As a relative newcomer to hiking, I thought this book would provide some keen insight into gear and procedures that would make my next outing a little easier. Perhaps I am not as "new" as I had thought.

Though this book has lots of great pictures, there was little information that could be learned outside of what a newcomer with decent "google" skills could learn. Most of the gear and processes in this book were ones already known to (or even tried by) me. The few things I did learn from this book have turned out to be alternatives for gear that I already had acquired, and didn't pose a great benefit to switching over.

That said, I do enjoy pictures and the rationale given for the different items in this book and enjoy seeing other peoples' perspectives and approaches to a hobby that I share. Overall, this is a decent book to own, but not as strong a resource as I was hoping. ( )