Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family, 3rd Edition

This book is to blame for several thousand dollars in spending. My wife is unhappy, nigh hysterical. My kids are asking what I mean by "College isn't for everyone." My neighbors are giving me the evil eye.

Just kidding. This book got me started on prepping. It is targeted at the laymen, explains the relevant concepts in detail, and is organized usefully around the primary survival needs of a family. Let me note up front that I am not what I would call a dedicated prepper. Everyone must make their own judgment regarding the commitment of time and resources to the level of preparation and the ability to live off grid. For my part, I found that this book helped to clarify the principal concepts, even if I didn't end up adopting them all: in short, it helped me to start asking the right questions.

Let me repeat one thing: this book was made for a FAMILY. Some very good thinking (and first-hand experimentation) has gone into the recommendations in this book on how a man, a woman, and a couple small children can prepare themselves for the adversity of a disaster situation. This is a practical element that is absent from a lot of disaster prep literature out there.

What I liked most is the point, emphasized in several places, that preparedness is not about making a list of things to buy, but thinking through and experimenting with a strategy that will actually work in practice for your family. This is good advice. Prepping is a lifestyle, not a closet full of stuff. As I said, everyone must choose for themselves how much of this lifestyle to embrace. But the first step in choosing is to know there is a choice.

If you're looking for information to help you embark on the journey to prepping, this is as good a start as any I have come across.

Build a warehouse in the backyard, you're gonna need it, if you follow the advice in this book. Store frozen food (how's that gonna work when there's no power to keep the fridge cold?), cords and cords of wood, radiation detectors, smoke detectors, heaters, light sticks, solar panels, plastic water bottles, radon detectors, radios, weather stations, camp stoves, gallons and gallons of water, generators, facemasks (for gas attacks), iodine for radiation sickness, guns, and be prepared for the Yellowstone Caldera to erupt at any moment.

Really, you won't need any of this stuff, because you'll be living in a cardboard box after you declare bankruptcy from buying all this stuff.

My advice after going through several fires, floods, and a massive snowfall that knocked the power out for 8 days: you need to keep warm, have something to eat/drink, and to be able to flush the toilet. All else is luxury.

As someone who lives in the middle of Kansas, tornadoes and--to a much lesser extent--bad winters are some things that are constantly on my mind.

I felt that this book was an excellent one-stop shop for getting one in the right mind-set to prepare for almost any disaster. Many might say that "oh, well that's just common sense!" . . . only to answer in the negative when asked if they have a month's supply of food stored up or have bothered to take a photographic inventory of their household goods. Sometimes even the "common sense" things need to be reiterated.

Below I'll list a few tips and comments of my own regarding some of the categorized chapters in this book.

FOOD
--If you are trying to have a goal of a one-month's supply of food, I would strongly suggest getting a bulk amount with a shelf life of 25 years. Buy it once and be done with it. Wise Food Supply, Thrive--among others--have a variety of bulk packages you can buy sometimes with free shipping and/or other goodies tossed in.
--I felt the author was a little too concerned with taste. If I'm in a survival situation I can care less about taste as long as it's edible, doesn't make me sick and lets me live to see another day.
--A P38 is still a great can opener. Where else can you fit a can opener on your key ring?

WATER
--Some newer home toilets only use 1.6 gallons per flush, which is less than the 2-3+ cited by the author. One can also cut down on toilet-water costs by installing a European-style Dual-Flush kit, which allows you to use about half as much water (.8 gallons) for liquid waste.

SHELTER
--I found it odd that Shelter is the most important--according to the author--but shows up in Chapter five AFTER Food and Water. If Shelter is indeed number one, then it should also be the first thing discussed.

LIGHT
--Don't forget that one can also use Parrafin Lighter cubes to start an easy fire. You can buy them online and from experience I can tell you that even one cube is enough to get a stack of coals going on the grill.

ELECTRICITY
--Of all the things that could happen, I'd consider loss of electricity to be one of the most detrimental. So I found it amusing that the author listed primarily websites and suggestions of keeping lists and spreadsheets on your computer. I'm sorry, but when the power goes out, what good is that going to do for you?

HEATING / COOLING
--Another heat source to consider is the Micathermic space heater. There is no blower, no glowing parts and no moving parts. You also don't have to worry about oil dripping (oil-filled radiator).

MEDICAL / FIRST AID
--In addition to bookmarking a few medical websites, if the power goes out, I would recommend a few books, such as this one . . . [[ASIN:0738213489 Take Care of Yourself, 9th Edition: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Medical Self-Care]] that was recommended to me when I was in the Army.

FINANCIAL PREPAREDNESS
--Something I do religiously every Friday--log into all websites that involve money and track all your finances on a spreadsheet. Set limits for certain expenses and color code as you go so that you can quickly see if things are going good (green) or bad (red). Doing this every Friday helps you remember the password for your websites and know for certain what you have in there.

PROTECTION
--Don't forget swords. You can buy a fully functional katana blade for about $300. Hanwei/Paul Chen is a good place to start. Not as good as a gun, but a heck of a lot better than a knife. Also, beware of "wall-hanger" swords you see in malls. When I say "fully functional" I mean a sword that can chop a limb in half.

CREATING A (D)isaster (P)reparedness NETWORK
--I think a neighborhood DP network is a good idea for those who can't immediately afford some of the more expensive survival items listed (generators, gas masks, etc). However, having a DP network where everyone knows what the other has was also ironically contradictory to the author's statement that you shouldn't reveal what supplies you have on hand. If possible, I'd say you're better off fending for yourself, especially if you live in a bad neighborhood.

