Category: Book, Movie, and Web Reviews

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects: 76 Useful Things You Can Build to Create Customized Working Spaces and Storage Facilities, Equip the … Animals, and Make Practical Outdoor Furniture The Complete Guide to Sharpening @WAR: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex, by Shane Harris Movies: The Road (starring Viggo Mortensen. It is a favorite with both preppers and survivalists.) Captain Fantastic (also starring Viggo Mortensen). This movie is marred by copious foul language, brief nudity, and absurd politics. But it makes a compelling case for home schooling and self-sufficiency. It is rated R, and is definitely NOT for …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: The Homeowner’s Advocate: Tips From A Contractor for Dealing With Contractors (The Advocate Series Book 1) How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease Movies: Army of Crime (a slightly fictionalized account of Armenians and other minorities in the French Resistance during World War II.) Dazzle: The Hidden Story of Camouflage (Documentary) (available through Amazon Prime) Television: Shogun The War – A Documentary Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Music: Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever Mark Isham: Vapor Drawings Instructional Videos: A great video: 900 Watt Van Conversion full walkthrough (full time …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: Winter in the Wilderness: A Field Guide to Primitive Survival Skills The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom Movies: Anthropoid (2016) the true story of a Czech resistance cell during World War II, and their assassination of General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the “Final Solution”. Now available on Amazon Prime. The Cowboys (John Wayne) Music: The Essential Paul Simon Complete Pop Instrumental Hits Of The Sixties Instructional Videos: All of the following have some applicability to equipping G.O.O.D. vehicles… DIY Stealth Campervan: Full Tour Stealth Camper Van 2.0 Tour – Carries Motorcycle Inside! …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: The Defined King James Version Bible, Large Print The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data Movies: Gone with the Wind USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage Television: Lonesome Dove Band of Brothers Music: Wanted! The Outlaws (1976-1996 20th Anniversary) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Movie Soundtrack) Instructional Videos: Bushcraft Fun in the Bush, Camp Projects The Backyard Machine Shop – Machine Rescue Series Online Sermon Videos: Grace Baptist Church, Fremont, California (Pastor Michael Phillips) Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley (Dr. Paul …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: Photovoltaic Design and Installation For Dummies How to Be Invisible: Protect Your Home, Your Children, Your Assets, and Your Life, by J.J. Luna Movies: The Reckoning: Remembering the Dutch Resistance The Marx Brothers Collection (Includes: A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Races/A Night in Casablanca/Room Service/At the Circus/Go West/The Big Store) Television: Hunted (CBS Network.) The network’s publicists proclaim it: “The World’s most elaborate game of Hide and Seek.” This justifiably popular series includes some useful tradecraft and was recommended by J.J.S. of Radio Free Redoubt. It airs on Wednesday evenings. Best of American Pickers: Mike And …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: What to Expect When You’re Expecting The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Easy Recipes for Fast & Healthy Meals Movies: God’s Not Dead Galaxy Quest Music: Lau: Lightweights & Gentlemen Leo Kottke: Six And Twelve String Guitar Instructional Videos: DIY How to add Paracord to your MFT Battlelink Stock Podcasts: Radio Free Redoubt: Episode 17-06: Do Not Oppress the Sojourner – and – HUNTED: Analysis and Review. (Also available via iTunes.) The Survival Podcast: Episode-799- Greenhouse Thoughts, Construction, Usage and Considerations Blogs: Total Survivalist Blog Brushbeater Gear: Rothco Flyers Helmet Shoulder Bag, Olive Drab (These are great for …


Book Review: Krav Maga Tactical Survival, by D.R.

