Nansen: The Explorer as Hero Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a very dynamically written biography of Fridtjöf Nansen, polar explorer who established the farthest north not to be beaten for a couple of next years. The journey in "Fram", custom built ship, is bizarre enough, indeed. As intended, the ship entered polar ocean close to the Siberian coast of Taimyr Peninsula, where it was locked frozen in the ice for the next three years. The expedition mainly performed some scientific observations, self-imprisoned in the lonely ice of the north. The drift helped the frozen ship move slowly towards the North Pole with no activity on the part of explorers. It failed however to approach the pole itself, so Nansen set for the pole using dogs and sleighs, together with only one human companion, Hjalmar Johanssen. Cut off from the ship and inventory, they tried hard to achieve their goal. Having failed, they decided not to come back to the ship, which itself would be hard to find given the conditions of the environment and the ice drift. They headed for Svalbard instead, hundreds of kilometers away, instead. Meantime, they discovered an unknown archipelago, or at least it seemed so to them. They spent winter there in the ice cave, having hunted enough walruses to make a living. The story is full of adventures, exciting, unexpected, amusing or just otherwise sad, but always engaging. Read for yourself how they ended up. The journey for the farthest north is only part of the book, which is extensively long, covering all Nansen's life, and all of his activities, including the League of Nations leadership, for which later he was awarded a Nobel prize. Very recommended, as it is by no means a typical biography.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nansen: The Explorer as Hero

Click here for more information about Nansen: The Explorer as Hero

South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are a fan of Antarctic exploration then this wonderful book should be in your library. Many know the incredible story of the Endurance and the trials those 28 men endured when the ship was locked in the ice and eventually crushed. The beauty of this book is that it documents the story with the remarkable photos of the expedition photographer, Australian Frank Hurley. When you consider the time period of this story (1914-1916) you can only marvel that Hurley produced such amazing images with the equipment that was available at that time. Additionally, the initial introduction to this photo collection is excellent. It presents a good recap of the Endurance expedition with many quotes from crewmembers that have not appeared in previous books.If you are a professional photographer, or even an amateur, the information on Hurley's equipment and the story of his early training will be of special interest. The over 500 photos will hold your interest for hours! I've read almost every book on Endurance and this will rank as one of my favorites.

Click Here to see more reviews about: South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917

THE DEFINITIVE AND SPELLBINDING RECORD OF SHACKLETON'S LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, IMMORTALIZED ON FILM BY PIONEERING PHOTOGRAPHER FRANK HURLEY Sir Ernest Shackleton's trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-1917 was one of the great feats of human endurance -- one vividly captured in the powerful and dramatic pictures taken by Frank Hurley, the expedition's official photographer. These images, appearing together here for the first time in print, constitute an amazing body of photojournalism created under the most adverse circumstances imaginable. As this book reveals, however, they are far more than visual reportage; they also are images of great artistry that capture the life-and-death drama that was played out against an arctic landscape of magnificent and terrible beauty. The story told here through Frank Hurley's lens began in the summer of 1914, when Shackleton and his crew set sail from England with the intention of being the first to cross Antarctica from one coast to the other, passing through the South Pole on the way. After five months they reached the freezing Weddell Sea and were within sight of land when the Endurance became trapped in the ice pack. Nine months later, the ship was finally crushed, leaving the crew stranded on drifting ice floes at the end of the earth. What followed is one of the most remarkable survival stories in the history of human exploration. Shackleton's men camped on the ice floes for five months before they escaped in their lifeboats and, after a harrowing five-day voyage, reached Elephant Island, a barren outcrop too remote for any hope of rescue. From there, Shackleton and five other volunteers set out for South Georgia Island and miraculously reached their destination after traversing 850 miles of the fiercest seas on the face of the planet in an open lifeboat. There they raised help, and three months later, after three failed attempts, Shackleton made it back to Elephant Island with a rescue ship. Incredibly, every single one of his men survived. Almost as incredible is the fact that so much of this drama was captured on film by Frank Hurley, and that so many of these pictures survived. South with Endurance is the first book to reproduce a total of nearly 500 extant photographs, including many remarkable color images that have never been published before. It is also the first to reproduce the photos to a standard and size that display Hurley's work as the art that it is. Drawn from the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London, the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, the photographs are complemented by excerpts from Hurley's diary, a chapter about the expedition itself, a biographical essay, and commentary about Hurley's photographic techniques.

