| Section I: Starting Out |
| 1. | Introduction: Why and how Trail Safe was written, and a road map to what you'll find in Trail Safe to prepare you for safety on any trip into the backcountry and to provide you with increased enjoyment of the natural world. |  | A Walk in the Woods |
| Why Trail Safe? |
| The Trail Safe Tools |
| A Map to Trail Safe |
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| 2. | The Real World: The perception versus the reality of the rise in crime in the backcountry, and how you can create a personally accurate view of the world through reality-based living and adjust your level of preparation accordingly. | | Reality-Based Living |
| Prey Attracts Predators |
| How Do We Keep Ourselves Safe? |
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| Section II: Three-Pronged Self-Defense |
| 3. | Intuition: An introduction to the first of three tools that form the framework for a powerful self-defense mechanism. How to listen to your intuition and use it to its full capacity in the outdoors. | | Hostile Environments |
| The Rules of the
Dark Road |
| The Intuition Connection |
| Mystic Bulletins From Warm Kitchens |
| The Voice in Your Head |
| A Question of Software |
| Internal Back Talk |
| The Parrots' Lesson |
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| 4. | Awareness: An examination of awareness, the second tool in our mental self-defense mechanism, and the reprogramming of the brain to create crucial mental shortcuts with the Awareness Color Code. | | The Ballad of the Clueless Poacher |
| Keen Observers |
| The Hidden World of Paradigms |
| Blinded by the Filters |
| Pushing the Envelope |
| True Colors |
| Being Green |
| Feline Wisdom |
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| 5. | Fear: The last tool in our mental self-defense mechanism, fear, is explored as the boon it truly can be, and is integrated with intuition and awareness to further build a methodology for improving our preparedness for violent encounters. Also, a look at strategic thinking, and how to update your strategy with tactical information as it becomes available while you're on the trail. | | Things That Go Bump in the Night |
| Is Fear a Disease? |
| Mental Car Alarms |
| Fear Functions |
| The Continuum of Fear |
| Strategic and Tactical Thinking |
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| Section III: Trip Preparation |
| 6. | Completing a Risk Assessment: The construction of a common language for defining"risk," the examination of perceived versus actual risks and subjective risks, and the application of these fine-tuned definitions to create a detailed, written Risk Assessment for any trip. | | Risky Business |
| Neuro-Linguistic Programming |
| What is Risk? |
| Evaluating Risk Factors |
| Risk Assessment |
| A Checklist for the Trail |
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| 7. | Planning: The importance of developing a planning strategy, and how to use the information gleaned through your research process at bookstores, on the Web, and through discussion with others to further complete your Risk Assessment for a given excursion. | | The Unsexy Stuff |
| Embracing and Recognizing Chaos |
| Beware of Nasty Paradigms |
| Appropriate Levels of Planning |
| Planning In Action |
| Information on the Ground |
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| Section IV: Encounters on the Trail |
| 8. | Violent Encounters: What to do when actually faced with a violent encounter, and the presentation of a self-defense strategy"decision tree" that will be followed and explored throughout the remaining chapters of Trail Safe. | | Strategic Thinking |
| Escalation of Force |
| A Self-Defense Strategy |
| Defining Our Limits |
| Working Within the Framework |
| Surprise |
| What Are Your Limits? |
| Predators |
| Escalation |
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| 9. | Avoidance: Removing the negative connotations surrounding the word"avoidance," and recognizing that avoiding potentially violent situations should be the first strategy you pick with the aim of protecting yourself and your family from threatening human behavior. | | A Trip to the Dentist |
| Back to the Basics |
| Running the Distance |
| The Myth of a Fair Fight |
| Moving from Strategic to Tactical Thinking |
| Standing Your Ground? |
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| 10. | Retreat: How to create distance between yourself and an assailant quickly, how to evaluate the option of"retreat" at every stage in a potentially violent encounter, and how to maintain personal space on the trail. | | Distance is Good |
| Exit Stage Whatever! |
| Mysterious Asian Wisdom |
| Programming Distance |
| Michael's Rules for Personal Space |
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| 11. | Placate: Using words, tone of voice, and body language as tools to end a situation with an assailant. Also, a list of rules for safety at trailheads, one of the most common places for pitfalls on a hike. | | The Art of Placation |
| Body Language |
| Verbal Combat |
| Blubbering Forebrains |
| The Doped-Up-Dog Debacle |
| Dangers of the Trailhead |
| How to Talk Your Way Out of Almost Anything |
| The Next Step |
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| Section V: When Talking Fails |
| 12. | Non-Lethal Options: What to do when talking fails — a discussion of learning to fight and the seven principles of fighting you should employ in order to survive an encounter, and some non-lethal options that are out there for your protection. | | When Talking Fails |
| The Seven Principles |
| Non-Lethal Weapons |
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| 13. | The Question: Defining your own personal limits when it comes to the lethal defense of your life, a look at the legal definition of the justified lethal self-defense of your life using the"reasonable-person" standard, and the importance of accepting responsibility for your own safety. | | Welcome to the
Worst Case |
| A Final Look at Limits |
| What You Must Do |
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| 14. | Presentation and Engagement: Using a weapon to defend yourself in the outdoors — what this means, what your responsibilities are, and when to submit to an armed assailant. Also a list of rules for safety at campsites, another place we stop of a backcountry trip where we can be at our most vulnerable. | | Lethal Defense |
| Go with the Odds |
| Rules for Campsites |
| When You Don't Have Moves |
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| 15. | Handgun Use in the Outdoors: A serious discussion of the factors that one should consider when deciding whether or not to own and carry a gun into the backcountry, including gun control and licensing, household agreement on a firearms strategy, storage arrangements, safety rules, and above all, training. | | The Firearms Option |
| Gun Licensing and Household Arrangements |
| Safety First, Last, and Always |
| What You Must Do |
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| Section VI: Conclusions |
| 16. | An End and a Beginning: A return to the issue of whether or not crime is actually on the rise in the backcountry, and a summary of what the tools presented in Trail Safe can provide to you, as you explore our world's wild places. | | Reflections on Trail Safe |
| Make the Box Your House |
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| Acknowledgements |
| Disclaimer: Notes from the Publishers |
| Bibliography |
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