Customer Reviews

US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

First off, there multiple version of this book floating around, and you should be really clear with a seller which one you are getting. Amazon often posts reviews for books with the same title and author at different pages for different release years, where there can be changes in releases. This book is no exception. For example there is a fairly recent printing Army survival book with the same FM number that was republished by a major bookseller and edited for "civilian use". It is a really nice version that includes color photos and other changes, but more on that in a minute. The traditional Army Survival manual available is from the 1970's (not whatever current manual is in use as those are usually classified) and concentrates on the straightforward survival material you need to know. It is written in very accessible easy to understand language, and you do not need to be an expert in order to use this information. The material includes chapters on: Navigation and compass use; Health & Hygiene in the outdoors to prevent sickness, including first aid; Hazards in the wild to watch out for;
Foods and where to find them including harvesting and identifying native plants and vegetables; How to fish and tons of unusual different ways to catch them with local materials that actually work; other food from fresh water sources; Trapping mammals, rodents, reptiles, insects, catching birds, and more including how to dress and prepare these; Cooking, preserving food in the wild; methods of fire making including without matches or lighter.

One of the most important chapters tells you how to find the most important element you need to survive. Water from Plants, digging for water, purifying found water, and building a solar water still. Other chapters include Climate and Weather, Travel, finding or building Shelter, Clothing, Health, Survival at Sea, Poisonous Snakes, signaling for help, what to do if you are lost, and much more ...

An extremely useful book for the camper to keep in their supplies. One very nice treat... the recent bookstore reprint version differs from the 1970's surplus military version in that it offers color photos of the plants (original military version was black and white), and it is very comprehensive. While there are books available on edible and poisonous plants that are more specialized, the material here is very adequate for inclusion in this manual. All in all, one of the best books on the survival subject, well rounded and very detailed. I have a library of books on camping and camping emergencies. While one reviewer thought this book had too much info and wanted a simpler book, I would say that if you had it with you in an emergency you would be glad of its many topics. You may even want to keep a copy in the trunk of your car with your roadside tools, since you never know when you might need some help making a fire or finding water.

Another change in the bookstore "civilian version" was the elimination of the chapters on escape and evasion that you will find in some of the 1970's copies. Again if you are buying used, be sure to query the seller which version they have. I actually have both versions and was able to compare them to review the changes. Either way, the basics on shelter, water, fire, etc are unchanged and can be very useful in the trunk of your car for emergencies. One reviewer pointed out that the manual is available for free by download, which is OK you just want to read it, that is up to you. But I think a paper copy in your emergency disaster box or in your car trunk may prove very useful when you need it. There are lots of military based survival books out there, like the pocket sized Aircrew Survival book, and they are all quite useful.

As a Special Forces soldier, I read just about every book there is on survival. Most are hardly worth the paper they are printed on, and that especially includes the popular "survival" books which tend to contain potentially deadly errors and omissions. The main problem with these "worst case" books and others is that most readers, unfortunately, have no way of knowing what is accurate and what is fantasy. For readers who wish to stick to nonfiction, this book is your best choice.

This, like many other military manuals, is available online. Just type the FM number into your search box and a list of links to it will magically appear.

While I enjoyed reading the U.S. Army Survival Manual I would not recommend it as my only survival learning text. For that honor, I prefer Gregory Davenport's book, "Wilderness Survival", which covers the same material but in a far more user friendly format. Mr. Davenport's book goes beyond the ARMY manual by giving the step by step instructions needed to do the survival tasks related to clothing, shelter, fire, water and food procurement, etc. In addition, his navigation and health chapters are far superior.

The U.S. Army field manual on Survival is a good basic guide, standard reading for our troops, and unlike some survival manuals, it is fairly well written and organized. I have yet to find a survival enthusiast who didn't have this book or Greg Davenport's Wilderness Survival in their personal library, and that tells you something. One of the bigger drawbacks to the book is its sketchy coverage of jungle and desert survival - for these areas you'll definitely want additional reading on these topics, as there's a lot more information to be had! If you're interested in those environments, Jeff Randall's Adventure Travel in the Third World book is excellent for jungle survival, while Mark Johnson's The Ultimate Desert Handbook is definitely the best desert survival book out there.