Click here for more information about South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917

Antarctica: The Blue Continent Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This large format style book has excellent photographs, illustrations, and maps on virtually every page in addition to text and related detailed captions.
It is broken down into four parts - the Antarctic environment, regions, wildlife, and exploration history. Each of these four main parts are broken down further into smaller topics. For instance the wildlife section has several pages detailed to each animal type (whales, seals, penguins, seabirds, etc) and then broken down further into each specific species of them by seperate text section with stats and a map showing that specific animal location around Antarctica. The exploration section similiarly is broken down into smaller timeframes (three timeframes) of discovery and expeditions.
Ovearall a great overview of everything Antarctica. Great book for reading and also for just for browsing through.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Antarctica: The Blue Continent

Illustrated guide to Antarctica's environment, geography, wildlife, and history.Antarctica: The Blue Continent is a superbly illustrated and easy-to-understand book that reveals this polar region's ruthless majesty and natural beauty.The environment is Earth's harshest, coldest, most inhospitable climate. A staggering 98% of the continent is covered with ice averaging 1.4 miles in depth; 90% of the world's ice is found in there.In spite of the cold and ice, Antarctica's shores and waters are home to an amazing variety of vegetation and indigenous wildlife-seals, sea lions, whales, penguins and sea birds-that have evolved in extraordinary ways to adapt to their unforgiving habitat. The book features natural phenomena such as a glacier made of jagged, Jurassic-era rock instead of ice, and entire mountain ranges filled to their peaks with snow.In the chapters on polar exploration, Antarctica profiles Captain Cook, Roald Amundsen, Shackleton, Scott, and others. Readers will experience why this continent has inspired so much effort and heroism in the quest to discover its secrets.This book is a concise version of the authors' 608-page Antarctica and the Arctic.

Click here for more information about Antarctica: The Blue Continent

The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A season in the Arctic is a great test of character. One may know a man better after six months with him beyond the Arctic circle than after a lifetime of acquaintance in cities. There is something--I know not what to call it--in those frozen spaces, that brings a man face to face with himself and with his companions; if he is a man, the man comes out; and, if he is a cur, the cur shows as quickly. -Admiral Peary
One's first impulse is to dismiss this book as just another quickie attempt to cash in on the Endurance craze, but the story of the Karluk and its crew is quite amazing in its own right and first time author Jennifer Niven does a terrific job telling it. One year before Ernest Shackleton and Endurance set out for Antarctica, Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, working under the auspices of the Canadian government, assembled an expedition intended to prove that a continent lay beneath the Arctic ice.On June 17, 1913, the H.M.C.S. Karluk, captained by Robert Abram Bartlett, set sail from British Columbia with a complement of 25, including Stefansson, sailors, scientists, and Eskimos (including a mother and two young daughters), plus sled dogs and a cat. Within the six weeks the ship was frozen fast in the ice north of Alaska and Stefansson, taking three men and several sleds with dogs, had abandoned the rest of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, setting out for the mainland to continue his exploration.
For the next five months, the Karluk drifted westward with the ice floe, before finally being crushed and sunk on January 11, 1914, just east of Wrangel Island, which lies north of Siberia. With the crew facing the predictable difficulties caused by brutal weather, a diet of pemmican, seal, and the like, snow blindness, etc, and no reason to believe that anyone even knew they were still alive, let alone where they were, Bartlett and Kataktovik, one of the Eskimo guides, set out across the shifting ice for Siberia to get help. Meanwhile, with the departure of Bartlett, the remaining crew splintered into rival camps and added to the struggle with the elements was an atavistic struggle against each other, ending in betrayal, thievery and maybe even murder.
The story of who survives and how and of the feats that survival requires, makes for compelling reading. Stefansson is the main villain of the story, his inadequacy as a leader beginning with his purchase of the Karluk at a bargain price, even though it was clearly not suited to ice breaking, and ending with his doctoring reports of the expedition to cast aspersions on Bartlett while portraying himself in a favorable light. Bartlett on the other hand, the Ice Master of the title, emerges as a truly heroic figure. There are plenty of other heroes and villains--one of the more interesting of the former is Seaman Hugh "Clam" Williams, whose nickname is more than justified when he stoically sits through having his frostbitten toe cut off with a pair of shears--and myriad instances of courage and cowardice.
The reader can't help being torn between questioning the common sense of the men who followed the obviously incompetent Stefansson and admiration for the fortitude that many of them displayed in the face of disaster. And just as you're coming to grips with this quandary, the author provides a helpful endnote where she reveals that various survivors fought in WWI, returned to Arctic exploration and one even joined a colonization party that Stefansson later sent to Wrangel Island, with predictably tragic results. It all makes for thrilling reading, side by side with alternately troubling and uplifting glimpses of the deeds of which humans are capable when they are pushed to their limits.
GRADE : A

