SAS Survival Handbook

Product Description

The ultimate guide to surviving anywhere, now updated with more than 100 pages of additional material, including a new chapter on urban survival

"A classic outdoor manual [that] addresses every conceivable disaster scenario. Don’t leave home without it”--Outside magazine

Revised to reflect the latest in survival knowledge and technology, and covering new topics such as urban survival and terrorism, the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman is the definitive resource for all campers, hikers, and outdoor adventurers. From basic campcraft and navigation to fear management and strategies for coping with any type of disaster, this complete course includes:

Being prepared: Understanding basic survival skills, like reading the weather, and preparation essentials, such as a pocket survival kit.

Making camp: Finding the best location, constructing the appropriate shelter, organizing camp, staying warm, and creating tools.

Food: What to eat, what to avoid, where to find it, and how to prepare it.

First aid: A comprehensive course in emergency/wilderness medicine, including how to maximize survival in any climate or when injured.

Disaster survival: How to react in the face of natural disasters and hostile situations—and how to survive if all services and supplies are cut off.

Self-defense: Arming yourself with basic hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Security: Protecting your family and property from intrusion, break-ins, and theft.

Climate & terrain: Overcoming any location, from the tropics to the poles, from the desert to the mountains and sea.

Top Reviews

So broad and shallow that it has limited value
by The Mountaineer (2 out of 5 stars)
November 3, 2015

With a good editor, this could be a good book.

But as is, it covers too many topics, from how to deal with computer viruses (keep your software updated, use an anti-virus program) to warnings about scurvy ('always aim for a balanced diet'). There are pages devoted to wood-boring insects. There's an illustration of a Corgi.

Worse, the book is shallow in its investigation of useful options. For emergency winter survival, it's odd to recommend an igloo (slow to make, hard to construct without a snow saw, and tough to complete in poor conditions) but to omit mention of a snow trench (fast, easy, and warm enough to shelter me on many trips), or even a snow-cave, a simple compromise.

And the information shared has no filter. A beginner has no way of parsing the laundry-list of knots to prioritize a square knot (essential) over a Killick hitch (easily replaced by more versatile alternatives); there's no mention at all of how to make an improvised harness, despite several sections on emergency climbing and rappelling. In the section in explosions, Wiseman advises ways to safely exit a building before the spread of fire, but then says 'If you are caught in an explosion in a building, then stay there until safe to do so' [sic], without further explanation.

Finally, it's unreliable. There are pure factual errors (people cannot survive 12 days without water, even in cool temperatures) and frequent mixing of good and poor advice (crossing a river in a group one behind the other is terrible, exposing each to the full force of the water, while crossing in a line facing downstream, with arms interwoven, is universally recommended).

I don't write many reviews, and even fewer poor reviews - why disparage something others enjoyed? But this is meant to be a practical book, and it sets the bar too low. Pare it down and keep the information accurate. At half the length this could be twice as valuable.

Here are links to better books on the areas discussed. I know too little about bushcraft and trapping to recommend one there - any suggestions appreciated.

For rope, climbing, and mountaineering skills,

Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition

If you just want information on snow caves (another better alternative to an igloo), Ernest Wilkinson's slim book is out-of-print but easy to find:

Snow Caves for Fun and Survival

For glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and high-angle rescue in general, Andy Selter's book is remarkably efficient. A few pages go a long way on each topic:

Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue: Reading Glaciers, Team Travel, Crevasse Rescue Techniques, Routefinding, Expedition Skills 2nd Edition

For emergency wilderness medicine, Eric Weiss' books are the most popular, and they're fine. But I prefer Buck Tilton's, in part because I did my Wilderness EMT training with him, but also for their concise explanations. Here's his most comprehensive:

Wilderness First Responder: How To Recognize, Treat, And Prevent Emergencies In The Backcountry
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Contains some erroneous and unverified information along with the good stuff
by Bruce Perens (1 out of 5 stars)
June 9, 2016

There's no question that there's a ton of useful information in this very big book, but there are also commonly-accepted but erroneous myths that the author hasn't personally verified. And you the reader probably can't tell which is which without a scientific background. It's really bad for a survival book to make and perpetuate that sort of mistake.

Essentially any time the author talks about magnetism, electricity, static, and their phenomena, he's wrong.

One example is the author's instruction to magnetize a ferrous wire by rubbing silk against it in one direction only, so that it can be used as a compass needle. He is obviously confusing electrostatic and electromagnetic phenomena. The author does mention that the effect of silk is weak and that if you rub it with a magnet it will work better, but doesn't seem to realize that the magnetizing effect of silk (and static electricity in general) is non-existent and that if the wire works as a compass at all, it's because it is already slightly magnetized. People who have performed the experiment of magnetizing by rubbing silk say it doesn't work, and that's what physics would predict as well.

Yes, I know that many books and thousands of web pages perpetuate the same myth. The reality is that most ferrous objects get magnetized naturally simply by being in the Earth's magnetic field. One experimenter found that 75% of needles he purchased in stores would work as a compass without any effort to magnetize them. But rubbing silk (or hair, or anything else you can expect to produce a static electric field), doesn't change them.

Another example is the author's statement that wet matches are dried by placing them in your hair, because of the static electricity in your hair. Static electricity doesn't dry things, your hair absorbs the water or wicks it away.

