Barry Davies - Modern Survival: How to Cope When Everything Falls Apart

The Author and the Publishers offer in good faith the information regarding the survival skills and techniques described in this book. They point out that some of these may be dangerous in certain circumstances. Therefore, they disclaim any liability for any injury which may result from employing these skills and techniques.

Readers should also note that these skills and techniques are for use in the context of emergency survival situations only. When practicing any of these skills and techniques, the relevant laws of the State, as well as all individual rights, must be strictly observed. The Author and the publisher are unable to accept any responsibility for proceedings of use, correct or otherwise, of these skills and techniques.

Before I undertook this project, I took serious legal advice regarding the reproduction of the photographs in this book. I have complied with the law and the various regulations required by other bodies. Where I do not hold the rights to the original, I have the owners consent, or this consent has been published within their website. Where there has been doubt as to ownership, every reasonable effort has been made to locate the true owner of each picture.

Finally, the pictures in this book will hopefully help save the lives of many people, and for all those who have contributed, knowingly or unknowingly, I thank you.

It strikes anytime, anywhere. It takes many formsa
hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado, a flood, a fire, or a
hazardous spill, an act of nature or an act of terrorism. It builds
over days or weeks, or hits suddenly without warning. Every
year, millions of Americans face disaster and its terrifying
consequences. (FEMA)

I was commissioned to write a modern survival book relating to disasters by Skyhorse Publishing at the start of February 2011. Most of my previous survival books have been written along military lines, designed for those that challenged the great wild open spaces of our planet. You may ask yourself, why the change of direction? Its simple. The date is March 15, 2011, and there are earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, landsides, famine, unstable nuclear reactors, and wars killing or threatening millions of people around the world at this very moment. So, the purpose of this new book is to make survival constructive and allow those that do endure a disaster to live on.

A month into the book, on Friday, March 11, 2011, at 2:46 in the afternoon, the largest recorded earthquake hit eighty miles off the Northeast coast of Japan. The resulting tsunami swept inland, causing unimaginable loss of life and damage. As it happened, television channels beamed the devastation around the world, flooding our homes with visual images of disaster. Sitting in my living room in the beautiful country of Spain, it was hard to comprehend the scale of the catastrophe, imagining the personal torment that would follow: the loss of loved ones, homes crushed under waves of sludge, and all the pain and agony that these people were going through. So great is the devastation, this book will be long finished before the Japanese people have recovered to anywhere near normal.

Japan, a nation known for being prepared for earthquakes, was caught off guard, and the resulting tsunami swept away entire villages under a sea of matchwood which drove inland. Unlike the flood that happened in Indonesia in December of 2004, which cost an estimated 150,000 lives, Japan had an early warning system in placeunfortunately, it still was not enough. As the alarm sounded, many took to their cars and headed inland for higher ground. The roads became blocked, and people simply drowned in their cars. To avoid further danger, and within minutes, most of Japans nuclear reactors were shut downunfortunately, it still was not enough. Some of the nuclear reactor plants were damaged and quickly became unstable; backup generators designed to cut-in should a five meter tsunami hit, were overwhelmed by the seven meter waves that swamped the generators. With no electrical power to pump the water that was needed to cool the reactors, and with back-up batteries that only had a life span of nine hours, Japan was in serious trouble.

I have spent a lifetime first learning, and then teaching survival skills. By serving for many years in Britains Elite Special Forces, the SAS, I have learned to face death and the fear of death. I have traveled and operated in almost every part of the world where I have seen people survive on less than nothing in the most adverse conditions; I have battled in many small wars, and seen the devastation thrust upon innocent civilians. For the past twenty-seven years, I have worked as a consultant for the worlds largest supplier of survival equipment, BCB International Ltd. Almost every aircraft, ship or Special Forces soldier in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, holds a survival kit supplied by BCB International Ltd. So it is with these skills that I write a modern survival book. Even if it helps save the life of just one person in the future, it will be worth it.

Disasters, both natural and man-made, happen on a regular basis. When we witness the destructive power produced by a combination of an earthquake and tsunami, it simple highlights how vulnerable we are to Mother Nature and the folly of the human race. After each disaster or war, we always say the same thing, this can never be allowed to happen again! But it does, and on a regular basis, showing that we rarely learn from history.

In January 2010, more than 230,000 people were killed when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. Soon after that, there was an outbreak of cholera which produced another 3,333 deaths. Two years before, about 70,000 people were killed and 18,000 people were reported missing after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, China; while in December 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 triggered a tsunami that swept through the coastal regions of a dozen countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The death toll has been estimated at between 225,000 and 275,000. Of the half-million dead in just six years, over 28,000 were known to have been tourists or travelers. While these disasters account for many deaths, suffering has many faces; in January 2011, some 77,000 were trapped in Queensland, Australia, by the worst flooding in over 100 years. There was little or no warning for any of the above, little preparation, and for many, little chance of survival.