Customer Reviews

SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition: For Any Climate, in Any Situation

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No need for a long review here. This book was written by a professional soldier who was in the SAS, or the Special Air Service. For those not in the know, that's an elite unit of the British Army trained to carry out operations in ALL parts of the world. Eventually, the author became a survival instructor to the SAS, so you can be sure that this guy knows his stuff.

The book covers all you'd ever want to know about the essentials of surviving in climates such as: the polar region, mountains, seashores, islands, tropical regions, or even at sea. Here's few of the many topics the book covers:

-food, what you can and can't eat
-animal tracking with numerous pics
-color pics of edible plants
-pictures of traps and how to trap things
-how to handle animals you've killed for food
-how to make a camp and various shelters
-knot tying pics
-first aid
-color pics of medicinal plants
-picures of dangerous/poisonous critters
-things to have in a survival kit

A very handy resource for anybody who enjoys outdoor/wilderness activities, it's just a darn good thing to have around in case of emergencies- or even just to look at the pictures! Also recommend Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff if you have a shoulder problem that is interfering with your outdoor activities.

I own and love this book. It is a super comprehensive guide to surviving all sorts of extreme emergencies in a variety of geographic zones and climates. Plane crashes, car crashes, getting lost in the wilderness, tsunamis, earthquakes, terrorist attacks - you name it, book covers it!

The author is an authority on survival, being the former survival instructor or the British SAS special forces troops, which operate around the world, from arctic to desert zones, and from big cities to remote jungles. Tone is very down-to-earth, and straight to the point. The book is easy to read and understand and does not assume or need any prior knowledge of military and survival techniques (which is the author's background). I am a former search-and-rescue team member and trained wilderness first-aid responder, and I find the information in this book first rate.

The content is very densely concentrated, so reading it once will not make you an expert. To make the best of this book, you need to practice some of the survival techniques. The best way is probably to go camping and backpacking, but you can try a lot of them in your own backyard.

The book overemphasizes outdoors survival (what plants to eat, how to fish and catch animals), which is due to the author's background as a special forces soldier. For more on urban disaster preparedness, read Cody Lundin's book "When All Hell Breaks Loose". Unlike Cody Lundin and many American survival books, the SAS Guide is refreshingly free of political statements and sticks strictly to the topic of survival :) The SAS Guide is about surviving a relatively localized and temporary emergency (measured in days, not years), and assumes you will eventually be helped, rescued or return to civilization. If you are interested in long-term survival of a total global catastrophe (aka "survivalism"), this is not the best guide.

It is such a great book that I am planning to buy more copies, to keep in my car, take when traveling, and give to friends. Highly recommended!

First, someone left a 3 star review because of illustrations. That is SO reckless that I almost feel it's got to be someone who supports the competition. The illustrations are great with great written details.

Now, I won't go into the obvious about the book because others have touched on the excellent details on survival within the book. You WILL enjoy reading this book and you WILL learn survival techniques and you WILL create yourself a survival kit as a result if you don't already have one.

However, here is one thing I actually was VERY impressed with about this book. The QUALITY of the book. The book is SOLID. The spine of the book is VERY strong and the pages are not cheap recycled type of rough paper. They are quality semi gloss type of thick pages that will likely last a WHILE under normal use.

I bought two, one for myself and one for my son. I think I'll make this a holiday/birthday gift for friends and family for a while. I want EVERYONE I care about to have this book in their life.

I got mine... did you get yours? Run, don't walk.

I really hate to write a bad review - especially for a book that is raved about by so many. But it really needs to be pointed out that much of this book is terribly outdated.

I'm an instructor trainer for the American Red Cross (meaning I train new instructors) and have been for years. Many of the First Aid techniques from CPR to pressure points to tourniquets and more described in this book are techniques we used to teach in the 1980's and have since either been discredited, proven ineffective or been drastically updated. And for a book which claims to be "revised" in 2009, the things taught here are appalling and could actually cause more harm than good.

Knowing how out-dated just the First Aid section of the book was created a real credibility issue for me on the rest of the book. I'm sure much, if not most of the information is accurate (as was some of the first aid), but I wasn't willing to chance my survival or the survival of my family on 1980s data or opinion, so I returned it. There's better out there.

While this book is feature packed, and includes a lot of nice colorful pages with wonderful pictures. I feel it's not much of a guide or handbook. I purchased it hoping maybe to get some step by step instructions on how to better survive in the wild. I think I watch too many Man vs Wild or whatever shows that really just interest me.

However, it would show a picture of a trap with a brief explanation and then that's it. Same with knots (although some have some pretty horrid step by step instructions) and shelters, etc. I waited anxiously to receive this item to increase my knowledge, but was left thoroughly disappointed. What information it does have (and this is a heavy/thick book) is ok, so I give it three stars. If you're like me and want to learn more, and get more of a step by step then this isn't your book.

This was a very good read, but not the kind of book you read and your an expert at surviving in the Artic Shelf. Excellent information, the only two areas I could see improvement on were, shelter building, and edibles. With only a few ideas on temporary shelters, I felt it kind of lacking as that situation could very well be in order if survival is threatened. Also the author's suggestion of eat and "pray" method leaves a little to be desired, but it seems to have worked for him, and he has very high credentials. Overall though, one of the most comprehensive survival books out there, but don't leave it all to one book. Supplement this guide, with shelter building, and a book solely on wilderness edibles to make yourself the most rounded survival instrument you can be. Also in regards to my opening sentence, you WILL NOT be an expert on any survival book, unless you try the techniques outlined, before you need them!!

This book is really amazing, the best in his category, but I'm really disapointed with this revision edition. The book is the same than the older version. If you had the older one don't buy this one, it's the same. I can't find significative changes in this revision.

More than i expected, i havent seen the other books in this category to compare, but this one seems like a good buy imo. I've only read the first 4 chapters & have leared quite a few new things already. i've only camped a little when i was younger so im no expert. From skimming the pages it has decent pics on plants to avoid, eat, etc, definately not as good as a dedicated herb book, but decent enough to give u an idea what to look out for. I noticed it had a chapter on telling directions etc by the stars/moon, didnt read it yet, but random thngs like that made it a great buy for me personally.

Hey!

This is the book to read if you want to know how to survive high-risk, difficult situations. Chances may be good you never have to use the information in here, but it certainly can't hurt, and in the current economy, the information may come in handy in a non-survival situation.

I've read a lot of Survival Handbooks, and I like the variety of information in them, but this one is the one that I really had to have. The information goes a little deeper, and it all is laid out in a attention grabbing way. This one also hase the broadest range of subjects, attempting to cover more survival situations than most books. And it does a pretty decent job of covering them, too. However, John "Lofty" Wiseman hasn't been in the SAS for a very long time, so the modern methods they use aren't going to be in here. But it is a great reference to use on survival methods, and I intend to learn the skills they mention.

Hope that helps all you potential customers, and happy reading!

Luv ya,
Tashi :)

As an Eagle Scout, I decided to purchase this book as a condensed means to information when I go out camping. Though I have done more then my fair share of camping and backpacking, its extremely difficult to keep this information memorized unless you are backpacking very regularly and using this information. Its got excellent information and detailed diagrams of everything from building a shelter to typical plants that are edible or not. If you are an avid outdoor backpacker, I highly recommend this book.