The Survival Handbook - Don't Leave Home Without It

One of my favorite books as a kid was Bradford Angier's How to Stay Alive in the Woods. I read it more times than I read Black Beauty (and as my parents can attest, I read that one over and over). What can I say, I was a weird kid. How to trap and hunt animals (despite the fact that I cry if I step on an ant), building a shelter, orienteering, what plants are safe to eat...I was hooked. I've always been a how-to junkie. I've always been a freak for anything regarding nature, whether it was plants, critters (especially and always critters!) tracking, any of that.

So far I haven't had to use any of the survival training that I learned. But you never know....

So when The Survival Handbook: Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure by Colin Towell fell off the shelf at me, I had to take it home. Great stuff. It contains the "usual" information on everything from procuring water and food, signaling; to the safest way to move over various terrain, making shelters, first aid, you name it.

What makes this book special and well worth having is that unilke several other wilderness survival books I've read this one is extremely well illustrated. If you don't understand exactly what they're talking about by reading the text, the pictures will make it clear.

Another plus in this book is the excellent handling of "cordage" (rope and stuff) and the detailed explanation of a few simple but highly effective knots. I'm rope challenged. Just the other day I needed to tie the yaks' corral closed and I made a definite bungle of it. The darn thing took forever to untie again.

"If you give someone with little understanding of knots a length of cord and ask them to complete a task, they will invariably use the whole length of cord. If, however you teach someone two simple knots and set them the same task, they will invariably ue only the necessary amount of cord."

Yep, that would be me. Point made. I'm going to study these knots till I get them right! It doesn't require a survival situation for this information to be useful.

So far only two flaws:

1) This book presumes that you have a knife with you. Being female, and having for some reason worn skirts for the past decade (after a childhood of rebelling from skirts I went back to them because they're COMFY) I almost never have a pocket to carry anything in. Until I moved to Colorado, the only pair of pants I owned was my karate gi. Now I've added a pair of sweatpants to my wardrobe. If I ever get a chance to find a real store (there are few stores in Hicksville here) I should buy a couple pair of jeans. So having a knife at hand is something I've done without for a long time. Which is doubly strange considering as a kid I never went anywhere without a pocketknife.

Okay, if you knowingly go into a potential survival situation, you're an idiot if you don't have a knife with you. Except lots of people end up in situations like this without even dreaming that they will. For instance if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.

Moral of the story. Carry a damn knife. Even if you never use it. Stick it in your glovebox or purse or whatever. I'll agree with the author that besides your mind, a knife seems to be one of the important survival tools you can own.

2) On the chapter on wild plant foods, no pictures. Of all the places where pictures are important, being able to identify plants and tell one that is edible and will provide nutrition from one that could kill you if you eat it... Why the heck no plant pictures?

Never mind the flaws though, the cover states that "this book could save your life."  I have zero doubt that its true. Important though - either carry this book with you or read it several times and APPLY the knowledge and practice it before you go into a survival situation. I suggest both.

As the author states, you DO NOT want to try to build a fire without matches for the first time when you're cold, scared and in danger.

The Survival Handbook is not only fascinating, if like me you're intrigued by this sort of knowledge; it's a comprehensive guide covering survival in numerous terrains and climates and might - such as the chapter on cordage - even have practical applications in your day to day life. Read it. memorize it. Take it camping. Take it backpacking. Stick a copy in the backseat of your car. You'll never know when it might save your life.

No Reservations about Medium Raw

One of my favorite TV shows is Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, so when I saw his book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook on the shelf, I just had to read it.

It's funny, irreverent, thoughtful and utterly fascinating. And it "does not suck." Behind-the-scenes views of the chef scene and the cooking world are rendered with a snarky and vivid light. He addresses his career, food purity, addiction and recovery, his disgust with the Food Network and his admiration for his culinary heroes with gut-wrenching honesty and passion. If this is medium raw, I wonder how raw "really raw" could be.

As a dedicated foodie, I'm thrilled at the glimpses I get into Top Chef, Jamie Oliver, Mario Batali, the Food Network folks, and into some of the most exalted kitchens in America and Europe. I'm both jealous of his access and glad he's taken me there, to see and smell and taste in places I could never go.

Perhaps my favorite chapter is "Lower Education," in which he shamelessly wages psychological warfare to inoculate his daughter against fast food. I can barely contain my giggles as he and his wife whisper outside the little girl's door:

    We're talking about Ronald McDonald again. Bringing up the possibility of his being implicated in the disappearance of yet another small child.
    "Not another one?!" gasps my wife with feigned incredulity.
    "I'm afraid so," I say with concern. "Stepped inside to get some fries and a Happy Meal and hasn't been seen since..."

"Meat" was another excellent chapter, where he addresses the great American hamburger and his outright fury at the fact that our food supply has been tainted by slaughter houses that "process fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria." Ammonia? Now granted I sort-of knew this stuff but...its the kind of thing that makes me shudder and shut my ears until I can locate a local free-range ranch to buy my meat from.

"My Aim Is True" introduces the reader to a man who scales and cleans and fillets the fish for one of the top restaurant's in the country, but can't afford to eat at the place he works. Justo is inspiring, an ode to dedication and work ethic. I am humbled both by his seemingly magical power of organization and by the simple joy he takes in doing his job to perfection; without much money, without much recognition outside of his own restaurant except the knowledge that he's making his chefs look good.

And the food...oh gods can Bourdain talk about food! You can taste the sweet flavor of sizzling buttery fat, feel the heat of chiles and spice, smell the sharpness of lemongrass and salty sea brine, feel the crunch of gristle and bones as they emanate from his writing.

Fans of No Reservations will be gladdened (and enthralled) to know that Anthony Bourdain writes much like he speaks. His voice is lilting and expressive. The gravely strains of tobacco and vodka mixed with the soft tones of buerre blanc. A voice that is poetic, stopping just on the good side of singsong. Cynical and hopeful. Seamy and transcendent.

Medium Raw is a tasty read and I'm hungry for Bourdain's next book.