National Geographic Complete Survival Manual: Expert Tips from Four World-Renowned Organizations, Survival Stories from National Geographic Explorers, and More

This survival guide is very good quality. It is useful and an interesting read.The cover is thick plastic- not plastic coated paper, but actual plastic so the cover is completely waterproof and rugged.The format of the book reads like a magazine, but all the information is useful, relevant, and presented in an interesting format. It is well organized by terrain. I don't need desert survival information where I live, but it still good knowledge to file away. It is easy for me to find forest information and learn how to survive a bear attack and what to do it it's a grizzly vs. if it's a black bear.It also includes short stories about people who have survived tough situations like poisonous snake bites, what they did, and how they made it.Even in a world with digital books, I will always have a spot on my bookshelf for this book on paper. Come tornado, blizzard, or who knows what I want this little book handy.

This is a water resistant, concise yet thorough book. I like having these kinds of guides and manuals, and although I won't need it or take it backpacking it's a nice text.

Very comprehensive. very compact, very trustworthy. I have experience in this field, and I have learned stuff I did not know...The way it is written and organized makes it easy to understand and to refer to it if necessary. I would add some survival material in the urban field, it's hard for me to imaging myself fishing in Alaska.... The John "Lofty" Manual includes some of this and it's very interesting. That would be my only suggestion, other than that, it's a great book and everyone should read it. everyone should understand what it takes to survive. and if you are clever enough, you can take desert situation, and translate them to your daily life. That's because the book is made with a lot of common sense, and as I said, very well organized.

The Complete Survival Manual is a good book to have in your wilderness survival library. Others have complained that the edible plant pictures included are too small, but it's nothing a magnifying glass can't fix. Though I like this book a lot, I would not actually call it a "complete" survival manual, because it doesn't cover improvised wilderness weapons, and you never know when you might need to defend against some animal or other such as a black bear or a grizzly. The book should have at least told how to make a good long and sturdy lunging/thrusting spear. Other than the lack of instruction on how to make defensive weapons, it is still an excellent book. I especially like the chapter on Temperate Zone survival. The book is packed full of useful information and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in camping or survival, because sometimes a camping trip can turn into a survival situation.

An easy reading, this manual sets apart from the survival books/manuals crowd because separates the different survival techniques in separate chapters depending on the environment (tropical jungle in one chapter, desert in another), so you need only to read the chapter of the weather/environment you pretend to go. Other books are arranged in a way that "obtaining water" is a whole chapter of its own, other for setting a camp, obtaining food or first aid, so you'll need to read the entire book to get the survival knowledge no matter the environtment you're going. I like this book.

If you plan a "away from the ordinary cruise" trip - this is it. Reading it prior to the trip and then carrying it with you is a good idea. The stories used as illustrations of good and bad decisions makes this interesting as well as informative.

Great book and resource. It has a lot of information that is useful to everyone. I highly recommend this book. It is well written, great illustrations, and perfect for honing your skills. Cheaper to buy here than a bookstore.

SWEENEY, Michael, (and National Geographic Society), 2008, National Geographic Complete Survival Manual, 367 pp. National Geographic Society, 1145, 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A. (online at [...] ISBN 978-1-4262-0429-6 (regular) ISBN 978-1-4262-0430-2 (deluxe) ISBN 978-1-4262-0389-3 (trade).The cover exhorts us to be prepared with this series of questions: "If you're lost and alone in the woods, what should you do? If killer bees attack you, what should you NOT do? If you're sheltering at home during a prolonged emergency, what pantry foods will you be glad you've stocked--and what popular items have no place on the shelf?" One presumes that the answers lie within the covers.The book commences with this introductory statement: "Learning survival skills is an exciting but complex endeavor. National Geographic Explorers spend years learning how to survive in the wild. Preparation plays a significant role in surviving an unforeseen emergency. Even the experts occasionally find themselves in risky situations, and having a comprehensive survival manual to study and consult can help save lives. The book is divided into ten chapters, plus an appendix. The first two chapters provide basic skills. The next six chapters (Chapter 3 through Chapter 8) provide skills by temperate [sic. They meant "climatic"] zone: temperate forests, swamps and rain forests, high mountains, desert, polar and sub-polar regions and open water. The final two chapters cover survival in and around your home (Chapter 9) and storms and disasters (Chapter 10). The appendix provides additional detailed information--including National Geographic maps of each temperate zone [sic. See above] --and the index helps you quickly locate information." The complete list of chapters is: How To Use This Book; Foreword; Survival Basics: Mind And Body; Survival Basics: Environment; Survival In The Temperate Forests; Survival In Swamps And Rain Forests; Survival In High Mountains; Survival In The Desert; Survival At The Poles And Sub-polar Regions; Survival On The Water; Survival In The Home; Surviving Storms And Disasters and an Appendix.The book is advertised as containing expert tips from: The American. Red Cross, The U.S. Army, The Boy Scouts of America and The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. "There is survival information that includes preparation, shelter, food, water, fire, navigation, signaling, hazards and first aid for six environments [oh, so that's what is meant by "temperate zones"!]. Another part provides information on at-home safety for eight different natural disasters, from tornadoes and hurricanes to earthquakes and wildfires. Sections called "quick-read lists" highlight the essentials, from triage of injuries to good and bad sources of water. Finally "how-to illustrations" demonstrate tying foolproof knots, splinting a broken bone and signaling with fire." About themselves National Geographic says: "Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. It reaches more than 285 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and its four other magazines; the National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; radio programs; films; books; videos and DVDs; maps; and interactive media. National Geographic has funded more than 8,000 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy." Wow, with all these resources and its exposure, wouldn't you think they'd get it right? Well perhaps like all attempts to be everything for everyone there are plenty of things to quibble about.Being interested in plants the first alarm bells rang when I looked at the illustration on page 114. Although Dracaena sanderiana, a plant species native to tropical west Africa is known as "Lucky Bamboo" in the nursery trade, unluckily for the National Geographic picture editor named in the credits, this plant is neither lucky or a bamboo. Perhaps gleaned from Boy Scout practices, the suggestion that one might add to or otherwise interfere with a rock cairn is fraught with danger. In Australia, these may be historical surveyor's marks that are protected from interference by legislation. More alarming would be to add to one that is of Indigenous Australian origin thus causing distress to the owners and disturbing the religious affiliations of the feature. Although it does not receive the emphasis which it deserves, the admonition in the text that "rocks placed by others should be respected" is vital in these instances.There is no doubt that this book is attractively designed despite some of the text being very difficult to read in an ill-lit tent, in fact the book is pretty despite plenty of pastel text and small text on coloured backgrounds. But what is a picture of a pretty poisonous Love-in-a Mist doing on page 15? Is it meant to emphasise the "leave all plants intact" statement further up the page? Hmmmmm. Regarding the "lost and alone in the woods" scenario [not in the index] on the cover, just don't get "Woods Shock" and the "killer bees", don't panic and swat, just run like hell away- you may scream too if you think this helps.