This Collins gem book is brought to us by the renowned author of the "SAS Survival Handbook", John "Lofty" Wiseman. The "Guide" contains basically the same information as the "Handbook" but is more condensed and so easier to carry or include in a day pack or Bug Out Bag (B.O.B).
Mr. Wiseman spent 26 years serving in the British Army's elite Special Air Service (SAS) as Chief Survival Instructor, ensuring that every member of the regiment could survive should the worst happen. As such he is an expert on survival methods which are proven effective through both training and operations. Since then he has gone on to produce a variety of books on SAS survival techniques as unofficial (not commissioned by the SAS) guide books with the expressed intention of saving lives, an intention which has been fulfilled countless times.
As this is a Collins gem it is a perfect "carry-with" guide to survival however this benefit may be seen to be outweighed by the small print which the visually impaired may find difficult to read (though I had no problems). However this minor drawback is easy to overlook given the vast wealth of valuable information to be learned.
Despite the small size of the book Mr. Wiseman doesn't seem to have skimped on the detail, and covering everything from Bow-making and hunting techniques to bedding down safely and relatively warmly in the icy Arctic and damp jungles and woods. There are comprehensive instructions and diagrams on just about every knot you could need, a (so far as I've seen) unsurpassed section of which plants are edible which are medicinal and which are deadly, along with a very careful guide outlining which fungi are edible, which poisonous ones they may be confused with and which to just plain steer clear of. It even includes a well diagrammed section on how to knap your own flint tools which goes above and beyond anything that my old archaeology teacher taught me.
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