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Carry a gun and defend yourself, period. OK reference. Too "commando" for me.
The title is NOT a self-defense book and doesn't even cover physical skills. This is likely one of the best titles on the subject of mental preparation for successfully dealing with criminal threats and behavior. Highly recommended. However, the title does go into great detail on all aspects of personal safety that should be utilized before a situation turns physically violent. While it was orginally written for those who spend time in the great outdoors, it has direct application to any type of potentially dangerous situation and activity. It's suitable for anyone interested in increasing his/her own personal safety.
Bane gives his readers the tools to use, and a plan to use, before ultimate danger is encountered. His step-by-step process applies to the urban jungle as well as the Amazon or Congo. With or without a gun. If you have already decided that you will never use lethal force, read the book anyway.
On a 1-5 scale, it is a six (6*). Don't get me wrong, this is NOT a judo/bali-song/44 magnum how-to fight book, it is a how-to use the weapon between your ears book. As a very mildly competitive tactical pistol shooter, I know that I must decide, before I enter the wild, or the urban jungle, whether or not I'm going to carry, and when or not I will shoot, or run, or whatever. Bane's writing is clear and to the point.
It will help you be prepared for _any_ level of outdoor misbehavior. Order the book, lock the door, and read it before you go out. He sets up a system for logically analyzing your situation _before_ you get into a situation. I'm sure he would rather have you read a different book for the urban jungle, but his rationale applies there as well as the "Outdoors." His procedure will help you decide what you want to carry, when you want to carry, and how to use it.
Good in that it does not try to present the outdoors as a "war zone" but bad in that more stories about bad situations would provide readers with more guidance on how things go wrong and how to avoid bad situations. It does not hype the crime that happens on trails and at campgrounds which is good and bad. This is a well written book about being safe while hiking, camping, or backpacking. It wisely provides guidance on how to avoid or retreat from potentially bad situations and likewise has a frank but practical discussion on the merits of self defense on the trail.
Trail Safe is essential, potentially life-saving reading for anyone spending any time in wilderness areas whether hiking, biking, camping, canoeing, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, skiing, or any other recreational purpose. Michael Bane's Trail Safe: Averting Threatening Human Behavior In The Outdoors is the first title specifically designed to prepare the outdoorsman and vacationer to defend themselves against criminal behavior in our nation's public parks as well as other rural and wilderness areas. Trail Safe presents the three-pronged self-defense mechanism centered around intuition, awareness, and fear; the nuts and bolts of risk assessment and planning; and a self-defense decision tree that will enable the reader to determine appropriate reactions to a violent encounter, should one occur.
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