SAS Handbook

[southerngal]

Has anyone purchased the SAS Handbook by John Wiseman? Is it worth the money for the amount of information you get? I obviously haven't purchased it yet, but I was thinking of getting this one and the SAS Urban Survival handbook. If anyone has them let me know what you think.

 

[oldsarge]

I own the book, it's one of many in my collection of survival topics. I like it myself and feel it's worth the money. I have so many books on the subject, I find that a lot of them repeat the others. I like the SAS book better than the military issue survival manual. More information and illustrations. I do not own the Urban Survival Handbook, considered picking it up some day. Are you aware of Cody Lundin's books? I think they would go along good with the SAS manual. His first book is geared toward day hikers and trekkers surviving until help arrives. This book is called "98.6 degrees, how to keep your ass alive". Some real practical info for those of us who venture outdoors a lot. His second book 'When all hell breaks loose" is more of an urban survival guide. There are so many books out there on survival, they all have good info, I think the SAS book is a good buy.

 

[Greatoutdoors]

I have the SAS handbook and I think it is well worth the money, It's very easy to understand unlike some survival books I have seen. I haven't gotten the Urban survival one but I probably will.

 

[southerngal]

Thanks for the recommendations guys! I am going to go ahead and order them from Amazon this weekend. I am going to look for the Cody Lundin books too.

 

[oldsarge]

Not to burden you down with all kinds of books, but there is another book in my collection that I found to be well worth the few bucks I put out for it. It's 'Build a perfect survival kit" by John D. McCann, Krause Publications. I recently mentioned it in another thread, you may have read about it already. I think this book goes hand in hand with other survival books. Packed full of really useful info that has been tested, re-evaluated and refined. The fun part about all this information is getting out doors and start playing with all these techniques to see what works best for you, something I need to do more of!

 

[Luvoutdoors]

The SAS handbook is really good and it covers a lot of different things. I don't have the Urban Survival one yet but I will probably pick it up too if it's the same guy.

 

[jason]

I've got the SAS book, but sadly have not had a chance to really read through it. I've read bits and pieces of it, but everytime I've gone to really read it, I get interupted and forget about it.

 

[JameyStanley]

Well I hate to be the one person being all negative and what not. But I did not like the SAS handbook at all.... I found it dull and really hard to sit and read. Its about 571 pages long! I found it difficult to understand at times, such as what exactly it was trying to tell you to do. I thought that some of the methods where too simple and should of been explained more. It seamed that they were trying to fit too much information in too short of a book. I found myself disagreeing with the books advice on multiple occasions as well. However on a positive note it does have quite a bit of useful information, from identifying plants to repelling.

I 100% Recommend Cody Lundin's books he is a genius when it comes to wilderness self reliance and primitive skills. I also recommend Mykel Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual

 

[oldsarge]

That's one I need to get. I really enjoyed his 1st Discovery special on survival, I think it was called "science of survival" not too sure though, also enjoyed "Man Woman Wild".

What's great about all these books is that you get so much info to chose from, techniques that work for some may not be good for others but the basic survival principles are the same.

 

[southerngal]

Thanks for ALL of the recommendations guys. I am looking to start a healthy collection. I don't mind e-books either we print them out so we have a hard copy if they have good information in them.

 

[ryoga-kun]

I have the book and I recommend it highly.
However, don't trust the part regarding finding plants to eat etc. It's not that the information is inaccurate, most of us lack the expertise to make any use of it.

 

[oldsarge]

I have the book and I recommend it highly.
However, don't trust the part regarding finding plants to eat etc. It's not that the information is inaccurate, most of us lack the expertise to make any use of it.

How true about the plants! What I'd like to see in the book is pictures of plants that look like the ones that are safe to eat. It would be nice to know the differences between the two. A side by side comparison, It's those little differences that will kill you.

 

[outdoorchick]

I have to agree with that too finding plants that are truly safe can be a bit tricky. Reminds me of that movie Out of the Wild where the guy dies from eating the wrong berries (or maybe it was mushrooms). That movie was based on a true story, really good if you haven't seen it but don't expect a happy ending.

 

[oldsarge]

Great movie! You're right, it was a plant he ate that killed him.