Essential Wilderness Navigation: A Real-World Guide to Finding Your Way Safely in the Woods With or Without A Map, Compass or GPS

by Craig Caudill, Tracy Trimble

All the Skills You Need to Navigate Unfamiliar Terrain
*FULL-SIZE fold-out USGS map included for hands-on practice and training! Plus thick pages and color photography throughout.*

Top wilderness trainers Craig Caudill and Tracy Trimble are here to help you find your way in nature in this must-have guide at a portable size and with thick, sturdy paper ideal for field-use.

Using real-life stories of wilderness navigation successes―and cautionary tales of wilderness exploration gone awry―Craig and Tracy start with the basics of rudimentary compass and map use before teaching the finer points of these indispensable resources, making Essential Wilderness Navigation the ultimate go-to guide for explorers of all skill levels. You’ll also learn how technological aids like GPS and natural elements like flora, fauna and celestial bodies can help you identify your position. Armed with your new knowledge and skills, you will be well equipped to troubleshoot any problems, explore nature and become a master wilderness navigator.

Get Craig Caudill's complete wilderness skills series!
Extreme Wilderness Survival
Essential Wilderness Navigation
Ultimate Wilderness Gear

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2019

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a nutshell, I think this book wanted to be better than it turned out. There are many great topics that don't seem to get the thorough treatment they deserve. To cite just one example of this, turn to page 228 where the reader is instructed to "[p]lease review image 79." Image 79 depicts a small section of a topographic map showing dashed lines in white, red, and blue, as well as small green circles, small yellow circles and ovals, and blue ovals. This image is the topic of pages 228 to 231, but nowhere are any of those colors or symbols mentioned; if the accompanying text offers any hints at what is being conveyed, they are vague at best. This image is about 2 inches by 2 inches, which is about as large as most of the images in the book. To be fair, there are a few that are larger, but the images all tend toward the smaller side, often with fairly useless captions.

I'm not unfamiliar with the topic of navigation, but the first chapter felt like a bumpy and disjointed start for newcomers. Actually, it felt like quite a lot of the information presented throughout the book was a bit jumbled. Not enough to make it incoherent, but just enough to be mildly unsettling. I'll likely reread the first section again before I have to return it to the library to see if I can convince myself once and for all whether this is a book that might be worth owning--I found my opinion changing the whole time I was reading. I'd likely buy a used copy for cheap, just so I could mull it over for a while, but I don't see myself paying full price for a new copy.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book from Craig and Tracy. Very clear explanations along with applications which is hard to do with such a book. I appreciated the additional material on how to teach land navigation to others. This book is a great resource whether you are getting started or have experience in this area and should be a recommended read to anyone interested in the outdoors.

[Jacob Coldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource you can keep going back to

Lot of information, laid out well, to give you experience and knowledge to get better at navigation. It’s layered well for a beginner and experienced navigator.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A VERY comprehensive introduction to wilderness navigation covering map skills, GPS, compass, dead reckoning, search and rescue, youth activities, finding your way without map, compass or GPS and lots more. Bottom line: enjoy the outdoors but practice situational awareness at all times.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an essential book for wilderness navigation.

[MyImpossibleList · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very informative book.
I borrowed it just to become a little more familiar with navigation.
However, this would be a good book to read again if I get into hiking.
Here are my notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h...

[Robert Lewter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't review this book as soon as I finished it because I was pretty overwhelmed. This is one of the most important, educational and original books that I have read in this genre in quite some time. The flow is wonderful and it is full of things you need to know, and exercises to help you really make sure that you get the meaning. At the end of the second chapter he could have called it a book and a good job, (this is where I ordered a terrestrial copy to have on my shelves with John McCann and Dave Canterbury to read when the lights go out), but then he got into celestial navigation and progressed into natural ways to find your way, on the lines of Tristian Gooley.

Let me be clear, this isn't just a repeat of the work of the, I would have to say masters, like McCann, Canterbury and Gooley. Craig Caudill is a master in his own right. He is one of the ones that God put on this earth to do, teach, and write books.