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors

Click here for more information about The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Wow, what a book. Contains all kinds of cool stuff I've always wanted to know. Heres a partial list of whats in the book:-How to jump from a bridge into a lake or river.-How to jump from a multi-story rooftop into a dumpster.-How to run on top of a speeding train.-How to leap from a motorcycle into moving car.-How to deliver a baby in a taxi cab.-How to land an airplane.-How to survive if your parachute fails to open.-How to survive machine gun fire from a passing car.-How to get to the surface if your scuba tank runs out of air.-How to escape quicksand (even if your up to your neck).-How to ram a car.-How to break down a door (exactly where to kick.)-How to break into and hotwire a car.-How to do a 180 degree turn with your car (also known as a bootleggers turn).-How to fight sharks, grizzly bears and mountian lions without any kind of weapons. -How to beat the living hell out of an attacking alligator (where to hit him that will stop him instantly).This is dead serious material. I have no idea why it would be in the humor section of the bookstore. Buy it, learn the material, weave some fantastic tales for the grand kids and become the family legend. I enjoyed this book so much I bought 3 copies for my 'very tough' beer drinking buddies.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

Survival Skills of the North American Indians Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book fails to provide any details that are worth while.
Each food resource consists of a list of tribes that used that genus (species not differentiated). No details provided on method of harvesting nor required processing.
Another major section provids drawing of traditional clothing such as mocasins. Many different styles of mocasins are prepresented, but no discussion is made about the pros and cons of various designs. While interesting from a historical aspect, this is not a reference for survival skills. The details of any skills are iced over in favor of descriptioin of that was.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Survival Skills of the North American Indians

A new forward, introduction and index complement the review of Native American life skills.Step-by-Step instructions and 145 detailed diagrams enable the reader to duplicate native methods using materials available in local habitats.

Get 22% OFF

Click here for more information about Survival Skills of the North American Indians

Surviving Cold Weather: Simply Survival (Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The best part about this survival guide is Davenport's descriptions of "improvised" items. Most people don't plan to be in a survival situation in freezing temperatures, and may not have the proper equipment. He teaches you how to use survival items you have purchased and may have with you (such as an avalanche beacon or a signal flare), but also what to do in a situtation in which you don't have what you need (improvising snowshoes, stick and shadow compass, etc). The section on constructing emergency shelters gave detailed instructions for many options depending on what resources are available - trees, ice, and/or deep snow. He even provides pictures as proof of his methods. The information on how to obtain food, especially berries, and how to navigate without a map or compass was also extremely helpful. The only disappointing thing for me in this book was the information on animals. Many of the descriptions seemed cut-and-pasted, with really no specific tips on how to avoid polar bear attacks versus brown bears versus pumas.
I bought this book because I live in Alaska and was hoping to learn something that would keep me from becoming one of the many people that do not survive in the wilderness out here because they are unprepared! I bring it with me when I go backpacking or camping, because you never know. I recommend reading this book if you spend time outdoors in cold weather, whether you put yourself in risky situations or not. You'll learn not only how to be prepared but how to stay alive if you are lost or find yourself without adequate transportation, food, or shelter.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Surviving Cold Weather: Simply Survival (Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness)

