100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation Paperback – Illustrated, October 13, 2015

100 Deadly Skills is an engaging, eye-opening guide that goes beyond just military tactics—it’s about situational awareness, survival, and preparedness in real-world scenarios. Written by a former Navy SEAL, this book breaks down skills and techniques in a way that’s easy to understand and practical, even if you’re not in special ops.I originally picked this up because I work across a lot of different fields (from private investigations to philanthropy to meditation and shamanic journeying—I know, I’m well-rounded!). But this book really tapped into the importance of being aware and prepared no matter what world you’re operating in.The illustrations are great, and the step-by-step explanations make even the most intense tactics feel accessible. It’s a mix of serious survival skills, security tips, and fascinating strategies—stuff you might not ever need, but it’s cool to know you could.Amazon delivered it quickly and in perfect condition, as always.If you’re into self-defense, preparedness, or just enjoy learning skills that could make you feel more confident in unexpected situations, this book is definitely worth the read. It’s fascinating, fun, and makes you think differently about the world around you.

I saw the author, ret. SEAL Clint Emerson, discussing this book on television and after seeing him elaborate on a sample of “skills”, I immediately ordered it. 100 DEADLY SKILLS offers a wealth of common-sense techniques used by elite military operators that can be applied for civilian use (for the most part). I found the book’s value centered more on making the reader smarter, more aware and more prepared; not as a tool to instigate trouble.I like (“American Sniper”) Chris Kyle’s simplified view of people: there are the sheep, the wolves that prey on the sheep and those who take on the wolf to protect the sheep … the sheepdogs. 100 DEADLY SKILLS’ purpose is to provide readers with enough necessary information to become sheepdogs. The method is simple, provide the sheep (easy victim) with the same tools and know-how wolves (criminals, terrorists, etc.) use on their prey … fighting fire with fire.The simple presentation of the material is particularly effective. There are no long, laborious chapters of text to sift through. Emerson generally uses a two-page technique for each of the 100 skills he presents. The left page provides a brief, easily understood explanation of a particular skill and the right page offers a simple step-by-step graphic presentation of the skill. This one-two punch makes a solid impression that is easy to remember. The range of skills covered in the book is diverse and some of the skills are a little extreme (hopefully, most readers will wonder why they need to know how to dispose of a body). But, again, I sense that the purpose of this information is less about actually USING each and every skill as it is making people understand that most of the skills presented are already commonly used by those with ill-intent … the power is knowing what they know and finding ways to avoid or effectively counter their methods. Emerson calls the understanding/use of these skills characteristic of the “Violent Nomad” (or, in Chris Kyle’s world, the tools of the sheepdog).So, for those of us who don’t really have a need for knowing how to: Dispose of a Body (skill #86), Steal a Plane (#26) or Cross Enemy Boarders by Sea, Air and Land (#11, #12 and #13) … what does reading such a book offer? Quite a lot, actually. First of all, I read this book while on a vacation and it provided several practical tips pertaining to everyday travel: how to hide things in a room and how to discover whether or not your suitcases have been opened. Additionally, it revealed how unsecure you really are in your hotel room with instructions on how to bypass hotel room doors and unlatch door locks. The section on surveillance techniques probably won’t come in handy for most, but understanding how to detect and lose those who may be sizing you as a potential victim certainly may be useful. Educating people on personal, cultural, situational and third-party awareness (#17 Blend into Any Environment) is probably one of the most important skills presented in the book because it’s the one skill that can be employed to avoid using most of the other skills (by having the presence of mind to avoid a potentially deadly encounter). 100 DEADLY SKILLS is filled with useful instructions on weapon improvisation, defense and safety techniques that certainly could be useful in dire situations; as well as common inconveniences, like being locked out of your home (#50 Defeat a Padlock or #53 Discretely Open a Garage Door).100 DEADLY SKILLS is a tremendous source of USEFUL information that gets readers out of their comfort zone. Most everything presented is based on common-sense and uses common household items with a little ingenuity. Some may see such a book as equivalent to “giving the fox the keys to the henhouse”, but the author asserts most all of the items discussed in the book are commonly used by criminals/terrorists; we just don’t realize it. By giving us a better understanding of the criminal-mind’s ingenuity, we are better prepared to avoid/survive a negative encounter (especially for those who travel to less-than-friendly parts of the world).

I really enjoyed reading this book. I don't understand why people are complaining about it.As a prepper of many years, there were a few obvious techniques that I already was aware of. And that's okay, because others may not have known of them, and they are written for the purpose of thoroughness of the book. (If those more "obvious" techniques and ideas were left out, people would still complain it wasn't detailed enough for beginners).Aside from that, I found it to be very informative, easy to read (not a stereo manual that goes on and on and loses focus) and it held my interest so much that I did not want to put it down. I found it to be very helpful.If you were looking for fancy spy gadgets and grandiose, movie inspired solutions to everyday dangers, think again. This is a pragmatic book that informs you of realistic approaches to dangerous scenarios as well as inconspicuous, very affordable tactical gear you make from home or on the go. It makes you rethink and analyze your responses to a variety of scenarios, and gives viable solutions to each of them.With that said, I highly recommend reading this book, as it can apply to everyday dangers, and it can better prepare you, your family and friends for such scenarios.This is a must have! Highly recommend!A very big thank you to the author of this book as well!

This book contains great and useful information like how to spot and lose stalkers, how to pick locks and how to escape zip ties and handcuffs.Then there is some outlandish (at least for a civilian) information like stealing a plane and then parachute out of said plane.There is also some now useless information like turning a camera flash into a taser and using film to create an improvised infrared camera, both of which don't exist anymore, and having such an old camera is quite a conversation topic.but even with its faults, is quite a good read. i learned quite a lot from this book, it has lots of interesting and useful stuff. if you think this book is your cup of tea, buy it.PS: a Panerai watch will stand out like a sore thumb due to the crystal it uses (shiny AF), which will give away that its an expensive watch, thus betraying the operative by making him a target for muggers. I recommend a Casio F-91W, which is probably the most common watch in the world thus it wont stand out, even if is not as durable. i just wanted to get this out of my chest because it made me laugh that Mr. Emerson would recommend such an expensive watch, and by brand no less!