Book ?

[texastonydobbs]

Hey Jeff back last year or so , you mentioned writing a new book about survival mainly jungle info but covered many other subjects as well, any news on this project .

 

[hwpaintballer]

Until Jeff shows up to better answer your question I hope these help TTD, not really about the survival book like you were looking for though.

I'm nothing more than a writer and photographer covering a story for SWAT magazine. I don't even consider myself a journalist. In fact, I don't particularly care for journalists because most of them have an agenda. My only agenda is telling the truth and learning about different people, cultures and what makes them tick. I have never been in the military, never had any high-speed tactical training, not been a part of a SWAT team or anything else that may "qualify" me to go to some of the places I go or do some of the things I do. Nothing spooky about what I do, nor do i care to hang around with spooky people - just not my thing. I'm simply a curious person and when I want to find out what's going on, I do my best to track down every lead and research every angle. That may be the death of me some day but if it is then it's no one's fault but my own. Colombia, the drug war and the players associated with it have fascinated me for years simply because it has so many major consequences on the United States. I've covered it in Peru in the past and will continue to cover it in some form or another in the future. I actually plan to write a book on all of this some day. SWAT and other magazines have given me a venue to cover such things, and for that, I am grateful. Colombia is indeed a serious place with a lot of consequences for your actions. As the other poster said, it's not a joke, but it does have a story to tell and will have for some time.

Not sure on publication date. I'm working on doing a 2-part piece. First part will be about the Junglas, their training, missions, etc. and the 2nd part on the coke labs and how they are found and destroyed.

 

[onado2000]

That an exciting idea and I would like to read the book if he writes it. Reading the quote above reminds me of the 1980s movie Salvador about a journalist in South America doing a story on corrupt politics/military. Jeffs right though, think about how drugs (cocaine) from S.A. have changed and defined the 1980s & even today. One of my favorite shows, Miami Vice would have never been produced if that history did not exist !

 

[texastonydobbs]

Until Jeff shows up to better answer your question I hope these help TTD, not really about the survival book like you were looking for though.

well to a degree HWP, I was underthe impression of it being more of a survival book than a story book,I found the original thread

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=604522&highlight=book

 

[R.A.T.]

Tony,

I've got several projects going with no time line on finishing any of them. The coke book is one project that may be years before I finished. Been gathering info, photos and research on this project for several years now. This book may be like an associate of mine who was doing a book on serial bombers. The publisher asked him when he thought he would finish it and he replied, "whenever idiots quit blowing shit up." So, the cocaine story is the same way. Just when you think you have a handle on how it works, something new happens and you have to re-think your research or your story is out of date. It's tough work because it eventually gets to where you never do publish because of being behind the curve.

I'm still putting together pieces for a future survival book specific to jungle survival (have a damn good PowerPoint on it now that I did a while back). That one should be able to come together since jungle survival doesn't change. It is just waiting on my lazy ass to put the notes in a book format.

Also working with am associate of mine on doing another project on some of the tradecraft (for lack of a better word) associated with high-risk travel and how to keep yourself safe.

Working on an updated E&E program and got a lot of input from some very good sources (full time SERE instructors) on that (just about finished with that PowerPoint and course).

Planning another trip back into Colombia sometime in the near future and back to Peru for another school.

I think we still have a knife business to run amidst all of this too

So, the short version on the answer: I doubt it will be anytime soon on any of these projects. I figure Latin America will probably kill me before these projects get finished I need to stay the hell away from down there and just write....

 

[texastonydobbs]

LOL, I here ya ,I just picked up some books over the weekend and it spurred a simple thought.. I hope you finish 'em before they become memoirs brother

 

[Yorkshire Boy]

Hey Jeff, doing the stuff you do I always assumed you'd been in the military. But then Ray Mears was never in the military either.

If you don't mind me asking (feel free not to answer) how did you go about becoming a survival instructor?

To an outsider you have an incredibly interesting life, I'd love to read a book by you.

Have you thought of making some youtube videos?

 

[R.A.T.]

Hey Jeff, doing the stuff you do I always assumed you'd been in the military. But then Ray Mears was never in the military either.

If you don't mind me asking (feel free not to answer) how did you go about becoming a survival instructor?

To an outsider you have an incredibly interesting life, I'd love to read a book by you.

Have you thought of making some youtube videos?

Obviously I didn't get any training by being in the military but I did get training from the military. Nearly all of my jungle skills come from experience of being there so many times, working with Indigs of the region and working with military survival instructors. Not to mention I grew up in the woods and on a farm. Self-sufficiency has truly been a way of life for me all my life. "Survival" as most people think of it is short-term. Long-term survival is not about living in the wilds. It means being able to push groceries up out of the ground, preserve food, etc. So, when it comes to instructing survival skills I put them in two totally different categories. So, basically what we teach is how to stay alive until you get rescued (short term keeping your ass alive). What I live is mostly self-sufficiency (long-term).

I don't want to come off sounding like an asshole, but basic military survival training is sometimes way over-rated, IMO. That doesn't just come from me but MilPers themselves. Now, some of the more advanced schools seem to be really good. Some of the 7th SFG guys I've known had excellent skills in survival techniques, but I also know a lot of MilPers that attend private schools for a lot of different skillsets and some will tell you that private is better in a lot of ways.

Some of the smartest bushman I have ever met couldn't write their name and wanted very little contact with the human race.

 

[SuicideFO]

Hey Jeff, I vote for an autobiography.