I had that book! It is VERY good. I was considering doing the modifications too, but you have to have a particular knife to do so (blade tip needs to curve up slightly). After I thought about it, knowing to do measurements of the incline of a hilltop to know how much energy you will need to exert in order to hike it is just a bit... hhmm.... ANAL. Supposedly, you can measure distances with it too, or find out how wide a river is to find the best path to swim at an angle across it to minimize the ammount of energy you use doing so, and optimize your chances of actually making it across more quickly and safely.
I am sure there are a few other tricks you can do with this modification but... no thank you. I am sure it does look cool to the joes, especially if you're wearing a beret or something fabulicious, but no thank you. Also, his drawing rendition of the marking measurements was like... blurry a bit and the numbers were hard to see. I don't think I will EVER need to be that technical. If I was a Green Beret now... maybe that would come in handy, but who knows.
The other advice found in the book is SWEET. I liked how he talked about the movie The Hunted, and how he rationalized that you should NEVER throw your knife! His reasons made too much sense to ignore. I hope everyone who reads this post, buys the book and find out for yourself the man known as Don Paul, and read his books. He is at times hilarious (takes a special soul to appreciate his humor however) and very down to earth. I give this book three thumbs up!
I also have his book, "The Green Beret's Compass Course." Sounds like it makes a lot of sense. Using nothing but a compass and being able to find your way anywhere in the world without a map. Now that is cool. Who can say they can do that? Again, like the modifications however, really considering it, you would have to literally write down every angle of movement you did, and do a lot of math on paper (or in your head if you are an Einstein), but that seems... a bit too technical. I am sure it will work, but not so sure it is practical, at least for me that is.
