Mr Rawles,
I recently read “Patriots” and wanted to let you know how this book got me to thinking about how to be prepared for a potential social collapse. I thought through all of the steps that needed to be taken and realized that I’ve been prepping since I was born. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Kansas City, but my family history was one of extreme self sufficiency. My mom who lived through the last great depression taught me how to can, garden, make things stretch as far as possible and be able to survive without really thinking too much about it.
My father’s family was one of the earliest settlers in the Kansas Territories and I learned much about woodsman ship, rifle and handgun skills, carpentry, mechanical knowledge, and things such as weaving. My fathers family heritage is extremely rich and have been very active in history and keeping much of the old trades and skills alive. In celebrating our American heritage, I have been a collector of firearms from each war that America has been in. I doubt that I will ever fire a revolutionary or civil war weapon, but all are fully functional – and have a family history behind them. I’ve kept all my 20th century arms in great condition and all are shootable and represent all modern conflicts since 1910. 20 years ago, my father and I purchased a small 30 acre plot of land with small house for nothing more than a vacation spot – but we are miles from any rural roads. Nothing much, but extremely isolated in dense Missouri hardwoods. I’ve planted some apple trees, peach trees, grape vines and more just so we could have some fresh fruit from time to time.
After 9/11, I started pulling together some small supplies of food for an emergency for my wife and two daughters. Nothing much, bulk bags of wheat, rice, salt, beans, etc…. every month of so. Now I have approximately 12 months of supplies. After reading “Patriots”, it dawned on me that I have been preparing for a potential Crunch or collapse without thinking about it all of my life. I know that my parents never thought that we were preparing for a worst scenario – we were just learning to do what our ancestors had done as part of keeping our family heritage alive. I have continued this with my children and hopefully they will embrace many of these lost arts. We will probably never need many of these skills, but just in case we will have learned these in a manner that made them fun and enjoyable – not a desperation reaction to today’s news. The key is to just incorporate these philosophies and skills into daily life. I think too many people get caught up in reacting to the most current bad news. Thanks for a great book. – Brian M.