100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation

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).

OK, so.... This book has legit information on topics that most civilians have never had to think about. What is obvious to some is not obvious to others so some of the information may seem very simple. As Voltaire said "Common sense is not so common". Paying attention to your surroundings AKA situational awareness, is critical to not becoming a victim. There are skills and strategies in this book that may see a bit extreme or absurd like having a cache of survival tools encased in a tampon applicator hidden up your rectum so it is not found. Civilians will scoff at this, as I have read in other reviews, but that is only because they have never had to entertain that idea. An operatives world perspective is much different than the bubble that civilians live in because what they think IS, is not what you think IS, so it may be hard to relate to some of the material presented here only because it is not normal to you. If you can accept that people have actually done all the things that are described in this book, then you are able to open your perspective on life and possibly use some of the information. The skills are not all glitz and glam. They are practical, resourceful and real world examples given to you for your digestion.Some skills do seem to appear more for entertainment, however, many are real world skills that you could apply in your own life at some point, or right now, but, you have to actually try them out and practice them. Escaping zip ties, handcuffs, and duct tape are easy to do and fun to try and escape from. Once you take some action and actually try it out for yourselves, it will raise your confidence level because you have tried, conquered it, and now more prepared if the need ever arose. If you need more information on a skill he describes, look at his Cited Sources section in the back to further your knowledge on it.The illustrations in the book are hand drawn. Some people feel that it looks like a comic book and that all of the skills given are a joke and out of a fictional spy movie. Well, where do you think movies get their ideas? Take it for what it is. Just because it seems ridiculous to you, doesn't mean it isn't real. Let this book help motivate you to pursue more information about keeping yourself safe, being prepared, and learning new things. When you are able to help yourself, you are in a position to help others, and that is a great thing.