Tuesday , March 19 2024
The Green Beret Survival Guide is a good dose of common sense in how to prepare for surviving emergencies.

Book Review: The Green Beret Survival Guide by Bob Mayer

The end of the Mayan calendar, December 21, 2012, has come and gone, and thankfully, the vast majority of us are still here. There was no cataclysmic or Rapturous event or even a Planet X sighting. That doesn’t mean we can all just assume everything will be fine for perpetuity though. That’s where the latest book from West Point graduate, former Green Beret and NY Times Bestselling author Bob Mayer comes in. The Green Beret Survival Guide: For the Apocalypse, Zombies and More is a good dose of common sense and a very long shopping list for being ready to survive an emergency.

As an Army vet myself, I appreciate the no nonsense approach of The Green Beret Survival Guide and chuckled often at his dismissive remarks of the fantastic and improbable. I must admit that Bob Mayer is a better person than I as he actually explains what would be difficult about fighting wars with extraterrestrials. He even discusses zombies and other forms of pandemics, although there are plenty of plugs for his upcoming sustainment book. The chapters on these fiction based possibilities are each titled as kindling pages to be used to get your fire going should the need arise.

As implied earlier, you don’t need to worry about the book being too dry and informational. Bob Mayer has quite a number of fiction titles under his ammo belt as well.  Thankfully, Mr. Mayer doesn’t come off as a hillbilly psycho or even a gun nut. Everything is pretty commonsense and there is good information for whatever natural disasters plague your region of the world. The book lays out what is needed to survive mild, moderate, and extreme emergencies. The Green Beret Survival Guide is advertised as a practical step-by-step handbook for the average person, and it refreshingly delivers.

This survival guide is presented in a logical flow that starts with preparation. One possible complaint about this book is that it could be possible to perceive the effort as just a lengthy shopping list. That can be taken in two completely different ways. Obviously, those seriously interested in being able to survive adverse situations, but currently unprepared are going to need some supplies. The other side of that is that in addition to QR codes for his own books, The Green Beret Survival Guide does contain over 20 pages of QR codes for equipment Bob Mayer recommends that you buy. The combination of the two in the book’s appendices may cause some to question his motives.

No matter where you live, there is some type of weather or geological event that occurs with at least some regularity. Here in southern California, as most people know, we constantly live in anticipation of the next big earthquake. Wildfires can also force people to be uprooted at a moment’s notice. For these and plenty of other events, a minimal “Grab & Go Bag” is hardly a crazy idea. Even for little things like your car breaking down in the middle of nowhere, a bag of some basic stuff in your trunk could be helpful.

Those that have dealt with hurricanes Katrina and Sandy or the Northridge Earthquake know all too well that your family and neighborhood can be on your own for awhile. The Green Beret Survival Guide is probably best suited in preparing readers for those types of possibilities rather than a complete collapse of civilization. That is probably my biggest personal complaint with the book. I would have appreciated having the information Mayer promises to give in his next book right now. Don’t get me wrong, the book is useful and an easy read on top of that, but in the event of total anarchy, I’d rather only have to carry one book around.

About Lance Roth

Lance Roth has over 10 years experience in the video game industry. He has worked in a number of capacities within the industry and currently provides development and strategy consulting. He participated in all of the major console launches since the Dreamcast. This videogame resume goes all of the way back to when they were written in DOS. You can contact Lance at RPGameX.com or [email protected].

Check Also

Danny Mondello in 'As We Know It' (Traffic City Productions)

Film Review: Zom-Rom-Com ‘As We Know It’

Three friends come face-to-face with the zombie apocalypse in Josh Monkarsh's comedy.