Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City [Paperback]

Ragnar Benson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

The tap's run dry, the supermarkets have been ransacked, the power is off and the low rumble of tanks can be heard in the distance. The unprepared who refused to believe that such a thing could happen here will live as wretched refugees--if they live at all. But for the prepared--for the city survivors--life will go on. America's leading survival author debunks the myth that the only way to survive is to stock a retreat in the mountains. He tells urban dwellers how to find water; trap and butcher game; preserve food; position a retreat for maximum safety; avoid troops; and barter with other survivors. You'll learn which weapons are absolute necessities and which aren't worth having, and confront the all-important topic of survival nursing care. Ragnar gives you the solid information you will need to make it if the worst-case scenario becomes a reality.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ragnar Benson is America's most-esteemed survival expert. He has written more than 20 books for Paladin throughout the years on a variety of topics covering everything from weapons to politics to survival medicine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581600593
• ISBN-13: 978-1581600599
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Urban survival? How about history of urban survival in war., June 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City (Paperback)

This book is more about the history of urban survival, rather than a survival guide. The info contained within is very vauge. He uses more examples of what other people have done rather than teaching you what to do. What info there is, is quite good, but only a few pages of the book are usefull. If you can get the book used at a real good price it would be good to have just to give you a reference for what the worst case could be, but as a survival guide it fails to instruct on the techniques of urban survival in any significant manner.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad starting point..., July 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City (Paperback)

Mr. Benson's guide to urban survival is an interesting, if not very deep, guide to surviving some very hard times in an urban area. He touches on all the basic topics that one will need to know about in order to survive, and applies a basic 'rule of threes' strategy to all of them. Unfortunately, the book never gets beyond the basics of the topics presented. You're also going to have to wade through a lot of contradictory information to assess what is best for your situation. For example, he discourages solar power as it is expensive and could compromise the location of your retreat, but he praises the noisy and expensive diesel generator later. Overall though, this book is worth a read. One very strong word of caution, however. Take his food storage section with a very large grain of salt. The information presented there is dubious at best, and his guide to canning meats with a steam bath canner could very well get you killed.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth buying, October 14, 2008

By 

William Combs - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ragnar's Urban Survival: A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City (Paperback)

Ragnar is a person who doesn't provide any actual survival information. He has never actually had to live the live of a survivalist. He even states in several parts that the "been there, done that" crowd, meaning survivors in Beruit and other places say that his ideas are not practical or even feasable.

Another disturbing shortcoming is that Rasgnar switches between urban and rural survival when it is convienent or he needs to sidestep a problem.

From the standpoint of a homeless veteran who has to live the life of a survivalist everyday, I can say that none of his ideas are practical or even feasable.