Survival Theory

A Preparedness Guide

By: Jonathan Hollerman

Narrated by: Jim Pelletier

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

If you're looking for information on how to prepare for a short-term natural disaster, this is not the book for you.

Best-selling author Jonathan Hollerman will present evidence that America as we know it could be destroyed in the near future from the loss of America's electric grid or other societal collapse scenarios. Many preparedness "experts" severely underestimate the threat posed by millions of starving, desperate people and offer dangerous advice because of it.

This preparedness guide will help you develop a plan to escape the deadly rioting and looting, showing you where you can take your family to keep them safe, even if you can't afford a fully-stocked survival retreat. Hollerman's in-depth expertise and recommendations will cover many topics including bug-out bags, SHTF Weapons, tactical gear, survival tools, knives, long-term food storage, livestock, bug-out locations, survival retreat recommendations, and much more.

©2016 Jonathan Hollerman (P)2016 Jonathan Hollerman

Literally a half decent book.

About half of this guide is useful prep/survival info, half personal politics and pushing Christianity. Religion as means to stave off depression is a good point to make, but the rambling chapters about biblical text is not helpful. Similarly, the nearly first half of this book is on politics and personal worries of the author. Yes, it's good to have an understanding if the world and be able to identify real fears vs paranoid ones, but again, this is covered well beyond what is useful as a guide.

Overall, worth the listen, but expect 1/2 of the advertised run-time.

Got me moving!

I found this book to be very well researched and full of useful information. It's not always easy finding a prepping book that doesn't go a bit over the top and make you question your own sanity. Hollerman is practical and level headed in his approach to prepping, he's also a veteran which also make me tend to trust his research and experience...but make no mistake, he's not pulling any punches either. I especially appreciated his opinion on "tacticool" gear. It made me laugh and increased my opinion of the authors legitimacy.

All that being said...

I could have done without the bible thumping bit at the end. It's a good thing he didn't put it at the beginning or laced it throughout the book because I would have never made it past the first couple of chapters.

What matters most is that this book got me moving on my food preps again. It helped me asses my bug out gear and even gave me the final push towards taking a hard look at my beloved 1911 and switching it out for a Glock as my go to SHTF pistol. Now to just find my "retreat"...

Great book

I really enjoyed this book. The information is straight forward and validated by the author's training and experience, not to mention the heavy research he did to complete this project.

I highly recommend it to everyone who has concerns about the future of our country and the safety of our families.

My 27 years of federal law enforcement and 22 years of military service tells me he is right on point!

Skip to Chapter 11

Let me save you from wasting your time. You can either do one of three things:

1. Do a quick Google search for EMPs, cyber attacks, and national power loss. Then skip to Chapter 11 and begin sifting through the macho bullshit and sexism for any useful information this book might possess.

2. Start from the beginning and muscle through ten chapters of the author telling you how smart he is and how dumb other people (including yourself) are about survival. He also dedicates an impressive amount of time to the sole purpose of telling you that learning survival skills is so super-duper important and totally, definitely does not make you crazy (or at least not as crazy as those OTHER survivalist nutjobs). You know, just in case you accidentally viewed, purchased, and began reading/listening to this book thinking it was a romance novel.

3. Do what I'm about to do: Find a better book.

truly one of the worst of its kind

First half of the book is about why you should be afraid of an emp or grid down scenario. Very long, very drawn out, and very preachy.
Second half is about possible stuff you have or ways to organize yourself. There is SOME good stuff. But it seems like it's cut and paste from multiple sources, there is none of the been there done that feel you get from a competent outdoors man or soldier. There is almost a feeling of ridiculous fantasy to his suppositions.
Last chapter is a mini commercial encouraging you to hire him as a consultant.
No offence, but him being a veteran seems suspiciously like he was only behind the wire. A desk man's approach.
For instance, gun recommendations for "wet work". Statements that freeze dried food doesn't save you weight because you still have to add water (yeah, we all know it needs water, which you can obtain where you stop to eat -this is why backpackers use it), his proposition that survival saws like the mini chainsaws aren't garbage (every single one will break and they all work like garbage no matter how much you pay.)
If you pay attention, he received air force training, but apart from training, did he have real life experience? Oddly, that never comes up.....
Best wishes and good luck to everyone!

Good stuff

This was a departure from my normal read. However, it was very informative. The first part of the book really helped me with what I refer to as preparedness fatigue. It helped me know that my mindset is not illogical or crazy and that there is a good reason for this effort to prepare.

The information he lays out in the following section is all sound, but it is his advice/theory. I have a few different opinions on a couple of items but the differences are based on my experiences and in no way invalidate the authors.

If you are new to preparedness, this information is invaluable. It will save you a ton of time with trial and error. If you've been at it for a long time, as I have, it is still chock full of tips and ideas that you can learn from. No one is ever fully prepared. It is a journey, a marathon really, and this book has tons of useful information to help you on your way.

If you are wanting to prepare and don't know if you should prepare, wondering why you should prepare in the first place, or have preparedness fatigue like I did, this book can be a big help.

Good listen!

Has good ideas as well as solid suggestions for gear selection. If you are a prepper or know someone that is this book is worth it.

Interesting And Straight-Forward

So...that was fascinating. Look I enjoyed the data driven by facts and not opinion. I already knew the straight numbers on worse case survival are bleak because civil society is fragile and most people are woefully unprepared. This is something I learned at the graduate level...and I still feel unprepared! Better off than most (statistically), but still under prepared. Everyone has to start somewhere and I am glad the author reiterated that point several times throughout the book. I urge people to listen to or read this book, take heed, and begin to take action or stay in action if already only prepared to the post local (short-term) disaster level.

perfect starter book

Covers a little of everything, if someone is just starting to explore preparedness this is a must have and very realistic place to begin.
For intermediate and experts alike there are still some gems in there to consider. Overall I would say the knowledge listed is imperative to anyone taking preparedness to a full spectrum level.

overall good listen

Very informational and easily absorbed.
BUT ! I nearly went NUTS listening to the narrators whistling everytime he ran across the letter "S"
Im trying to listen to this for the second time to cover any missed criteria, but these "S's" are killing me!

Very informative

This was a great listen and easy to follow, finished it in two sittings at work. Even though I'm based in the UK and most of the firearm/defense portion of the book is mostly irrelevant for my circumstances/laws I still found it very interesting and engaging. Highly recommend.