Customer Reviews

Survival: A Manual That Could Save Your Life (Survival Skills)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently had cause to look this book over a second time, and I found it more impressive than before. It has a balanced presentation of all the essentials (fire, shelter, food and water procurement, signaling, travel, direction-finding, improvised equipment, plants, clothing, and first aid), and if the manual format lacks in literary style, it makes up for it with a concise but dense presentation of useful, real-world information, amply illustrated (no color photographs, however).
The content is slanted toward northern boreal or subarctic environments (authors live and teach wilderness survival in Alaska), but there is enough general coverage of the topic of wilderness survival to make the book worthwhile for anyone interested in the subject. The economy of the presentation coupled with the information-density of its manual format is the attraction of this book; the authors do not show every type of snare toggle known to man (though they should probably have illustrated a few more than are included), nor every position-finding method, nor every woodcraft or primitive skills technique, nor escape-and-evasion information. The book credibly accomplishes what it advertises itself as being; this book would work as a manual in an aircraft survival kit in the northern latitudes.
My only real quibble with it is that the water procurement section seems dated (the book is copyrighted in 1986), and repeats the old solar still presentation. Not an exhaustive reference; not anything other than a survival manual, but it meets that purpose nicely.

I found this book to be very good. Unlike some survival books, it covered all nessisary topic such as trapping, signaling, and especialy first-aid/wilderness medicine. Janowsky does a real good job of explaining all the subjects in just 200 pages.The book is writen around his survival and medical kits, which contents he list for you. The book is geared toward northern climates. I thought he could have gone into a little more detail on a few thing, but all in all a very good book. If you are going into the wilds of Alaska or Canada you sould read this book and Bushcraft by Mors Kolchansky.

The text offered in this book is indispensable--trapping section is excellent as is just about everything--EXCEPT FOR THE ALLEDGED PHOTOGRAPHS. These are ALL photocopies that don't transfer worth anything to the page. All are black and white, some are absoluteley indecipherable. Surely in the original printing these were real photos; what happened? Color would have been MUCH more useful in identifying edible vs. inedible plants; for these applications, the SAS Survival Guide is much better. As wonderful as SAS is, this book is even more thorough textually. Final rating: 4.65 stars

Chris has written a very good book here covering all the essentials. If you could only take one book, make this one it. His basic philosophy is simple: THE LESS YOU KNOW THE MORE EQUIPMENT YOU'LL NEED, AND CONVERSLY THE MORE YOU KNOW THE LESS EQUIPMENT YOU CAN GET BY WITH. For example, his simple paragraph (in chapter 4) on fire making materials is miraculous! He reviews Flint/Steel, Matches, Waterproof Matches, Waterproof/WindProof Matches, Electric Spark, Flares, Magnifying Glass, and Friction. I would never have guessed what he chooses and why! This ONE PARAGRAPH ALONE has CHANGED THE ENTIRE WAY I THINK about building a fire and the essential materials needed. His book gets a "10" from me for CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE WITH AN ABSOLUTE BARE MINIMUM OF EQUIPMENT COUPLED WITH THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE

This book, by the Janowsky's, is chock full of good advice. Unlike many of the genre there is much useful information given regarding being lost in the wilds. Additionally, often there is given more than one way of accomplishing a goal with the author's opinion as to the correct method. The diagrams, mostly, support the text, however, the photo's leave much to be desired. I would buy this book, in fact I did.

Excellent book. Well written and good information for anyone hiking, camping,scouting, hunting or researching survival skills. Highly recommended.