Customer Reviews

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times

5 star:		(169)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

First let me start by saying that I seriously debated giving this book either 2 or 3 stars. It's somewhere in the middle in my mind. That said, you may love it, so don't let my review scare you off.

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 "more likely" events - hurricanes, flu pandemics, earthquakes, blackouts, food shortages, water contamination, etc. The two that I read are:

- Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack Spigareli

- Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur Bradley

These two books are similar in their scope. Neither preaches doomsday preparations, and both have a wide range of good advice. Spigarelli's book focuses much more heavily on food storage, whereas Bradley's has a more well-rounded handling of many subjects, specifically targeting family preparation (including the special needs of children, pets, and the elderly). 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, personal observations, etc.). Spigarelli's book has been around for almost a decade and is highly regarded (definitely not slamming it), but feels a bit dated (text is smudged, figures are small, and some tables are hard to read). Not a bad book at all, just dated, and heavily focused on food storage (about 2/3 of the book). If you want to know about establishing a very large food plan (e.g. 1 year), and are curious about calorie counts and things like that, then definitely get Spigarelli's book. If you're more curious about things like the physical effects of radition, how to compare flashlights, or the effectiveness of different water purification methods, pick up Bradley's book. Just to be clear, both books are very good - probably the two best disaster preparedness books available.

The second set of books are targeted for more drastic, world-changing events - nuclear world war, asteroid hitting the planet, collapse of all government, doomsday stuff. The two books 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 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 Lundin's book to offer more. First of all, it is much larger and has much more detailed content. Rawles' book is a low-quality trade publication that has zero figures or tables - think text only. The advice of Rawles book is also very general and not easy to do much with. Some of Lundin's advice is a bit questionable, and his cartoons are terribly annoying, but still the book contains much more information. That said, from what I know of Lundin and Rawles, both are the "real deal", so my review in no way is meant to reflect on them personally.

There is some significant overlap between the two types of books, but they are definitely different in their focus. My advice is that before buying a book, first decide whether you want to prepare for likely events or doomsday events. For me personally, I started with likely events first, then moved on to consider TEOTWAWKI scenarios. That process has worked well for me. If you want to prepare for both ends of the spectrum, I suggest purchasing Bradley's and Lundin's books. Can't go wrong with that. Better yet, if you have enough money, buy all four.

Hope this helps!

I have followed Rawles blog and his writings. This book is pretty OK, and here is why. The book does provoke a lot of thought, but.. Here is where it misses. The situation that Rawles describes, he has not lived through. I still have a rather normal life I have to live and for most of us, ditching it all and moving to the mountains is not a feasible option. He often cites needing a years worth of anything on hand, but what happens after that year? Do you really want to live in a place of constant death and destruction. He lists a lot of doomsday scenarios by where the ones who survive will not be the lucky ones.

I think the much more likely future is similar to what happened in Argentina or what has been slowly happening in South Africa.

So while next spring I will be tilling up a good part of yard for a garden, harvesting rain water, and buying and stocking in bulk. I will not be buying a GOOD location or a buying an old diesel junker truck to get there.

There is a lot you can learn from this book, but don't make it your sole reference. Where you live determines your survival strategy, there is no one size fits all approach.

Rawles is a great non-fiction writer, and this is a well written book. However, it has some major faults:

- The book is for hard core survivalists only. It assumes complete and absolute break down of civilization. It does not deal with "simpler" short-term emergencies (tornado, fire, flood) that you can ride out living in your normal urban or suburban environment. The book is practically all about establishing a well-stocked remote rural retreat, which you defend tooth-and-nail against looters and invaders, while keeping the curtains down not to let them see your window lights.

- Rawles preaches to the choir, not to the uninitiated. If you are not familiar with the survivalist vernacular and have not read similar books / blogs, you will find this book a little jarring and over your head. In fact, Rawles often cross-references his fiction novel Patriots as supplementary guide. Speaking of preaching to the choir: all these five stars reviews which are highly rated as helpful - feel free to ignore the ones written before October 2. Given that this book started shipping on the last day of September and is not available for Kindle, there is simply no way people could have received and read the book before Friday October 2. Rawles is known for encouraging his blog readers to all buy the book on the same day to create a "bestseller" effect on Amazon, and this carries over to the reviews. So beware.

