Survival Cards -- books, etc.

[Burchtree]

What are you all's thoughts on "survival cards" and the current pocket-guide type of books out there? Do you think there is enough interest for a small (but readable) pocket guide reference book for campers, backpackers, etc to carry with them? Is so, what would you like to see in something like that? And, I'm not talking long-term, I'm talking SHTF situations in the wilderness.

Thanks for any help --

 

[ROCK6]

For those that don't get out much to practice the skills,yeah, it's a good idea (better than nothing). I have the very small SAS pocket survival book that my son really likes. Personally, I think a good set of regional edible plant ID cards would be handy and not too cumbersome. I keep the standard Pocket Reference for a whole host of handy info. I think any form of reference book would aid it keeping the user a little calmer and force him/her to slow down and think logically.

ROCK6

 

[Burchtree]

I did a lot more thinking on this subject on my drive home from work yesterday and was thinking a lot about regional cards. I think it would be nice to offer a wide variety of laminated cards, from a "first aid" packet to individual reigional cards and allow people to pick and build their own outdoor reference material. They could have holes in the side to be bound if needed or just to put some strong, small steel rings through or whatnot. Any thoughts on that?

 

[mewolf1]

I did a lot more thinking on this subject on my drive home from work yesterday and was thinking a lot about regional cards. I think it would be nice to offer a wide variety of laminated cards, from a "first aid" packet to individual reigional cards and allow people to pick and build their own outdoor reference material. They could have holes in the side to be bound if needed or just to put some strong, small steel rings through or whatnot. Any thoughts on that?

I would not be against them but I do think that if one aquired a set that it would serve them well to memorize them. If some one is carrying them that tells me that they are not going to be prepared mentally for a bad situation.
Yes, I do think that it would be better than nothing for some, but personnaly
I want to know what to do from practice; more like muscle memory. I took an advanced swimimming life saving course many years ago and it is not in the forefront of my mind but when I have needed it it all came back in a flash.

 

[RokJok]

Some survival cards were included among the survival manuals I reviewed at the link below. Cards can be nice in that they are usually small enough to be trivially included in a kit. The downside is that they are arbitrarily incomprehensive due to the limited space allowed by the format.

As the others noted, they are better than nothing. However, I view cards as "memory joggers" to trigger recollection, not as a means of education to equip someone to actually achieve shelter/fire/water/etc in a time of need. As noted by Mewolf1, there should be trained- and practiced-in skills already in place.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241120

 

[survivor1]

Hi Folks,

Aide Memoir type cards have their place but as previousy mentioned are not comprehensive enough, what if you have the wrong cards for where you might end up.

I have more than half a dozen "Survival" books, most of which are too broad in what they tell you, what use is artic survival in the desert or desert survival in the temperate climates?

I live just a short distance from John "LOFTY" Wiseman, the author of the SAS Survival hand book, even got him to sign my copy last year, he told me that KNOWLEDGE is in many ways more important than having a book on you, very true, what happens if you loose your kit and your book, it is then that you need to draw on the knowledge you have embedded in your memory.

S1