Basically survival spider holes are small quickly dug holes that a person can use to hide in or seek shelter from a storm. It is believed that these defensive devices were first introduced during the American Civil War as part of military operations. Survival Spider Holes continued to be used during WWII and the Vietnam Conflict by Japanese troops in the Pacific theater and Viet Cong enemy forces respectively. You may recall that during the early stages of the 2nd Gulf War in Iraq, Saddam Hussein was eventually hunted down and located living in one of many survival spider holes that dotted the landscape around his hometown of Tikrit. How effective are survival spider holes? Military history seems to suggest that survival spider holes are an extremely effective method of remaining unseen by the enemy. They can be used as a defensive device to keep someone from being found, or they can be used offensively and pre-emptively to cover and conceal a ground based sniper setting.