Mountaineers Books How to Suffer Outside: A Beginner's Guide to Hiking and Backpacking
Part critique of modern hiking culture and part how-to guide, How to Suffer Outside is for anyone who wants to hit the trail without breaking the bank.
- Contains colorful and humorous illustrations throughout
Imported.
Diana Helmuth offers real advice, opinionated but accessible and based on in-the-field experiences. She wins readers' hearts and trust through a blend of self-deprecating humor and good-natured heckling of both seasoned backpackers and urbanites who romanticize being outdoorsy, plus a helpful dose of the actual advice a novice needs to get started.
Featuring illustrations by artist Latasha Dunston, each chapter focuses on a critical topic: gear, food, hygiene, clothing and more, along with useful checklists and resources. Humorous, philosophical and practical, How to Suffer Outside teaches casual walkers, hikers and campers of all stripes how to venture outdoors with confidence.
| Best Use | Hiking Backpacking |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 8.5 x 6 inches |
| Author(s) | Diana Helmuth; illustrations by Latasha Dunston |
| Number of Pages | 224 |
| Format | Paperback |
| ISBN-13 | 9781680513110 |
| Publisher | Mountaineers Books |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
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Effective, in spite of itself
The book is well-organized (chapters on packs, clothing, tents, food) and instructive, as well as it is anecdotal and funny. So it can be read from start to finish or as a reference book. I'd recommend the latter. I'm a novice to backpacking, and the book gives me enough information and laughs to make me feel confident that I can start. However, the author's use of humor can be cumbersome and distracting from the instructive goal. Nearly every sentence has a punchline or sarcastic parenthetical following it. As a result, it lacks succinctness, and sometimes I have to skim her paragraphs of jokes for her point.
Hilariously funny, immensely helpful
I was given this book for Christmas - and couldn't put it down. It's wonderfully sarcastic, it made me laugh unexpectedly so many times, and it has truly useful information for beginniners. I'm mostly a day-hiker (with my two kids and husband) and this book was very helpful. I'm not a novice, but would still consider myself a beginner. It had so many good tips, while being entertaining the whole way. Highly recommend.
Witty, helpful and delightfully sarcastic
As a self proclaimed in door cat, this book is amazing. It makes hiking and backpacking seem fun while not hiding how some parts are hard and will suck, which i appreciate. Diana is a amazing writer and gets people. Do yourself a favor and read this book
a book for the uninitiated new to hiking
Such a good intro book - light and written in un-nerdy, non technical language. It shows a great sense of humor while focusing on the basics. If you're a bit clueless, read this first before you buy your gear etc for your first hikes and backpacks. Love it.
Useful, funny, and impossible to put down
I’m transitioning from day hikes to backpacking and this book was chock full of helpful information; the only downside was it was so entertaining that I couldn’t put it down! The drawings are fantastic, and a great addition to the writing.
Funny and useful info
Loved this book. Filled with lots of great info and her funny, down to earth approach makes it feel less intimidating to a newbie like me. Loved the illustrations too!
perfect intro to the outdoors book!
I am new to camping/hiking/backpacking and this book was exactly what I needed! This book talks about everything you need to know about “how to suffer outside” with witty and sarcastic commentary. Dana eases your mind by not making all the things you need to know sound so overwhelming. She tells you straight up what you need, what you don’t, and how to go about purchasing items for your trip, without any superficial bias. Love love loved this book, and feeling much more confident about entering the “outdoor” space!
Realistic, entertainingly useful guide
As avid hikers and campers we began to take the next step towards combining the two into backpacking. This book is entertaining, unpretentious, and is easy to read cover to cover. For us it was the perfect starting point and offered enough other resources that we could follow up with more “dense” references when needed.
Great info, Down to Earth and Hilarious
This book not only has info I want to highlight on every page, but also had me laughing out loud every page. The author delivers important and useful information about the various topics she covers that is great for beginners (like me!), and down to earth, so it feels achievable rather than overwhelming.