Big Phil Campion's Real World SAS Survival Guide: Any Threat. Any Situation. Sorted.

286 Pages·2014·7.48 MB·English

by  Phil Campion

BIG PHIL CAMPION’S REAL
WORLD SAS SURVIVAL GUIDE
ANY THREAT • ANY SITUATION • SORTED!
Phil Campion
Julie Davies
WARNING!
Some of the skills and techniques in this book are everyday ones while others
are for use only in extreme circumstances where individual safety is at risk. The
use and application of the contents of the book are entirely the responsibility
of the reader. The publishers have no responsibility or liability for any loss,
injury or damage whether arising directly or indirectly as a result of the use or
misuse of any of the information, skills or techniques in the book, all of which
should be used within the law and with regard for the rights of others.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Quercus This edition first published
in 2014 by
Quercus Editions Ltd
55 Baker Street
7th Floor, South Block
London
W1U 8EW
Copyright © 2014 by Julie Davies and Phil Campion
The moral right of Julie Davies and Phil Campion to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Ebook
ISBN 978 1 78206 853 2
Print ISBN 978 1 78206 852 5
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations,
places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales
is entirely coincidental.
You can find this and many other great books at:
www.quercusbooks.co.uk
CONTENTS
Introduction
1 KING OF YOUR CASTLE
Burglars and unwanted visitors: what to do and what not to do Forensic-
style tactics: what to do if you suspect that you’ve been burgled Security:
locks, alarms, lights and cameras The garden and yard: how to keep
thieves out Fire in the home: how to survive a disaster 2 CUTTING ABOUT
On foot: how to handle gangs, muggings and aggressive dogs By car: how
to avoid theft, carjacking and road rage By motorbike or bicycle: how to
gear up and stay safe Public transport: how to stay safe on buses, tubes
and trains Hitchhiking: travelling safely for free Urban chaos: what to do
if you’re caught up in a robbery, shooting or riot 3 THE SOCIAL SCENE
Drink and drugs: drunks, overdoses and how to stay out of trouble Drink
spiking: avoidance tactics
Date rape: precautions and escaping from dodgy situations Spotting
trouble: reading nightspots like an SAS trooper and how to stay safe
Kebab shop trouble: avoiding flashpoints and getting home in one piece
Eating is cheating: how to drink right through the night and survive
Keeping a lookout: the buddy system and shark watch for nights out 4
THE CYBER SCENE
Social networks: the promises, pitfalls and dangers Hooking up: online
friends and relationships – how to do it safely Internet security:
safeguarding your identity online Shopping, selling and banking online:
how to avoid the fraudsters Internet nasties: cyberbullies and trolls –
what to do Internet scams: what to look for and how to deal with them 5
NATURAL DISASTERS
Avalanches: surviving a snow slide and essential equipment Hurricanes
and tornadoes: recognizing and surviving storms and twisters Landslides:
what to do when the earth moves like water Earthquakes: how to stay
alive when the earth starts to shake Tsunamis: beating the killer waves
Volcanoes: what to do when one erupts
Floods: staying afloat in your home and on the roads The big freeze and
the scorching heat: surviving temperature extremes Wild animal attack:
what to do when face-to-face with tooth and claw 6 MAN-MADE
DISASTERS
Car crash: drivers, passengers and pedestrians – how to stay alive Sinking
ship: when something’s wrong – preparation and escape Air disaster:
enhancing your chances of survival Train crash: preparation and survival
Buildings and bridges: how to stay alive if they collapse Nuclear power
station leak: what to do if you’re hit by radiation 7 AWAY FROM HOME
Prevention not cure: extra procedures to adhere to while abroad Scams
and street robberies: prevention tactics Getting around abroad: how to
avoid road accidents and dodgy journeys Drugs: how to avoid becoming an
unwitting drug mule Kidnap: how to avoid being snatched and what to do
if you’re abducted Murder: how to holiday safely in dangerous
destinations Piracy: precautions and what to do if you’re attacked War
zone: caught up in conflict and crossfire, the dos and don’ts 8 SURVIVING
GWOT
Terrorist attacks: staying alert and recognizing suspicious activity
Bombing and suicide operations: spotting the bad guys and aiding your
survival Dirty bombs: signs to look out for and action you can take Death
in the air: what to do in the event of a chemical or biological attack
Hijacked: tactics for an aeroplane hi-jacking Siege: hostage situations,
escape and evasion, and special forces rescue 9 SELF-DEFENCE, SAS
STYLE
Pull your punches: how to avoid a fight and talk your way out of trouble
On the defensive: getting out of trouble, quick and easy Striking back:
when there’s no way out
Getting the f*** out: escape and evasion with the bad guys on your heels