Published by Tuttle Publishing ISBN: 978-0-8048-4765-0 5 parts, 224 pages with index Between active shooters, the rise in violent crime, and the outbreak of “undocumented shoppers”, many Americans are taking an interest in learning how to protect themselves and their loved ones. This takes many forms, as some people devote their time and money to storing up resources and equipment, others to training with armed and unarmed combatives, and some to both. Any serious practitioner in unarmed combatives will likely have heard of the discipline of Krav Maga. Since Imi Lichtenfeld started training the Israeli military in “contact combat” in …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: Survival Hacks: Over 200 Ways to Use Everyday Items for Wilderness Survival, by Creek Stewart Desperate Sons: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War The Seventh Plague: A Sigma Force Novel, by James Rollins Movies: Last of the Dogmen The African Queen Television: Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles Band Of Brothers Music: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Movie Soundtrack Marty Robbins: All-Time Greatest Hits Instructional Videos: Bushcraft Dump Pouch (Make Your Own) Canadian Prepper: After the Collapse: Surviving in Canada- (SHTF Canada- West Coast/BC)–Part of a video series …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: All Wrapped Up In Paracord: Knife and Tool Wraps, Survival Bracelets, And More Projects With Parachute Cord The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II Movies: Braveheart Akira Kurosawa: Four Samurai Classics (Seven Samurai / The Hidden Fortress / Yojimbo / Sanjuro) (The Criterion Collection) Television: The Pacific The Civil War (Ken Burns Documentary) Music: The Very Best of Ralph Stanley Jonas Kaufmann: Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven & Wagner Instructional Videos: Build Your Own Copper Coil Alcohol Burner Stove Wall Tent Platform Build JWR’s Comment: Be sure …


Letter Re: Intellectual Survival

HJL, This is a great article and a tremendous gap in most survival discussions! We prepare not to just survive but to thrive in the aftermath of a disaster, and I assume we all have or are trying to have children. Imagine how dark the world will become if we let the light of western civilization sputter and die on our watch. If we are to make a difference, if we are to keep our values and our philosophy alive, we need books. My parents invested in a complete collection of the Harvard Classics. One summer, recovering from a football …


Intellectual Survival, by D.W.

“Through space the universe grasps me and swallows me up like a speck; through thought I grasp it.”[1] -Blaise Pascal “It is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs, but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason, when the use of rational speech is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs.”[2] -Aristotle Imagine for a moment, you have just finished eating dinner with your family. You have been living without power for months. You planned for this, of course. …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance by Vin Suprynowicz All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew Movies: Duck Soup The Maltese Falcon Television: Jericho Firefly Music: The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music Rags to Riches the Essential Hits [of Scott Joplin] Instructional Videos: AR-15 Upgrades Overview (from IV8888) Art Of The Tactical Carbine by Chris Costa Podcasts: The Adventure Sports Podcast Wranglerstar: AMAZING Room Transformation Gear: SOG Traction EDC Pocketknife (Under $15!) Harris Bipod Model 1A2 (Adjustable 6” to 9”) Midland Model 75-822 40 Channel CB Handheld Radio


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: Glock Reference Guide Terra Nullius: A Journey Through No One’s Land Movies: Wild Horse, Wild Ride (Documentary.) Now available free for Amazon Prime members. The Accountant 2016 Ben Affleck portrays a very unusual accountant in this action/thriller. (Rated R and definitely not for kids!) Television: Barn Find Hunter (Available free for Amazon Prime members) Charlie Jade (A mind-bending series produced in South Africa about a man who transits three parallel universes. Available free for Amazon Prime members.) Music: Dances With Wolves Soundtrack (John Barry) Gordon Lightfoot – Complete Greatest Hits Instructional Videos: Chainsaw Hack: Sharpen Your Chain Out in …


Readers’ Recommendations of the Week:

Reader C.T. sent in this recommendation: I highly recommend The Earthling as a DVD worth watching and owning. It’s a great job of acting by William Holden and Ricky Schroder. A dying man must teach a young kid to survive before the man dies in the Australian wilds. These two actors are the only ones on screen for 75% of the movie. The movie has many object lessons on surviving on your own. o o o SurvivalBlog reader SMW sent in a recommendation for The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz. This is a true story written in the first person …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, by Dave Ramsey The Lose Your Belly Diet: Change Your Gut, Change Your Life, by Travis Stork Movies: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (Now also available with Amazon Prime.) 97% Owned (Documentary on the global debt-based monetary system. Note that although the producers of this film obviously have a leftist bias, the information included about how modern “money” is created is correct. Amazon Prime members can watch it free.) Television: Ken Burns: The Dust Bowl (Now available with Amazon Prime.) 1916: The Irish Rebellion. (Now …