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| Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival | 
 enlarge | Author: Jack A. Spigarelli
Publisher: Cross-Current Pub.
Category: Book
Buy New: $19.95
New (3) Used (2) from $19.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 555
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0936348070
EAN: 9780936348070
ASIN: 0936348070
Publication Date: April 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
A complete guide to emergency preparedness for our uncertain times. Virtually an encyclopedia of food storage and personal preparedness, it covers topics from exactly how to design a food storage program tailored for your particular family to growing and preserving food, storing fuel, alternate energy, emergency evacuation kits, medical and dental, surviving biological, chemical and nuclear terrorism, communications, selection of firearms and other survival tools, and preparing for earthquakes. Dozens of detailed, expert checklists and tables with photographs and index. Extensive book and resource lists with regular and Internet addresses. An absolute must for those serious about preparing for and surviving during our dangerous times.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
Disaster Preparedness Books October 5, 2006
995 out of 1001 found this review helpful
If you're like I was, you're looking through the various disaster preparedness books wondering which one is best. I have worked my way through 7 of the most popular books and offer a shared review of all of them here. I hope this comparison helps you make a decision.
Book 1: Crisis Preparedness by Jack A. Spigarelli
Like many of the disaster preparedness books, this one begins by answering the question, "Why bother being prepared?" It also outlines a framework for being prepared that includes accumulating supplies, getting mentally and physically prepared, and having your finances in order. One thing I particularly liked was the emphasis on the importance of knowledge. It wasn't just about what items you need, but also what skills and knowledge you should develop. But this book is mostly about food preparation for a major disaster, with emphasis on having a year's food storage, milling your own grain, growing sprouts, home canning, dehydrating, freeze-drying, etc. There are detailed tables showing the calories of various foods including their protein, fat, and carbs. The final third of the book offers advice on other topics, including weapons, hand tools, clothing, energy, medical, sanitation, transportation, communications, and home preparation. The book concludes with a list of recommended books and a brief listing of companies that sell disaster preparation items. Overall, this is a very good preparedness book. I probably should have given it 5 stars, but I thought it went a bit overboard on the food plan. That said, it is the most comprehensive of the preparedness books.
Book 2: Preparedness Now! By Aton Edwards
This is another thorough disaster preparedness book, one that focuses more on emergency situations (fire, chemical attack, etc.). It is organized into brief chapters (some only a few pages) on a variety of important topics, including: water, food, shelter, sanitation, communication, transportation, and protection. It is also filled with many packing lists detailing what you should get in preparation. It introduces the e-kit (a very lightweight kit to keep with you) and grab-n-go bag with more extensive items. Final chapters of the book discuss various possible disasters, including earthquakes, tsunami, infectious diseases, chemical and bio warfare, crime, fire, and extreme weather. Some of the commentary is a bit questionable, but the technical content is good. Note the deficiency with this book is that it does not offer any detail on food storage.
Book 3: Disaster Preparedness for Dummies
First of all, this isn't a book. It's a DVD video. I wasn't paying attention when I bought it, and was a bit surprised when it arrived. I generally like the Dummies series. They are well researched and serve as a good summary. This DVD offers a lengthy video discussing many disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, etc.), briefly outlining how you might prepare for them. It also has an overview of how you should react in case of a terrorist attack (nuclear, chemical, and biological). But the advice is all very general, and is more like what you'd expect to hear from your local weather station. For example, the video repeatedly advises you to "stay calm" and "evaucate in an orderly fashion." The videos are high quality, but don't expect detailed outdoor survival tips or food storage suggestions. Everything presented is relevant and useful, but it feels more like a FEMA public service announcement.
Book 4: Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton
This book is broken into six main sections. The first section offers decent but very incomplete summaries on preparing for short-term emergencies. The second section discusses how to store and purify water. The third part talks about the logistics of setting up a food-storage program, and has some suggestions on how to store food. The fourth section details what types of foods you should store. The fifth section has blank inventory planning pages. And finally the last section has some recipes. About half of the 285 page book is either blank planning pages or simple recipes. The first half of the book is pretty good stuff, but I found this book to be incomplete. It does however offer some good advice on food storage.
Book 5: Organize for Disaster by Judith Kolberg
This book goes an entirely different direction than the other preparedness books. Emphasis is on understanding the federal resources (i.e. FEMA, Red Cross, etc.) available, creating a personal intelligence network, organizing essential documents, maintaining insurance coverage, listing a home inventory, preparing your house for disaster, basic first aid, and having a good family communication plan. There is also a good list of necessary items to have on hand that would suit many common disaster. I recommend this book for its common-sense look at disaster preparedness. However, it is not the only book you would need, because it doesn't detail food storage, water purification, heating, etc.. That said, it covers some topics that the other books overlook.
