I tell you what, put him in the red zone here in Baghdad, as an unsponsored ex-pat wearing typical American clothing and no explosives or fireams, or body guards, and see how long he lasts. If he can make it home from that, then maybe I might take his course.

I was thinking along the same lines
Ex = Has Been
Spurt = drip under pressure

I'm almost tempted. Really really tempted... I want to skip the video and go straight to his "35 pounds of top secret knowledge..."

I like the Hypnotize small game for a tastier meal. I might take this a little more seriously if were the Acme Survival School.
The 999 secrets is pretty good, too. I guess they couldn't think up another one to make it an even 1K.
Dave

Yeah right ... but him in family court facing a killer shark divorce lawyer and see how far those hundreds of tips get him. Getting out of there with more than the clothes on your back is REAL survival. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I think that he's lying. I mean, hoe could you possibly start a fire with a drop of water? He's got to be hiding something.

Yep he is hiding plenty. In this case he forgot to mention that you also need a piece of glass, steady hands and a boatload of free time.

He is talking something which is possible yet extemely difficult and then he is exaggerating it to make it seem like something spectacular. He is almost certainly referring to the technique involving using a drop of water on a piece of glass to magnify sunlight and thus start a fire in the same way one would do with a magnifying lens. Yes, sure, it can be done but (a) it requires more than "just a drop of water" and (b) it's not simple by any means (though possible) to get a "drop" of water to sit perfectly on a piece of glass for the purpose of magnifying sunlight and starting a fire.

A lot of what is on that site are not necessarily outright lies but rather extremely gross exaggerations. I believe he also said something about starting a fire with a chocolate bar. Most of us here know how this one is done. Most of us also know it is at best extremely difficult to accomplish.

I like this part of his ad the best: "fire-starting using a beam of light from a flashlight in pitch black darkness"!

If it ISN'T pitch dark, he'd better take care not to get a moonburn. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Actually I do know some of his tricks or at l;east the basis of some of them. The throwing of fire from the finger tips is an old majic trick. See your local majic store. There is also several other ways to start a fire with a single drop of water. Of course you need something to burn. There are a number of chemical compouunds that ignite and burn violently when they come into contact with water.

The candy bar and t-shirt one is the old a coke can and a hershey bar. http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/
The T-shirt is the polishing rag.

I suspect most of the so called secrets are things of this nature. Often many of them would require either large amounts or dangerous equipment. Most tasks using simple well known techniques would be easier to preform, More reliable and require less equipment or preperations that these secrets.

No real secrets just a bunch of hype. Although there might be one or two ideas or new uses you never thought of.

Hello everyone,
Im not a regular to this board but in searching for some information for my good friend Mr. Laydon, I came across this site and your guy's discovery of his website. Let me tell you first off that this man is true to his word. I know that some of his comments on his website are a little "short" let me assure you that everything that this man claims are fact. The reason his website is so full of exclemation and energy is because Mr. Laydon loves what he does. He tells me countless stories about going to the grocery store and reading items to see if he can experiment. He is a very dedicated man to his work and a very intelligent human being. Mr. Laydon works for hours devising new ways to aid survival. Don't forget this man also offers a money back if you are not satisfied. Just remember, that even though you may take what I say as pure bull, at least if your interested call and talk to the man and you will see for yourself, a passionate man to his art and he just wants to share it with others.
-Shawn