'Overlevnad' PDF Download

[Nicklas Odh]

Since it is about twenty years since the last edition, it is time for a new one soon. Maybe with some jungle and desert survival. in 1988 when it was released it was all about surviving in a normal swedish forest or mountains. In an environment where there are man made constructions everywhere.

There has to be some kind of formal and fancy handover of the finished work to the SERE boss with news coverage at the end.

 

[Sgt Sim]

Hmmm... We still have to wait for the Patents and Registrations Office. And by "provide" I think he ment that they wanted a copy, in any form, so do not get to excited But yes, it means that they are taking it seriously and they might use it for some kind of refeneces, what do I know?

 

[big_swede]

This is wonderful news, sgt sim. And I’d like to thank you once more for all your excellent efforts on our behalf, and to formally mention my gratitude to the Swedish military for their generous cooperation. I’m quite staggered by their offer. What an incredible learning opportunity they have given to us non-Swedish speakers. Amazing!

Someone you should get in touch with by PM, is the member big_swede. It’s a matter of public record (posted on the open forum) that he was a Ranger, and has excellent English language skills. He’d be a great asset to have for the translation. Hopefully, he’ll be able to find some time from his very busy schedule to help out with this.

Best regards,
Paul.

I'm here!

 

[big_swede]

Since it is about twenty years since the last edition, it is time for a new one soon. Maybe with some jungle and desert survival. in 1988 when it was released it was all about surviving in a normal swedish forest or mountains. In an environment where there are man made constructions everywhere.

There has to be some kind of formal and fancy handover of the finished work to the SERE boss with news coverage at the end.

I don't really see how a new edition would change things as they are now. I firmly believe that the current edition of the survival handbook is an asset for anybody with aspirations of wilderness living. Maybe not the best book on the subject but with the price (free) considered, it's a winner.

The main issues for me is the design and content. (Hmm, that came out worse then in my head.) What I mean by the latter is just that a lot of the techniques and guidelines more or less requires an all out war situation. A lot of it assumes e&e type of survival which for most people on this forum isn't so interesting. So how would a possible shift of focus of the english translation affect all the copyrightscheisse? Or is it only possible to do a complete translation?

The design issue is just a matter of time consuming work rather then choices. And what about the pictures and diagrams? How owns the copyright of those?

In my mind a 'new' book which closely follows the handbook but adapted to civilian circumstances (e.g. not a complete chapter on evasion) would be a more practical way, probably not as time consuming and maybe slightly more interesting for the english audience (except for the military freaks out there, you know who you are ).

Anyway, any work being done is of course meant for the audience and not ourselfs so it's more or less up to the forum.

 

[Lostdreamer]

OMFG. Err, wow. I just read this thread, and, well congrats to everyone involved.

If I read the earlier postings right, you have GOT permission to translate a military textbook. You are just waiting on sorting the paperwork out.

Major cudos due.

 

[spamel]

OMFG. Err, wow. I just read this thread, and, well congrats to everyone involved.

If I read the earlier postings right, you have GOT permission to translate a military textbook. You are just waiting on sorting the paperwork out.

Major cudos due.

Who is Major Cudos Due? Is he the guy who has the final say with the paperwork?

 

[TheGreenMan]

I don't really see how a new edition would change things as they are now. I firmly believe that the current edition of the survival handbook is an asset for anybody with aspirations of wilderness living. Maybe not the best book on the subject but with the price (free) considered, it's a winner...

I couldn’t agree more.

...A lot of it assumes e&e type of survival which for most people on this forum isn't so interesting...

Well, it’s of interest to me

...So how would a possible shift of focus of the english translation affect all the copyrightscheisse? Or is it only possible to do a complete translation?...

That’s a very valid point, BS. SERE might be very unhappy about an abridged (edited) , civilain version being released with their name on it.

I feel that the easiest way to proceed initially, is to produce an English translation of the current full text (which happily, is what SERE are interested in) via a team of bi-lingual Swedish/English speakers (then have it checked by a native English speaker to make sure that the grammar is correct in every detail). And then the reader can take from it what they need and are interested in from the complete document.

Then, once this has been done to everyone’s satisfaction, perhaps propose (it might be viewed by SERE as quite 'cheeky' coming from this forum) to SERE that they might like to consider producing separate SERE documents for techniques to be used in both jungle and desert environments also. I think that having three separate documents for each of those three types of environment, would be more useful for SARE and more practical for anyone needing to carry one of the documents for use as an ‘aide memoir’ when in any one of those three environments (one can’t be in more than one at any particular time ).

If SERE were to look favourably upon a proposal to include all three types of environment in a single document (Not likely, in my opinion), then this might significantly delay our goal, namely to have permission to translate and produce a version of the existing document for open distribution, due to the extended period of time that SERE would need to prepare the new material to be included. If SERE did go for this option, then we would, in effect, have ‘shot ourselves in the foot’, so to speak.

