The Backpacker's Field Manual, Revised and Updated: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Backcountry Skills

700 Pages·2005·6.06 MB·English

by  Rick Curtis

The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint excerpts from Mountain Safety, Research Inc.’s instructions for the Whisperlite stove and for artwork illustrating the Whisperlite stove;
Arc’teryx for providing a backpack for the cover art; the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics for permission to use the Leave No Trace logo; MapTech, Inc. for U.S.G.S. quadrangle maps
generated from MapTech Terrain Navigator Pro; Sierra Club Books for excerpts from Weathering the Wilderness, by William E. Reifsnyder; artwork showing the SAM splint from the Seaburg Company;
the MapTools UTM grid artwork from John Carnes at MapTools.com; The Physician and Sports Medicine Journal for excerpts from the article “Self-reduction of Anterior Shoulder Dislocation” by Dr.
Elizabeth Joy (November 2000); Prentice Hall for an illustration of the Situational Leadership Model from Management of Organizational Behavior by Paul Hersey, Kenneth Blanchard, and Dewey
Johnson.
Copyright © 1998, 2005 by Rick Curtis and Princeton University
Illustrations copyright © 1998, 2005 by Ron Hildebrand and Rick Curtis
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in different form by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 1998.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Curtis, Rick.
The backpacker’s field manual : a comprehensive guide to mastering backcountry skills / Rick Curtis.—Rev. and updated.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Backpacking—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Camping—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Low-impact camping—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
GV199.6.C87 2005
796.51—dc22 2004023668
eISBN: 978-0-307-95629-3
v3.1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank the many close friends with whom I have traveled the trails,
peaks, and rivers over the years: Liz Cutler and Tom Kreutz; John Gager; Ed
Seliga; Philo Elmer; all the other folks and places who have enriched my
outdoor experiences; and especially my mom, Ann Curtis, for all her love and
encouragement throughout my career in outdoor education.
In writing this second edition I’ve relied on my own thirty years of experience
in the outdoors as well as seeking out some of the best experts in different fields
to bring you the most complete information possible (and still fit within my
publisher’s page limits). One thing I’ve learned over the years is to recognize
what I know and what I don’t know; a lot of people have been essential at
helping fill in my knowledge gaps. For all their help and guidance with the first
edition I want to thank Tod Schimelpfenig at the National Outdoor Leadership
School for his review of Chapter 9. For this second edition I want to thank
Charlie Schimanski of the Mountain Rescue Council for his help with the Search
and Rescue sections; Ben Lawhon from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor
Ethics for his help with Chapter 5; Professor Stephen Herrero of the University
of Calgary for his review of the information on bears and bear attacks; Dr.
Martin Uman, John Gookin, and Richard Kithil for helping me to understand the
physics of lightning; my friend Brent Bell, director of Harvard University’s
Freshmen Outdoor Program for information about dealing with diabetes on the
trail; Dr. Robert “Brownie” Schoene, former President of the Wilderness
Medical Society, for his help on altitude illnesses; and my good friend Bill
“Tigerpaw” Plonk, who gave me firsthand information about ultralight hiking
after his successful 2002 ultralight through-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
Finally, I want to thank all of the Princeton University students who have been
leaders in the Outdoor Action Program since 1973 and have helped to develop
and implement our principles of outdoor education. These wonderful people
have volunteered their time to teach others the joy of being in the wilderness. To
all of you, especially to the many Leader Trainers who I have spent so much
wonderful time with, thank you so much. You all have made me so proud of
what you have accomplished at Princeton with your peers, and how you have
taken your leadership skills out into the world to make a difference. Over the
years more than 13,000 Princeton students have participated in the program, and
Outdoor Action has become one of the leading college outdoor programs in the
country. Outdoor programs from across the country and around the world look to
Outdoor Action for help in developing their programs and training leaders.
Through our educational efforts on campus, this book, and our Web publishing at
www.princeton.edu/~oa, www.outdoored.com, www.outdoorsafety.org, and
www.backpackersfieldmanual.com, we hope that you will have a productive and
