Impressions Following My Return From a RWVA Appleseed Shoot

An organized rifle-shooting event can be intimidating to anyone who has never participated before. I’ll cover my experience as a newbie at this first Appleseed Shoot in several categories: First Timers Pre-shoot Preparation, What to Expect Upon Arrival, Lessons Learned, and What is the Next Step? My experience and what I took away from the shoot, and lastly, Regrets. First Timer Pre-Shoot Preparation: Remember what the title of the shoot implies, Appleseed. The purpose of the shoot is to plant the seeds of knowledge into those that have never before been formally trained in rifle marksmanship skills. This is not …


Letter Re: Why “Invest” In Gold or Silver?

Mr. Rawles, I have been a reader of your blog for about a month now and as some one who believes in being prepared for any situation. I have found a lot of your comments very useful. I am confused though about your suggestions to invest in gold and silver. I am just learning about these things so hopefully you can help clear up my confusion. If you look at the track record for gold and silver over the long run these assets have just kept up with inflation. Over the same historical time period the stock market has been …


Odds ‘n Sods:

America’s Sorriest Generation: http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin284.htm    o o o The latest in Lithium-Ion batteries: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/start.html?pg=9    o o o Doc at www.bigsecrets.cc spotted this web page for a “House in a Box”: http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/jpalibroda/    o o o SurvivalBlog reader Michael Z. Williamson (the sci-fi author) recommends the Goliath Expedition: http://goliath.mail2web.com — Karl Bushby’s amazing web journal. As Mike put it, this sporadically posted blog is written by “a nutcase British former Paratrooper who is walking 36,000 miles around the Americans and Eurasia. His journal and photos offer some interesting insights on travel in emergencies, and kit. The experienced reader will also …


Two Letters Re: Getting a Spouse “On Board” with Preparedness

Jim – Your post for today brings up the topic of the spouse that goes fetal versus choosing to cope with the world’s ugliness. Please open up the forum to hear how other people go their wife to the game! Maybe someone has a great technique that I haven’t thought of! – D.A.B. Mr. Rawles: I can certainly relate. My spouse doesn’t show much interest in preparedness either-but in our case-my spouse is my husband. He acts like my preparedness ideas and actions are just a goofy hobby. Any ideas on why a man would be in “denial”? -L.B.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“… of the liberty of conscience in matters of religious faith, of speech and of the press; of the trail by jury of the vicinage in civil and criminal cases; of the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; of the right to keep and bear arms… If these rights are well defined, and secured against encroachment, it is impossible that government should ever degenerate into tyranny." – James Monroe


Note From JWR:

The latest update to our ClusrtrMap shows that there are now SurvivalBlog readers in at least 35 countries. Please keep spreading the word, especially to your friends or relatives that live in inimical and/or economically unstable countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Columbia, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, The Philippines, The Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, or any of the “Stans.” Also, consider mentioning this blog to anyone that lives in a severe climate, such as Greenland, Iceland, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, or Tibet. We are actively seeking …


Letter Re: Including Physically/Mentally Impaired Children/Adults in Retreat Planning?

Jim; Have not seen the following subject touched upon in this or any other survival/preparedness forum/blog. What are your thoughts? I recently finished reading David Crawford’s short story “The Bug-Out” and like his novel “Light’s Out” it was a well crafted, entertaining and enjoyable read for a piece of fiction. More importantly it like the novel is also a fine educational tool on how to and how not to prepare for WTSHTF. Both of these stories should be required reading for anyone interested in survival and preparedness issues. The two points that really got my attention in “The Bug-Out” were: …


Letter Re: Recommendations on Body Armor?

