reader's interest and then leaving him hanging. This lack of depth hurts Tawrell's credability a bit, but for a book this size, I can understand his need for brevity. The book would have been much better (but more expensive) with photos instead of illustrations. Also, a few reviewers have mentioned the grammatical errors that abound in the book. This bothers me too (I'm an editor), but I can look past it. It almost seems to give the book a sort of old-fashioned charm. The layout of the information is a bit messy sometimes, but again, I'm sure it was done to cram as much information into the book as possible. This is a great source to introduce readers to the wilderness. It almost functions as an encyclopedia of sorts, since it covers such a broad area. You won't be disappointed with this book. It's well worth the cost. Trust me.
4 stars (Survival is to try this) - I bought this book because of the boy scouts and my son and to re-freash my outdoor life.I found the book to be very good and full of good thing and after reading other peoples thoughts of this book is wrong because until you try it out or the tricks of how it works and they do for I tried them or most of them on campouts and a few classes I went through its just you trying it more then once on a few of them others no problem at all.The one that work of you keep them in mine and the ones that don't keep trying them you will find the loop hole as they say.. I would give this book a very good try specally for scouting.
5 stars (A very Good Book) - I also believe that the reviewers are being a bit too critical of the book; it is a guide to outdoor survival. It is not a textbook on magnetism nor the science of burning wood. What this book offers is sound advice that covers a broad and diverse range of topics. Using illustrations rather than vast amounts of text, I believe the author has provided more information than I need. This is, I believe, I positive attribute in comparison to most texts of the "survival" genre.I do agree, though, that the editing is the poorest aspect of this book. It seems, at times, that the book was edited too hastely. Verb tenses are often in disagreement and the text seems just end mid-sentence. Although I find this is often the case in these types of books, it is nonetheless bothersome.I would, however, reccomend this book for both individuals who are recently interested in camping and wilderness activities and those who are more experienced in camping. It is, I believe, one of the best in the area of survival and cmping. |
