New light on an ancient art!
Tracker. The very word forms images of buckskin-clad braves crouching over the ground, carefully studying the signs before them--a part of history. But the modern world has not put behind it the need for the earthy business of tracking. Far from it. Such skills are still routinely used by the military, rescue personnel, and law enforcement, as well as by hunters and people living at the subsistence level throughout the world. SIGNS OF HOPE is the ultimate, authoritative guide to this most complex pursuit.
A great resource for professionals, including rescue and law enforcement, and even military personnel, Signs of Hope is also useful for outdoors people. Users will find it invaluable as an on-site manual in the course of any search.
Chapters cover topics such as: .
--Visual tracking, auditory tracking, scent tracking, and tactile tracking.
--Footprints, disturbances, wind speed, other humans and animals, terrain, and climate.
--Human and animal excrement, forensics, decomposition, and skeletonization.
--Preserving the area, blood trailing, speed of movement, number of people, weapons, and the tracker’s report.
--Track searching procedures, formations, action drills, and booby traps.
--And more.
Unlike many tracking manuals, Signs of Hope focuses on tracking humans, be they enemy combatants or lost children. With careful attention to the details that make the expert tracker, Diaz and McCann explain what it takes to be a tracker, from physical stamina to focus and perception. They explain the tools of the tracker, make suggestions about survival gear for extended searches, and present safety tips. Signs of Hope will be an invaluable addition to any library, and could be a lifesaver.
David Diaz is a 20-year U.S. Army Special Forces/Marine Corps professional who recently retired from the U.S. Armed Forces. He first learned about tracking from the son of a Malaysian headhunter, who hunted insurgents in the jungles of Malaysia. He fine-tuned his craft through years of dedicated study and instruction from the finest trackers throughout the world, including the Dyak/Iban of Brunei, Nigrito aborigines from the Philippines, the San Man of Botswana, and U.S. Vietnam-veteran Marine trackers, who gained their skills from the Montagnards in the highlands of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has taught these skills to U.S. Army soldiers, police officers, and foreign military forces worldwide, in times of war and peace, in both friendly and hostile environments.
Writer V.L. McCann has a B.A. in Creative Writing, graduating with Honors in 1981 and thereafter serving nearly 12 years as an officer in the U.S. Army. In 1997, McCann became owner and chief writer/editor of Abbacy Professional Writing in Tacoma, Washington.