OVERALL:

While I'd argue that this book is not completely practical--do you really have the money to go out and buy a NukAlert or an expensive generator setup?--I did feel that it covered all the bases, offering much food for thought along the way. Perhaps future editions can give recommendations on how to set up a survival kit on a limited budget or using only everyday household supplies. I consider myself middle-class and even on my salary some of the products mentioned are ridiculously expensive--even if I only focused on applicable threats.

This book would be well suited for an average family looking to start preparing for a natural disaster situation. There is descent,albeit rudimentary, information on the the why's and not just the how's of disaster preparedness. This is not a family survival book but covers pretty much how to hunker down in your residence and wait until the cavalry arrives. Most of the stuff is pretty basic; most of the information you could get just by doing a little research on the net. I found the first aid section pretty lame. Do you really need to know how to treat a bruise. C'mon now its a disaster do you really care about a bruise. Any thing more than treating with a band-aid reverts to wait until trained medics arrive. The first-aid supply list did seem to be fairly inclusive. For a family just starting down the preparedness path this book I would give 5 starts. For a more seasoned prepper or a family with a good start preparing I would steer away. I would rather people heed this book than overrun walmart every time there's a hurricane. I am not keeping this in my library but giving it away to a less prepared family member.

It was through my research on both bug out bags that I came across the Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Dr. Arthur T. Bradley. After reading his material, it became apparent to me that his work is a seminal piece with both thought provoking and practical information for those interested in general emergency preparedness and survival preparation for the likelihood of any one of the possible natural calamities or societal worst case scenarios one might face.

The book attempts to accomplish three things; motivate the reader to be prepared, to prepare more effectively and to find a place in a larger movement. Different from other books is the practical approach to emergency preparedness presented throughout. His handbook offers well researched advice that can be put into practice in the real world by normal families. Importantly, Dr. Bradley espouses a belief in being prepared motivated by concern and love rather than fear and paranoia.

Dr. Bradley takes a logical approach without bordering on hysteria. Quite a bit of research went into this 3rd edition being both polished and extensive. This handbook is an excellent tool to teach an individual or family how to plan and prepare for many different scenarios such as natural disasters, war and acts of terrorism.

As mentioned, I found his information solid and valuable that I incorporated many of his thoughts into my preparation and survival acumen. I would highly recommend anyone serious on emergency preparedness and survivalism to read his book. It will definitely give you practical and sound approaches to improving your prepper skill set.

Not an end of days book. This talks to practical preparedness. After all we prepare everyday to buy food, go to work. What this addresses is what if you experience a flood, prolonged electric outage, really big snow storm, etc. As it says, this is a practical guide to what you might need, for you and your family. Makes you think about things we all take for granted.

I have not yet had the opportunity to read this book cover to cover yet, but it's full of practical information about how to prepare for disasters that are likely to happen, such as weather related disasters, etc., as well as info about things to prepare for that you might not have thought about. There are some good thoughts on food and water storage, sanitation, plus suggestions on making preparations for your pets and disabled members of your family. The key is to plan ahead for things when, not if, they will happen.

I'm not a hard core "prepper" and no...I don't think the sky is about to fall. That being said I DO think it's a good idea for people to have some semblance of a "plan" in the event of a disaster. As for myself, I did my stint in the military AND I spend a lot of time outdoors, a great deal of that time in wilderness or near-wilderness environments...As a result of my life experience/s a lot of the info provided in this book is just common sense reminders for things I already know. So if I were rating the book on how valuable it was for me personally...ehhhhhh....I'd give it three stars. On the other hand, for people who DON'T have a lot of experience outdoors, or for those who consider 2 hours without power "roughing it", then there is probably a lot of REALLY good and well thought out info in this book...Thus my 5 star rating.

I know this is only my personal experience but my "prepping" journey began in a way that left me a bit on the discouraged side. I started with materials put out by Spigarelli and Rawles. My overall sense was, "Am I really going to do a lot of these things? Are some of these practical for my family?" Don't get me wrong, I still value the information from these. But it wasn't until I started to read Arthur Bradley's "Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness For The Family" that I started to get excited about prepping. The immediate sense I got from the book was, "I can do this." I started with the Kindle edition and knew I had to have a hard copy too. This book is very much practical. Arthur pretty much walks you through it all. The work sheets he provides are also a big bonus for me. I like his balanced approach. Some materials have a "shun the government" flavor but Arthur includes the government resources in his prepping advice. Follow his guide and you will be "Prepped."

The first thing that won me over to the author is that he is not an alarmist. Early on he states that you should prepare for disasters out of love for your family and not out of fear. I agree with that, your going to be more motivated to take action and be prepared for a natural disaster or God forbid a terrorist attack to keep your family alive (for myself, I want to be prepared for my two young nieces because my siblings won't be). I've read books/articles and watched so many youtube videos of preppers that are of the opinion that people should have at minimum a years supply of food, an arsenal that could commit war crimes, a fortified bunker, etc, that I found it refreshing the author was telling us to prepare for the most likely events like natural disasters from our area. I know it's fun to imagine the zombie apocalypse scenarios with your buddies and that a hurricane scenario isn't as sexy but the author does a good job of keeping you focused. And I'm not knocking the more hard core preppers out there but most of us aren't willing to allocate a huge part of our time and money to the lesser likely end of the world scenarios. I have to say my respect for the pioneers went up a lot after reading this book and if Americans today have a quarter of the toughness they had then we can get through a lot.