Book Review: Camping's Top Secrets
By Mel Baughman
Camping's Top Secrets (2nd Edition), authored by Cliff Jacobson, is 243 pages packed with practical camping tips. You could live without it, but who would want to? Subjects are organized alphabetically from anchors to yard goods. Its table of contents and index enable the reader to quickly find a subject of interest. More like a miniature encyclopedia than a dictionary, it treats over 70 subjects in enough depth to answer your questions thoroughly without dawdling through a lot of connective tissue.
Do you know how to stop a charging grizzly, build a fire from a floating log, bake bannock over a fire, repel black flies, rig a canoe lining rope, build your own portage yoke, improvise your own skillet, concoct a yummy pita pizza, sew an insulated pot cozy, assemble a good first aid kit, tie a power-cinch in a tent rope, calculate river drop from a topo map, choose between polypropylene and nylon rope, pitch a rain fly, build a snow shelter, truly waterproof your tent, and know the difference between twill and drill canvas? This small sample of the book's contents will clue you in to its diversity. Whether you canoe camp, backpack, car camp, or hike across the tundra, you'll find information here that you wished you had known a long time ago!
I was humbled reading this book. I've canoed and hiked thousands of miles and camped in almost every state and province, but nearly every page provided really useful information that I didn't know. If you're looking for a gift for a neophyte or experienced camper, this book will fill the niche. Read it once so you know what's in it. But, since you won't be able to remember all of its advice, keep it handy on a reference shelf and refer to it when buying new gear and planning major trips.
Published by The Globe Pequot Press, it's available at outdoor stores and bookstores in paperback for $14.95.
Letter to the Editor - Cliff Jacobson's new book: Camping's Top Secrets
From Richard Schukkink
(Editor note: I did Email him the Globes number and Email address.)
I read your review on Cliff Jacobson's new book: Camping's Top Secrets. This review made me very curious. The problem is that I can't order the book in the Netherlands. I only have a 1-800 phone number, but you can't use that outside the USA. Could you please help me finding a phone number of the Globe Pequot Press? I have all Cliff Jacobson's books, and I enjoy them very much. There are no books about canoe camping in our own language! All the other books were published by ICS. It was no problem for bookstores in Holland to order them, but they can't order books from Globe Pequot Press (I don't know why).
I don't know if it is possible to order a book direct from a publisher, but I will certainly try!
Thank you very much !
