Description

If you are a hiker, nature lover, photographer, or adventure seeker, this survival guide will help you to dive into the wild without fear, because you are well prepared and armed with knowledge and skills to explore the unknown. As a biologist, who understands professionally the topic, I tried to collect in this book only scientifically proven information which can be easily used by anyone, regardless of his/her own experience, job, age, location. First, I describe in the book how to be correctly hydrated on the trail, how to purify water by using different methods, how to find water sources around you. Then I talk about food – what food is the best for backpackers, its energy, how to store it properly for days and weeks, what food to avoid while hiking. Next chapter gives you an overview about navigation in outdoor, what modern Apps with off-line maps to use, how to read local trail markers, how to stay well powered with your smartphones and gadgets almost limitless. For any outdoorsman, safety has the highest priority in the wild, thus, I give basic and more advanced tips how to hike at high altitude, near ocean shores, how to ford rivers, and how to avoid hypothermia – the enemy number one for hikers. Then, there is a big chapter about wildlife, - I give a lot of information on the most recent statistical data about fatal and non-fatal attacks of wild animals on humans worldwide, be that jaguars, pumas (cougars), bears, wolves, crocodiles, or venomous snakes and spiders. How not to become their prey or victim, how to prevent those attacks, and if you are attacked, how to survive and use properly first aid skills and techniques. The last chapter "Hiking & Health" reviews major health issues in the wilderness, be that blisters, dehydration or muscle and joint pains, what to do and how to avoid. Then I talk about more serious health threats outdoor, - ticks and mosquitoes, and dangerous parasites they can transmit to humans, causing Lyme, Encephalitis, Malaria, Yellow Fever, Dengue and Zika and other infectious diseases, and of course, how to protect yourself from their bites during hiking and camping.