What’s in my pack: Pathfinder Outdoor Survival Guides

Could you save your own life? I spend a lot of time alone in the wilderness and I’ll admit sometimes I worry about what I would do if I were injured or lost for a few days before help arrived. The reality is I’d be stupid if I didn’t think about what could go wrong and have a plan. Accidents happen. When I was offered an opportunity to review a set Pathfinder Outdoor Survival Guides, I jumped at the chance to boost my skills. The set included the following guides:

• Building a Survival Kit
• Basic Tracking
• Basic and Primitive Navigation
• Improvised Trapping
• Improvised Hunting Weapons
• Signaling for Rescue
• Shelter, Fire, Water
• Wilderness First Aid

Produced by Waterford Press in collaboration with master woodsman and survivalist Dave Canterbury, these guides are packed with good info to get your tail out of a jam. The guides are printed brochure-style on lightweight, waterproof, vinyl-like paper.

Each guide includes a huge amount of information for such a small space, but skips the confusing fluff. Specifically, I like the use of images and illustrations to demonstrate tasks and the common sense tips included throughout the guides.

These guides are a good resource to study before heading out, or to pack into a survival kit. I weigh everything that goes in my pack in an effort to save even an ounce, so I wouldn’t carry the set of guides backpacking. However, if you lack a medical background, the Wilderness First Aid guide may be worth the 1 ounce of weight. Yes, I weighed them.

I do suggest adding the Pathfinder Outdoor Survival Guides to “crash” bags in boats, airplanes, cars (especially on a remote winter drive) or anywhere you think you may need survival info. As for me, I plan to study them cover-to-cover before I pack then in a go-bag. Priced at $6.95 each, they are a good value.

This review did make me wonder, how do YOU prepare for survival? DO you have a go-bag or other dooms-day plan? What survival items to you carry backpacking? Please comment below.

 

Waterford Press provided the guides for my review without any obligation on my part to provide a positive review. As always, I only give my honest thoughts and opinions on this blog.