SAS survival...what?

[LudwigVan]

I keep being told that the SAS survival guide is so awesome, I looked on amazon for it and guess what? Theres like 3 different ones!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sas+survival+handbook&sprefix=sas+

I can see that some of them are spin offs (Urban survival guide, self defense handbook, etc.) But there's the SAS survival guide and theres the SAS survival handbook. The handbook is like 200 pages bigger and apparently he's written a new version that comes out in April of next year.

I want to get one of them, not both of them. So what does the internet think; should I get the guide, the handbook or wait till April?

[dougz]

Yup, you want the one by Wiseman..

The 3rd edition is pocket sized, good for putting in your pack..

It's #1 on that link you posted..

[LudwigVan]

Thanks. Are the Handbook and the Guide not the same thing?

[Jericho117]

I avoid military based survival books........to many orders.

[dougz]

Are the Handbook and the Guide not the same thing?

Whoops, the small, pocket-sized one (the "guide") is #2 on the list.. Sorry..

The Handbook (#1) is the bigger one and has more pages..

I would get that one if you're not concerned with packing it with you..

[rrsnook]

If you go to www.bushcraftuk.com. In the download section they have the U.S. army survival guide.

[Greenleaf]

I just bought the SAS Handbook and I'm very impressed. Although I'm new at all this "wildlife survival" stuff, it's a field that beckons me to learn more about.

Yes, I'd get the Handbook, the first one of the three on your link.

[tsitenha]

One thing that we have to be careful about is that some of these books do have mistakes in them.....including Wiseman's SAS.
Look up the Altal launcher efficient no......thrown by hand is better some one made a graphic mistake when drawing it and never in the years corrected it. any other mistakes????

[Greenleaf]

One thing that we have to be careful about is that some of these books do have mistakes in them.....including Wiseman's SAS.
Look up the Altal launcher efficient no......thrown by hand is better some one made a graphic mistake when drawing it and never in the years corrected it. any other mistakes????

Is that a trap? Do you have the page number? And if not, then what is it exactly? Maybe your answer will help me figure out where I might need to look.:)

[tsitenha]

The Altal launcher is a launcher stick that holds a slender spear shaft along it 2-3' lenght and alllows for a greater distance in your casting ability (range)
As its shown in my book the handle is midway or less along the bottom of the launcher body and is shown to be grad hold of at that point, mechanicaly ineffecient. Look at other sources for similar launchers and you will see what I mean, He does have a good book but certain things have been let go.....

[Greenleaf]

The Altal launcher is a launcher stick that holds a slender spear shaft along it 2-3' lenght and alllows for a greater distance in your casting ability (range)
As its shown in my book the handle is midway or less along the bottom of the launcher body and is shown to be grad hold of at that point, mechanicaly ineffecient. Look at other sources for similar launchers and you will see what I mean, He does have a good book but certain things have been let go.....

Hmm, that's really interesting. I'll have to look into that soon. I'll see if there are any other ones online that I can see. Perhaps then I will fully understand. After all, this is pretty much all new to me. :p

[tsitenha]

In my copy Gem SAS Survival Guide page 138 notice the bottom handle position.
Ask any engineer, mechanicaly ineffecient.

[FVR]

My copy has a little spurt on a spear thrower. This is not an Atlatl thrower as with an Atlatl you throw darts, which are lighter and more flexible than spears.

Spears are stiff, for the long throw or a close thrust.

Atlatl darts are very flexible, much like an arrow and the whole shaft bends, which stores energy for the throw.

I have made both weapons and they are totally different.

Hunting spears have a blade attached to the spear where many hunting atlatls have a hardwood forshaft that fits over the dart, so when the dart enters the animal, the point which is attached to the hardwood shaft, stays in the animal and the long part of the dart falls off.

This is so you can run up, get your dart, attach another hardwood shaft and point and continue after the game hunted.



As far as manuals, I have a variety. The SAS is good, also the USMC and Army manuals have good info., I also have one by Angier, How to stay alive in the wilderness. Well, then I have all these other books on Indian and mountain man skills.

It's all good.

[tsitenha]

Would you not say that the diagram depicted would not work as the the "handle" is to far back to throw, would be more like a shove.

[FVR]

The image given, as I see it, trash the thrower and use the spear the way it was intended. Close range and thrusting.

It looks like you would loose alot of force from the spear using the contraption. Also, it looks like you are limited in the amount of force you can generate with such an ackward movement.

In other words, the handle thrower looks to be crap.

[crashdive123]

For those not familiar with them, here is a vid demonstration of atlatl throwing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXxYqUS5ZfU

[chiangmaimav]

I also have the Gem pocket version and keep it in my pack. I have found it to be very helpful.

[Greenleaf]

For those not familiar with them, here is a vid demonstration of atlatl throwing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXxYqUS5ZfU

Holy cow man! That's friggin' sweet! And thanks for clearing this "atlatl" thing.

[dougz]

It's funny you guys mention that, as last time I was looking at that illustration I was thinking "um, I'm sorry, that's not going to work...". :)

[Leighman]

Not sure if still in print but there was also an SAS Survival Guide "Flick Book" that contained less info but constructed of a laminated (?) weatherproof paper and small enough to carry in your pack.

[LudwigVan]

So does the guide have less info than the handbook or is it just condensed into smaller print?

