Tactical Map Usage and Scouting, by Robert B. in North Carolina

Know your environment – getting the maps ready now In a world full of google, yahoo and portable navigators, the art of using maps kind of gets lost. In a SHTF situation, you will probably not have much of a technological tool kit for navigation, or planning. Knowing how to use maps from a tactical perspective then becomes critical skillet. Sand tables are not the most portable item to help identify and understand a terrain, but using plastic layers over a map can be very portable, and useful for viewing an environment. The layers I talk about below are a …


The Art and Science of Situation Analysis, by Judy C.

One of the most important skills to master in any crisis scenario is situation analysis.  The preliminary situation analysis is a valuable tool in planning and preparing, while the on-scene analysis will help focus your planned response. Developing a Preliminary Situation Analysis: Hard Factors Hard factors are unlikely to vary much from crisis to crisis. Factors such as geography, climate, nearby population, and natural resources will be determined by your chosen location. The only way you can change hard factors is to move to another location. One of the advantages of the American Redoubt is  the set of hard factors …


Letter Re: Protractors for Field Engineering

Jim: Now I know some folks aren’t going to think of a protractor — digital, analog, or constructed — as a survival tool. But in the USAF survival school certain “angles” were reinforced as survival angles. Support a load with an equilateral triangle. Making a 30-60-90 frame to support a trench. An isosceles to ensure that snow and rain shed away from a survival shelter. And, squares for identifying your location to rescuers. (Sinces traight lines are out of place in nature. ) Of course as an engineer, anytime you build, angles come into play with load. A good analog …


Letter Re: Mental Preparation for Lethal Force

Hi Jim, That was a well written and informative article by Mark B. on preparing yourself to use deadly force. As a retired police officer and firearms instructor I can tell you that Mark gives solid advice. We can also look at history for lessons on what’s important in prevailing in a gunfight. I’ve been involved in a few myself and I’ve spent a lot of years figuring out what works and what doesn’t. I’ve studied the old west, taken many courses, read countless books and analyzed my own experiences and how I survived. It can be distilled down to …


Economics and Investing:

By way of Tam at the View From The Porch blog comes this account of multiple mass inflations in Argentina: “¡Qué Quilombo!” Here is a key quote: “What seems peculiar about Argentina’s case is the government’s Herculean effort to ignore the immutable laws of economics in their pursuit of grand larceny. The country has seen five currencies in just the past century, averaging a collapse every twenty years or so. In 1970, the peso ley replaced the peso moneda nacional at a rate of 100 to 1. The peso ley was in turn replaced by the peso Argentino in 1983 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader “Shrike” mentioned a beautiful little film about the production process of an axe by master toolmaker, John Neeman…    o o o A link courtesy of SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Mike Williamson: Is this photo and diagram from South Korea legitimate? It is captivating, nonetheless.    o o o Reader R.B.S. sent: Blackouts Spur $18 Billion Power Grid Upgrade: Corporate India    o o o The folks at InformedChristians.com have now produced a thought-provoking timeline chart, showing one potential chain of events in the near future, leading to global socioeconomic collapse and World War III. This “fast track” …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though [they be] so great, and [are] driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, …


Notes from JWR:

September 22nd in the birthday of the late Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly (born 1928, died August 9, 2010) who founded and commanded the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. His history of the Selous Scouts, titled Pamwe Chete, is fascinating to read, but it is a very hard-to-find book. — The queue for Round 42 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now almost full, even if I post two articles per day. Any articles that are received from now on will be posted in Round 43. — Today we present another two entries for Round 42 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …


Practical Defense Skills When Left with Little or Nothing, by Suburban 10

TEOTWAWKI may leave you alone with nothing. Nothing but your knowledge of what is available to you as a means of survival and defending yourself. Hopeful you have enough skills to find essential items required to survive. Time is limited and for an active person foraging for food, protecting themselves and seeking safe shelter. Without these life essentials, this is (on average) how much time you have to survive: Air -3 minutes, Shelter at O degrees Celsius – 3 hours, water – 3 days, food – 30 days. Take care of these and half your battle of survival is won! …


The Survival Mindset, by M.C.J.

The healthy human mind doesn’t contempt the what if’s in reference to survival. Why should it? The very thought of such a thing does not factor in a persons average day. Especially given how people live there daily lives going about life on the railway to the normalcy train. That redundant moment in time when all is the same and sane . Waking up to conduct a normal work day of work and routine. Having a decent breakfast or rushing off fast grabbing a bite from either the microwave or the nearest fast food outlet, just to beat the morning …


Economics and Investing:

Green Acres: The Case for Investing in Farmland Now Jim W. mentioned some commentary on empty retail store parking lots, over at The Burning Platform: Are You Seeing What I’m Seeing? QE3’s looming flaw: Big banks’ mortgage operations Marc Faber Warning: Store Your Gold Overseas Items from The Economatrix: Fed’s “QE-Infinity” Will Push Gold to $2,400 Deposit Flight From Europe Banks Eroding Common Currency 10 Shocking Quotes About What QE3 is Going to Do to America Gerald Celente:  Criminal Banksters Launching New World War


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mark A. suggested this article at the NRA’s web site: If you had to choose one gun—and only one gun—to get you through a disaster, what would it be?    o o o Michael Yon: Afghanistan: When the Moon Sets, Watch Out. (Thanks to S.O. for the link.)    o o o Pierre M. mentioned a leather Axe Sling, made in Vermont. “Unless you are a lumberjack, the only time it would be socially acceptable to walk around with an axe strapped to your back is if the streets were swarming with brain-hungry zombies. That being said, this does look …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them]. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease …


Notes from JWR:

I’d like to reiterate my apologies for not responding to all of the e-mails that I receive. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. The problem is that I now get about 300 e-mails per day. Granted, about half of these are spams or Nigerian scams with titles like: “PLEASE VIEW THE ATTACH MASSAGES OF YOUR LATE FUNS” or “You  Have Won 1million GBP Contact Dr. Jackson Ben For Claims.” But at least a hundred of each day’s e-mails are legitimate, and they often include detailed questions. I’m sorry to say that I simply don’t have time to answer …


Preserving The Harvest, by N.T.M. in Nevada

After you have spent the summer growing all of that fresh produce, it always seems like everything ripens all at the same time.  There are many ways that you can preserve those fruits and vegetables for the winter; canning, dehydrating, freezing, and root cellar.  I do not have a root cellar, so I rely completely on canning, freezing, and dehydrating.  To dehydrate your produce you will need a food dehydrator or you can simply use the sun and sundry them.  Some items such as apples, potatoes, pears, et cetera need to be pre-treated to prevent browning.  You have the choice …