It's almost as if someone with a scientific background told these yarns to poorly-educated survivalists just to play a trick on them.
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I was very disappointed with shelter building section
by Kindle Customer (3 out of 5 stars)
October 31, 2017

I was very disappointed with shelter building section. Since this is most important if stranded in bad weather, I thought this would be a major part of the book. The author did spend a small amount of time on shelter, but most of it on building in the polar region. This is a region which most of us never see, therefore the author should have spent the majority of shelter building on the temperate zone, where the majority of people in world live.

I feel most people could learn more about survival by watching youtube videos than reading this book.
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Should be required reading by all Survivalist, Preppers and Campers
by Berlon Burch (5 out of 5 stars)
August 5, 2018

It is hard to keep up the the different revisions this man has put out. However, this edition (Third) is by far the most complete. As a all around guide/handbook it definitely should be a required read for anyone that is serious about survival, camping and preparedness. The material is easily read and is well laid out. The book is small enough to not take up too much room in your pack, tote or survival pockets. The author is a recognized authority in survival and by reading the material you can tell that it is not just BS but field tested factual information. The pages are of good solid stock and are seemingly of a material that is water repellent. Which is a great way to assemble a book for the outdoors as you will be using it there. You can't do any better than John's book.
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Then gets into more in depth stuff like identifying poisonous plants and animals on land
by Millie (5 out of 5 stars)
May 18, 2017

I really cant say enough about this book. It really should be considered the Bible of survival. It has everything you need to know , starting with basic knowledge. Prepping your B.O.B , mental preparedness. Then gets into more in depth stuff like identifying poisonous plants and animals on land , sea and sky. Then eatable plants and animals and Medicinal plants . How to track animals for water. How to acquire water and food. Trap setting , fire starting , animal tracking , self defense , signaling for help , how to use the jetstream when stranded at sea , emergency medical , child birth , evacing injured comrades and casualties , urban survival , how to survive natural disasters , rope tying and tons more. Essentially if you need it to survive , its in this book.
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Don't be put off by the detailed manner of this guide...
by snackish (5 out of 5 stars)
August 28, 2019

I'm writing this review mostly to address what some other reviewers have said about the author's inclusion of "obvious and unnecessary" detail...like keep your clothes dry in cold weather...things like that. I've worked as a psychologist with military folks and cops in a prison setting and their attention to detail is crucial when dealing with difficult scenarios. They drill, drill drill to be prepared for whatever might come up (especially the crisis management teams) and this includes even obvious, common sense details. The author wants to make sure that you don't overlook anything in the survival game. This is an excellent guide with tons of useful information. Highly recommended.
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According to the SAS Survival Handbook...
by AnTnY (5 out of 5 stars)
December 28, 2015

If you've ever had a drill instructor pushing you and teaching you about survival, read this book. If you've never had a drill instructor in your face and you're a bit of a softy, you too need to read this book. I'm not kidding.

If you grew up in my generation and can remember the phrase "According to the Junior Woodchucks' Guide Book" this is that, but for adults. Don't be caught with your pants down when you need to count on yourself the most, this book can help prepare you for whatever you need to face. Read it, store the knowledge, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
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Wilderness Bible
by T. Koehl (5 out of 5 stars)
June 5, 2016

This book has become my wilderness bible. There is a large amount of information condensed within the pages. Small enough to carry and broad enough to be helpful in a plethora of situations. It is not a novel so reading cover to cover is not needed, but take plenty of time to become familiar with the sections of the book that are directly relevant to your current situation; but also take the time to become familiar with the remainder of the content. There is a good balance of description to diagrams to help compress the information. The tone of the writing is encouraging yet serious; this book deals with not dying and the reality is there is a lot of things that will kill you, the author does a good job relaying the reality of the scenario. If I had to bug-out this would be the one book I would take with me, no questions asked.
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Highly recommended. Wish I'd bought it long ago.
by J.W. Kurtz,Top Contributor: Camping (5 out of 5 stars)
May 25, 2015

This is a fantastic book. I want to try some of the stuff I've learned here regarding surviving in the bush during my summer hiking trips. Hopefully it is out of curiosity and not out of necessity due to an emergency! Now, why did I buy this? We live in a very, very fragile society. Most people do not know this but grocery stores only have about 3-days worth of food stocked on their shelves meaning that if those semi-truck and trains were to stop coming just about every town in the good old U.S.A. would be out of food after a 3-day weekend. This book gives some tips on how to survive in the bush, very true, but it also teaches one how to simply survive. Something that nearly all American's have forgotten how to do with our everyday reliance on Starbucks, McDonalds, and Walmart.

Highly recommended for anyone that goes rough country extended hiking and camping (real camping not that RV "stuff"), hunting, and/or just wants to be prepared if the lights go out. :)
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I bought two copies
by C. Cross (5 out of 5 stars)
March 26, 2019

I'm not an expert, but I want to be. I bought a copy of this book to learn from, and very soon after I bought a second copy to keep in my go bag. If society goes to shit and I have to get out, I want a copy of this book with me. But I still want a copy at home to read and study.

I already built the survival tin he suggests early in the book. I keep that with me at all times. If shit hits the fan, I will have fishing line and hooks, stuff to make fire, and a lot of other small emergency gear. And I'm glad I learned those things from this book.

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