"SAS Survival Guide" is a best-selling book that has been converted to an app. It is an extremely successful translation from the page to an app, and it is practical, informative and fun. When extensively testing the app on June 2, 2013, I did not experience any technical issues at all, so the latest update must have fixed the bugs noted by another reviewer. UPDATE: If you run into problems, the developers offer an e-mail address at which you can contact them for technical support. The e-mail address is listed at the bottom on the product description page on Amazon.
The color and smart main page allows you to choose from one of nine icons.
1. Essentials
2. Camp
3. Polar
4. Sea Coast
5. Desert Tropics
6. Wild Food
7. Hunting
8. First Aid
9. Urban
Each icon provides a comprehensive and detailed discussion regarding the topic at hand. The First Aid section, for example, provides, "From basics to serious wounds, fractures, traumas and diseases, plus a guide to medicinal plants." The Wild Food section gives you, "A comprehensive field guide to nutrition and food foraging, with galleries of edible and poisonous plants, roots, fruit, nuts and mushrooms."
The information contained is very valuable, and it is supplemented by multiple formats of additional information. There are interesting encyclopedia-style text narratives with educational information, including statistics, such as how many calories are produced by different types of foods, and the calorie consumption process. There are navigation icons within the text that very user friendly, such as an up and down arrow, a button that will make the text larger or small with one press, and the ability to bookmark items.
There are also various types of illustrations of the concepts:
1. There are documentary-style video files that you can download and watch to supplement your knowledge. For example, there is a 1:13 video that can be downloaded that discusses how important it is to ration your resources during an emergency. The speaker is very informative and interesting. After downloading the individual video, the file remains in your video gallery.
2. There are beautiful photographs of wild plants that are edible.
3. There are charts in red, with warnings.
4. There are details illustrations, in color and black and white. The section on mushrooms is particularly noteworthy.
Returning to the main page, you are provided with an additional set of icon buttons at the bottom of the screen that lead to extra materials and fun. The buttons are:
1. Gallery
a. Photo; and
b. Video.
2. Quiz
a. Knowledge Check
b. Each question is timed.
c. Press the button and hit enter.
d. Multiple Choice
e. Results
3. Bookmarks
4. Last Read
5. Checklist
a. With one-touch check-mark icons
i. Survival Kit;
ii. Survival Pouch; and
iii. Medical Kit.
b. Needed items are easily identified.
6. Morse Code - In emergency situations, you can transmit a message. Three preset messages are included:
a. SOS;
b. Help;
c. Mayday;
d. Or you can type a personalized message.
7. Compass
a. Northern Hemisphere; or
b. Southern Hemisphere.
These buttons are very useful and allow you to make the app useful for your own purposes. All of the extras are available at the touch of a finger.
I was lucky, and downloaded this as a free app of the day, but it's worth paying for. My first impression was that this would be an app that would teach me how to use the SAS statistics program more effectively, so do not let the name fool you. These are words of wisdom provided by a former military survival instructor. The authors also offer app support via an e-mail address.
Now that I own it, I will never venture out into the wilderness without first downloading and activating the app.
UPDATED: Several users are reporting technical issues, so I've updated the review to include more information about the available technical support.
SAS Survival Guide
3.6 | 388 ratings
Price: 5.99
Last update: 01-08-2025
Latest updates
What's new in version 1.6- • Option to Inapp purchase Lofty Wiseman's SAS Urban Survival Handbook: The companion app to Protect Yourself Against Terrorism, Natural Disasters, Fires, Home Invasions, and Everyday Health and Safety Hazards
- • Social framework Integration
- • Bugfixes, Stability and performance improvements
Product Details
Release Date: 2011
Date first listed on Amazon: December 27, 2011
Developed By: Trellisys.net Pvt Ltd
ASIN: B006VZ1B24
Customer reviews:
3.5 out of 5 stars387 customer ratings
3.5 out of 5 stars387 customer ratings
Developer info
- [email protected]
- http://www.sassurvivalguide.com
- More apps by this developer
Product features
- Learn how to survive any situation, anywhere in the world
- Download 16 videos with invaluable survival tips
- Get a Morse Code signaling device
- Access Survival Checklists
- See if you've got what it takes to survive with a 100+ question quiz
Product description
For over twenty years, the SAS Survival Guide has been the definitive guide to surviving any situation, anywhere in the world. Now, for the first time ever, the million-copy bestselling book has been reinvented for the iPhone.iPad User? Check the SAS Survival Guide for iPad !
############# ACCOLADES ##############
Official Honoree Award at the 15th Annual Webbys
Selected for iTunes REWIND 2010
Apple Featured Application
Featured in iTunes 'Staff Favourites'
Also features in "WHAT'S HOT" and "NEW & NOTEWORTHY" in most countries
Has been ranked the #1 LIFESTYLE APP in almost all geographic locations
#### ABOUT 'SAS SURVIVAL GUIDE' ####
Written by former SAS soldier and instructor, John "Lofty" Wiseman, this application brings you the elite training techniques of Britain’s toughest fighting force in the most accessible version ever. Now you can take the original set of world-class survival skills with you anywhere in the world – from the peaks of Kilimanjaro to the deserts of Kandahar…or to your closest national park.
This FULLY SELF CONTAINED app includes :
* Full text of the bestselling book optimised for the iPhone (over 400 pages)
* 16 videos providing invaluable survival tips from Lofty himself
* Photo galleries of Animal Tracks, Knots, Edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, sea creatures and snakes
* Morse Code signalling device
* 100+ question quiz to test if you've got what it takes to survive
* Survival Checklist
* Sun Compass
* Search tool to scan entire book by subject
* Extreme Climate Survival: sections on surviving Polar, Desert, Tropical, and Sea
* Comprehensive First Aid section
An internet connection is not essential for using this app and all content resides within the app download.
User Data Privacy
Information not provided by the developer.
To learn more, visit the developer’s privacy policy.
Technical details
Size: 25.3MB
Version: 1.6
Developed By: Trellisys.net Pvt Ltd
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Privacy Policy
)
Application Permissions:
(
Help me understand what permissions mean
)
- Access coarse (e.g., Cell-ID, Wi-Fi) location
- Access fine (e.g., GPS) location
- Create mock location providers for testing
- Access information about networks
- Required to be able to access the camera device
- Access the flashlight
- Access the list of accounts in the Accounts Service
- Open network sockets
- Read from external storage
- Open windows using the type TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT, shown on top of all other applications
- Access the vibration feature
- PowerManager WakeLocks to keep processor from sleeping or screen from dimming
- Write to external storage
- Read or write the system settings
- Allows an application to receive messages via Google Cloud Messaging
Minimum Operating System: Android 2.2
Approximate Download Time: Less than 4 minutes
Top reviews from the United States
Peggy AExceptional! Don't Go Without It
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