...And what about the pictures and diagrams? How owns the copyright of those?

Another very valid point, which will probably only become apparent when SERE give the actual detail of the permission they are prepared to give and any limitations on that permission, and if they give it.

Incidentally, I’d be happy to donate my time to produce the English language PDF file, incorporating the translated text and existing illustrations, with Adobe Acrobat software.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[TheGreenMan]

Who is Major Cudos Due? Is he the guy who has the final say with the paperwork?...

I'd say you've pretty much 'hit the nail on the head'

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[TheGreenMan]

I'm here!

Glad you found the thread, and it's nice of you to join us

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[Lostdreamer]

Who is Major Cudos Due? Is he the guy who has the final say with the paperwork?

Nah, he is the CO of an American soldier known as Skippy:
http://skippyslist.com/?page_id=3

 

[big_swede]

Incidentally, I’d be happy to donate my time to produce the English language PDF file, incorporating the translated text and existing illustrations, with Adobe Acrobat software.

While we're waiting for permits and such, you're more than welcome to extract the illustrations from the pdf and editing out any obstructing swedish text. If you choose to undertake this task, please considering using png or tif instead of jpeg. I will hopefully set up dedicated ftp-server for this little project, where we can share files.

 

[TheGreenMan]

Cool. I'll make a start sometime during the next few days.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[big_swede]

Cool. I'll make a start sometime during the next few days.

Cheers,
Paul.

Anyone else interested is of course encouraged to get involved. The more the merrier, and less workload.

 

[TheGreenMan]

Anybody know what the actual page dimensions of the real book are?

They don’t seem as if they would be A5 (148 × 210mm) or the book standard B5 (176 × 250mm). According to Photoshop, the pages from the PDF are around 183 x 253mm. This is close to the ISO 216 B5 standard. Would it be a good idea to produce the translated version to this size (B5) in case SERE would like to publish it in print? Instinct says that it would, but what do others think?

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[TheGreenMan]

As requested, I have now removed all text and annotations that were associated with the watercolour illustrations, from all pages in the PDF that had drawings or photographs on them.

Some of the pages are slightly different sizes. Therefore, could someone tell me what size the pages of the new PDF we are producing, should be? When a standard page size has been agreed upon (A5, B5 or some other) I can then alter the pages to uniform dimensions.

When I have made the current pages a uniform size, I will then convert the images to a format that will be readable by multiple OS platforms (not just Windows).

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[spamel]

A5 would be a good format to go with, as it will easily fit into a cargo pocket or a large pocket on a jacket.

Any sneak previews of the work done so far?

 

[TheGreenMan]

A5 would be a good format to go with, as it will easily fit into a cargo pocket or a large pocket on a jacket...

Instinct says that you’re right about the A5 size, Spam, it would help people who wanted to print-out the PDF too, as one could print two pages at a time on a sheet of A4. A thing to remember is that the A4 size is smaller than the page size in the current version of the PDF. Depending on how the Swedish text translates to English (more words may be needed to convey the meaning of something in English) there may not be enough room on the smaller A5 pages for the translated text to fit alongside the illustrations, without the text being so small that it would be difficult to read. It might be a case that the new English language version may need a whole new design and page layout when we try to fit the typography around the illustrations. It’s only when the full translated text is available that we will know if we can use the existing page layout etc. It’s going to be a lot of work for everyone involved.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[spamel]

Fantastic illustrations. I haven't really took the time to look at this manual, there is a bit of a language barrier! The illustrations look like they could stand by themselves though. I'm gonna go and take a look!

 

[Nicklas Odh]

There are two things I have been thinking about.
I have in my hand the book, a second edition from 1989 and it is 165mm * 213mm in size.

The other thing, shold we do a translation of the book to fit a soldier with a late 1980s uniform and equipment or should we discard thing like using a helmet to cook in. It worked with the old steel pot helmet, but a modern kevlar would melt.
There are other things like the straps that hold the trouser legs tight around the boots, they were on the green M59 and on the grey M39/58 but not on the camo M90.
The Hjälmduk helmet cover is also not the same thing. The old one was a net thinghy with a foldable fabric cover, like a foresters helmet. The net was to thread twigs and branches through and the fabric cover was NBC protection. The new is not that fancy and is just fabric.
Another thing, not important though but anyway. Since the book was made in 1987-88 the military has changed about everything equipmentwise so except for the assault rifles (AK5) the pictures could be from anytime between 1960 to 1990. But the pictures are really nice so there is no need to draw new ones with camo uniforms. The green trousers are superior to the camo ones anyway.

Just an observation.

 

[TheGreenMan]

Very interesting thoughts, Nicklas.

Best regards,
Paul.