We were sent a review copy of “Surviving A Disaster – Evacuation Strategies And Emergency Kits for Staying Alive” [1]. This slim paperback (just 57 pages) is a basic overview and introduction to Getting Out Of Dodge (G.O.O.D. [2]) It was written by Tony Nester [3], a wilderness survival teacher in Arizona. Nester has also written the books “Practical Survival” [4] and “Desert Survival” [5].
The book covers Bug Out Bags (BOB [6]s), basic first aid kits, home evacuation gear, water, food, and so forth. It is mainly written about preparedness for evacuation in the case of a short-term natural or man-made disaster, not TEOTWAWKI [7]. However, it does cover ‘minor’ disasters fairly well.
Positives:
- It is a basic look at preparedness, that your sheeple [8] brother-in-law and co-workers could understand.
- Also, the author speaks about preparedness very rationally, not sounding like a paranoid whacko.
- He includes extensive lists of everything you might need to pack in your BOB.
- He presents ideas on how to organize your gear. (Particularly, having a layered system. For example, if the road is impassable, you will be ready to leave the car and go on foot.)
Negatives:
- The book is aimed at new and non-survivalists. It doesn’t go into extreme detail.
- There isn’t much here that is really new ideas.
- If you are already well prepared, you probably won’t need it.
If you’ve been prepared for a decade or more, then you probably don’t need this book. However, if you are new to preparedness, or have friends and relatives that are unprepared, this might be a good starter. It does not have that intimidating ‘survivalist’ look, and starts with the basics.