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Book Review: One Second After

June 6, 2012 by

One Second After

 

Here is a book that deals with a topic many of us will be familiar with; EMP. This book made it into the mainstream and I have even heard rumors of a movie deal.

Book description, from Amazon:

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real…a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages…A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.

Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future…and our end.

 

My Take:

Be forewarned, there are a few spoilers in this review. I purchased and read the book shortly after its release three years ago. I remember it, but could have a few things a little off. If I do, please let me know and I’ll make a correction.

This book brings to light a topic that I don’t think most Americans are aware of or understand the dangers of. This book shows the impact of the EMP on one man and his family and his city and the hard choices that must be made. They are, in large part, cut off from the rest of the country and must fend for themselves, soon running low on food and medicine. There are a few examples of lawlessness and the difficult choices that must be made when the systems we have come to rely on to feed us and keep us safe are no longer there.

I think the book does a good job showing the dangers of being unprepared. In fact, in one part, the main character makes a comment on wishing he had even one bag of rice. Yet in another part, they put down the “survivalists” and their food stores in the mountains.

The book does a pretty good job overall in showing how a society might react to an EMP. It might go a bit far in the huge roving hoard of cannibal raiders. If there is an event like this, there could be pockets of raiders but having a huge group of them ravaging entire cities seems a bit too much to me.

This wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down. In fact I read it over the course of six months. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. I did, it just did not draw me in and keep my attention. As I mentioned, it does a good job of showing the dangers of being unprepared at any level and also of how a community must come together to face an event of this magnitude.

I give One Second After three stars.

A note that I forgot to add that Tim made in the comment section: “Forgot to add a warning to potential readers: there is some crude language and multiple portrayals of very gruesome images. If this book were to be accurately made into a movie, it would probably be rated R, primarily for the violence.”

 

Filed Under: Reviews

Types of Water Purifiers and Their Applications

June 4, 2012 by

In The Storage, Filtration And Purification Of Water I covered water purification pretty thoroughly. Today I want to discuss the types of purification systems and their applications, as one purifier might be a better fit in certain situations.

Gravity Fed

These systems have one reservoir to hold unpurified water and often have a second reservoir to hold the purified water. These systems use gravity to pass the water through the filter at a slow and steady pace. In my opinion these systems are often best at home or at a base camp. They are often too big and bulky to be used in the field. The plus side of these units is that they are passive. The only thing you need to do is add unpurified water and take the purified water away.

Any of the pitcher type units such as PUR and other models are gravity fed. Some bigger names geared at preparedness are Berkey and MSR .

Pump

These systems force water through the filter. In most cases there is no reservoir, the dirty water can be taken directly from a source such as a river or lake. Or you can collect dirty water in a separate reservoir. You will also need to have a container ready to collect the clean water. To me, it makes sense to have a system like this in the field, along with your water bottle or canteen.

There are in house systems that attach directly to your faucet. These are pump fed. Some popular preparedness brands are Katadyn, MSR and Lifesaver.

Water Bottles with Purifiers

With these, you add water to the bottle and use a straw of sorts to suck the water through the filter. I think these are a solid second option, but the other options may be a better primary, with the exception of the Lifesaver. The Lifesaver is considered a pump, but it is the size of a water bottle and can filter water fast enough to be useful for multiple people, once the filter has expired on the lifesaver, a failsafe will not allow it to function until the filter is replaced.

Ultraviolet

Using an ultraviolet purifier will kill viruses and bacteria but will not remove any chemicals or other contaminants. To use this method you will need a container to hold the water and place the UV source directly into the water. The water in that container will then be free of bacteria and viruses. A downside to these is that they require outside power, either from batteries of electricity.

In my opinion this is a great option for backup purification.

Steripen and TrojanUV are two companies that produce this type of purification technology.

Chemical

Bleach, chlorine and Iodine water purification tablets are all methods that, like the ultraviolet, will kill bacteria and viruses, but won’t remove chemicals. In some cases such as with iodine will add a foul taste.

This, in my opinion, is another good backup method.

Final thoughts

In looking into the different brands and methods, I am very impressed with the Lifesaver. They do a lot of humanitarian work. It is their goal to end water poverty. They are trying to change the way people think about providing clean water in emergencies. Right now after a typhoon or hurricane, the thought is to bring in clean drinking water. Lifesaver is saying, “just treat the dirty water that is already there.” On their website they show a video of how the bottle works. The jerry can works the same way, though it can do more water at one time. I’m seriously considering buying one of the jerry cans. In the video the creator says that one jerry can will purify 25,000 liters.

If you’re interested in the Lifesaver products in the US, use this link to Lifesaver USA.

 

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