Seal Survival Guide: A Navy Seal's Secrets to Surviving Any Disaster

Courtley's purpose in writing is to equip his readers to think, to adapt, and to respond like a Navy SEAL in order to survive unexpected dangers whether of natural or of human origin.I liked the book for several reasons: 1). The 34 survival scenarios covered the gamet of potential dangers for virtually any contingency one might imagine.2). Courtley's advice is practical and resonates with good common sense.3). His insights derive from a decade of his work in the SEAL Teams and include interesting first-hand anecdotes.4). The book reminded me of many good lessons I learned during my ten years in the military and had almost forgotten.The book contains the following four sections on the topic of Survival: 1). Mental and Physical 2). 34 Specific Survival Scenarios 3). Gear and Weapons 4). Medical TreatmentI have already recommended this book to many of my friends and purchased the book for my sons-in-law (neither of whom has a military background). I feel Courtley's primary contribution in this writing is in the following three areas: 1). It helps people develop situational awareness. 2). It explains the importance of acquiring a survival mentality. 3). It introduces a method for making good survival decisions quickly under stress.If you are breathing, you need this book. Get it now!

This is a hard review to write. First, I know the author....good guy! The book is probably best for people who have no clue but will probably not offer a lot of new useful info for people who have a clue (training, common sense). For me I didn't learn much because I've been around the block so to speak. I did enjoy it though. Recommended for those who don't know much about the basics because it does offer some good basic common sense information that could save your life. It's hard to convey this type of information in a book because there is literally way too much information around these topics that needs to be communicated in order to get the points across.

As one reviewer previously stated, the information the author included in this book can be found elsewhere. HOWEVER... I, for one, liked the author's style, his wit, and, at times, his brutal honesty.No, there are no "Super Secret" SEAL secrets revealed here - just the basics, which are delivered in a easy-to-relate-to manner. This isn't a War College training manual, so if that's what you are looking for, move along. To me, reading this made me feel like an old friend was trying to teach me something in my backyard between beers - familiar, comforting, with a lot of buddy-to-buddy bantering. I recommend it as a great first-time or refresher read.

I had heard the author on the radio, and thought this would be a great book for my adult sons. All of them live in places with inclement weather, and all of them like outdoor activities. I thought that the book would cover situations like getting stuck in a show bank overnight, but the book covers ALL survival scenarios--at least, all that I can think of--and many more. Be sure to go to the preview on Amazon & check out the Table of Contents.When my sons got the book, they asked when I was going to disarm a hand grenade or be involved in a high-speed chase. (You never know what grandma might do...) These are some of the more dramatic incidents that the author addresses, but the author does address more mundane issues like getting stuck in the desert, falling through the ice & auto accidents.One of the best parts of the book are the side bars. One is "Never Hesitate to Ask Questions That Could Save Your Life"--It's a paragraph long, but the salient point is--"Don't let the fear of what others think of you become an impediment to survival." Hmmmm....think 9-11 when people stayed in the buildings because they were told to.The info in this book is so current that the author addresses the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster and mall shootings.The Table of contents is in alphabetical order by incident, and therefore serves as a quick & easy index! If I'm involved in the middle of a biochemical attack, I want to be able to quickly look up some practical tips. Of course, I'll be carrying my Seal Survival Guide with me! Grandma's got you covered.Buy it. Put it in the bathroom. Learn it. Live.

Cade Courtley has his SEAL experience going for him. It trained him to be tougher than most untrained human beings. But the information in the book is not really about SEAL training, but mental based concepts that address surviving everything from a fight to tornadoes and tsunamis. Having trained with Israeli Commandos in the 1980s, I can report that we were never trained to deal with Tsunamis as there pretty much are none in Israel. So what Courtley is doing here is preparing a certain mindset where the actual disaster doesn't really matter much. Books by Lawrence Kane, Kris Wilder, Rory Miller, Loren Christensen, etc. and those of the civilian martial arts world who teach about self defense and the mindset civilians should have (different from a SEAL,) have already laid out this foundation quite well. Very few civilians, even military personnel, will ever undergo the kind of harsh and intense training a Navy SEAL goes through, so to equate surviving a civilian fight to covert missions in say Pakistan, is pretty much is a non-starter. That said, there is still information in this book that is worth reading if you haven't been exposed to it before. After a while, you will see a pattern in the thought process that teaches the concept of pushing yourself to the edge of the envelope. My guess is that most people who read this book will not go beyond the physical exertion of turning the page. But for those who seek the survivalist path, or at least want to make themselves both mentally and physically more alert and responsive, SSG is one more helpful book in the lexicon of survivalist literature.

Very interesting book.

This is one great book !!!The book covers a range of disaster scenarios and with diagrams covers the best techniques for your survival !!

Everything you need to know how to survive in any situation. Really invaluable. Would recommend it for everyone. It's not just for survivalist.

A timely update of the gung-ho survival-book genre. Really enjoyed it, The author is clearly passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. Would recommend it

Good information