Desert Survival Skills

Rating:
Summary: Good book but limited in scope..
Review: This is a good book on desert survival, though it is a little uneven. It is at its best in describing survival in the Chihuahuan Desert (Texas, New Mexico) of North America. Its usefulness in other desert areas is limited; in particular the sections on finding water and food, or plant and animal dangers, are really targeted to that particular bioregion.

Rating:
Summary: Desert Survival, or Plan Ahead?
Review: This is strictly a desert survival book, not a desert hiking book; i.e. it is mostly about surviving until rescue once things have gone very wrong. But don't look for a lot of information on how to plan a desert hike, learning to navigate, recognizing and avoiding all types of poisonous snakes, or checking out groundwater sources so as to avoid having to use those survival skills. Desert Survival Skills is written by the late David Alloway, who learned his desert skills at at Big Bend National Park. It is a good resource for survival skills in that part of the country, though it is true that some of his book doesn't translate to other deserts of North America and the world. I give it three out of five stars.