[dougz]

Less pages, but for the most part just smaller print..

[LudwigVan]

Well thanks everyone for clearing this up, now I know what to look for on my next bookstore trip :)

[SnipAR-10]

I've found a couple mistakes. Actually one mistake, and one piece of advice that was BAD.
The SAS Survival Handbook (Harper Collins edition 1996 ISBN 0 00 217185 6
First, the mistake:

Page 88 Tropical plants Text as follows: 6 Breadfruits (Artocarpus) are trees, growing to 15-20m (48/560ft)
Never seen or heard of a breadfruit tree getting to be 560 feet tall. Amazing

Second, the BAD advice:
Page 138 Camp Craft Text as follows: If it is absolutely necessary to split logs in order to conserve fuel, an axe is not needed. Even quite a small knife placed on the end of a log and hit WITH A ROCK may split it. (emphasis mine)
Er, don't do that unless you want to destroy your knife. They do have in bold print: "But if you only have one knife don't take the risk of damaging it."
How bout just say, "Use another piece of wood"

The part about the spear thrower is on Page 108 in my book, and that looks in my somewhat professional opinion to be as we would say, "poo-poo".

Most of the traps outlined in the Food section seem to be a little too unnecessarily complicated when one could use simple snares. I am not saying they aren't useful, just a bit much for the average user.

I'm pretty sure I could find more. I do certainly recommend the book though for the tons of very useful info. That one, and the Survivorman book are both pretty good. Survivorman book is MUCH more basic, and might bore the more experienced people. Still good stuff.

All quotes used without permission but protected by the "fair use policy" I believe its called.

[wildography]

I also have the Guide (#2 on the list) in my pack. I keep the guide and about 10 photocopied sheets in a zip-lock baggy.

The photocopied sheets have drawings/instructions of traps, shelters, fire pits, other survival advice that I have found from this forum and in other web sits. I copy/pasted the drawings/instructions into MS Word and then re-sized/organized the drawings/info, then printed everything out.

I also have two other paperback books books that I could take with me if I wanted the extra weight... a book on "man-traps", and a book on "roughing it in the wilderness".

[Pure-Survival]

The SAS survival Handbook is a good book but is a little dated now.

One thing you guys are mentioning is the accuracy of the images. Lofty had no input to the images, the publisher sent the text to an illustrator who drew the images from the description in the text and no experience of the real item. This is common in many survival books.

[Pure-Survival]

Second, the BAD advice:
Page 138 Camp Craft Text as follows: If it is absolutely necessary to split logs in order to conserve fuel, an axe is not needed. Even quite a small knife placed on the end of a log and hit WITH A ROCK may split it. (emphasis mine)
Er, don't do that unless you want to destroy your knife. They do have in bold print: "But if you only have one knife don't take the risk of damaging it."
How bout just say, "Use another piece of wood"

Lol everyone points this one out, in a military survival, e&e scenario you knife is not likely to be used for fine motor skill projects but as jack of all treads lump of metal for any task. You would hit it with anything that is close to hand and if that was a rock so be it, you are bruise the spine of the blade, no real issue with that.

In most cases it will be an issue knife anyway, which are rubbish so you wont be to concerned.

[Pure-Survival]

I don't know if this will be any use to anyone but the three publications in the image are basically the same book, the information in the small two volumes has been condensed slightly.

There are similar versions with different covers too

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9696/p3300235.jpg

[warrigal]

Instead of an altal, try a woomera spear thrower. It is used by the Australian Aborigine to provide extra thrust and therefore distance and power to spears thrown.
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/DDABD1E0-5A5A-4A90-9683-0A99CD93D3D1/0/Image6.gif
The end of the spear is notched like an arrow and the woomera has peg at the opposite end to the handle. The action is similar to throwing an axe except of course you don't release the woomera.
I have a number of the Lofty Wiseman books and am interested a new one is coming out.
I have the full issue, a set of waterproof flip cards and the collins gem issue. The Collins and flip cards are a more a reminder or memory poker. So you get the full size edition study it at home then carry the abridged versions in your BOB incase you get a mental blank when the stress hits.
Carl
P.S Now that I see I have the three books in Pure-Survival's pic

[gryffynklm]

I keep the SAS pocket guide in my pack as a reference and the hand book I use for trying things and reading at home. I had the same I don't know about this in regard to the launcher.

[wizardslovak]

best book on survival i ever owned was and is "SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea (Paperback"
is there better one??

[vthompson]

I have the SAS books and I like them really well. But I have another one that I like even better. It is "Camping and Wilderness Survival by Paul Tawrell.
It has a wealth of information in it and I plan on keeping it with me whenever I go camping. It covers everything unde the sun. You can find it on Amazon.

[oldsoldier]

had a friend give me a copy of the SAS survival guide from amazon (the large copy) I can't remember who wrote it. I'm just glad it was free.(amazon sent him 2 copies he didn't order so they said sorry just keep em courtesy of amazon) because my opinion it was a joke. Mine is now being used as a wedge under a wobbly work bench in my garage. ( just kidding) I gave mine to a local charity book sale.

[Rick]

Here's a preview for that book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=deRKF5kv5wwC&dq=Camping+and+Wilderness+Survival+by+Paul+Tawrell&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=SIQDSqm9C5nAM4DX1aID&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPP1,M1

I just ordered it.