SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere

by John Wiseman

An awesome edition of the world’s preeminent guide to surviving anywhere and any type of disaster.

"A classic. ... Addresses every conceivable disaster scenario. Don’t leave home without it” —Outside

The multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller SAS Survival Handbook by John “Lofty” Wiseman is the definitive resource for all campers, hikers, and outdoor adventurers. From basic campcraft and navigation to fear management and strategies for coping with any type of disaster, this complete course

Preparation – Understanding and assembling latest, most resilient, kit.

Navigation – Skills, technologies and techniques to get you through unfamiliar terrain.

Food and Health – Finding resources in your environment, feeding yourself, healing yourself and avoiding disease.

Safety and Security – Recognising dangerous situations, defending yourself and saving others.

Disaster Survival – Dealing with unstable environmental what to do in the face of flash flooding or fast-spreading fire.

Audible Audio

Published October 6, 2026

About the author

John 'Lofty' Wiseman

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have a softcover copy of the SAS Survival Handbook in our emergency kit. But other than skimming a few pages when we first got it, I can't say I have read it. But now, thanks to the audiobook, I know and understand the contents in a way that will ensure the book itself - should I ever need it - will be much more useful. There are very handy tips for things like navigation, first aid, foraging, building shelter, distilling water, and more. Then there are the things I can't unhear, that I will now always remember, whether I need this information or not. This includes: if you hunt and kill a caribou (for food), it is safe to eat the lichen in its stomach; if you need to kill a canine (for food), be sure to remove its anal glands before boiling the meat; ants must be cooked for 6 minutes before eating; sap collected from a pine tree can packed around a toothache to protect an exposed nerve; an egg white can be used to seal small holes in a car radiator; and rubbing an onion or potato on the inside of your windshield will prevent it from "misting up" which I take to mean fogging up (the author is Australian). This no-nonsense guide includes hundreds more tips under various topics. It expects you to know how to start a fire in any condition (and to practice this skill in advance), and it gives detailed instructions for different types of fire construction, location, and use. Same with creating structures whether on a tropical island or a glacier. If you worry about the end of civilization, or just want to survive the next few decades of King floods, tsunamis, polar vortices, hurricanes, etc., then this book and audiobook are for you. I like the audiobook because I actually listened to it, but the book has illustrations, which is particularly handy when you need to see how to do something or in an emergency when you don't want to waste precious battery life on your device. So my advice is to listen to the audiobook and have the handbook in print for actual emergencies. You might be the only one in your group who can walk everyone through the protocol to determine if something is edible, or who knows to boil ants for a full 6 minutes!
My thanks to the author, publisher, @HarperAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the seriously and efficiently narrated audiobook of the #SASSurvivalHandbook for review purposes. Publication date: 6 October 2026.