United States Air Force Search and Rescue Survival Training: Af Regulation 64-4 Paperback – September 15, 2002

I collect Survival Manuals. This one is clearly a must have if you are serious about this subject.It has in depth information on subjects which no other survival manuals has. For example, the information on Navigation is particularly in depth. It even has detailed information on mountain climbing which I cannot remember seeing in any other Survival Manual.If I could only have one manual, this would be the one that I would choose. highly detailed, very in depth and very detailed.

This book is one of the nicer copies out there. It actually feels/looks like a text book instead of some photocopy crap. I got this book, because it is one of the books recommended in BushCraft&Backpacking circles. So my review is based on it's effectiveness at doing that.The first 2 sections are summed up as such...(S.T.O.P.A.) Stop, Think, Observe, Plan, Act..... Sounds nice, but the info was so broad as to be considered useless. People who have no experience won't understand it, and people who do won't need it. It's 52 pages of this, so disappointment was high. Could have been 5 pages or less. Not only that, but this same set of guidelines is repeated at length throughout every section, again, and again, and again......... The book wastes well over 100 pages saying the same things in every section.This book is so long, I wrote another review, but deleted it, because it was over two pages long. Here's the gist of the rest of the book................. Medicine could be skipped as there just isn't enough depth to help with wilderness survival.........Weather and Geography read twice, great section..........Plants and Animals skipped(too few photos)..........Outdoors section skipped, get a real bush crafting book....... ......Food&Water skimmed, some good advice........... ....Navigation skipped(Double skipped) it was poorly organized, wasn't bad information, just more complicated than it had to be....... ..... Land Travel 17 pages, should have been 5.......... …. Rough land travel(mountain climbing) was great, I really liked it...... …... Signaling and recovery was useful ..... …... Escape and Evasion seemed a waste.... …... Nuclear/Chemical attack sections were somewhat helpful, but pretty sure updated information is much needed.---Here are some highlights: Pro's and Con's---Con: Break your compass to get the lens out and use as a magnifying glass to start a fire(OMG don't ever do this).Pro: Use this plant to poison fish in a pond or stream, but is still human safe.(I loved that section).Con: Use your watch to tell what North and south is.(experts around the world tell you this errors so much, just don't do it)Pro: Straight lines are easier to spot from planes searching for you.Conclusion:I would definitely read this book before picking up something like Wild Wood Wisdom(1945) or any of the other old BushCraft books. This book was written with a serious mindset, and was as researched as well as it could be for the time it was written(1985). Obviously there are many wasted pages here, but I do feel the full spectrum was covered, and with far more depth than many other outdoor books I have read.(Note: I haven't read the SAS Manual yet, on it's way).

I first became acquainted with this work while serving in the U.S. Army in the late 1960's and early '70's. It was used as a major textbook in training a small group of selected specialists for a rather different mission set in some areas under the responsibility of the U.S. Far East Command. Speaking for myself - a "kid" from suburban Kansas City who enlisted in a select branch of the U.S. Army (to avoid the Draft) - It got me there. It got me back. I can't say that for the rest of my training group. When we were re-assembled some several months later for addtional training... the classroom was NOT crowded. Yeah: Read it. Study it. APPLY it. BUT - you STILL must THINK and INSTINCT - a lesson found in no manual save this one. This new, updated edition still rings as true as my old "textbook" - even with some field experience behind me now. I AM a biased "fan" of the book. That's about all I can say.

This book is getting hard to find and I had to wait a fair bit of time to receive it after placing the order.Worth the wait, and absolutely chock-full of valuable informationDefinitely RECOMMENDED👍🏼

This book is pretty much the be all and the end all in survival books. This is the book that all the other ones get their info from, and the one I received was in pretty much perfect condition. The print quality it's self is pretty good too.

This book was recommended to me from someone who knew survival techniques. This is supposed to be the most comprehensive tool to survival. I haven't had the need to use it as yet, but it will be at my fingertips when I do. I have reviewed several areas and find it quite helpful. There are other areas I would probably never use. I am a woman in her 60's with no husband and don't know and hope I will never have to use it!!!

Boy Scout handbook on steroids. It is fantastic. If the reader is looking for a lot of firearm info, this is not the book. This book is filled with "keeping your butt alive info". Tons of information on multiple topics.

I use this as a reference guide for learning new survival skills. It seems to be very comprehensive and contains skills and concepts that I've never considered. I am learning much from this guide and continue to find new things to try on my weekend escapes to the woods.