Dear James: J.H. is absolutely correct in that you should avoid body armor with Zylon, and that most of the “big name” brands in Body Armor have put out Zylon models. Some Point Blank production was only 20% Zylon, but it’s just not worth taking the chance. For any vest you should check out the manufacturer’s website, and then if there is any question of Zylon, get a confirmation in writing of the ballistic fibers used. The recommendation to buy only NEW armor is not always the best advice, though. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has tested 10 year …


Letter Re: Our Grid-Up Bug Out — January 22nd Through February 4th, 2006

Jim: Larry is to be congratulated for taking the initiative. In years past I have bugged out on numerous occasions just to “be sure.” I have never felt jilted for doing that. It is ALWAYS good practice and you always learn something. Larry may want to investigate buying a 20 foot or 40 foot (depending on his size needs) Sealand (CONEX) container and having it placed on his retreat property. This will allow him to ditch the rental storage shed (saving probably $30-50. per month. In two years or so you will “break even” on the cost of the container) …


Letter Re: Sources For Sand Bags?

Hi Jim, Do you know a good place to buy sand bags? Here in Florida there is plenty of sand, but I need to buy some sand bags to put it in. Thanks. Joe JWR Replies: In the U.S. there are several good sources, but prices vary widely, so shop around.  (From as much as $3.75 each in small quantities to as little as 38 cents each if you buy in lots of 1000.) For example, see: http://www.1starmy.com/products.asp?subCategory=490&parentCategory=486 http://www2.rangersurplus.com/long.asp?tgs=5144548:8550080&cart_id=&item_id=2290 http://www.preparedness.com/floodprotsan.html (The lowest price I’ve found on small quantities–around $1.80 each.) If you want to buy in quantity (perhaps a group …


Letter Re: Safecastle’s Pricing on Mountain House Freeze Dried Foods

Mr. Rawles, I just wanted to let you know about the smokin’ deal I got on Mountain House foods from Vic at SafeCastle. I bought a 150-can kit for HALF of what I would have paid buying directly from Mountain House. I just had to tell him I was a SurvivalBlog reader. If anyone is looking for Mountain House food, March is the month to buy. I don’t have any connection with Vic or his business. I just wanted to pass on the info. Thanks, – Rich in Louisiana JWR Replies: Thanks for your letter.  I’m always glad to hear affirmation …


Letter Re: REI’s Members-Only Sale

Jim: Thought your readers might benefit from this deal: I just noticed that REI has a special member’s only ‘20% off 1 item’ sale right now…no shipping charges too if you pick it up at your local store.  Excludes their pricey mountain bikes, boats, GPS or ELBs. But that still means a big discount on many top quality high buck survival items like Katadyn water filters, MSR MIOX purifiers, lightweight tarp shelters, Bug-Out packs, ETON hand crank radios, Thule and Yakima roof racks. Their sale ends 4/02/06. http://www.rei.com/rei/coupons/member_reward.jsp?cm_re=lq*lq*member_rewards_coupon&vcat=REI_HP_LD – Gman


Odds ‘n Sods:

Some interesting country rankings:  http://www.aneki.com/lists.html    o o o Rumors have started full scale salt and sugar hoarding in Russia: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/20-02-2006/76194-salt-0    o o o SurvivalBlog reader Lyn recommends: http://www.boatuscom/goodoldboat/pressure.htm (“A link about pressure cooking, good for newbies, that has a section at the end on how to make a water distiller using a pressure cooker. Also, 15 pounds of pressure is the minimum needed to sterilize hospital equipment. Plus of course food cooks quicker, saving fuel.”)    o o o I’m pleased to see that the Firefox browser has become so popular. The Secret Squirrels tell me that it is …



Note From JWR:

The following non-fiction article describes an abortive grid-up bug out made by a SurvivalBlog reader, in response to several articles (thankfully erroneous) that were posted on www.arcticbeacon.com between January 22 and January 26, 2006.  The author’s experience is not unique. Several of my friends bugged out to their retreats in late 1999, only to return to the Big City early in 2000, when Y2K turned out to be a non-event.  I also have an aquaintance–incidentally upon whom the John Thomas Rourke character in Jerry Ahern’s The Survivor paperback book series was based–who bugged out to a retreat in a remote …