I have used this book, and earlier versions, for over 45 years. I first used a copy my father got me (he was in the military) as a Boy Scout. When I attended Outward Bound (back when that was a "new" thing we used a copy. And then my own 30 year military career primarily in Army Special Forces. From the SF Q course, and in every other field/combat/survival/leadership course I attended (or lead) on down the totem pole, FM 21-76 (FM stands for Field Manual) was part of the course and listed as a reference material in the course. Anyway, an earlier reviewer did not like the book and complained as an example that it does not tell you which tree to use for the bark to make cordage...well, ANY survival book and any "survival instructor" with a modicum of compentency will tell you first and foremost keep your cool, assess your situation, assess all your equipment and clothing you have available (even the lint in your pockets can be useful), keep your wits and be optomistic, and use your common sense. In that light, no book can save you in a dire situation without you using your own common sense. However, this book, with common sense will make your survival possible and likely. Because of weather, varmits, and predators, there are no guarantees...no book can do that. But this book will help you increase your odds for survival and live to tell the tale as a "war story". The earlier reviewer complained that the book does not tell you specifically which tree to use the bark of for cordage. COMMON SENSE says the trees available in the interior of Alaska differ from the ones you find in a Peruvian jungle or in equitorial Africa. But the idea of using the inside of the bark, stripping it out, and then applying common sense to TIE THE STRIPS TOGETHER is true. The book makes the assumption, like all survival books (and good survival instructors) that you use the materials at hand. You don't need to go looking for a northern birch tree in a forest in Thailand! But the trees there will work too. The book also makes the assumption that you will have the COMMON SENSE to know to tie the strips together, or weave them together to make a thicker rope. No treatment is necessary, so the book does not discuss it. As the strips naturally dry out, they will shrink and grow stronger, but the reader does not need to worry about that so the book does not cover it. Common Sense. Overall, this is a good book. I suspect that anyone who thinks it is only good for starting a fire with its pages has an axe to grind and is really not that knowledgeable. The techniques in the book work. Period. Some do require common sense to implement, along with patience (try catching a fish with $500 tackle from a sporting goods store when it is for fun, much less the ways described in the book when you are hungry and searching for lunch). But the techniques and advice in the book work, and the lessons in the book will allow you to meet your needs of survival which are at a minimum shelter, water, food, warmth, set up rescue fires/ground-to-air signaling for rescue aircraft, and in the worst case, how to navigate and walk yourself out of anywhere. Buy the full military version. With some of the more trendy and popular travel destinations people junket to these days, where the "rules of civilization and law" are not always enforced, and some folks become kidnapped for fun or ransome, the chapters in the military version on evasion and resistance could be useful.
Best of luck to any reader.

This book is, unfortunately, suited more for "arm-chair" survivalists than people really seeking a working knowledge of wilderness survival skills. Most of the skills "covered" may help the inexperienced person feel confident until they actually attempt them. Case in point: Cordage or natural string...yes they cover it, but so sparingly as to be ineffective. "The inner bark of trees make the best fibers to use." (page 7-4) That is all it says about using bark. There is nothing about what trees are best, or how to harvest or prepare the bark. The bulk of the "skills" in this manual are lacking in a manner similar to that illustrated above.
As a former soldier and a current survival instructor I can say with the utmost confidence that this book is good for starting fires and not much else. The lack of many details provides a challenge to anyone attempting to complete a skill from start to finish. Try it and you will see! Reviewers giving it high marks clearly have never been in a true survival situation. Thumbs down.

I'm a lonely hiker/climber, as I go outdoor for training and to shoot photos, and if I can suggest the ONE book you'll allow to add some weight to your backpack when you're out there for some days, alone, you've found it! Lots of infos, clearly explained, nothing left to the imagination, but effective and SAFE hints on how to get off troubles, if any. It's a good book both for unexperienced and serious hikers. I serviced in the army as an officer, and believe me, these things really work out there! Excellent!

This book is awsome, and although some people dislike the military references (using you gun, hide from the enemy)i thought it was interesting and sometimes a bit humerous. I gave this book 5 stars because it is EXACTLY what a military survival book should be. Now, if it was written SPECIFICALY for civilians i would give a worse score becase of the military reference.

The thing i disliked about this book the most was the lack of information about surviving in what i consider a "normal" envirement. It has the desert, arctic, and tropical, but i want to know how to survive in the wilderness where i live (Northern MN). I was also disappointed with the plants. I know that they were having to cover the whole world pretty much but i would have liked it better to have a few more plant descriptions as only about 4 of the plants listed live were i live. I would also have liked to have a better description of how to prepare the plant (the most tastey way possible with little supplys so that you don't end up spitting it out cause it tastes like ****.

Overall: Great for the military, entertaining and very informative for civilians but doesn't cover living/surviving in the Deciduous and Coniferous forests very well. I wouldn't recomend this to someone who wants information about edible plants as it has very little. For that i would recomend the Peterson Field Guide To Edible Plants (i own it, its very good, but i have trouble making any of the food taste good).

The Army Survival manual is a great find. It provides detailed, understandable information on how to survive in many situations: in the desert, at sea, in an area where you don't wish to be detected (For civilians it's possibly useful for hostage/kidnapping situations, I suppose). It also has a lot of emotional support written into the text. This is clearly written directly for soldiers, but it could probably be reassuring if you were actually on your own.

I bought the book mainly as a reference that I could toss into our disaster-preparedness closet. I don't have any plans to use the information in the book, but I wanted a guidebook "just in case." This serves that purpose beautifully, but the "SAS Survival Guide" (the pocket-sized version of the "SAS Survival Handbook" is much better for this purpose. There isn't really much discussion of emotional issues in the SAS Guide, and there's no focus on evading enemy capture or things like that. But it's a much nicer book (the army guide seems like it's been Xeroxed a million times, and the print quality is questionable). The SAS Guide is a great size for tossing into a car glovebox, and it's easier to browse and search.

If you have the space and inclination, get both. They do both offer slightly different information. For example, the Army guide tells you how to get fresh water from sea water in cold climates by letting small amounts of sea water slowly freeze. (Fresh water will freeze out of the solution first, leaving a slushy saltwater glob that you can then remove from the ice--or something like that). The SAS Guide, on the other hand, tells you how to get fresh water at sea from a fresh-water gland along the spine of a fish. If you were really stranded, it would be great to have both. If you only get one, I would recommend the SAS guide though.