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Conditioning yourself to live long enough for help to arrive.It made me realize how bad things would be if help wasn't on the way and how ill prepared we are in the event of massive disaster or something changing the entire planet.You can't take people used to running water, sanitation, cell phones, the Internet, grocery stores, cars, and whatever else and toss them out there and expect them to live beyond being a scavenger.It's a good read, but there are updated versions of this book now available. The focus of this book is about short term survival. It does focus on living off the land, the mental aspects, tools and survival tactics, but mostly in the light of surviving an accident or disaster when help is on the way.
Best book found on the topic. Still reading it and it is all good info.
Actually, his design does show up in one other place. Not really, I'm just annoyed that he or the publisher have never corrected a dangerous error in the illustration. Realistically, given the difficulty of effectively covering all the topics adequately, we should stop trying to buy/write/publish such comprehensive 'encyclopedias' & focus on excellent regional manuals. In the diagram, the thinner black rope does not drop down through the bight in the larger white rope, but merely weaves under itself & stays on the same side. Wiseman's venerable SAS Survival Handbook has been around for over 20 years at this point & keeps getting reprinted regularly.
The method shown slips into what's called a Thief Knot. Specifically, sections such as bow-drill fire making, making bows & arrows, and making stone tools are all about one column (half page) in length. completely unstable & unsafe.Do I think John Wiseman doesn't know how to really tie a sheet bend properly. the caveman fantasy movie "Quest For Fire". 3) The most dangerous error is in the knot tying section.
Yet every time I look at a copy, it seems to be an exact reprint of the original - same diagrams, same chapters, and (sadly) the same errors. No one without previous experience is going to have any success with those techniques nor are those already competent going to learn anything new. The Sheet Bend illustration (a safe & sturdy method of joining 2 ropes, even of differing diameters) is completely WRONG. Wiseman tries to write a comprehensive, world-wide, all-season survival manual & he's successful to a degree. yes, really. Anyone w/ a modicum of physical coordination, athletic ability or common sense understanding of physics will immediately recognize this awkward design will add very little (if any) performance increase to casting the dart.
As an outdoor survival instructor in western Canada I've always recommended my students get the small pocket editions as a worthwhile addition to their library - but that was after I'd pointed out some of the glaring weaknesses in this book such as:1) In trying to be a do-all book, Wiseman (and other authors in other books) winds up mentioning a plethora of survival skills, but with the more primitive skills he gives such a cursory overview that I believe no novice reader could ever successfully implement such techniques in their backyard, let alone in a survival emergency. 2) The ridiculous spear thrower (atlatl) design that has graced every edition of this book is completely inefficient & not found anywhere in the world wide archeological record of spear-thrower designs.
Perfect for the summer home in the woods or on your next hiking trip. Excellent survival information.
It gives you many illustrated examples of animals, plants, food,knots, poisions, shelters, signaling, weapons, first aid, and navigation. It shows you everything from making shoes out of tires to how to cook shark. This book is a must for any survival kit. This is a good survival guide. It has all the basics and much more.
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