Nearly everyone I know owns this book in one form or another, it has been about since 1986 and is often the first survival type book that people buy. With the swiftly increasing popularity of survival and bushcraft through the world and especially in the UK, books such as the SAS survival handbook continue to be increasingly popular. Even though some of the market share is being taken by author-experts such as Ray Mears, it is hard to imagine a day that people will pass by the SAS survival handbook.

The book is written by a chap called John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman who served for 26 years in the SAS, much of the time as their survival instructor. One can presume that he knows his stuff!

So what’s in it? Absolutely stacks of stuff, which a friend of mine pointed out to me the other day is both a blessing and a boon. For UK bushcraft there is a fair bit in the book that is irrelevant because it covers most of the world, we don’t get many Opossums or Wombats in our fair part of the world! But saying that, if you were to cut out all the stuff that is not relevant to us here in the UK you would still be left with a good size book with a lot of good information in it. Even the experts turn to this book when the memory of tying a double sheet bend slips their mind!

The book is not as in-depth as some, but because of its vast coverage it is a valuable source of information and an excellent reference book for all skill levels. Out of the sections that demonstrate practical skills it would be wise to have a practice, as some of the illustrations are a bit vague on how to make or construct what looks so good on paper.

Conclusion


The book has information on everything from abseiling and navigation to tying arteries (this one is hard to practice!) and shelter building. For an excellent addition to your outdoor reference section get a copy of the SAS Survival Handbook.

Pros: Full of useful information, that you can get to fast, and for the most part the stuff works! Comes in pocket gem size.

Cons: Too full of information! Lots of non UK information. Unless you have a pocket edition, it’s a bit big and bulky.

Comments (1)

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written by forrestdweller , April 14, 2008

good book, but i found 2mistakes: the spearthrower will not work this way(if you do'nt believe me-ask the australian aborigines!)and the self-made fishing lure "pulls" towards the tail (instead like normal ones from the shop) towards the head or do fishes swim now backwards?
beside this an interesting and helpful book!

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