Special Forces Survival Guide
Do you know how to create a shelter in a sand dune? This guide __will teach you those skills and...
Special Forces Survival Guide Ever wondered how to get water from a cactus? Do you know how to create a shelter in a sand dune? Want to make your own spear thrower? The Special Forces Survival Guide ($15.95; Ulysses Press; ulyssespress.com) will teach you those skills and countless others that have been gleaned from the survival manuals of the Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Delta Force, Green Berets, Royal Marines, French Foreign Legion, Australian SAS and Canadian Special Forces.
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When people think of starting fires without matches, they often think of hand-drill or bow-drill methods. Yet there are many other techniques for making a flame, including:
1. Making sparks from a battery 2. Professional flint and steel sets
3. Using a magnifying glass to catch the sunlight
4. Placing tinder in a flashlight reflector
The safest way for a group of three or more people to cross a river is by using a loop of rope as shown. The person who is crossing is either inside the loop or holding onto it, and so can easily be pulled to shore if he or she falls down during the crossing.
If you have to move from one position to another, leave trail signs to give search parties or other people information about where you have gone, or to provide details about what lies ahead. Signals include, from top to bottom: “This is the road,” “Turn left,” “Turn right,” and “Danger.”
Plants can be good indicators of the approach of rain, usually because parts of them close up as the moisture content of the air increases. The plants here (from top to bottom: clover, shamrock, morning glory and chicory) give typical examples of presentations on hot (left) or rainy days.
This survival tool should be used only for light chopping duties, such as breaking up sticks, because the axe head will not be stable enough for heavy applications. Cut a slit opening to hold the blade and use lashings to reinforce the handle.
To navigate by watch in the Northern Hemisphere (right), point the hour hand at the sun and bisect the angle between it and 12 o’clock to find south. In the Southern Hemisphere (left), point the 12 o’clock mark at the sun and bisect the angle between the mark and hour hand to find north.
The contrasting layers of this water filter each strip out particles of debris from the water, leaving it clean enough to be boiled for purification. Use multiple layers of rocks and sand. Everything is contained in a cloth bag.
If you are lost in the wilderness, be aware of how search parties might be looking for you. They will generally use one of the two techniques, the sweep search, shown here, or the square search (next slide). Helicopters will typically describe an ever-widening circle out from your last-seen position. The sweep search involves multiple searchers spread out in a line, all advancing at the same pace.
These techniques are used for joining ropes without creating a significant weak point between the ropes. From top to bottom: Square knot, single-sheet bend, double-sheet bend, Carrick bend.
Tracking skills involve picking up multiple signs of past movement and putting them together in a direction of travel. Signs change with time. For example, footprints crumble and become full of debris the older they are. The following are good indicators of human/animal presence, clockwise from top left: displaced rocks, broken foliage, broken cobwebs, footprints.
Flush a rabbit from its burrow by making a fire near the entrance to its hole and wafting the smoke inside.
Estimating angles can be a useful skill for helping calculate distances and also for computing bearings. Some simple hand configurations, shown here, provide rough guidelines to useful angles. Note that every finger’s width between sun and horizon represents about 15 minutes of available sunlight.
Top left: 150 degrees
Top right: 120 degrees
Center left: 2 degrees
Center middle: 4 degrees
Center right: 6 degrees
Hitches are used when you need to attach a rope to a piece of wood (or similar object) or to another rope. Ensure that the appropriate type of hitch is matched to the nature of the job.
Half hitch (top left)
Timber hitch (top middle)
Half hitch and timber hitch (top right)
Clove hitch (center left and middle)
Round turn and two half hitches (center right)
Rolling hitch (bottom)
These lashings are most useful during construction of shelters (particularly frame-type and platform shelters) and survival rafts. From top to bottom: square lash, diagonal lash, shear lash.
A bowline is one of the most effective loop knots for holding equipment (top); a triple bowline (center) makes a useful sling; a bowline on a bight (bottom) is a stronger version of the bowline.
Rations should be designed around what will satisfy the balanced nutritional and energy requirements of your survival. Here are some examples of durable foods that together serve both short- and long-term needs: powdered yeast, hard candy, ginger cookies, canned fruit, chocolate bars, granola bars, onions.
Pack essential, often-used items such as flashlights, maps, compasses, knives, first-aid kits, and fire-starting equipment in easily accessible pouches, pockets, and bags. Make sure any survival bags you use are completely waterproof and free from tears.
A good first-aid kit should include items to treat wounds, limit or treat infections, safely reduce pain, and aid in delivering life-saving techniques. Make sure you are properly trained in how to give antibiotics and painkillers, if you carry them.
Stitching a wound is not recommended for those without professional medical training. If rescue will not arrive for a long time, however, it may be the only option. Sterilize a thread and needle; make a stitch at the midpoint of the wound; pull through one side of the wound; stitch through the other side; draw the wound together; tie the stitch off. Repeat as needed.
Time-elapse plotting using a shadow can help you ascertain direction (left) and time (right).
The trigger is the most critical part of a deadfall trap. It must be sensitive to touch, but resistant to simple collapse and being blown down by the wind.
A deadfall with a baited figure-four trigger.
A deadfall with a tripline release.
A deadfall and snare combination.
Trigger for deadfall/snare.
Generally speaking, the higher and wispier the cloud type, the better the weather. The lower, darker clouds typically signal approaching rain, especially if combined with an increasing wind strength. Pictured here from top are Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus, Altocumulus, Altostratus, Stratocumulus and Nimbostratus. Cumulonimbus is the tall cloud at right in the image.
Do you know how to create a shelter in a sand dune? This guide __will teach you those skills and countless others that have been gleaned from the survival manuals of the special forces.