One Second After

[Urban Survivalist]

So today I finished the book One Second After by William Forstchen. The book is about life after a nuclear bomb is detonated in the stratosphere over the United States of America and thus causing a EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) which causes all electronics to become unusable and sending America back in time about a hundred years in a split second. The Book was really good I would recommend it to anyone who says why do I need to prepare or to the preppers so they can follow the main character John and think what would I need to be better off than those people in a disaster or significant event.
If you take anything away from the story I would say that FOOD STORAGE is the biggest assist you can have in an event like this along with a way to protect it. Most of us on this forum already have a large food storage supply which is great. However once I obtained a one year supply I started working on year two. It comes down to this if America goes through a major disaster, major depression, epidemic, pandemic , economic collapse, civil unrest, pole shift or (insert your imagination here) food will be the major factor for everything.
Everyday people drives to the store and buys groceries and drives back to their home, place the food in the refrigerator or oven and life goes on. What if there was no food at the grocery store, no gas in the car, no electricity to cook. As people begin to panic would you rather stay home and keep the family feed or would you rather go out on foot hoping to come home unharmed and praying that no one breaks in and hurts your family while you are gone.
People ask me all the time where do I start. I tell them (and the lurkers on this site) start with food and water storage. If anything was ever to happen food could be worth its weight in gold literally. If nothing ever happens you can still eat it, sell it or donate it to a shelter and write it off on taxes.
In conclusion I would like to say that if you have not read the book and you are currently looking for a new read then I would diffidently recommend this book. There are a few typos but overall it is an easy read. I give it 5 stars.

[Monel]

I have it on audio, and in print. After listening to it on at least 3 occasions, I must say I enjoyed it. Although, it makes me stop and think, How many of the 100+ nuclear power plants, (how many reactors at each plant?) in the US would melt down like Japan's Fukushima? Likely all before long. An EMP strike on this country would finish us for good.

[monkeybird]

One Second After was the reason I started prepping. Now nearly 3 years later, I look at the community binding together in that small NC town, and wonder just how that would happen in my own or yours.

I've been prepping and storing my food, while I'm sure most of my neighbors and friends have not. Does that mean that the community will take all my food for mass distribution? While no man is an island, I cannot help but wonder just how much of an island most preppers are.

[claymore]

I share the concern with monkeybird. For the good of all ? I'm afraid neighbors and community would come and take and damn you. Can you imagine; here's this guy sitting on all that food, all that stuff ! In the book if you had your own stores it was safe and not taken for communal benefit. But that was a story. Prepping is like a savings account well look at how most everyone save. Congrats on two years worth of food; I'm no where near that but I've got a start. Joe Blow down the street maybe a week,two a month ? Then what ? Go hunting ? How close are you going to get to your neighbors while hunting ? Where are you going to draw the line ?

[MustangGal]

I highly recommend One Second After. It is not the kind of book I would normally read, but I had to study it for my Comp II class. Not just read it, but really study it. At the end of the semester, when I sold all my old books, guess which one I kept?

At first I was terrified, almost frantic, knowing I couldn't take care of my family if a real disaster hit. Now, as each prep is put into place, that fear eases. One Second After changed how I view life.

There were some definite editing problems - even the author acknowledges it. But, don't let poor editing stand it the way of really learning something.

[Knobster]

spolier alertThis book hit close to home for me. My wife has Type-1 diabetes and when the main character, John, lost his daughter to the disease I had to put the book down for about ten minutes. I have shelves full of diabetic supplies and a back-up refrigeration system but if TSHTF, she will only live for 3 or 4 months. Unless I start raising sheep and learn how to extract insulin...

[claymore]

Knobster, thats got to be a worry. Thought they had stuff that didn't require refrigiration ?

[All Talk]

I thought this was a very good book of its kind, and a good "gift" or "suggested reading" if you want to influence a friend (or spouse). Given the scope and severity of the calamity in the book (i.e. the situational premise), I think the way everything played out (the narrative) was actually too rosey.