The first in "Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness" series, "Surviving Cold Weather" covers the techniques and equipment necessary for surviving in ice and snow. Photos and drawings illustrate gear and techniques. The book covers the five survival essentials--personal protection, signaling, sustenance, navigation, and health--as they relate to the cold. Topics include: how to dress for winter; how to create a campsite and what to use as shelter; how to keep warm; how to signal for help with aerial flares, smoke, mirrors, and whistles; finding and purifying water; finding and preparing food; protecting yourself and your supplies from wildlife; how to use a map and compass; how to travel on snow and ice with snowshoes, skis, and crampons; and how to avoid and deal with avalanches. Upcoming books in the series are "Surviving Open and Coastal Waters," "Surviving the Desert," and "Surviving the Jungle."

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Surviving Cold Weather: Simply Survival (Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness)

In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy harrowing stories of near-death polar adventures. It's amazing that Albanov survived. His book is a combination of excerpts from his detailed diary and elaborations he added after the fact, supplemented by an informational preface from the publisher who recently discovered his almost-forgotten manuscript.
If you have already read "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing, this book isn't quite as good, but it is an interesting contrast. (If you haven't, put Endurance on your must-read list!) The challenges faced were similar, though not quite as extended in Albanov's case.
This story starts in much the same way as the Endurance - a ship trapped in pack ice (though in this case in the Arctic). But this is where the story diverges. The biggest difference that you learn up-front is that only two people survived (compared to the whole crew on the Endurance!)
Albanov is the navigator but does not get along with the captain. As a result, after two winters (!) enduring their relationship and the worsening conditions, he asks for permission to build a kayak and sledge from scrap and set out on his own in search of land. Much to his disappointment, however, half the crew (even many of the weaker ones) ask to accompany him.
Their destination is "Cape Flora" about 120 miles away across pack ice. According to a polar explorer's diary from decades ago, Cape Flora once had a shelter and supplies. But they really don't even know if it still exists and exactly how to get there. And if it is still there - what then? But Albanov is able to focus on the immediate goal and not worry about the what if's.
Interestingly, the crew was not a group of explorers anticipating adventure, but opportunists looking to make money in the walrus-hunting trade. This could have contributed to their low survival rate. Albanov complains about his companions a lot - their laziness, stupidity. But from Albanov's first hand account, the reader can infer that he was a loner. I couldn't help but wonder whether a leader like Shackleton could have brought out the best in the group and had a higher chance of surviving.
Anyway, it is truly amazing that Albanov and one of his companions survive all the crazy challenges they are delt - snowblidness, hunger, cold, scurvy, lack of maps, drifting pack ice, angry walruses, almost drowning, and so on.
This is a short book, and a good page-turner. Although it's not as good as Endurance, it's still a good read.

Click Here to see more reviews about: In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This slim volume details the plight of the Antarctic expedition of the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in 1911. Seemingly few people are aware of this particular foray into the polar south, as the Scott tragedy looms largest in the public consciousness and there is a new vogue for the remarkable exploits of Ernest Shackleton in this same time frame. However, this is a story worth telling.
For those who are not obsessively interested in accounts of polar exploration, this books serves as a good introduction to the genre. It's almost novelistic in its easy yet vivid narrative flow, and unlike more encylopedic works, it avoids getting bogged down in excessive side treks about rival explorers or earlier achievements in the mapping and scouting of the continent.
Even so, it has a glaring weakness in its lack of footnotes or a bibliography. Bickel recounts entire conversations verbatim and even details the thoughts of several individuals, all without documenting the sources for such material. Since some of the quoted individuals died on the journey, one can only assume that the author is drawing from their expedition journals, and yet there is only a vague allusion to this in the afterword. More annoyingly, Bickel describes the immediate events preceding the death of one of the men from the point of view of the soon-to-be-deceased explorer, even though his two surviving comrades weren't even eyewitnesses to the moment of the tragedy. This gives rise to the suspicion that poetic license may have been somewhat abused in the composition of this book.
There are a number of photos of expedition members, their ship, and their camp. Sadly, no map is provided, making it difficult for the reader to follow Mawson's progress.
Bickel certainly does good work in shedding some light on this little known expedition, especially on the causes of the death of the second explorer. But the lack of notation of sources is a serious drawback.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written