- Book is way too tiny and short for much useful learning. In fact, each chapter is basically a thoughtful intro followed by a list of items to get, with some quick facts (e.g. how long honey or wheat can be stored, where to buy the containers, etc). There is barely any attempt to teach survival attitude and skills - those are farmed out to other books or training courses. To the author's credit, he has plenty of great pointers to other books and courses. However, you are much better off going there in the first place.

- Rawles has a misanthropic, dog-eat-dog sense to his writing, both in this book and in Patriots. It is too much about hunkering down in your darkened bunker, eating MREs, and using plenty of ammo to keep the less fortunate souls away. While it is possible that a major event could end civilization as we know it, I do wish Rawles had a more positive tone and attitude, at least when trying to covert newcomers to his cause :)

There is one really big issue with hard core survivalism in general. If a truly massive global or nationwide disaster comes to pass, the likelihood of surviving it is low, no matter how well you prepare. Surviving a nuclear war or a mass epidemic is unlikely, and more about random chance than preparation. The survivors are bound to come together in sizable groups for strength and protection. If a well armed gang or ex-military unit converges on one of the Rawles-style rural retreats, game is over. So at the end of the day, at least to me, hard-core survivalism comes across as a militaristic make-believe game, mostly indulged by paranoid guys. Last but not least, unlike "soft-core" temporary disaster survival, what Rawles recommends is expensive and requires major lifestyle changes, which limits its appeal tremendously.

So, what's good about this book? The chapters on food storage and vehicles stand out. Also, if you are looking for a primer on surviving a major end-of-civilization disaster, this is a great starting point. To the author's credit, his survival blog has more readers than most daily newspapers, so he knows his stuff, whether you agree with him or not.

I purchased this book with an open mind. I can say that my purchase was motivated mostly out of respect to the author for his previous work and his blog. I tried to read this book with the only expectation that I would walk away from it with one or two pieces of useful knowledge more than what I started with. At the end of the day, I felt slightly cheated. Let me list some of the biggest flaws with this work so people can be aware of what they need to address if they are looking at this as a resource material.

1. I am really not sure who is the real audience for this book. After finishing it last night, I concluded that most of the 5 star WOW feedback did NOT read the book before they posted their reviews. I guess if you live on 20 acres in the country 5 miles away from your closest neighbor then a lot of the over view sections in this book are for you.
2. The book is written with a very pessimistic tone that leaves the reader with a sense of helplessness if he lives with in a city or greater metropolitan area. I live in a city and because of my job I am unable to leave for the country. I think this was the greatest mental hurdle when confronted with this work. If you are unable to commit to a change of location and life style, then reading this book almost feels like a waste of time. Tell me something I can use for city survival as my home, family, job and life have all taken place inside of a society.
3. Lots of the specific reference areas into subjects that are of great interest (canning, strengthening the defenses of your home, essential home gardening on less than an acre, and the firearms questions) differ to other works by name only. I was rather upset with the feeling that I had just read a survival appendix when many of the real questions I had were just glossed over and left me confused. I know that the author has a lot of knowledge in this realm, but seems to only reference it to his consulting business or divert questions to other authors.
4. The feeling of "missing the boat" or helplessness which the author brings into his pessimistic conclusions. If you have not already built a stronghold out in the country at the top of your mountain with an independent water supply 5 years ago, then you are probably boned. Good luck!

These are my own thoughts and conclusions based on this work purely for its standalone value. I still have a lot of confidence and respect in and for the author based on his previous work. I just wish he would have given us more. I am still giving him a slightly positive review '

As one of the original pioneers in the survival and preparedness field, I have been critical of arm-chair survivalists who lead people astray with bad advice, product recommendations that don't work, and fail to take into consideration the fact that most people just can't head for the hills without destroying their financial lifeline. Self-sufficiency is fairly expensive, takes a lot of skill, and can't be done on a whim.

