Review: Too Basic and Leaves Out Valuable Information
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 4, 2013
Survival 101: The Essential Guide to Saving Your Own Life in a Disaster by Marcus Duke is a short book containing seven sections. The information is very basic and does not go into much detail. This book is geared toward those who are new to disaster preparedness and are looking for a starting point.The book is broken down as follows:Section 1: Prepare for the UnexpectedSection 2: Creating FireSection 3: Dealing with DehydrationSection 4: Securing ShelterSection 5: Makeshift Medical CareSection 6: Handling Common Natural DisasterSection 7: A Final ReviewThis book provides a basic list of necessary items that you may need during a disaster in order to function. The author encourages having items to barter with others in case they have something that you need. When talking about fire I find it amazing that Duke never recommends carrying a simple lighter! One should never complicate things especially during a crisis when people tend to not function at 100%. Not recommending carrying a basic lighter is a huge oversight. He discusses numerous ways to obtain fire yet leaves out the easiest method possible. He then states, "One of the absolute simplest ways to get a fire started is through the use of impact friction." No, the simplest manner is a simple lighter. Even Myke Hawke, a survival expert, recommends using a simple lighter in his bookHawke's Green Beret Survival Manual: Essential Strategies For: Shelter and Water, Food and Fire, Tools and Medicine, Navigation and Signa. Hawke's book is, in my opinion, the best and most comprehensive book on survival. He also has a shorter book:Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook: The Portable Guide to Getting Out Alive.Overall Assessment:Survival 101: The Essential Guide to Saving Your Own Life in a Disaster by Marcus Duke is an extremely basic book geared towards individuals who have literally no previous experience. The fact that he fails to mention use of a lighter is a huge oversight that negatively impacts the credibility of the author. All the information presented in this book is easily obtained on the Internet. No additional insight is provided that would make this book worthwhile.I would skip this book as it is too basic, lacks insight, and leaves out valuable information. I would not classify this book as an "Essential Guide."