safe learning experience wherever you go.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 Trip Planning
CHAPTER 2 Equipment
CHAPTER 3 Cooking and Nutrition
CHAPTER 4 Hygiene and Water Purification
CHAPTER 5 Leave No Trace Hiking and Camping
CHAPTER 6 Wilderness Travel
CHAPTER 7 Weather and Nature
CHAPTER 8 Safety and Emergency Procedures
CHAPTER 9 First Aid and Emergency Care
CHAPTER 10 Outdoor Leadership
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
INTRODUCTION
Back in 1996, when I was writing the first edition of The Backpacker’s Field
Manual, the World Wide Web was still in its infancy. Since then the Internet has
revolutionized the way we search for information and interact with one another.
Backpacking and outdoor sports are no exception to this, from finding hiking
trails to searching for gear reviews. Backpacking and outdoor recreation, like
everything else, have become “information-driven.” Your knowledge base is a
key part of maximizing your enjoyment, your safety, and your stewardship of the
natural world.
Since the first edition, backpacking itself has changed. Advances in gear
design now mean that a seven-day trip no longer means a seventy-pound pack.
We’ve expanded our comfort range in all sorts of seasons and learned how to
hike thousands of miles with less than twenty pounds of gear in our packs. We
can use GPS receivers to pinpoint our exact location and tell us how to hike to
our next campsite. At the same time, backpackers face new challenges today.
The growth of outdoor recreational sports has put millions of more people on the
land. Leave No Trace practices and wilderness conservation have become
increasingly important to safeguard the wild lands we all love. We’ve also seen
new hazards emerge like West Nile Virus and Crypotosporidium.
With all our advances in technology, there still exists a set of core skills that
people need to travel in the outdoors. We seem to forget that the earliest
“backpackers,” in the United States and Canada, from native peoples to
backcountry explorers like Lewis and Clark, didn’t have Gore-Tex,
polypropylene ultralight tents, and a gas stove. They survived the harshest
conditions with wool, leather, canvas, and yes, even cotton, through their deep
knowledge of how to take care of their own needs in the outdoors.
With all these changes it was time to write a new edition of The Backpacker’s
Field Manual. I’ve used the first edition as our main textbook for teaching new
outdoor leaders at Princeton University. Other schools and outdoor programs
across the country use it as a textbook for backpacking and outdoor recreation
courses and as a staff field manual. The first version of this book was a twenty-
page manual written for our trip leader back in 1985. The manual continued to
grow each year until 1996, when I began working with Random House to
produce a book-length version. This new edition brings the book up to date with
changes in backpacking and expands the book to cover more aspects of outdoor
leadership and education. It’s a great book for beginners who need
comprehensive instruction for planning and running their own outdoor trips. For
experienced hikers it’s a solid reference manual and refresher for your next trip.
There are lots of good backpacking books out there, and I reference a lot of them
in the Bibliography. Unlike any other book on the market, The Backpacker’s
Field Manual is designed not only to be something to read on the couch at home
when you are planning your trip but also to be a manual you take with you in the
field. Every part of the book is designed to allow you to get the information you
need as quickly as possible.
DISCLAIMER
As a risk-management expert I know that traveling in the backcountry can be
hazardous. I’ve dealt with group emergencies on the trail and had my own share
of close calls. By balancing your skills, experience, and gear with the right trip
you can have enjoyable and safe experiences. This book is designed to be a
resource to help you on your way. It can’t be a replacement for personal
experience and professional training in specialized skills such as first aid and
CPR. The author, Random House, and Princeton University assume no liability
for any personal injury, illness, or property damage or loss that may arise out of
use of this material.
Specific equipment, such as stoves and water filters, is discussed in this book.
There are many other products that could have been included but were not due to
space considerations. The inclusion of these items does not imply any
endorsement of these products.
CHAPTER 1
Trip Planning
BASIC TRIP PLANNING
Group Size and Ability
Activities
Location and Weather
Expect the Unexpected
Equipment
Food
Costs
Skill Development
TRIP PREPARATION CHECKLIST
Pre-Trip
During the Trip
On Your Return
ROUTE DIFFICULTY
Trip Difficulty Rating
PLANNING A ROUTE
Guidebooks
Travel Logistics
Choosing Campsites
Estimating Travel Times
Time Control Plan
LONG-DISTANCE TRIPS
Resupply Issues