Australian Sir Douglas Mawson chose not to go with Robert Scott to the South Pole in 1911, but instead set out on a less prestigious expedition to chart Antarctica's coastline. Mawson was not inexperienced - in 1908 he had led an important expedition to the South Magnetic Pole - but nothing could have prepared him for what happened on this trek. Mawson's task was to chart 1,500 miles of coastline and claim it for the British crown. Setting out in a party of three, he faced mountains, crevasse-filled glaciers, and 60-mile-per-hour winds. Six weeks and 320 miles out, one man fell into a crevasse, along with the tent, most equipment, and all but a week's supply of food. After losing his other companion and the dogs, Mawson fought his way back home alone through horrific wind, snow, and cold to leave his own mark in history.

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written

Wilderness Living Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Gregory Davenport's book is a masterpiece of clarity and brevity, and it covers all the bases. Use it as a reference book, as opposed to a cover-to-cover read. For instance, it starts off with a chapter on making buckskin. It's just the right level of detail if you're tanning a hide, but too much for the casual reader. Another example is the wonderful chapter on making snares. Davenport lists some nineteen types, all illustrated, and all with a practical application. Davenport's education was clearly of the outdoor variety, at the expense of the indoor variety, resulting in some cumbersome syntax, and excessive passive voice, but perhaps his editor is more to blame for that. Overall, it is a genuine masterpiece, and my copy is already dog-eared with use.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Wilderness Living

Living, not just surviving, by choice in the wild can be a rewarding experience. This easy-to-use guide looks beyond the fundamentals of survival and examines the art of living long-term in the wilderness. Hunting techniques, meat preservation, clothing improvisation, shelter design, and tool- and basket-making are just a few of the basic skills described. Expert advice, clear prose, and detailed illustrations combine to make this book the authoritative text on primitive living.

Get 33% OFF

Click here for more information about Wilderness Living

Survival Wisdom & Know How: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I spend my summers working for a Boy Scout camp, so I figured this would be a handy reference when I picked it up. And indeed it is! It's a thorough and detailed account of every little survival or outdoor skill you could possible want to know without writing a thesis on any one particular idea. I love the old-fashioned organization and appearance--true handbook style save for the size! Excellent resource! My camp boss is actually looking into picking up more copies.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Survival Wisdom & Know How: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness

Survival Wisdom is a large-scale practical guide, jam-packed with information on every aspect of outdoor life and adventure. Survival Wisdom & Know-How is the most complete, all-in-one volume on every aspect of outdoor adventure and survival ever, from orienteering to campfire cooking to ice climbing and beyond. Culled from dozens of respected books from Stackpole, the industry's leader in outdoor adventure, this massive collection of wilderness know-how leaves absolutely nothing to chance when it comes to surviving and thriving in the wilderness—and appreciating every minute of it. Topics include Building Outdoor Shelter, Tracking Animals, Winter Camping, Tying Knots, Orienteering, Reading the Weather, Identifying Edible Plants and Berries, Surviving in the Desert, Bird Watching, Fishing and Ice Fishing, Hunting and Trapping, Canoeing, Kayaking, and White Water Rafting, First Aid, Wild Animals, Cookery, and much more. Useful illustrations and photos throughout make it easy to browse and use. With contributions by the experts at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) as well as the editors of Stackpole's Discover Nature series, Survival Wisdom & Know-How is the definitive, must-have reference for the great outdoors.

Get 35% OFF

Click here for more information about Survival Wisdom & Know How: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness

