Rating: 
Summary: Flipant yet viable life lessons
Review: I own this book and find it quite helpfull. I have been fencing, and the information on sword fighting is acurate. The information on landing a plane isn't 100% on the money but close enough to land. The book is entertaining, even if you never plan to use such information, it is still fun to read. If you ever DO find yourself in any of these situations then you will be happy you have the book.
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Summary: Boy Scout Material...and GIRL SCOUTS!
Review: OK, so i'm not a girl scout or boy scout. The guy that sits in front of me in English got this book when he became an Eagle Scout. I read it during English (oops). We had the best time! Of course, how to break into a car really got our attention! And how to hot wire a car!! I loved this book, but so did my best friends, who are also in that class. I would reccommend this book to anyone who loves a good laugh, as well as some useful information. I once jumped off an island, and if I had know to keep my legs straight, I would have prevented a whole bunch of bruising!
Rating: 
Summary: Offbeat coffee table book
Review: I don't think I will ever be required to fend off a shark or enter in a sword fight. The likelihood of my being trapped in an avalance is slim. I seriously doubt that I'll have to survive in the mountains. However, I have a friend who writes fiction, and I thought this book would be useful for starting the creative juices flowing. I bought the book for her but found myself reading it before I gave it to her. Every person who saw it sitting on my coffee table picked it up and flipped through the pages, reading aloud and laughing. So what if the info is a bit useless, even if it's completely accurate? It's a heck of a lot of fun.
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Summary: Very cool book with very interesting info
Review: I love this book. Everytime I see it, I have to pick it up and thumb through it. I can think of ten friends/family members who I'd love to give this book to, and who would in turn, love this book. This book is a veritable encyclopedia of coolness. Ever seen "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"? I think I imagine myself in each scenario every time I read through this book, like a little action movie in which I am the hero.That being said, this book is full of good info. Good info that works (as evidenced by the fact that the authors consulted with professionals in each area). And how could you not want to own a book that tells you "How to deliver a baby in the back seat of a car" or "How to survive a landing when your parachute won't open"? Any self-respecting adventurer/James Bond type wouldn't go without knowing the info in these pages. And any self-respecting imagineer would read it just to imbue his/her life with more adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Useful and incredibly fun
Review: If you enjoy working with your hands, or imagining yourself in exciting situations, or living life to its fullest, or... Pretty much, if you're human, you'll enjoy this book. I have yet to find someone who did not enjoy hearing how to survive an alligator attack, or how to survive being shot at. You may find people who think they won't enjoy it, but start reading out loud and everyone around you will be hooked. Really useful, but you don't have to buy it for that purpose. A really fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: garbage
Review: This book is a complete waste of money. I had heard a discussion ofit on the radio which piqued my curiosity. It is a clever ideawoefully executed. The entire thing can be read in an hour. 90% ofthe information is already widely known or obvious. For example, inthe section entitled "How to Survive If You Are In the Line ofGunfire", the authors advise: "run in a zig-zag pattern tomake yourself more difficult to hit"; "attempt to keep largeobjects between you and the shooter". I think this means"take cover". Worse, some of the advice is just wrong - anddangerously so. In the section "How to Take a Punch", theauthors advise: "move toward the blow, not away from it. Gettingpunched while moving backward will result in the head taking the punchat full force". That's so ridiculous one wonders how it couldescape even cusory editing. The authors apparently don't understandthe concept of "rolling with the punch"; they certainlydidn't consult any boxers. Many of the "scenarios" areuseless. "How to Win a Swordfight"? "How to Jump froma Motorcycle to a Car"? This book is worthnothing. It is simply thrown together, poorly researched, badlywritten and illustrated, and uninteresting beyond a few items. Don'tbuy it. We absolutely must discourage this type of thing. It is aninsult.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: I orginally purchased 4 of these books to give away to friends. A lot of the people I work with go traveling around the world on various adventures. I thought they could all use a copy of this. ...mainly because you never know. What if something they read in the book someday saved their lives?I also purchased the book because they discribe situations that could easily happen in my hometown of Juneau, Alaska. These topics include: How to Treat Frostbite, How to Treat a Leg Fracture, How to Survive an Earthquake, How to Survive Adrift at Sea, How to Survive an Avalanche, How to Survive When Lost in the Mountains and How to Make Fire Without Matches. As you can see, this would be very valuable to anyone, who goes out exploring in our area to know. There was only one item I didn't agree with: their comments on How to Escape from a Bear. First, they only address the black bear. Another very commonly run-into-while-hiking-on-a-beautiful-day kind of bear is the brown bear. And the way you respond to these different bears can make a difference. But, as an Alaskan, we already have these bear rules burnt into our minds.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to handling danger