Jim Rawles' book is not in that category. He has lived everything he recommends, and thus gives the kind of savvy advice that carefully guides a person through the tough choices necessary for contingency planning. Moreover, he is very open about the pitfalls and cautions that readers must avoid in order to develop a successful retreat plan. I found myself agreeing with almost every recommendation he makes.

Highly recommended!

Joel Skousen, Author of The Secure Home, and Strategic Relocation--North American Guide to Safe Places

This book doesn't cover every detail of every disaster, of course. No one book could. What it has is easily referenced, concise summaries of particular events--hurricanes, earthquakes, brush fires, economic collapses, grid failures--and summaries of preparations one can make. Then, those preparations are roughly described.

All this gives a person or family a handy guidebook to create a disaster plan from.

Obviously, not all disasters have equal probability, nor are relevant to all locations--brush fires and hurricanes don't affect me in the Midwest. Tornadoes, flash floods and blizzards do, as might a New Madrid earthquake. Long term societal problems aren't currently a problem in the US, but are in quite a few other western nations, such as Argentina and sometimes Chile. There's even advice on a checklist to prioritize exactly those issues.

As usual, a lot of the negative reviews revolve around a provincial "it can't happen here" mindset. A given disaster might not be likely in your current location at your current time, but places, people and societies change. Preparing ahead costs little, and can save your life. If you never need it, think of it as insurance.

Rawles has been providing an important service to the readers of his books and of his survivalblog for years. Disasters happen regularly all over the world, and Rawles has the best and most relevant info on how to prepare and cope with these life-threatening problems and this book shows you how to do it. I recommend everyone read his books and blog and take steps to prepare for what will inevitably come, be it storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorism, economic breakdown, or civil unrest. Do a little bit of preparing every week and you'll sleep better knowing you can keep your family fed and sheltered in case something bad happens. If it never comes, all the better! We all have home and car insurance, right? This is just another kind of insurance.

This book has a number of flaws, all of which have been pointed out in the more negative reviews. First, it is written primarily for the hard-core survivalists. It's written in their language (although all the strange terms and acronyms are spelled out and explained). This may tend to put you off.

If you can forgive it this one quirk, it's a very well researched book. In a way, it's really the product (and general consensus) of literally thousands of blog entries and articles written by very serious and knowledgeable people writing in to Jim's Blog. If you have not visited it yet, you really should. [...] is a fascinating site with a lot of activity and archives that cover the contents of this book and more.

Another thing that might put you off is this: This book seems to advise lifestyle changes that are unpalatable to mainstream America. Taken to extremes, this book advocates moving WAY out in the boonies to get away from other people (who will presumably be very dangerous when and if they get hungry). This country home (called a retreat) will be your personal fortress and lifeboat if society collapses. It's written to maximize your chances if The earth is hit by a giant meteor...or the US experiences an EMP attack...or the economy totally collapses...or a flu pandemic kills half of the population. Crazy stuff, huh? But if you don't believe this stuff is likely to happen, you agree with James Rawles. He's not a nut. He's just dealing with worst case scenarios. If you can survive these, you can probably make it though a hurricane evacuation or a brown-out. When it comes to preparation, you choose your own level of pain.

The book also advocates crazy stuff like:
-Pay off your credit cards so you don't lose your home if you lose your job.
-Keep some cash on hand in case the ATMs are off.
-Keep your car in good condition so it won't strand you in a snowstorm.
-Keep several day's food on hand in case you get snowed in or stranded in your home.
-Keep a flashlight handy in case the power goes out.

Some of it is common sense advice on how to mitigate or avoid very likely and common problems. Some of the advice is NOT common sense that you could figure out on your own. It's well thought out and tested advice on things that could potentially kill you if you don't know about them.

This short volume doesn't try to cover every topic in detail. James Rawles does a good job of covering a lot of material, but you can't expect to cover farming, hydrology, power generation, military tactics and food storage in one little book. It's basically a list of lists and some concise advice on a whole range of topics. This is more of a reference book than a quick, easy read. It provides lots of topics and sources for further study (should you be interested).