The Coldest March: Scott`s Fatal Antarctic Expedition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've always been more interested in Arctic exploration than the Antarctic -- it seems less two-dimensional, and far more colorful in terms of history. But this book really got my attention. Solomon isn't some armchair theorist, she is an Antarctic professional, and an expert on weather conditions there. Taking a close look at what happened to Scott's 1911-12 expedition, and contrasting it with his earlier journey (with Shackleton) plus Shackleton's 1908 attempt, and the rival Amundsen polar bid, she shakes out a lot of rumors, innuendos and plain nonsense about what Scott 'knew' versus what he 'ought to have known.'
Scott has always seemed a stiff-upper-lip bumbler to me, and to some extent he was, but what happened is not as simple as it appears. He made some educated guesses, and he also made some mistakes. Using motor sleds was a waste of time, considering the poor engine technology of the time. He allowed someone else to select some unsuitable Manchurian ponies. He didn't trust dogs, based on prior experiences. He didn't pay enough attention to suitable clothing and sleeping bags. But he did set up a workable logistical system for his polar attempt, that should have worked.
So what went wrong? The factors above, plus too great a level of fatigue for his team. Poor Bowers ended up walking 400 miles in snow, instead of skiing. They didn't know, as we do, what a menace dehydration at high altitudes would be. Scurvy was poorly understood, and they probably suffered marginally from this, too. And finally, they set out for the Pole a month too late, and got caught in an extremely cold spell that made sledding by manhauling almost impossible. Solomon proves every contention with solid data from the expedition's copious records and from modern survey work. In the end, Scott died -- with Wilson and Bowers keeping him company, in all probability -- because he contracted severe frostbite in -40 degree weather. The idea that he was trapped by a '10 day blizzard' just eleven miles short of a supply depot is disproved by Solomon: the katabatic winds don't blow from the south for more than two or three days, it now seems.
This is a well-written, highly documented piece of work, and is not in any sense an attempt to 'whitewash' Scott. Starting late, and hitting some extremely bad weather was all it took to kill him and his four brave companions.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Coldest March: Scott`s Fatal Antarctic Expedition

Click here for more information about The Coldest March: Scott`s Fatal Antarctic Expedition

The Trapper's Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The title to this book is somewhat misleading. It is not a trapper's bible. This book covers do-it-yourself snares, homemade box traps and path guards. However, it covers these topics better than I have ever seen before. I learned more about these topics in the 1 1/2 hours it took me to read this book than I did in 4 years of online research/fooling around, etc.
The basics of snaring are explained extremely well. The illustrations are wonderful and more than adequatly explain every point. Many of his tricks and sets of snares are so clever you wonder why you never though of them.
His box trap plans are pure genius and wonderfully explained. I havent found another source for such amazing trap plans or ideas.
Basically, this book will teach you everything you need to know about snaring. The only thing it leaves out is instructions on what to use to attract and where to set(with some exceptions). He does explain some but not much, it's generally common sense (although you can never assume things like that).
IF YOU ARE GETTING INTO SNARING OR JUST WANTING TO HAVE SOME FUN, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. IT WILL GIVE YOU A PROVERBIAL "CRASH COURSE" IN SNARING
FIVE OF FIVE STARS

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Trapper's Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards

The traps, snares and pathguards detailed here can be constructed out of the most basic materials, keeping your expenses down and your net profits up. Includes pest snares, large animal snares, and transplant traps, plus camp alarms that alert you to intruders and deadly pathguards that could save your life.

Get 41% OFF

Click here for more information about The Trapper's Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is an absolutely amazing and true accounting of the 1914 Antarctic expedition gone to hell. It is clear that the author did an incredible amount of research, and though this book doesn't read like a novel, its presentation is much more powerful this way, giving a panoramic view of the whole terrible and desperate situation of these men.
I don't have any experience even comparable to what these men went through, the closest I've ever come is rowing down the coast of Maine in the summer in a 30 foot pulling boat, and I'll tell you, this guy gets every detail.
Anyway, an absolutely incredible look at human endurance, at what a person will go through if he must. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.
One note...make sure the version you buy or get at the library has expedition photographer Hurley's photographs in it. Some paperback editions don't, and you're really missing part of the experience without them.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

This is an atonishing story of survival by Shackleton and all twenty seven of his men for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas. This edition has been augmented with maps and illustrations.

