Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Tom Brown's Field Guide: City and Suburban Survival September 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The purpose behind this book differs significantly from Cory Lundin's When All Hell Breaks Loose, which I previously reviewed, even though both books are concerned with survival within a city. Whereas Lundin focused on post-disaster survival -- mainly within the confines of your home and backyard and dependent upon your own resources -- Tom Brown differs in that he imagines the reader needing to survive a personal emergency, with the rest of the city essentially unaffected. He allows, therefore, that you may have uninvited access to city resources outside your home, such as water and shelter in public areas, and restaurant or grocery store dumpsters for food.
He schools the reader in the basics of how electricity and water are supplied in a city and how they move within a house. An entire chapter is devoted to how weather occurs. Avoiding an emergency is as much his intent as surviving one. It is not till the end of the book that he discusses disasters and how to deal with them. Unlike Lundin, Brown briefly shows a debris hut, fire by friction, and a few traps.
Chapter titles: Introduction, Shelter, Water, Heat and Light, Food, Crime, Weather, Disasters, Enjoying the City. Appendices: Common Urban Edibles, Common Urban Animals, Survival Supplies.
 A great read. July 1, 2008
This book is a great guide to being prepared for natural disasters in any city or suburb. Much of the content is techniques for wilderness survival that have been adapted for what you find in the city. One thing that you don't find in a wilderness survival guide is crime prevention, which is approached well in this book.
Excellent field guide June 26, 2008
Tom Brown Jr. is brilliant. This is an excellent must read, there is so much great information in these pages, amazing reference book, a must have for any personal library.
 Poorly organized, not very useful August 16, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book rambles quite a bit and provides a wealth not very targeted information. Do I really need to know how the rain cycle works to survive in the suburbs? Or how a generator works (without instructions on how to build my own out of scraps)?
In all, the useful information in this book would fill a smallish pamphlet. The rest is filler.
A great disappointment.
Good ideas on how to survive in the Big City July 23, 2001
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Where to get food, water, shelter in the city? What happens when there's a disaster? This book is a decent start. Lots of helpful chapters on how to get the essentials, as well as what common edible plants grow in the city.Another food-for-thought thing you can read is the chapter in Way of the Scout (also by Brown) on his first solo trip to New York City.
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