Review: This book is more of a quick reference to dealing with emergencies than a detailed textbook on how to be McGuyver. It contains scenarios of eclectic scope. I see three types of scenarios. 1) Stunt Work; stuff one sees in the movies. Not likely to need it yourself, but it is still fun to read. 2) Trainee; like with diving and your air tank runs empty. You should have been taught in diving class what to do so the info here is redundant, but if you were not taught, so much the better you read it now. At least, you have a question to ask the instructor if you do take classes. 3) Life Saving, this is the real use of the book. Few people are told how to jump from a burning building, but wouldn't you want to know how, just in case? I would take this with me on a camping trip but for backpacking I would photocopy the related stuff I bring that along. Having said that, this book is not meant to be carried everywhere. Few of the scenarios are longer than three pages and are heavy with illustrations. Some have criticzed the book's lack of depth, but that is the book's strength. It only includes the key points of how to handle a situation so after reading it, the reader can remember enough to stay alive. Let's face it, the only time you every need to deliver a baby in a taxi cab (or anywhere for that matter), this little book is going to be contently resting on its shelf - someplace else. So the less detail you have the more you will remember of what you read. As a side note, I recommend sharing this book with friends and co-workers, or at least showing it around at lunchtime. Not only will it help other people, but also you are more likely to remember information if you have a conversation over it. You may also wish to have this as a coffee table or nightstand book to thumb though once in a while. Of course, you can do as I did and also buy the calendar version. It is in a weekly planner format, so you have a reason to carry it with you AND to look though it. I also found the calendar had additional scenarios. As the handbook and the 2001 calendar are ..., you may want to wait for the Travel version and 2002 calendar to come out this summer. Also check out the authors' web site at .... The one drawback to the book is it focuses on specifics. In itself, this is not bad but I would like to have seen extra pages describing how the examples can be used generally. In other words, each scenario provided information on a particular case (dealing with a bear or mountain lion, for example). It would have helped the reader if after several related scenarios we could be told how to handle similar, but still different, situations. To use the above example, when confronting a bear outdoors, you want to be as non-threatening as possible. But you should try to scare away mountain lions (or at least convince them you are not worth their effort). From these cases, we know how to handle many wild animals if we stumble upon them, however what about wolves? Do I treat them like mountain lions or like bears? I would treat them like bears myself but I would like a list of major animals the above scenarios would work with. This is true for most of the book. Let us compare it to The Art of War. That book details military action, however, the knowledge can be applied to business with a little thought and creativity. The same is true for Worst-Case Scenarios. The specific examples can be applied to general situations. I shall never need to jump from a motorcycle to a car, but the information we learn from that can be applied to other things in life. Some people like myself and other favorable reviewers can see that. But I believe more can be written to connect the scenarios together so the other readers who did not see the connection can get more from this book. Also, one general theme that ran though this book was to Be Prepared. The advise on quicksand can't help if you do not have a stick. So, as a hiker, you need to Think Ahead (AKA common sense) and pick up a branch 4 to 6 feet long and use it as a walking stick when going though wet woodlands. This book is great at mentioning things to keep in mind. Unfortunately, the Boy Scout motto was only mentioned briefly at the beginning and was an underlying message in the rest of the book. Judging from other reviews, some people missed this point. By the way, this book is fun to read too. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I imagined myself doing some of the crazy things in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious yet very helpful!
Review: The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook would make a great book for James Bond 007 but for the normal human being it would just be more of a joke than a real guide. Of course, there are things in here that are really useful like how to fend off a shark or to survive a snake attack. Some things that the book shows is how to: Fend off a shark Take a punch Identify a bomb Land a plane Break into a car Jump from a moving car Treat a leg fracture To survive when adrift at sea and much, much more!!! This would be a great book to get a kick out of or to just learn useful information. But this book and enjoy. HAPPY READING!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent as reference and as entertainment
Review: I am a little confused by reviewers that describe this book as funny. It may be misleading, because the information contained in this handbook is real, serious, and written by consulting experts in different fields. Now, maybe what they find funny is the included scenarios, because it is really a bizarre selection. I will clasify them in two categories: Useful: Information you really need to know. Such as * How to break down a door * How to escape killer bees * How to perform a tracheotomy * How to survive a snake attack * How to treat frostbite Entertaining: You will probably never be even close of needing this stuff, but the information is amusing * How to survive if your parachute fails to open * How to escape from quicksand * How to maneuver on top of a train and get inside * How to jump from a building into a dumpster * How to leap from a motorcycle to a car The book is easy to read, as there is no techno language, there are lots of illustrations, and the information is divided in bullets. An excellent conversation topic and reference guide. Highly recommended.
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