Month: February 2006

Letter Re: Recommendations on Body Armor?

James: I’m a newbie at preparedness. I have some nitro-packed storage food and I’m working on buying a few guns and getting training.  I think I’ll start with a course at Front Sight. But for immediate needs, I’m about ready to buy some body armor for “just in case.”  Are the mil surplus flak vests that I see advertised for +/-$80 a good deal? – T.Y. JWR Replies: I highly recommend the training at Front Sight it is top notch! About body armor; first things first: Forget about the older-vintage military surplus “flak” vests” that you saw advertised. These are …


Letter Re: Recommendations for Night Vision Goggles?

JWR: Are you going to do a post on [Starlight] Night Vision Goggles, where to buy, and what type of NVGs is the best? – K.T. [of KT Ordnance] JWR Replies: The light amplification NVG market has become crowded in recent years, primarily with junk that is prone to failure. I most strongly recommend that you you buy only good quality scopes. This generally means American or Israeli-made, not Russian. If you can only afford one piece of starlight gear, then make it a weapon sight. You can always use a weapon sight dismounted (as a monocular), but you cannot …



Letter Re: The Demise of Winchester and Request for Suggested Brands for Bolt Action Rifles

Jim: It’s kinda sad that Winchester is going out of production. I’ve owned a couple over the years and they gave good service. My Model 70 .308 is still a favorite gun. Light, accurate, pretty, tough. What more can you really ask for?  I don’t have Boston’s Gun Bible at this location so I can’t remember where he came out on the Remington/Winchester scale (and of course there are Browning/Savage/Ruger/Sako/Weatherby/Tikka arguments to be made – not to mention surplus guns. I wrote the homage to the Mosin-Nagant last week)… but no matter where your loyalties were seeing another finely crafted …


Hurricane Katrina — A First Hand Bugout Account from August 2005

The following anonymously-posted account is re-posted with permission from Mel’s Riser’s “My Solar Village” blog (http://mysolarvillage.blogspot.com.) Some of you might find this account is eerily reminiscent of my novel Patriots: The craziest thing about the whole Katrina fiasco was that my father in law (technically he’s just my girlfriend’s dad, but we’ve been together long enough that this is what we call him.) I always make fun of him because he keeps his garage stocked with something like 100 gallons of water, a bunch of big jugs full of treated gasoline, food, etc. He also owns quite a few guns. …


Letter Re: Disinfecting Water with Chlorine Bleach

Dear Mr. Rawles, One of your readers recently mentioned using chlorine in the water tanks for household toilets as a means to preserve clean, drinkable water. I realize I need to do this. Question: how much chlorine should I use? IIRC the water tank for a typical [traditional] toilet holds approximately 5 gallons. As always, thanks for your help and for the good work you do. Yours in Jesus Christ our Lord, – S.P. JWR Replies: The more recently-manufactured toilet tanks hold only about 2.5 gallons. The guidelines for treating water from questionable sources (via boiling, chlorine, or iodine) are …


Letter Re: Joining or Forming a Faith-Based Survival Retreat Group

Sir: Many of the recommendations in your book, Patriots, and on your blog deal with survival contingency plans from a small-group/family perspective. Simply put; what is your advice to single (possibly young) people who have no dependents or family structure? In Patriots, one of the characters (who was not an original member of “The Group”) is a young, single male, who “freelances” (almost in the Medieval sense of the term) to the group. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, is it plausible to hope that one can form a mutually beneficial relationship, perhaps in exchange for goods or services? Of course, relying …


Letter from Author Michael Z. Williamson Re: Remington Riot Shotguns

Jim: My survival shotgun is surplus from the Michigan state police, through a dealer–Remington 870, well worn, but with a glass-smooth action. $125, with plastic stock already on. Nothing against Mossbergs; I have one of those also, but the Remington is exceptionally common, which is a plus. As I’m not too concerned with keeping it looking like an innocent hunting weapon, I’ve added a tube extension, side sling mount, fluorescent orange hard plastic follower, and Cavalry Arms stock conversion that let me fit an Ergo grip and AR stock. This creates the exact same length of pull as my ARs, …


Letter Re: Investing Gold Through and IRA or 401(k)?

Dear Jim: With all of the prevailing concerns about the USG economy and the specter of a hyper-inflated or collapsed USG dollar, many people are seeking to invest in the precious metals like silver and gold. But, unfortunately, many of us have previously invested in dollar-denominated IRA‘s, 401(k) and other pension plans. As you know, if a person withdraws money from these plans he must pay all applicable taxes PLUS a 10% penalty which makes this a prohibitive thing to do. Therefore do you have any suggestions on what to do with existing retirement funds? Are there any precious metal-backed …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC)  (http://www.odac-info.org) recently updated their site with several interesting articles related to the much-debated Hubbert’s Peak in Oil production.   o o o SurvivalBlog reader R.B.S. recommends this commentary posted at Gold-Eagle: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/willie021506.html   o o o Doc of  http://www.bigsecrets.cc recommended this source for “truckable” water tanks: http://www.aquaflex.net/



David in Israel on the Grid-Up Bugout Bag

Grid-up bugouts of the non-universal TEOTWAWKI type (more like Hurricane Katrina) allow you to take advantage of modern infrastructure even if you have limited means. If your escape happens during a time where resources allow a hotel may be a better choice for those who have lost their primary residence (rural or urban) and do not have a fallback location yet. In the event of a major power outage the cellular infrastructure has several days of generator power at each tower so the ease and reliability of mobile telephony may have advantages over ham radio for contacting family. In unaffected …



Repost of an Old Letter Re: Hyperinflation in Indonesia

Back in the late 1990s, I corresponded via e-mail with a gentleman from Indonesia who had read the short “Triple Ought” draft edition of my novel Patriots. One of his letters in particular (from October of 1998) had some interesting insights and a valuable perspective on what it is like to live through a period of hyperinflation. (This was back during the time of wholesale inflation of the Indonesian Rupiah.) He started his letter by responding to my request for a sample of the Indonesian paper currency for my collection. To explain: I collect fiat paper currencies that have been …


Letter Re: The Demise of Winchester and Request for Suggested Brands for Bolt Action Rifles

Jim: It’s kinda sad that Winchester is going out of production. I’ve owned a couple over the years and they gave good service. My Model 70 .308 is still a favorite gun. Light, accurate, pretty, tough. What more can you really ask for?  I don’t have Boston’s Gun Bible at this location so I can’t remember where he came out on the Remington/Winchester scale (and of course there are Browning/Savage/Ruger/Sako/Weatherby/Tikka arguments to be made – not to mention surplus guns. I wrote the homage to the Mosin-Nagant last week)… but no matter where your loyalties were seeing another finely crafted …