The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

Why This Book

One of my friends sent The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht to me as a gift. She knew I would like this book because I love extreme survival situation shows like I Shouldn’t Be Alive. This book is a guide for dealing with bad situations, like “how to survive when lost in the jungle.”

The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is easy to read or even skim. There is something for everyone. It has a wide range of scenarios from dangerous to just downright irritating. That’s why this is the perfect book gift for anyone, even for non-book lovers and non-survival enthusiasts. It is fun, witty, entertaining and you learn something along the way too.

Book Stats

• Title: The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook
• Authors: Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht
• Genre: How-To, Humor
• Series: Worst-Case Scenario Series
• Publication Date: 1999
• Pages: 507
• My Rating: 4/5
• Buy Now: Amazon

Plot Summary of The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

Since this is more of a guide there isn’t a plot. The purpose of The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is to walk you through what to do if you find yourself in a worst-case scenario. The book has 6 chapters, each with a different theme.

The chapters are:

• Animal Encounters
• Great Escapes
• Illness and Injury
• Social Disasters
• Domestic Dangers
• Out and About

Each chapter has multiple scenarios specific to that theme broken down into easy to follow steps. After reading, hopefully, you will know what to do if you ever end up in a similar situation.

Scenarios

This is the “complete” handbook so it takes the most popular scenarios from all 11 books in the series. The scenarios vary extremely from very scary and life-threatening to mildly annoying. That’s why I like this book so much because it is super serious and has life-saving information, along with some ridiculous and funny situations.

Life-Threatening Scenarios

Some of the situations are things that probably won’t happen to the average person but are good to know. Some examples are, “how to start a fire without matches,” “how to survive a riptide,” and “how to survive a sinking car.” These are all situations the majority of people will most likely never be in but it’s good to know, just in case.

Then there are the ridiculous situations that only James Bond would be in but are fun to know. Like, “how to jump from a moving train,” “how to survive if you are buried alive,” and “how to survive if your parachute fails to open.” The likelihood of ever having to jump from anything to live is very slim but very interesting to see what the experts say to do.

Non-Life Threatening Scenarios

There are also situations that won’t kill you and you will probably never have to worry about. Like, “how to repair a dropped wedding cake,” “how to untangle a bird from your hair,” and “how to deal with escaped lobsters.” None of these have ever happened to me or anyone I know. I have never personally cooked lobsters so I have no idea how likely it is for them to get away but now I know what to do if they do.

In addition, there are scenarios that are non-life threatening but the average person will most likely have to deal with at some point in their life. Examples are, “how to deal with a bad gift,” “how to survive meeting the parents,” and “how to open a bottle without an opener.” These aren’t scenarios that will kill you but they can cause you to have a bad day and this information will help to avoid that.

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few others I thought I should mention because they are too funny not to. “How to survive empty-nest syndrome” and “how to survive if your child moves back in.” After the serious advice is given, they say “how to prevent reentry,” which states:

• Change the locks
• Paint the house
• Hide the car
• Put a different name on the mailbox
• Get a large unfriendly pet (Any size dog or cat can be effective if allergic.)
• Move to a smaller place
• Disappear and don’t leave a forwarding address

Seems a little extreme to me but I got a good chuckle.

Also, there is “how to re-purpose a fruitcake.” Besides using it in another dessert, some of the suggestions are hilarious, like use it as a doorstop, dumbbell, or carnival game. There are funny little pictures to go along with each suggestion too.

The Appendix is a really nice addition as well. It has some advice on how to pad your resume, write an “it’s not you, it’s me” letter, or have the “Santa” talk with your child. All are somewhat serious with a little bit of humor thrown in, too.

My Thoughts

Some of the information I already knew, like “how to drive in a blizzard,” but there was a lot of information I did not know. The thought of “how to escape from a stampede of giraffes,” had never even crossed my mind until then. That’s not something I need to worry about in my current life.

But there are some that have crossed my mind and are the little “what ifs” in the back of my head. Like, at work a few people besides me have mentioned that they have a fear of being locked in the walk-in freezer. Well, now we know what to do in the unlikely event that it ever happens.

Final Feelings

If you are interested there is also a Worst-Case Scenario Survival board game, cards, and calendar. My friend and I used to play the board game when we were younger. That’s another reason she got this book for me and why it means so much to me. The game is based on the books. It takes a worst-case scenario situation and gives you a multiple-choice question to try to answer correctly. Each correct answer moves you closer to winning! We always had a lot of fun.

Overall, I really like The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. Again, I think it’s the perfect gift for anyone. It’s got a bright yellow hardcover so it’s perfect to leave out on a table as a conversation piece and for guests to pick up and skim through. All the scenarios are short and to the point so even a few minutes is enough to learn something or to get a laugh. It’s packed full of useful and useless information. I have had so much fun reading scenarios for people at work! I’m glad my friend gave me this book.

Have you ever been in a worst-case scenario? Did you know what to do? Tell us your story in the comments.

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