That doesn't mean I think are most likely scenarios for which we should prep will be as severe in actuality as was the premise for this book, but of course they could be; another way to say this might be to deduce I beleive outcomes as severe as the narrative could follow from a much "milder" premise of diaster/breakdown.

[ssonb]

As I read the book there were many times I has to also quit reading and take a break. He realy brought to light how terrible it is on someone going thru something like this and not have any preps, BUT he had location and connections!! Knobster not trying to pry but look into the Jeruslem Artirchoke a type of sunflower, I produces a small tuber that is sweetend with a natural insulin instead of starches and carbs.

[Knobster]

Knobster not trying to pry but look into the Jeruslem Artirchoke a type of sunflower, I produces a small tuber that is sweetend with a natural insulin instead of starches and carbs.

Not a problem at all, I'm always open to new ideas. I have looked into the Jerusalem artichoke but from my research it seems that this tuber contains inulin which, when eaten, converts into fructose instead of glucose. Thus, my wife wouldn't need to inject insulin to eat this particular food. I suppose in a true TEOT scenario a diabetic could eat animals and Jerusalem artichokes and not need the insulin. I haven't found any long-term studies on this particular food and type-1 diabetics.

[baldsith]

I will have to read that one....I read Patriots....was an awesome book and knowledge item

[1Admin]

Read the book a couple years ago and recently bought the audio book on CD.

The family listens to it on car trips. We are about 95% finished with it as of tonight.

My son calls it "One Cigarette After" because of "John's" constant references to cigarettes (we are obviously non smokers). And the character does seem to obsess about them quite a bit.

A little fairy tale'ish on the "community survival" IMO. Although he does take great pains to explain that "Black Mountain" wasn't very accepting of outsiders before TSHTF. Closed country town where everyone knew your name was the impression I got.

Problem is, people think that "community survival" approach will work in amalgamated areas wherein people come and go frequently and the majority of the populace "ain't from roun here". Making it happen in a cookie cutter subdivision just outside of a major city in Florida wherein most of the residents are from New Jersey or New York and don't get along NOW when times are easy for example.

The problem for the survivalist in the "community survival" or even the "I'll defend my subdivision" non sense is that it's an ALL OR NOTHING situation. With all those starving pilgrims around, you either are going to have to (not just look like but) BE a starving pilgrim also. You are going to have to put all YOUR food into the community bounty. That means YOUR food plus some pop tarts and a half a bag of stale tortilla chips (the sum total of your suburban neighbors "food storage").

The MINUTE you are working with the others in your subdivision and they realize that "wow! Bob Jones isn't losing weight, his kids are sickly like ours are", they are going to eat your lunch (maybe you too).

The book was good overall, a little pollyann'ish on the community survival end though. I didn't appreciate the couple of negative connotations about survivalists also. These were the thing about "local survivalists" showing the college kids how to make IEDS, etc. Talk about perpetuating some BS....

[brokedownbiker]

I read One Second After right after I read Lights Out, two different takes on the same basic event- an EMP attack. I think that reality is somewhere between the two, a lot will depend on the time of year that the attack happens. Food supplies and weather will decide how many die and how fast they die off.

And I really think that most everyone tends to underestimate the depths that people will stoop to in order to survive- when you add the lack of morals and ethics that is the norm today to the fact that starving people will do ANYTHING to eat, it will get down-right medieval within weeks.

[Jeep]

I live between Black Mountain and Asheville. Most of what is in the book is true but some of the landscape is not. Reading the book does cause one to think about what could happen and I know it did open some eyes. Several people in our last Ham radio class was taking the class and wanted to get their license and radios because of " One Second After".

[BAK]

Read the book and was shocked even though I grew up on Russian war stories from my grandpa. One thing i noticed is the lack of nuclear power stations. The east coast is full of them and in my understanding all of them will turn into Chernobyl type disasters a week after an EMP. Any opinions about this?