Surviving an Urban Disaster: The Survival Essentials Made Easy, Small Steps, Big Results

Surviving an Urban Disaster: Quick-Start GuideBy Richard DuarteI enjoyed reading Surviving Doomsday by Richard Duarte and so, when I got the chance to review a copy of Surviving an Urban Disaster, I readily agreed.The book correctly states that preparedness is a lifestyle. Like me, many people who discover this book will have been prepping for years, but as the subtitle tells you, this book is a quick-start guide, not a comprehensive manual. Surviving an Urban Disaster is the book you give to a friend who says, “I want to get more prepared, but how do I start.”The guide briefly covers the “Core Survival Elements,” water, food, first aid, personal security, hygiene and bug-in and bug-out. In the section on food the author provides a list of food items to stock up on and lists the calories, protein and carbohydrates. While Duarte does not go in-depth, shelf-life and storage conditions are discussed. Each of the core survival elements has a chapter devoted to it with examples and suggested items.Even though this book is not aimed at me I did enjoy reading it, and still learned things. The strength of this guide is in the lists it provides. Even if you have a bug-out bag it is interesting to see what others recommend be included. In addition to covering emergency supplies for the car, Duarte includes a chapter titled, “Getting Home (Bugging Back).” In this section Duarte discusses keeping some essential supplies in a nondescript bag at work. An excellent idea, and he suggests items to include.This book is true to its subtitle, it is a quick-start guide. If you, or someone you know, needs an introduction to prepping or lists to start or add to prep bags, I recommend, Surviving an Urban Disaster.

As a certified trainer for American Red Cross and FEMA I regularly read books about preparedness. I'm always on the lookout for books to add to my class reading/reference list for personal preparedness; which is over 3 dozen titles and counting. The reviews led me to believe that this is a good introduction so I purchased it under that assumption.This is a 100 page book with large color photos. Yes, preparedness in 100 pages. Of that, 28 are representative photos (without annotations) and 13-14 are "lists" of what to stock/buy. You do the math. That's 58 pages, of mainly, wide-spaced bullet pointed text. Let's just say it's okay but lite on content.There's nothing you can't already find online for free. Given that, it is definitely not worth the price so save your money. I suggest checking out FEMA's Are You Ready. It's 204 pages of free solid content good for any level of preparer. Red Cross offers a really basic prep plan that is similar/comparable to this books content. Both available online.On Amazon, Arthur T. Bradley books  Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family, 3rd Edition  are a good starting points but a lot of redundancy across the books/editions. Survival Mom  Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios  has some good content if you're a newbie but it is choppy in its content offering: it tries to be too many things to too many people but does have some decent basics. The Creek Stewart "Bug Out" book series (e.g.  Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit ) are good general books and his style is easy to read, understand and follow...It's important to remember that there is a difference between preparedness and survival books. They may be complementary but not necessarily relevant to you and your family. Choose according to your needs and plans.Books are great but:* build your preparedness skill set too - take a first aid, wilderness survival, self defense, or CERT class; get a HAM radio licensePut your knowledge into action:* know your local hazards* make a communication and preparedness plan* build a kit* practice your plan

Was not sure what to expect, since this is the first time I see anything like this. But it's a very cool book. Love all the color photographs and what the author calls "Quick Prep Tips" which are scattered throughout the book. These are short one-two sentence survival tips on the different topics - food, water, first aid, security, hygiene, bugging out, sheltering in place, getting home. They also included a chapter for a vehicle emergency kit, and legal and financial preparations. Not your standard survival stuff. I also love all the illustrations. Most of the material is presented in bullet point style, which makes it very easy to follow. All in all a very nice book, and full of useful information. I had already read the first book Surviving Doomsday a guide for surviving an urban disaster, and I also liked that book a lot. When I ordered the quick start guide amazon said it was out of stock, but I got it in a little over a week, not a big deal. It was worth the wait. You can tell that they put a lot of time and effort into this thing. Very cool.

This book is well written. It prepares you for multiple scenarios that you may not think about. It’s worth reading for anyone at any level.

I’ve annotated this simple start guide to keep focused on the essentials. I use it weekly to keep preparing

Learned / relearned a lot with this book. When the time comes to "get out of Dodge" ( or "hunker down" for a while) this book enables you to "Be Prepared." You have the best chance of coming thru by follow many of his tips. Good book

Decent book- has some good into but I want a MacGyver style book with hacks for everything. This is a very entry level book with very basic mental exercises and reccomendations.

Great book! It is well written and covers all the subjects needed for survival in a clear and concise manner. The form enables one to easily find the exact point they need without wading through endless narrative and opinion - just the facts. Would recommend to all individuals and as a textbook for survival / public service groups. Can be easily used as a mobile hip pocket reference source.

brief and to the point - gets the job done - worth the money