This book is a thoughtful work designed to help anyone survive a disaster on any scale. You don't have to believe that the world is coming to an end to greatly benefit from it. This is the extreme scenario, of course, but all of the same preparations used to make you prepared for that will also help you weather a local or regional problem. (Many of Mr. Rawles' survival blog readers are more concerned about little disasters, like a power outage or a winter storm.)

This book will get you to think. It might even cause you to prepare at least a little, so you won't be part of the problem if a disaster strikes. I recommend it highly, and not just for survivalists.

First, ignore that illiterate, lying fool who gave this compendium 1 star. He hasn't read the book, and is condemning Mr. Rawles for something he didn't do: Predict a collapse.

Mr. Rawles is a fountain of knowledge regarding basic and not-so-basic prepare-to-survive techniques. Additionally, he supplies excellent Do's and Don'ts for just about every likely, and unlikely scenario you may enounter.

This book is far more likely to save your life than whoever is on the other end of a 911 call, if anyone.

First off, I have read most of the reviews of this book and have found some misinformation. This is not a book of extremist thinking or encouraging extremist actions. One reviewer stated the book goes into details such as "man traps," and that is simply not true, not once does the book go into such a contrivance. The reviewer probably has a "knee jerk" reaction to anything with the term "survivalist" applied to it and might have run across a discussion of the subject elsewhere, perhaps on the authors survival blog, but not necessarily written by Mr. Rawles. One thing about this author, he certainly doesn't censor other opinions of the contributors to his blog, at least in my experience. That being said, I think the potential reader "on the fence" about it give this work a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I am of the opinion that Mr. Rawles does himself a disservice and denies his work a potentially broader audience by using marketing tactics (such as the title of this work) that will win with his core audience, but scare off others that could benefit.

A core principle that Rawles puts forth early in the book is the fragile nature of our current society. Just in time inventory practices, out of control government spending, and a fleeting work ethic in our nation are indeed a formula for disaster. Interestingly, the idea that there is a "bureaucratic branch" putting in place our downfall is put forth in Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny" and echoed here. Inflation may very well be in our near future and may very well be a cause for what Rawles calls here (and in his novel Patriots) "The Big Crunch." I agree with this view wholeheartedly.

A second core principle put forth, is that the typical citizen of this country, when denied his TV, drugs, microwave entrée's, and other instant gratification will revert to a savage state. When confronted with deprivation and potentially starvation, he will resort to outright unbridled barbarism. I WANT to disagree on this point and believe in "the better angels of our nature." It is my hope that in a cataclysmic situation, people will respond as they did on 9/11, and "pitch in." We cannot trust this will be the case however, so we must prepare.

The last principle that I wanted to touch on in this review is the inclusion that is part of this philosophy. Mr. Rawles wants a prepared America. He does not only want white Christians to be prepared. I sincerely believe it is his hope that there will not be a societal collapse, but that he has abandoned the hope that there will not be. I think he believes the mechanisms put in place by the "bureaucratic branch" and the "moneychangers" have reached terminal velocity. The point that should be taken from this is that this is a NEW class of "survivalist" that can (and should) include everyone, although the principles of the philosophy tend to be more embraced by white Christians. Sometimes it does have that "traditional survivalist" flavor in its delivery, but to be dismissive and brand this man as a "survivalist nut" is the hallmark of a fool.

I disagree with some details in the book. I disagree completely on the idea that we can all somehow live at a retreat full time, requiring I adapt the information for my situation. I disagree with his advice on firearms completely. Many of the recommendations could be simplified, and one does need to consider an "oddball caliber" because of the current supply problems with ammunition. I dislike the at times "preachy tone" his Christian beliefs inject into the work, but that is his prerogative, and I like that his beliefs lead him to include charity in his philosophy. However, because I disagree with many points of this philosophy, and have some experience in Emergency Management, I develop and evangelize a philosophy called StrongPoint Preparedness and it's out on the web to those that may be interested in an alternative, and I invite all to participate.

This book is geared towards a cataclysmic circumstance, but much of the work is useful in planning for "routine emergencies" like hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, particularly the sections on G.O.O.D. All in all, this is an excellent preparedness resource that I hope none of us will ever need, written by a sincere man who practices what he preaches. Good luck!