State By State – California

California: Population: 34 million+. Population Density: 214 per square mile (Rank 1 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 158,706 square miles (rank 3 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $765/yr. (rank 23 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $592/yr. (rank 9 of 50), Crime Safety Ranking: 39 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 30%. Per capita income: $32,149 (rank 8 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 37 of 50. Plusses: Mild climate and a long growing seasons in most parts of the state. High wages. Minuses: Excessive population density, high crime rate, copious smog, high cost …


Letter Re: Missouri’s Retreat Potential

Jim: I see that Missouri is not on your list.  There are a lot of good things to say about the Ozarks of Southern Missouri (and Northern Arkansas).  Self reliant culture which is pro gun and private property and which respects people’s privacy.  There is very low population density in many counties (such as Shannon population 8,300, Reynolds 6,700, Oregon 10,300, and Carter 5,900). Very low cost of living and a very homogeneous population (mostly Scotch-Irish). You find people from California moving to Missouri since they can live on just their Social Security there. Regards, – “Nearnorth” JWR Replies: Your …


Letter Re: Large Volume Liquid Fuel Storage

Mr. Rawles, Many thanks for an excellent web site!  I read it daily with much anticipation.  Your book Patriots is a first-class work as well.    Storing fuel is a must for a survival retreat.  Having said that, how do you get delivered several hundred gallons of diesel (or gas) without raising eyebrows?  I live in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina on a mountain top.  Very private and quiet, but not a farm.  Maybe it is easier than I presume and nothing would raise flags to delivery folks filling a couple of above ground tanks.  Is there an …




Hurricane Katrina Update:

The situation on the Gulf Coast is still fairly grim. The evacuation is nearly complete, and much needed supplies are now pouring in. But the communities that are still hurting the most are the small inland towns that were cut off from communications and that still don’t have power restored. The power utilities are making Herculean efforts to get power restored, but is is a slow process. Their crews are working around the clock. These are good men doing a commendable job. The bureaucrats at FEMA are getting mostly bad reviews for their performance in coordinating the disaster relief effort. …


State By State – Arkansas

Arkansas: Population: 2.67 million. Population Density: 50.2 per square mile (Rank 5 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 53,187 square miles (rank 27 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $721/yr. (rank 30 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $494/yr. (rank 19 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 8 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 66%. Per capita income: $21,995 (rank 49 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 23 of 50. Plusses: Low property taxes. Minuses: High population density (by western states standards.) Tornado prone (ranked #5 out of top 20 States). Poverty. The Arkansas economy barely scrapes …


Letter Re: U.S. Population Density, Nuclear Reactors, and Primitive Skills

JWR,  It may be of some assistance for you to check out http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/united_states.php.  It will support your position on locating west of the Mississippi by showing Nuclear Power Reactors in the United States in map form. It also is an eye opener! One of your “Bloggers” recently suggested that more information on primitive subjects should be looked into.  Since I have been taking so much information from your Blog,  I felt that I must contribute! See: http://www.bagelhole.org//article.php/Food/127/ – G.C.P.


Letter Re: Product Review of Rite in The Rain Waterproof Paper

Hello All, I have two of the size that fits in your shirt pocket. That’s where this little product endorsement starts. I was out in the bush one weekend and used my note pad extensively. As usual I got really dirty and forgot to retrieve my Rite in the Rain note book from my shirt pocket. Well, I washed it in the washing machine and dried it in the dryer as well. Upon discovering this I felt really silly, however, to my surprise the note book and all my hen scratching was still intact and readable. I could still write …


Letter From The Goat Lady Re: Free Survival Medicine Reference

Memsahib:   In your spare time (LOL) you might want to check out this book, downloadable free at http://www.aussurvivalist.com/downloads/AM%20Final%202.pdf or hard copy at http://www.cafepress.com/austeremed.23362365   Survival and Austere medicine would be a REALLY handy thing to have in a SHTF situation as it’s practical info, field tested, and doable by a non-medical person.  All the authors are in the medical field either as MDs, EMTs, RNs, etc.  They knoweth what they are doing and talking about.  Chapter 8 is really good on herbs, preps, uses, and the content is approved by the above listed medical personal.  I think Chapter 8 is really …



Note from JWR:

Today, I begin a series of articles that compare 19 states in the western U.S. for their retreat potential. I hope that you find this useful. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions to balance my admittedly subjective assessments.


Hurricane Katrina Update:

If nothing else, Hurricane Katrina has verified my long-held belief that we live in a very fragile society with just a thin veneer of civilization. And it is evident that it doesn’t take much to peel back that veneer. A “must read” article recently ran in USA Today. And consider this from yesterdays’ Daily Reckoning: “Katrina was the rainy day for which people are meant to save. But Americans of the Greenspan era saw no need to save. The latest figures show them saving in July at the rate of MINUS 0.6% of income. Oh la la…laissez les bon temps …


State By State – Introduction

The data in this series of posts describes 19 western states. (Note: Much more detailed retreat locale recommendations will be provided in subsequent blog posts, following this series of articles.) After much consideration, all of the eastern states were intentionally excluded from this analysis because they are either downwind of nuclear targets and/or are in areas with excessive population density. (See my post on population density, back on August 5th.) This wasn’t just the result of subjective bias. I try to use the dispassionate mindset of an actuarial accountant. As evidenced recently with Hurricane Katrina, population density is perhaps the …


State By State – Arizona

Arizona: Population: 5.1 million. Population Density: 44.7 per square mile (Rank 7 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 114,000 square miles (rank 6 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $438/yr. (rank 30 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 48 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 91%. Per capita income: $24,988 (rank 37 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 25 of 50. Plusses: Mild winters at lower elevations. Has the nation’s top rating in “education freedom” (the state is at the forefront of the charter school movement.) Open carry of handguns is legal and perhaps the most commonplace …