Book 6: Making the Best of Basics, Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens
This book is almost completely about in-home food storage and preparation. There is little discussion outside that (except for basic water issues). Many chapters discuss food in significant detail, to include things like grains, recipes, preparing sourdough breads/biscuits, dairy products, honey, sprouting, drying of fruits/vegetables. At the end of this book is a huge compendium of preparedness resources, telling where things can be purchased in every US state.
Book 7: No Such Thing as Doomsday, by Philip L. Hoag, revised in 2001
This book offers well-researched insights into disaster preparedness. Topics include water, food, heating/cooking, light, power, communications, medical, sanitation, and security. Those subjects are well done. However, much of the book reads like a bit of doomsday prediction, with many pages devoted to scaring the heck out of the reader... focusing on missile attacks, chemical dangers, nuclear war, radiation, decontamination, communist threat, etc. For me personally, I would have like to see more pages devoted to likely threats (e.g. hurricanes, floods, earthquake, blackout, fire, etc.). Also note that Amazon may not carry the latest version (updated in 2001), so you may want to buy directly from the author.
Overall, if you can only purchase three books, I would recommend Book 5, Book 6, and either Book 1, 2 or 7. With those three, you should have a balanced look at common sense organizing, food storage, and emergency items to have on hand. If you can buy only one book, I recommend Book 1.
I've created a useful disaster preparedness list for your automobile on my Amazon author blog (just click on my name above the review). Also, you'll find a link to purchase a fully assembled auto kit.
Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - an intense thriller in which a martial artist, a greedy corporate attorney, and a conspiracy theorist try to stop a world-class sniper out to shape the next Presidential election.
Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.
 Best book on the subject. October 24, 2004
207 out of 207 found this review helpful
This book covers all aspects of preparedness, from food storage to weapons caching. Extensive source material is provided, including web addresses, stores and books for further study. Spigarelli does not preach or lecture. Unlike many other books on the subject, there is no overt religious point of view or political agenda. Spigarelli merely suggests that it is sensible to prepare for whatever eventualities the reader expects and provides the tools to do so. This is a book to read thoroughly and keep as a reference. The details on food storage alone are well worth the price.
A solid, fact-filled, potentially live saving guide August 4, 2002
166 out of 167 found this review helpful
Now in an updated second edition, Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide To Home Storage And Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli is a solid, practical, no-nonsense, but completely "user friendly" reference for the selection and acquisition of stockpiled food and water for emergencies; growing, raising, and finding food; preserving food at home by means such as home canning and dehydrating; emergency evacuation in a crisis; and other preparation safeguards for weathering a natural or man-made crisis. From clothing issues to transportation needs and communication alternatives, the Crisis Preparedness Handbook is a solid, fact-filled, potentially live saving guide, and especially recommended reading for anyone seeking to protect themselves and their loved ones in times of local, regional, national, or international calamity.
Not an emergency survival manual November 25, 2005
86 out of 90 found this review helpful
This book will not help you survive an emergency that you have not prepared for, but it will help you prepare so that you avoid emergencies in the first place.
Just as the title says, this is a preparation handbook. It will help you prepare the place you live so that you can make it through tough times in relative safety and comfort.
No, it will not help you learn to forage for nutritious weeds, track NWO soldiers to their base in the forest, or how to most efficiently loot the bodies of the dead. On the other hand, it will help you decide what food to store and how much, how to keep your electricity running, how to keep a working water supply, and includes a very brief section on guns.
I've read a lot of self-sufficiency books and this is one of the most well rounded that I have encountered. If you are already a survival nut, this won't cover any new ground, but if you have people in your life you are just beginning to show some interest in self-sufficiency, there is probably no better introduction.
Money well spent! March 20, 2006
53 out of 53 found this review helpful
Having just started 'stockpiling' and emergency preparedness, this book has been our bible. It is comprehensive, informative, and easy to follow, even (especially??) for newbies like us. The advice is practical and never preachy. It can be read cover-to-cover or as a guide by just going to specific chapters that you need info on. It is not, like so many other resources on the subject, doomsday oriented; and it works well for disasters and the like or just helping one to prepare for the leaner times that sometimes arise in life.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the subject matter as well as for people you'd like to 'gently' introduce to it. I'm buying several copies for friends and family.
Definitely 2 thumbs up!
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