Special Forces Survival Guide Book Review

Originally posted 2017-05-31 18:42:22.

Hello campers!  It’s time to do another book review.  This nifty little bundle of information came to me as a stocking stuffer at Christmas, and I have really enjoyed reading it and adding it into my survival library.  It’s the Special Forces Survival Guide by author Chris McNab. Mr. Mcnab is a Welsh gentleman who has penned over 20 books related to military history, combat, crime, as well as urban and wilderness survival.

The Special Forces Survival guide is just over 300 pages long and has excellent, easy to decipher instruction and lots of informative illustrations.   The beginning of the book stresses the vital importance of proper preparation for any outdoor adventure – it is this preparation that can be the difference between a fun couple of days out in the woods and a life threatening situation. Mcnab also relies on the simple, timeless phrase that is shared from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: ‘Don’t panic.’  This is always the most important survival technique to remember!

There are several areas of the book where the author takes information from one of the many elite special forces around the world  – take for example the US AirForce’s acronym COLDER in reference to proper survival clothing:

C Keep clothing clean

O Avoid overheating

L Wear clothing loose and in layers

D Keep clothing dry

E Examine clothing for defects or wear

R Keep clothing repaired

Nifty!  These little nuggets of information are a great insight.  I think what I like about this book more than some of the other survival guides I own is the detailed level of illustration.  In some other books the pictures provided can be a little vague or confusing, but it’s not the case with the Special Forces Survival Guide.    These illustrations really go in depth about exactly how various structures can be built and how techniques are supposed to be executed.

The closest book I could compare the Special Forces Survival Guide to are the SAS Survival Guide or the FM 12-76 US ARMY Survival Manual.  I think I like this and the SAS versions better than the US Army guide, simply because the illustrations are better.  One word of caution about the Special Forces Survival Guide, though – the actual paper of the book is kind of thin, almost akin to news print paper – so if you pack this into your bag, I would highly recommend putting it in a zip lock freezer bag or something so it won’t get wet.