Why do you need a backpacking first aid book?

Let’s face it, wilderness medicine is serious business. Wouldn’t you like to be prepared with an easy backpacking first aid book to reference when something goes wrong, rather than be lost and unsure of what to do?

Having a wilderness safety guide will increase your chances of making it out alive if you’re injured or someone else in your party is injured.

Sadly, first aid is often the most forgotten topic when people plan backpacking trips. This is extremely unfortunate because it’s by far the most important preparation anyone can consider before heading into the backcountry.
Every year there are hundreds of injuries and fatalities on hiking trips. Most of these could have been prevented or handled better in the field with proper preparation and a good wilderness medicine field guide.

"Well which backpacking first aid book should I get?"

By now I hope you are realizing that traveling in the backcountry without emergency preparedness and a handy first aid book is like breaking the first commandment of backpacking. Be Prepared!

Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine by Dr. Auerbach is probably the best backpacking first aid book about backpacking that’s on the market.

This little field guide is lightweight and small enough to tuck away in your backpack with the hopes of never having to pull it out during your entire trip.

It’s super easy to follow and trust me; in an emergency situation your brain is not going to be working properly enough to read a bunch of content before acting. It probably won’t be working enough to even know how to unwrap a bandage compress package because you’ll be so panicked.

Dr. Auerbach writes critically acclaimed text books for wilderness medicine classrooms. He’s created this wonderful short guide that is simple to follow and shows you how to improvise tools with what you might have around you, including paddles, tree branches, etc…

This backpacking first aid book also explains signs and symptoms of many illnesses that can strike a backpacker, including malaria, hypothermia, and depression. Then it tells you how you can treat these illnesses.

There are descriptions of medications and a complete first aid checklist with explanations for each item.

"Sounds good, but I’ll have to think about getting it later."

There are several reasons why you should strongly consider purchasing this book before you even think about getting up from your chair.

• The book only costs about $30 and you can get it from Amazon. Safety for you, your friends, and your family in the wilderness is priceless. The comfort of having the book is worth every penny of its price.

• If you leave now, you’ll forget.

• If you leave now, the importance of having a first aid field guide while backpacking will slip and decline in your mind. People DIE when they are unprepared. Please don’t let that happen to you or a loved one.

• When you just buy it and get it over with, you will feel much better and you’ll rest easy tonight.

• If you walk away now, you’ll think back to this sentence as you’re tossing and turning in bed, then you’ll get up at 2am to order it so you can finally sleep.

• It’s an investment that will last a lifetime.

"I see what you’re saying, but I’m not totally convinced, I found a different field guide for $15 so I think I might get that one."

As an experienced backpacker and someone who is severely saddened whenever I see stories on the news of a hiker gone missing and then a body being found a week later, I am telling you that this is probably the best field guide you can get.

Yes it’s a little bit more expensive than some, but not by much and it’s packed with easy to find information that will truly help you if you find yourself in a bad situation.

I was in a life or death situation once. I was caught on the side of a cliff with 3 friends in Grand Canyon National Park in 60 mile an hour winds because a storm was moving through. It was a very scary time and we all made it out, but I was comforted knowing that I had this field guide in my pack in case someone got slammed in the head with a flying rock.

I’ve also been in a situation where I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. It didn’t start rattling until I was right up on it and darn it, they are just so camouflaged, I didn’t even see it! Do you know what to do if you get bit by a rattlesnake in the backcountry?

So do me a favor and get this book, because I don’t want to see your story on the news.

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