Updated and expanded and fortunately renamed from the Complete Idiot's Guide to Backpacking and Hiking. This book defines all of the terminology you might hear, and helps you think through what you would need to bring on any kind of excursion. Very handy reference.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'm a huge hiker. I haven't done a lot of BIG hikes yet but this book had a lot of information that helped in what to pick as well as how to condition a body for such a trip. A good pack is necessary as well as what kind of things to bring. It's always been my dream to hike/backpack cross country and this book is a good stepping stone into helping me understand what it takes to get there.

I do love reading about hiking from the safety of my warm, comfortable couch. The great thing about guides like these is that you don’t actually have to do any of the hiking that they’re talking about, but it does provide some useful knowledge if you ever find yourself trapped into going on a hike somewhere. If you are a hiker, or an aspiring hiker, or just an armchair hiker (as I am) then this is a very comprehensive, exhaustive guide for anyone thinking of hiking, or hiking and then camping, or hiking and then treating your own blisters, or hiking and then not dying of hypothermia…seriously, this guide covers a lot. May not be useful to the experienced outdoors person, but for the aspiring or the absolute beginner, this will definitely be helpful.

Backpacking & Hiking Set Out into the Wilderness and Hit the Trail with Confidence by Jason Stevenson is a wonderful resource to read before you start out on a hike or backpacking adventure! Even if you are not a beginner, you will learn helpful information which could make your trip a lot more pleasant.
Much of your equipment choices will depend on if you plan to day-hike or spend several days backpacking. Do you know how to read a map? The book includes information for apps for navigation that can help lead you to trails, find water, and campsites.
There are lists for your backpacking basics, training your body for the physical endurance, gear, footwear, and cooking on the trail. The book is easy to read and filled with helpful guides for hygiene, and survival.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Backpacking & Hiking is the ultimate guide for beginners to learn everything they need to know about a simple day hike to a long term backpacking adventure. This book provides a wealth of information that should be on anybody's bookshelf. I would recommend this book for someone who is a complete beginner on these topics. For my personal experience in hiking and camping, the topics are covered in great detail and in layman's terms. For backpacking, I had a lot of questions answered about how to tackle the activity and made me more comfortable with the idea of picking up the hobby.

I only have two issues with this book, one minor and one major:

First, this book is incredibly dense with well written descriptions. While I personally found them incredibly easy to follow, some people with zero experience might get lost in the wall of text. I wished there were more pictures and diagrams used to help illustrate the author's points. While I know the difference between a topographic map and a regular road map, some people might not.

Second, this book was not as friendly to women as it could have been. I know that men dominate backpacking as a hobby and the audience will be mostly men, the lack of information catered to women was incredibly disappointing. There were simple things like providing water requirements for a 170 lb man, but not providing it for a woman, or assuming men's caloric needs are the same as a woman's when doing the same activity.

The most disappointing part to this book was the topic of feminine hygiene. There are three measly paragraphs dedicated to this while there is a step by step guide to building a cat hole. I think it wouldn't have been too difficult to ask a woman to write that portion since feminine hygiene is probably one of the biggest factors of why women wouldn't want to participate in this activity. In summary, this author only recommended the use of tampons and putting them in a ziploc bag. There was no use of menstrual cups or devices woman can use to stand up while peeing, while this author also lists multiple resources for anything else in this book.

I hope that if this book gets another edition published in the future, it properly addresses these issues. For the wealth of information provided, I think it deserves 4/5 stars, but it could have easily been 5/5.

4/5

"Backpacking & Hiking" is a new guidebook from Jason Stevenson who clearly knows his stuff when it comes to the outdoor adventure world!

As an avid lover of the outdoors, this book called to me! The book covers important topics in hiking and backpacking like: types of trails, advice for different age groups, camping, gear, first aid and more. The guide is an easy to read book with a wealth of knowledge that is helpful for all levels of outdoor adventurists.

As a day hiker with moderate experience, I was not expecting all of the gems that this book provides. I never thought about the gear that I should be carrying while on a day hike. For example, bringing along a small mirror never occurred to me previously. After reading this book I will be putting these tips into practice on my own hiking adventures. Also, the section on hiking in groups and with kids was extremely helpful for me since we often hike as a large family. So many of the concepts listed in the book make perfect sense, but I never would have realized them on my own. The book really helps to shed some light on why things like “Summit Fever” occur and how the group leader can control it to allow for a better hiking situation for the entire group.

The other section that I found to be invaluable is the section on “getting lost.” This information provided tangible advice for what to do if you get lost while hiking. Should you hike out or stay put? How should a hiker make that decision? The book answers these questions and provides concrete advice for hikers to improve safety which is the framework of a successful hike or backpacking trip.

This guidebook is essential for anyone interested in hiking or backpacking and should not be missed!