Scan barcode
miss_tricia's review
2.0
Things I liked: Bedford's writing is funny and engaging. Bedford encourages readers to consider the range of disaster possibilities in the places they live and to prepare first for the most likely, then for the next likely, and on down, rather than just urging us to be prepared for any and everything RIGHT NOW (which is hard to do on a budget and even harder to do with kids in tow). The book contains several suggestions for emergency toilets.
What I didn't like:
Rigidity. If the worst case ever happens, the people who will have the best chances of survival are not going to be the ones best prepared, but the ones who have the greatest flexibility. While in the chapter about money Bedford gives a few paragraphs to the idea of flexibility in the context of having a variety of marketable skills, for the most part, her book belies a very inflexible mindset. Like, recommending a hand-crank washing machine in case the power goes out for a few days or weeks. Unless you're washing cloth diapers, how about just not wearing so many clothes and not doing laundry? Or advice on how to shower in the event of a crisis. Again, how about NOT washing your whole body and hair every day? Weekly baths used to be the norm.
Terrible financial advice. Don't even bother with her chapter on finances. "When you go out to dinner, stick with the basics and skip the appetizers, dessert, and wine." Really? That's the best you can do?
She's clearly rich. Oh, sorry, "rich-ish." Yeah, the steal reinforced walls aren't going to happen at my house. Neither are the back-up for the back-up suggestions. I can't afford three of every system in my home.
Guns!!!! I am not going to shoot anyone, so that's not helpful. Maybe if she had talked about hunting I could have gotten on board, but no, guns are for "protecting your family." I know it's not good Operational Security (she loves OpSec!), but it's fair to say I'm not going to kill you over my stash of preparedness goodies.
All in all, it's good to consider disaster preparedness. This isn't the greatest resource, but it's probably not the worst, either.
What I didn't like:
Rigidity. If the worst case ever happens, the people who will have the best chances of survival are not going to be the ones best prepared, but the ones who have the greatest flexibility. While in the chapter about money Bedford gives a few paragraphs to the idea of flexibility in the context of having a variety of marketable skills, for the most part, her book belies a very inflexible mindset. Like, recommending a hand-crank washing machine in case the power goes out for a few days or weeks. Unless you're washing cloth diapers, how about just not wearing so many clothes and not doing laundry? Or advice on how to shower in the event of a crisis. Again, how about NOT washing your whole body and hair every day? Weekly baths used to be the norm.
Terrible financial advice. Don't even bother with her chapter on finances. "When you go out to dinner, stick with the basics and skip the appetizers, dessert, and wine." Really? That's the best you can do?
She's clearly rich. Oh, sorry, "rich-ish." Yeah, the steal reinforced walls aren't going to happen at my house. Neither are the back-up for the back-up suggestions. I can't afford three of every system in my home.
Guns!!!! I am not going to shoot anyone, so that's not helpful. Maybe if she had talked about hunting I could have gotten on board, but no, guns are for "protecting your family." I know it's not good Operational Security (she loves OpSec!), but it's fair to say I'm not going to kill you over my stash of preparedness goodies.
All in all, it's good to consider disaster preparedness. This isn't the greatest resource, but it's probably not the worst, either.
afrugalfather's review
4.0
Good general preparedness book. Geared towards moms, but no reason why any self respecting family man such as myself couldn't read it (I do have a Mom in the family after all), and I did find the organization good and appreciated the family focus. I admit I flipped through the book fairly quickly, but while I did, I saw a good bit of information and detail that would make for good reference and to come back to later.