Knowing what to do in a survival situation is something that many people do not spend time thinking about. But when they are stuck in a survival situation that requires them to know how to build a fire, make camp, know what foods to eat and not eat, these are skills that can determine whether they live or die. In this essay I will be discussing my review and thoughts on the Third Edition SAS Survival Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving by John “Lofty” Wiseman which was published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2014. At the price of $17.48, there are 668 pages that include illustrations, directions, and insights. (ISBN: 978-0-06-237807-1).
John Wiseman was a professional soldier for 26 years that served with the Special Air Service (SAS). This unit of the British Army was trained to carry out missions in various parts of the world where they were often alone and far from conventional sources. They worked in small groups that were often in their enemy’s territory. Because they were isolated and in small numbers, they each became their group's own doctors, navigators, cooks, and dentists. After serving throughout the war, Wiseman became the survival instructor to the SAS and took the responsibility of ensuring that “…each and every member of the Regiment could apply these skills in the field,” (Wiseman, 2014). Experiencing harsh circumstances in which he had to rely on learned and thought-out survival instincts, he poured what he knew into this book. He notes that as we become more civilized in our daily routines of comfortableness and safety, we tend to lose survival skills that should come easy to the human body. We get caught up in fear and emotion, while surviving requires wit and quick thinking. There are three things that he outlines at the beginning of the text where he states the three basic principles of learning for the survivor: Will to Live, Knowledge, and Kit. Will to Live being that the survivor must never give in, regardless of their circumstances. Knowledge being that the survivor must know how to act in various situations in order to “dispel fear” (Wiseman, 2014). Kit being that the survivor must have essential items prepared with them in any case of a dangerous situation.
The first parts of the book focus on essentials that the survivor must have at the ready at all times. Some of these include food, clothing, water, GPS's, radios, weapons, matches, and medical supplies. The survivor must be conscious and aware that a sudden circumstance could arise at any second and being prepared will always lead to an increase in the outcome of surviving. It is also essential to research a place that you will be attending if you’ve either never been there before or don’t recall much about it. “The more detailed your knowledge of the way people live…the more survival knowledge you will have if you come to need it,” Wiseman states. In research there is planning. In my opinion, this part of the book was one of the most important because there were many essential items discussed that you could have at handy in your car or in your bag in case you were cut off from civilization such as a GPS’s, compass, extra food, clothing, and water as well. I definitely implemented lots of these into my daily life.
The next parts focus on strategy, climate & terrain, and camp craft. Strategy focuses on knowing skills that could be applied to more than one situation and that, in knowing them, would minimize risks. There are also based on experience. Of course, experiences must be at a safe precaution because knowing when to escape at the exact moment of a car sinking under water should be taken seriously. I thought that this was interesting to learn because he discussed things like how to escape from a crash on a vehicle or airplane. This part had lots of tips on surviving these outcomes. Climate and terrain focused on researching ahead of time if you are entering a climate that you are not familiar with. “People often view an alien environment as an enemy and feel they must fight it. This is not the way to survive—fight it and you will lose,” (Wiseman, 2014). He states that knowing your area either before or learning it during will always lead to an increased chance of survival. I related to the information in this part of the book because when I had to travel up to North Carolina due to Hurricane Irma, the first thing I did was research the climate there to prepare the appropriate clothing to wear. Had I gone there confused I would have freaked out. This information was really important to read and I was surprised to see that I had already attempted one of the skills in the book. Camp craft was a section that I knew I would have no experience with because I had never built a shelter myself. This part of the book way my favorite because in it describes knowing what types of shelter to build in certain climates and the right type of fire, warmth, and air ventilation to keep your body healthy and able. For example, he gives exact directions on how to survive in a severely cold climate that has heavy hard snow on the ground. He states that most of these big snowy areas are shelter themselves because they hold hollow caves underneath them that can be made as shelter if you know how to utilize it. He shows in illustrations that you must dig into a drift of snow. He then goes on to say that you must create three levels when you inside. One for where you will sleep, one for fire and a lower level that will trap the cold. And then, probably my favorite part of the entire book, you must create a hold on top, through the snow above you, to make sure that you have sufficient ventilation. This was my favorite because I have always wondered how I would survive if I was trapped under snow.
The final parts of the book describe reading the weather, health, and rescue. These parts of the book were my least favorite because they were very heavy with detail, as they should be, and were not as interesting as the previous parts. Reading the weather was the only exception. From this, I learned the skill of knowing how to read clouds so that I could know what type of weather they were bringing, which I describe in my final survival video. The health section described how to perform first aid. Some of the main priorities were to “remove any danger, check for response, open the airway, check for breathing, and stop severe bleeding” (Wiseman, 2014). The rescue part described how to communicate if there were people in the air above you and you needed to communicate that something was wrong on the ground. For example, the author described that by making the symbol of an X, the air people would understand that you are “unable to move on” and by making the symbol of an I, this would mean there was a serious injury or that you need medical supplies.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book because it gave you countless situation in which you could possibly find yourself in and how to survive effectively. I would definitely recommend this book to another person because you never know when you could be caught in a car crash, tornado, or trapped at sea and need survival skills that you know handy. Any type of person would like this book because there are countless various scenarios that we have all at least thought about once thinking “how would I survive that?” In summary, this book has been the most information text I have ever read. There were so many footnotes that added additional information and tips for the survivor. You are truly able to see and experience the circumstances that the author went through in order to know all of this information. It’s written in a way that anyone can understand and covers everything you would need to know; from learning how to make a shelter, to knowing how to defend yourself against the elements. I believe that every person should be required to read this book before reaching adulthood because in my opinion, it could help save the lives of billions.
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Amazing
I really love the quality of this book, and how much detail he has put into this. I teach survival videos, and I cannot wait to start teaching from this book. Thank you so much for the details especially of the plants and that you also use color pictures.I am warning to turn this into a PDF version so I can be able to print it out for future purposes, since I do teach survival videos for my YouTube channel….
