State By State – Louisiana

Louisiana: Population: 4.5 million. Population Density: 94.2 per square mile (Rank 2 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 47,751 square miles (rank 8 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $928/yr. (rank 30 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $721/yr. (rank 2 of 50) Crime Safety Ranking: 50 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 94%. Per capita income: $23,090 (rank 45 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 34 of 50. Plusses: Mild climate. Low property taxes. Firearms freedom. Minuses: Coastal Louisiana and +/- 50 miles inland is in the hurricane zone. Very high population density (by western …


Zimbabwe’s Tragedy Continues

If you want to see a full scale “slow slide” economic collapse in action–one that rivals the severity of what I portrayed in my novel Patriots–then just look at modern day Zimbabwe. Comrade Mugabe and his ZANU-PF cronies have absolutely ruined a once prosperous nation. Please take the time to read the August and September letters archives at the Cathy Buckles web site. IMHO, Zimbabwe needs our prayers, and a vigorous counter-revolution!


From David in Israel Re: Survival Psychology and Stress Reduction

In my days as EMS system director I had to do quite a bit of psych and stress management on my firefighters and medics. We were living the survivalist lifestyle where every day was TEOTWAWKI for the people we responded to when we were on shift. Humans and animals share a common bond deep in our nervous system. Deep below out intellect and ego we have two basic modes fight/flight or rest/digest. We live our whole life sliding in between these two areas. When you feel stress form being shot at by terrorists or worrying about your credit card bill …


Letter Re: Leatherman Wave Pocket Tools

James, I noticed that you asked for some input on knives. Well, I just wanted to tell you that I have been using a Leatherman Wave tool since they came out…what, six years or so?….And the last year it has been used everyday on my job as a Handyman. I just don’t know what I would do without it. It is a fine tool and knife, that will stand up to some hard use. Though I have always tried to use it within reason, and not abuse it to much (the day I tried to make it work as a …


Letter Re: Feral Dogs, Pre- and Post-TEOTWAWKI

Hello, This link is to a newspaper story from Johnson County, Iowa, regarding a huge pack of feral dogs that is terrorizing a small town, West Liberty, about 15 miles southeast of us. Iowa City, the “capitol” of Johnson County is an extremely anti-gun, liberal town and this is an interesting battle about wild dogs, self protection, property rights etc. Thank you for everything that you write and promote.See: http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050909/NEWS01/509090313/1079


Letter Re: Concealable Handguns

Jim It has occurred to me that someone staying in a zone where authorities are going to harass gun toting survivors ought to consider having at least one or more covert sidearms. If a survivor has to step out in a no-gun carrying zone,they can still be armed. I currently own one J frame Model 36 Chief’s Special and may well seek out another. This might possibly be one of those new Scandium 357 snubbies. A couple of five-shot snubs hidden in matching pocket holsters are better than a full-size service pistol that cops will hassle you over. It seems …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is …


Notes From JWR:

Thanks to the graphics talent of my #1 Son (age 13 and home schooled, naturlich), you can now order SurvivalBlog logo T-shirts, sweat shirts, hats, mugs, tote bags, and bumper stickers. This serves two purposes: Showing our URL will help spread the word about preparedness, and it generates a little cash to pay for the site bandwidth. Wearing a SurvivalBlog T-shirt is a great conversation starter and is the height of fashion at the range, at gun shows, or anywhere on the Gulf Coast! Tacking up a SurvivalBlog bumper sticker in your cubicle is sure to make your liberal co-workers …


State By State – Kansas

Kansas: Population: 2.6 million. Population Density: 31.7 per square mile (Rank 10 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 82,000 square miles (rank 14 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $688/yr. (rank 36 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $593/yr. (rank 8 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 23 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 68%. Per capita income: $27,374 (rank 27 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 4 of 50. Plusses: Minuses: Little crop diversity. Few local firewood sources. Tornado prone (ranked #2 out of top 20 States). High car insurance rates. High home insurance rates. The …


Letter Re: Knife Selection

In the area of knives: I carry a Swiss Army Knife with me at all times, along with a Gerber Multi-tool. When I go into the field (Hunting, camping, whatever) I carry a fixed blade knife from Anza Knives. I’ve owned a lot of knives and used even more and I have sold every sheath-knife I owned and bought Anza’s. These things are sharp as razors, tough as nails, and as easy to sharpen as any knife I’ve ever had, and at $60 or less for each of them they are on of the best bargains I’ve ever run across …


Letter Re: G.O.O.D. Gear

Mr. Rawles, do you have a list of gear that we should all have say on our persons or in our cars at all times? I finished your book, and more recently Boston [T. Party]’s Molon Labe and with what is happing down South, I need to prepare. JWR’s Reply: I think a workable baseline is the list that is recounted in my novel Patriots, where the Doug Carlton character appears for the first time, and he is searched. I encourage readers of this blog to e-mail me their suggested G.O.O.D. Kit / Bug Out Bag (B.O.B.) packing lists. I …



Letter Re: Veterinary Antibiotics

Here is a hot topic. I’m not sure how a person is to post it on the blog with the liability issues. (Please don’t mention my name) Disclaimer: The following is for veterinary use only. See: http://lambriarvet.com/Antibiotics.php This company had the best prices I have found for antibiotics, the last time that I checked. These are the most useful for human use. They don’t sell the really expensive cipros or i.v. antibiotics to mere mortals like us. During the three years before we moved we were on a microscopic budget and without insurance. Using veterinary antibiotics saved my wife three …


Three Letters Re: California’s Retreat Potential

Dear Mr. Rawles, I’m a CA resident and a CA high school history teacher, and just read your retreat observations regarding my state. My experience with out-of-state critics of CA is that they often exaggerate wildly about conditions here as well as frequently blame voters here for the conditions we have (I’ve voted against all aspects of the present socialist nightmare but look what we have). In your case, however, I can honestly say that your analysis and summary are 100% accurate and spot-on. I regret only that your summary isn’t printed in the Op-Ed section of the Los Angeles …


Letter Re: Blood Transfusion Equipment Available

Reading your blog for 9-10-05, I was reminded of what I read in your book Patriots a few months back about transfusions. In Patriots blood is drawn off into a sterile bag with no mention of anticoagulation. There is a huge risk here IMO. I am a director with a major university hospital . Here are some things to consider and what I plan on doing for transfusions WTSHTF. You are correct that person to person transfusion is too risky. Depending on vein size and the size of the needle / catheter you could have a flow of 1 ml …