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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Read this before you buy Jul 27, 2010
As part of my investigation into disaster preparedness, I read four books. I'd like to compare them here to help other customers.
The four books can be divided into two groups: practical guides, and the world's gonna end guides.
The first two books are related to what I'd call likely events - hurricanes, flu pandemics, earthquakes, blackouts, food shortages, water contamination, etc. The two that I read are:
- Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur Bradley
- Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack Spigareli
These two books are similar in their scope. Neither preaches doomsday preparations. Spigarelli's book focuses much more on food storage, and Bradley's has a more well rounded handling of subjects and targets family preparation. Comparing the two, I found Bradley's book to be more recent, easier to read, and more comprehensive. The quality of the publication is also better (numerous clear tables, examples, figures, conclusions, etc.). Spigarelli's book has been around for almost a decade and is highly regarded, but feels a bit dated (text looks almost like it was generated on a typewriter, figures are small, tables are not very clear). Not a bad book, just dated, and primarily focused on food storage. Bradley's book also has some specific advice for families with children, elderly parents, those with handicaps, and pets (Redsox is near and dear to my heart).
The second set of books are targeted to more toward drastic, world-changing events - nuclear world war, asteroid hitting the planet, collapse of all government, etc. They are:
- How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Rawles
- When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin
Again, these two books are also similar. Both target extreme preparation - massive food and water stockpiles, getting off the electrical grid, living in bunkers, stocking weapons and bartering supplies, etc. Of the two, I found Rawles' book to be better written. Both are recent publications, and I suppose either would do fine. Lundin's does have a color insert in the middle that is nice.
There is some significant overlap between the two types of books, but they are definitely different in their focus. My advice is before buying a book, first decide whether you want to prepare for likely or world-ending events. For me personally, I think Practical Handbook for the Family was the most useful. If you want to prepare for both ends of the spectrum, purchase Bradley's book and Rawles' book. Can't go wrong with that.
Hope this helps!
5 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 The New Ager's Survival Guide Jun 23, 2010
I understood where Mr. Lundin is coming from on his point of view, but was completed mortified by his lack of relying on self-defense and protection of oneself when confronted with physical danger. This book reminds me of someone who claims be the "be and end all" of survival and yet play's and "in-crowd" role in society in order to be the first person to get out of town and ends up leaving everyone else to be fed to whatever disaster is looming in the distance and about to roll down the street. This book would be great for those readers who believe in population reduction and that their beliefs are an absolute.
For readers that believe that we are all in this together, this book would not be for you.
Mr. Lundin does a lot stereotyping and name-calling towards other types of preparedness and survival people as if knowing how to use a gas mask or other implements of survival is wrong in his view of the world... many survivalists may approach Mr. Lundin's, "self-reliance in a world community," (found in the introduction) with a raised eyebrow. I give Mr. Lundin credit for standing up for his belief's but feel this book would be more geared towards New Age readers that do not believe physical self-defense.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 the real deal Mar 31, 2010
Great reference book dealing with practical aspects of urban preparedness that other books fail to mention, let alone cover in depth.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster strikes Mar 12, 2010
I give this book a rating between 3 - 4 stars based on content. I give it a 2 star based on organization and ease of reading. In my opinion, the information "keywords" aren't arranged in an easy-to-find format especially if you are really in a "When All Hell Breaks Loose" situation.
The book "When All Hell Breaks Loose: Staff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes; is informative from the standpoint that any new information to you, is new information. Conversely, any old information to you, is old information. General wisdom then is that this book like many other "survival books" cannot contain everything you would like to know about survival. It is likey some of the information will be old stuff that seem like fillers, and worse; information with too little detail or just a cursory note seems just glazed over statements.
This book has both fillers and glaze over stuff that isn't very helpful. On the other hand some stuff are never-heard-of-before so makes very interesting reading.
Since I particularly seek out novel and improvished survival techniques using common, easily obtained materials from urban life or if it were in the rough, materials from nature. Learning how to open a can of tuna by grinding it into a brick wall using a hand-pressed circular motion is fabulous, or reassuring that your simple two-burner Coleman propane stove can really be a great substitute when you don't have a electric stove. Burying your dead relative or lover can be applied to your pet dog too, and methods of making # 2 without toilet paper are in my bin of interesting stuff to know.
Overall, you're not in Hell you probably will enjoy this book to curl up with on a dark, and stormy night. However if you're in the moment of HELL breaking loose, this wouldn't be the ideal quick-reference book. Don't misunderstand, I think this book is good reference to have in your library. It's just not arranged for quick-reference. Probably the idea is to read and learn all you can while times are good so by the time the real HELL breaks loose, all the information is in your mind instead of in the book tucked inside your backpack. Since we can't have it all, I consider the overall content vs. lack of ease of reading attributes of this book in deciding.
And your level of exposure and knowledge to survival techniques.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
When all hell breaks loose Feb 01, 2010
Lots of repetition but does have a nice list of things to have in a disaster and which disaster to plan what products for.
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