Finding a Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft

I’ve observed that survivalists tend to fall into two schools of thought: those that are loners and those that are community-minded. The loners would prefer to disappear into the wilds and essentially find a mineshaft to crawl into–somewhere they can lay low, whilst things sort themselves out, back in civilization. That is both a naive and selfish starting point for preparedness. Short of moving to the roadless interior of Alaska, it is not realistic to expect that you can find a remote rural property where you’d have no contact with outsiders for an extended period of time. We live in …


Letter Re: Comments on the 2008 Financial Collapse and the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB)

Hi Jim, This [current economic news] is nauseating. Now, not only are we in the insurance business, but we the taxpayer are going to be forced to purchase all of the bad and recklessly created debt generated over the last eight years. We know it’s bad, it’s even been called “toxic debt”. We’re not going to be given a choice on whether or not we want to purchase it. It’s being purchased in our name and we have no say about it. I can think of no better definition of socialism. If this is not the end of the world …


Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for the Parents of a Newborn Infant

Mr. & Mrs. Rawles, I hope you and the family are doing well. I have been reading your blog for over a year now and it has been quite helpful. We are making our way slowly in our preps but now I have a new issue. My wife has blessed our home with a child. We had been trying for 12 years with no luck, I guess God decided it was time! My daughter is now two weeks old and with all the excitement I hadn’t put any thought into preps for a new born. Maybe the Memsahib could give …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From the folks over at The Oil Drum: How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? An Update    o o o More on the MOAB, from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Bailout Plan Calms Markets, But Struggle Looms Over Details    o o o Another slug of cheer from SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Stocks Soar As Investors Look To Gov’t Rescue Plan — Current List of Failed Banks (another bank failure was announced on Friday) — Wall Street Dumps Mortgage Corruption on Taxpayers — New Wall Street Crisis Will Create a New Financial World Order — Forecast: US Dollar …



Letter Re: Anticipating Another Federal Ban on Semi-Auto Rifles and Full Capacity Magazines

Hello Mr. Rawles, I am assuming that no matter who wins the presidency, we are probably looking at the next assault weapons ban in about a year (if TEOTWAWKI doesn’t happen first). I don’t recall exactly what the effect of the last ban was on pre-ban guns, but I assume the prices of pre-ban AR-15s rose dramatically? If that is the case, would it be wise to purchase several AR-15 lower receivers now, with the possibility of selling them at a profit after the ban is in place (since they will then be pre-ban)? The relatively low price of a …


Letter Re: Recommendation for the Cool Tools Web Site

Hello – Survival Blog readers might be interested in the Cool Tools web site and e-mail newsletter. The site was originated by Kevin Kelly, who edited Whole Earth Review in the 1980s and also put together several versions of The Whole Earth Catalog, Cool Tools offers one new “Cool Tool” per day. Far from just being gadgets, a Cool Tool “can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or web site that is tried and true.” All submissions are reader reviewed, they are not just regurgitations of product literature. There are good recommendations in many categories that might …


Three Letters Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hello Jim, This note is in reference to the letter from Melanie and Rick in Columbus about the woman who never thought of using the grill to cook. I had a similar experience with my mother-in-law. While we had power and water, she had lost hers. I offered to bring buckets of water to her house so she could manually refill the toilet tank to flush with(she has septic). Not only did she not think of that, she couldn’t understand the concept. She ended up going to a hotel for a couple of days. People like this will not last …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our Economic Editor sent us another huge batch of news and commentary–plenty for you to digest over the weekend: But I’ll focus on perhaps the most important article, that confirms my prediction of a gargantuan Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB): Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion. And now for the rest: Treasury pulls out stops to support money markets — Fed, Central Banks Move to Boost Global Confidence (“Wall Street’s biggest crisis since the Great Depression forced the Federal Reserve and central banks in other countries to pump billions of dollars into the world’s banking system in an urgent bid …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." – Theodore Roosevelt


Observations on a Life on the Gulf Coast During the Hurricane Season

Jim, With [hurricanes] Gustav and Ike paying us a visit, I thought I would send you a note regarding the importance of self reliance versus shelter life. Living in the Gulf South, hurricanes are something you have to prepare for. Government support and shelter will not be there for you in the way you might think. Your lack of supplies or resources when you most need them, depending on the emergency, could mean a thoroughly miserable experience for you and your family at best; or [something far] worse if the emergency is wider and deeper in scope. Start making your …


Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Practical Preparedness — Things That Work

Jim: To follow-up on the last two e-mails that you posted from me, here are some random thoughts that I’d like to share on preparedness for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF): Use an eyeglasses “leash” (lanyard) to prevent the loss of glasses and reduce the risk of damage. Buy janitorial-size rolls os toilet paper, without perforations. Each roll is 1,000 feet long, and a box of 12 rolls measures about two feet square. These take up just a fraction of the room required to store the same length of toilet paper in standard household rolls. Use a kiddie-type …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I hope that readers took my advice and bought precious metals during the recent dip. The bank credit crisis seems to have woken the gold bull from his short nap. (Gold had one of its best one day gains ever, on Wednesday.) I believe that the bull’s charge will resume, shortly. Because the consumer economy now looks weak, I predict that gold will probably outperform silver in the next run-up. (Since silver is more of an industrial metal, whereas gold as seen as a safe haven when currencies are in turmoil.)    o o o Tim T. mentioned that any …