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| SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea | 
 enlarge | Author: John Lofty Wiseman
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $8.96 (45%)
New (33) Used (22) from $9.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  102 reviews
Sales Rank: 576
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 0060578793
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.69
EAN: 9780060578794
ASIN: 0060578793
Publication Date: March 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, IN-HOUSE READY TO SHIP!!! NOT A BARGAIN, REMAINDER OR BOOKCLUB BOOK!!! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER.
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Product Description
The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 97 more reviews...
 Survive- anywhere. January 17, 2008
413 out of 415 found this review helpful
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.
Comprehensive, "must have" book June 14, 2003
291 out of 388 found this review helpful
The "SAS Survival Handbook" is the most comprehensive survival handbook I have ever seen. Most books have some basic advice (the importance of the correct mental attitude, finding water and shelter, etc.), a handful of edible plants, and a couple of ways to start a fire. While this book covers all those areas, it also has sections on camp craft, determining directions, rescue signals, dealing with different climates and terrains, reading clouds for weather prediction, and many others. A good example of the thoroughness of the coverage would be the food section. It covers your energy needs and how they are met from various foods, testing unknown plants in desperate situations, plants to avoid, identification of plants, using animals for food, extensive and detailed trapping mechanisms, fishing, gutting and cleaning, and other advice. The number, types, and detail on the various traps are amazing. I've never seen so many different designs. It includes several that I have not seen anywhere else before. I would consider this the authoritative text on survival skills in the wild and give it the highest recommendation for anyone interested in survival techniques.
Complete and Understandable May 7, 2000
150 out of 213 found this review helpful
This is truly an important book for everyone to read at least once in their life. Given, most people will never end up in a situation where skills described in the SAS Survival Book will be required, but don't be cocky...learn the skills from this book and rest easy knowing that you have the background knowledge to make it in the outdoors without modern conveniences. This book covers it all -forest, desert, ocean, island, artic/arctic, mountain, tropical, temperate- you name it, this book will get through the hard times with no problem. This book HAS saved lives in the past, but many have also died in unexpected situations where the knowledge found in these pages could have saved them. I don't think anyone wants to end up classified in the latter. Get the SAS Survival Guide and read up. Someday you may look back at purchasing this book and realize it was the most important decision you ever made in your life!
 An overview on Survival September 2, 2007
60 out of 86 found this review helpful
No book this size can even come close to delivering what the title claims. There are indeed some good illustrations and pointers to go along with them, but a survival manual this is not. Great for a bar on a slow night or as a coffee table book.
Why one star??-------->
Two examples of shoddy research and/or lack of experience: The section on bow making is only twenty seven lines (it has a thirteen line introduction with a seven line description on how to actually make a bow. This is matched by seven more lines on how to fit the string to your new hunting weapon). Look at the Bowyers Bible, a set of three books on bow making by some of the best in the business.
The "Spear Thrower" section is flat wrong, illustrating that the author not only never made/used one before, but never saw one in use or otherwise. There are other shortfalls, but I'll keep the description to two. Don't believe me? Make one as described in the book or do a google search on "Spear throwers" or "Atlatl".
There are some things he describes well and clearly has experience with, perhaps the publisher urged him to include things beyond his experience, but that does not excuse the inclusion of manufactured "facts" especially when the reader may be staking their life on that erroneous information.
All in all good for the survival book collection with a few good bits, but lacks too many details.
Remember when reading these reviews that it is often a case of the blind leading the blind as owners of newly purchased copies are not qualified to recognize if a skill is thoroughly covered. Just because the table of contents lists a skill does not necessarily translate to the reader being able to accomplish the skill. Ask a survival school or instructor with real experience which book they would recommend. Any way you slice it, the skills must be practiced regardless of the book you buy, don't wait until you need a shelter to build one or a fire lit to attempt lighting it.
Thorough and Easy to Use March 27, 2006
45 out of 66 found this review helpful
I'll probably never be trapped behind enemy lives and dependent upon catching small mammals and selecting local edible plants for survival, but its nice to have a nifty, easy-to-carry guide just in case.
Wiseman's SAS Survival handbook is an excellent companion for hikers, campers and into-the-wilderness junkies. This book is extremely well written with easy to understand illustrations and excellent organization. There are color plates for easy identification of plants and animals to eat/avoid/use-as-medicine. This book has it all, or at least all I can think of. There are sections on camping, hiking, supplies, compass skills, shelter making, first aid, transport, catching and preparing animals and locating local edible foods, tool making, fishing, hunting, knot tying, general survival in different climates and environments and more.
The best part of this book is by far its terrific approachability. It is written for the layman and is very easy to understand. Either as an outdoor accomplice or a handy at home preparedness guide, this is a book to get and know.
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