Extreme self-defence: improvised weapons 10 THE BARE ESSENTIALS
How to save a life: symptoms and treatment for life and death conditions
Medical emergencies: practical solutions, any time, any place
Improvisation: using everyday household items to fix your body 11 BIG
PHIL’S LOCKER
The emergency survival kit: what to include in a grab-and-run situation at
home The car survival kit: what to take in case you get stranded on the
road The travel survival kit: the essentials in case things go wrong
Survival choices: essential kit and improvisations 12 OLD SKILLS
REVISITED
Shelter and fire: the essentials for survival Water collection: means and
methods
Food sourcing: the art of scavenging and survival Navigation: the bare
essentials
Signalling and search-and-rescue: how to alert others to your
whereabouts Appendix
Dedicated to Chad Cain, RIP, who treated me like a son and taught me so many
important lessons about soldiering and life.
INTRODUCTION
Today’s world is a tough, mean place where learning to build elaborate
fish traps or being able to identify a hundred different types of fungi
won’t help you survive the minefield of modern life, with all its dangers.
You don’t need to be in Timbuktu for some aggro: today’s challenges linger
on our own doorstep where anyone unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time can find themselves facing street crime, natural disasters, travel
nightmares or terror attacks. Even though you may be somewhere considered the
safest place on the planet, it can go off like Chinese New Year at a moment’s
notice.
This modern world calls for a new type of survival: one that blends traditional
self-sufficiency with the skills born out of our twenty-four seven interconnected
lifestyles. Smartphones, Facebook and Twitter allow us to stay connected
anyplace, anytime, sharing knowledge with a vast community across the world.
Combine this with the skills of old, and a new set of tools has been unleashed, to
aid our survival in times of trouble.
Over the years, since starting life as a streetwise little shit in kids’ homes, I’ve
served as an elite soldier in the SAS and worked as a private military operator. In
that time, I’ve travelled the entire planet to some of the world’s most dangerous
places, learning to think on my feet and adapt to whatever circumstances come
my way. When you’re faced with a madman and a gun, or an aeroplane that’s
about to crash, your ability to use what’s around you as a weapon or a defence
can often mean the difference between life and death for you and your loved
ones.
Survival in the twenty-first century is all about using your head, adapting to
the situation at hand, utilizing everything that’s available around you – including
the latest technology – and, occasionally, throwing in the odd left-field idea. It’s
about staying one step ahead of the rest and always being prepared for the
unexpected. And, it’s about knowing what to do when it turns noisy – when
you’re in deep trouble and your back is up against the wall. This is the time
when you lead, follow or get out of the way. In essence, this book is about
learning and applying those rules for living.
Over twelve chapters, I address the kind of everyday problems we could all
face at home, work or on holiday. Offering up some simple but effective
solutions, it’s aimed at helping us protect all that we cherish most. The average
survival manuals are great if you want to hike through the Yellowstone National
Park or spend a week in the jungles of Brazil. But learning to identify which
plant may save your life if you happen to be stranded miles from civilization is
hardly practical or useful to most people’s lives.
For the modern-day man or woman trying to negotiate their way through life,
either abroad or nearer home, what’s needed is a set of skills based in the real
world that you and I inhabit, where threats such as muggings, burglaries, snow
storms and holiday disasters are all too familiar. These are the kinds of incidents
that we think will never happen to us – until they do. How many people have
found themselves wishing they knew what to do when their child is choking on a
peanut, or regretting not taking the time to learn a little self-defence when
they’re cornered on a deserted street? Rarely do you hear what precautions you
should take or what preparations you should make, and yet survival relies on
these measures. As I was taught in the army: ‘proper planning and preparation
prevents piss-poor performance’, and it’s this strategy that can help you stay
alive.
I hope you have fun with this book, and I hope that it will stir within you the
primal instinct for survival. At the very least, it should show you how to look at
the world with fresh eyes, and equip you with the skills needed to defend
yourself in any circumstance. By combining the basic skills of old with today’s
modern innovations, I want to share with you a very new type of survival.
Phil Campion
EX D SQUADRON 22 SAS, JUNE 2014