OK - So I've booked a Certification Attempt for the GCIH and will take the exam with the next 4 months.
I will not be taking the SANS course and dont have access to the material - basically prohibitive cost as I'm self funding!
My prep will include
Blue Team Handbook: Incident Response Edition
GCIH Exam Prep: 2nd Edition (started reading this - disappointed so far)
SafariBooksOnline - A host of material here but I'll concentrate on
Hacking Exposed 7 and Counter Hack Reloaded
Also Google / CheatSheets from SANS / etc
I've also be checking the SANS course outline and tools used at
https://www.sans.org/ondemand/course/hacker-techniques-exploits-incident-handling
I plan to take the first practice exam in 4 weeks and then see where i am...
Any additional tips etc greatly received - will update on progress..