Year: 2008


Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $160. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of : “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”, an autographed copy of “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog.”, and a copy of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living”, by the late Carla Emery. The four items have a combined retail value of around $395. The auction ends on May15th. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.


Letter Re: Hiding Things in Plain Sight

Mister Rawles, Household burglaries are all too common, especially where I live. (In a Cleveland, Ohio suburb. The crooks actually commute out to the suburbs to burglarize!) From news stories, I have observed that : 1.) They aren’t too smart. If they were, they’d have a “real” job!), and 2.) They are usually in a hurry. You’ve mentioned building hidden caches in your blog several times, but have you given any thought to hiding things in plain sight? For example you could empty out cans of unappealing food items (like dog food, or olives), and using that space for valuables. …


Letter Re: JWR’s Opinion of Kalashnikov (AK) Action Rifles

Jim, What is your opinion on owning the AK variant rifle as a survival weapon? Though medium powered and limited in range to 300 yards, I feel that the simplicity of this weapon is a big plus (as well as magazine capacity, ammo prices/availability. Thanks, Jason, North Idaho JWR Replies: I do like the AK action. They are very robust and designed to take a tremendous amount of abuse, as this YouTube video graphically illustrates.) The AKs chambered in the intermediate 7.62×39 cartridge are indeed are far less expensive than a FAL, M1A or HK91. But ballistically, this cartridge is …


Letter Re: Potatoes as a Survival Garden Crop

Mr. Rawles: The problem with potatoes as a survival crop, is that they are susceptible to soil-borne diseases. Before toxic sprays, seed potatoes were grown at elevations above 800 feet, which does help. They also require a very good root cellar, in order to keep all the way through the winter, until the next planting season. Seed potatoes cannot be stored for years like grains. One [year of] crop failure, and you are done. It helps to swap all your potatoes saved for seed with another gardener, some distance from you. Look for someone with a different type of soil, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The mainstream media is finally catching on to the surging interest in the Survivalist movement. See, for example, a recent CNN Europe article, in which I’m dubbed ” unofficial spokesman” for the survivalist movement: Survivalists get ready for meltdown. OBTW, I was also quoted (albeit indirectly) in a breezy Fortune magazine article: The appeal of gold–Survivalists and speculators see it as the ultimate safe haven, but buying too much can also be a trap    o o o The folks at HAZARiD (one of our advertisers) recently revamped their web site and put up a video clip. Their fogging applicator …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications, and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks on the contrary to keep them in perpetual childhood : it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole …


Notes from JWR:

We are happy to welcome our newest advertiser, Seed for Security. They provide heirloom variety (open pollinated/non-hybrid) gardening seeds. I am amazed at how political Wikipedia has become. I heard from a reader that the recent attempted deletion of the James Wesley Rawles article at Wikipedia was stopped, by consensus. But now, the neutrality of the article has been called into question. If you are an experienced Wikipedia editor, then please post your opinion about the article’s neutrality, one way or the other. Thanks!


Letter Re: Advice on Emergency Dentistry

Dear Mr. Rawles, I have read and been positively influenced by your novel [“Patriots”]. I am now making provisions for difficult times. Can you recommend any links towards obtaining dentistry kit and basic dental instruction? Mainly interested in being able to perform extraction safely. With Thanks and Sincerity, – Dan-O JWR Replies: This topic has been covered briefly in the blog, but is important enough that it deserves additional discussion. The most important resource is the book “Where There is No Dentist“, available for free download from the Hesperian Foundation (But I recommend getting a bound hardcopy. Ditto for their …


Two Letters Re: Potatoes as a Survival Garden Crop

Morning, Jim! Just a quick addition for your readers to your recent note about potatoes gaining in popularity: most of their useful nutritional value is in their skin and outermost fractions of inches. I believe this is true of most root vegetables. Peeling these vegetables just renders them as a wad of starch or carbohydrate – much less useful for your body than the good Lord intended them to be. All they really need (especially if grown in a home garden where you know what went into the soil) is a quick rinse and a light scrub. Ideally your order …


Letter Re: The Potential Combat Effectiveness of Shotguns

Jim, There is a fairly heated discussion going on at the FALFiles Forums about how useful a shotgun is in a Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF) situation. I was curious, what exactly is your take on the issue? Personally, I do not feel a shotgun can effectively replace a rifle, however, it still proves an effective tool when the extreme-close situation arises. I suppose one can distill this argument down to only “defensive purpose” shotguns such as those built for tactical situations (3″ chambers and open/cylinder choke), those you aptly refer to as “riotguns”. While the effectiveness of a shotgun …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Lehman’s just announced that they are having a special “Lost and Found” warehouse clearance sale, with prices reduced as much as 60% on a few items. Please click on the banner link for Lehman’s at the top of our Affiliates Page, so that SurvivalBlog will get our little piece of the action. Thanks! https://survivalblog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&blog_id=2#    o o o From reader RBS: Expensive metals draw criminals to exhaust systems    o o o Some commentary from Adrian Ash: 40 Years Of Inflation, 80 Years Of Dow/Gold    o o o From The Daily Mail (by way of The Mental Militia Forums): …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” – Commonplace Book by Thomas Jefferson borrowing from Cesare Beccaria’s 1764 Dei delitti e delle pene ("On Crimes and Punishments")


Notes from JWR:

In honor of Patriots Day (April 19th), I’m kicking in something extra to Front Sight’s “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer: Anyone that enrolls between now and Sunday evening will also receive their choice of autographed copies of any of my three books: “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”, “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog.” or my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. Just forward me your Front Sight order confirmation, along with your snail mail address, and I’ll send you a complimentary autographed book. Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …


Raising Rabbits for Meat , by Pete C.

In most industrialized countries, including the United States, rabbits are not commonly considered a meat animal. However, before a TEOTWAWKI situation arises, small retreats may seriously want to consider raising rabbits as a reliable source of meat to feed their family, to use as barter or charity. Rabbits are fairly easy to raise which makes them especially adaptive for small retreats (to include urban areas) where limited space for other livestock – cows, hogs, goats, chickens, etc., are just not practical. In addition, many localities may not consider rabbits as live stock since they are often pets. Thus they may …