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Antarctica: Both Heaven and Hell Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is very uneven, unfortunately. On one side, photography is splendid, historical and geological discussion are very thorough, the spirit of adventure is live and well. However, I am TIRED to find Messner complaining about his partner on every single page. And the translation is so bad, that one can almost study German grammar from the English presented.
The philosophical expositions in the book kept my feelings mixed as well. On one side (and perhaps this is due to a poor translation) it is full of heavy and sometimes overly sweet German Romanticism; one the other hand, Messner's treatment of the white void in front of him as a meditative medium is very honestly portrayed and splendidly presented.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Antarctica: Both Heaven and Hell

Click here for more information about Antarctica: Both Heaven and Hell

The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Esther's wonderfully sincere and illustrative writing will hold even an adult's attention from cover to cover. I have read it over and over again for the last 22 years. As a child in 1979 at age 11, I found myself in my family's frozen garden pretending to be Esther herself, wandering through Siberia in search of frozen potatoes. When I would take a bath, after playing in the snow and getting chilled, I would revel in the marvelous heat of the water and imagine I had just been given a rare cake of soap. When thirsty, I would make myself wait for a drink of cool water from the tap until my throat was parched, so that the first drip of water on my tongue would be heavenly. I would then suck the water into my cheeks as Esther did and swallow very slowly, trying to make it last. My younger sister and I would walk into my dad's livestock truck and pretend we were on a cattle car headed for the Steppe, and we would make a makeshift hut under a log fort we had near the barnyard. Esther's life story filled my thoughts, my days and my head for years following, and reminded me to always care for others and not to take my life in rural United States for granted. Esther wrote in a way that made me feel as if I had somehow managed to form a personal friendship with her.
In 1995, I was able to speak with Esther on the phone, and I have never forgotten that wonderful conversation. Talking with her (she still has a very noticable accent) was as if the book itself came to life, because I realized I was actually visiting with the woman who was the couragous child in the book. Esther's writing encouraged me to be thankful, to be grateful, to be kind, and to never give up. I majored in journalism in college, and though I have never had such an extreme happening in my lifetime, I hope to eventually put down in words something that will touch other's lives as Esther Hautzig touched mine.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia

Click here for more information about The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia

The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913 (Volume One Only) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Robert Falcon Scott's scientific expedition to the South Pole in 1911 was like that famous medical cliché: "the operation was a success, but the patient died." The Polar Party did reach the South Pole, but were 34 days late from being the FIRST party at the pole. The entire Polar Party died in a blizzard returning to home camp. Invaluable scientific, geographic, and biologic data were obtained, but the hideous Winter Journey to collect Emperor penguin embryos at terrible risk turned out to be useless information. They hoped the embryos would show a connection between the evolution of dinosaurs into birds. (It did not.)
Cherry Gerrard is a highly likeable, very human teller of the tale. He was the youngest member of the expedition, very much the gentleman and an Englishman to his fingertips. He shows us his human side (he didn't have the usual Englishman's fondness for animals and thought the dogs and ponies were miserable, exasperating beasts). He has a knack of bringing his fellow explorers to life, yet never criticizes at all. He has the highest regard for everyone in the party. He recaps from some of the other members' diaries to great effect. The enthusiastic Bowers writes his mother, "There is so much to see and do here; I just wish I could be three places at once!" Bowers was the best of them, to my way of thinking, and I was appalled when he "volunteered" for the Polar Party (already knowing the fate of same). Cherry Gerrard had enormous artistic appreciation for the austere beauties of Antarctica, but no matter how brilliantly he described them, my enthusiasm was nil for such a bleak landscape. He shows his depressive side in remarking on the "beauty of sleep" in the Antarctic---"sleep where you never need awaken." He was tremendously brave and endured what no man should have to bear.
This is the best kind of book for me to read for it sparks my interest to find out more. Cherry Gerrard is so deferential to Captain Scott, some of whose decisions seemed downright odd to me; I am going to read Huntford's "Last Expedition on Earth" that does a critical comparison of Scott and Amundsen. To find out more about the elusive Cherry Gerrard, I shall read Sara Wheeler's "Cherry" plus her "Terra Firma" just because it looks so good. One heroic seaman who should star in his own movie was "Tom Crean: Unsung Hero of the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic Expeditions" by Michael Smith.
My only fault to find with "The Worst Journey--" was a lack of pictures. I would have liked to see the type of clothing they wore (it sounded pitifully inadequate). The constantly referred to "sledges" sometimes pulled by ponies, sometimes by men--I would like to see what they looked like so I had a better idea how they operated. Highly recommend this book for all the right reasons: adventure, information and life changing.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913 (Volume One Only)

Click here for more information about The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913 (Volume One Only)