Category: Book, Movie, and Web Reviews

Letter Re: Two Book Recommendations

Mr. Rawles, I have just finished “Hard Times” by Studs Terkel, an oral history of the Great Depression, and recommend it to SurvivalBlog readers. It is a fascinating chronicle, a series of narratives from people who lived through it from all walks of life, and it really communicates a sense of what desperate times can be like. Most Americans have forgotten this and little is taught in schools. For example, there are several narratives that dealt with a farmers uprising in Northwestern Iowa. Apparently a local judge was too quick to bang the foreclosure gavel and a mob had his …


Letter Re: Useful LifeHacker Articles

Mr. Rawles: There are so many great and not-so-great ideas on the LifeHacker site including this one I found showing you how to use C cell batteries in place of a D cell compartment in an emergency situation: There are some other interesting things on this site like creating make-shift air conditioning systems using cold well water (others have made emergency air conditioners using beverage coolers, fans and copper coils): DIY Heat Exchanger and Make Your Own Air Conditioner. There is this one showing you how someone made hand washing more efficient while filling the tank of his toilet. [JWR …


Letter Re: The “Sneaky Uses” Books

Sir: Let me start with a thank you for such an awesome resource! I’ve finally sent my 10 Cent Challenge [voluntary subscription payment.] I didn’t feel right e-mailing you with this until I got it out. Since finding your site (from the link at] Captain Dave’s Survival Center), I’ve been devouring the info here, as well as “Patriots” (read twice, and I’m starting it for the third time) and the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I’ve also just finished reading “The Alpha Strategy”–that you recommended in both the blog and in the preparedness course. Tremendously eye opening stuff. You’ve …


Letter Re: Positive Feedback on the “Rawles Gets You Ready” Preparedness Course

Mr. Rawles: I just wanted tell let you know how much I have enjoyed your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. It was very informative and is going to really help my family get prepared for whatever may be in our future. I recently purchased the “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1” and the Rawles on Retreats and Relocation book also and those were equally wonderful. The amount of information in your course was outstanding and has really jump started our family’s preparedness program. The covering of “A years supply of everything” angle was a unique approach …


Letter Re: Keeping Firearms Functioning in Extreme Cold Temperatures

Hi Jim, I’m in the middle of reading Roy E. Appleman’s book “East of Chosin“. It is an account of the tragic fate of the 31st Regimental Combat team during the Korean conflict. Several references talk about the soldiers weapons (especially M1 Carbines) locking up due to the extreme (-20 Fahrenheit or greater) cold. It mentioned how the Chinese weapons worked because they had little or no oil in them. I imagined those weapons had a short operational life without lubrication, but they worked when needed. What would you recommend to keep firearms functional in extreme cold? A dry/powdered lubricant? …


Letter Re: A Source for Unusual Technical Books

Mr. Rawles, Charles R. mentioned the book “Caveman Chemistry” by Kevin M Dunn. It is available from the Lindsay Publications “Technical Book” catalog. The catalog is filled with how-to books of every kind – many reprints of long out of print books. I can recommend the fine folks at Lindsay Publications as I have several of their books and have several more on my “to order” list. I’ve been satisfied with every one. Check them out on line at www.lindsaybks.com and order a catalog. Other than being a happy customer I am not affiliated with Lindsay Publications. While on the …


Letter Re: The Psychology of Denial in the Information Age

Jim: Good morning. I don’t know that I have seen any discussion on your blog on the psychology of denial–why folks aren’t more prepared. I acknowledge that it may not be the most vital topic, and that you are doing your part to get the word out, but I correspond to you on this topic in sheer frustration. Let me be more specific. I have friends and family members who make serious money in their chosen professions, many of whom are in the finance sector. Yet, when I raise the barest reference to preparation and our fragile infrastructure, it’s like …


Book Excerpt: “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”

In response to a request to Matthew from Indiana, who wanted to know what my novel was like before ordering it, the following is an excerpt from the first chapter of the expanded (33 chapter) edition of my novel “Patriots”: On the last day of October, the Grays found that their phone was still working, but only for local calls. When they tried making long-distance calls, they got an “All circuits are busy now” recording, at all hours of the day or night. The next day, there was message advising that “All circuits will be restored shortly.” Two days later, …


Two Letters Re: The Novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”

Jim, I recently received the updated version of “Patriots” a couple days ago. At first I was just going to read the new chapters, but after seeing that you gave it an overall update, I decided to just read the whole thing. So far I have been very impressed. (The two new chapters alone were worth the price of the book.) Not to mention the way everything else was updated. Way to go! You have done a very good job with this new edition, and I have already ordered a few more copies to have on hand as gifts. I …


Letter Re: Robert A. Heinlein Didn’t Just Talk and Write About Preparedness

Dear Jim, I’m not sure if you have covered Robert A. Heinlein’s shelter that featured in his novel, “Farnham’s Freehold.” This site describes the house that Heinlein built in Colorado Springs before NORAD moved into the area And here’s an archived link of the shelter underneath, which included both air bottles and ventilation, escape routes, and antenna mounts.- Michael Z. Williamson


Book Reviews: Last Light and Night Light, by Terri Blackstock

James: I am writing to recommend two novels that may be interest to your readers. Written by Terri Blackstock, I would like to recommend a series of two novels: Last Light and Night Light. These are novels that are written in a series, and while they can be read one at a time, are better read in sequence. As survival junkies, we are always in search of decent fiction centered around survival motifs – a rare genre of writing. Terri does a pretty good job of producing some entertaining and page-turning yarns. I will admit for those of us that …



Letter Re: New Jericho TV Series

Dear Jim: CBS will air its new drama Jericho tonight, where a small Kansas town is suddenly faced with a nuclear explosion in the distance. As Larry from Kansas in Yahoo groups points out, there is in fact nowhere in Kansas where one can stand on a roof top and see mountains in the distance. While it will no doubt be entertaining to see what other liberties Hollywood takes, I do hold out great hope of this new take on nuclear war as a continuing drama, and that for the first time, many folks will suddenly realize: “Hey, I might …


Letter Re: Pat Buchanan’s Book State of Emergency

Jim, I am about halfway thru the new book by Pat Buchanan –‘State of Emergency’– and its scaring the hell out of me. I’ve followed the Illegal Alien story for yrs, ever since I landed back in California in 1989 after my hitch in the U.S. Air Force and I thought I had a handle on it. The statistics and figures that Pat puts forth are daunting–and quite depressing. This nation is facing the largest problem in its history with this invasion–I’m not downplaying any of the threats we face with the radical Islamists–that is yet one more frightening scenario–but …


Letter Re: “Jericho” TV Series Airing This Fall

James, I was surprised to see that CBS will be airing a drama this fall called Jericho. Here is what the show is about: “Things are quiet and peaceful in small-town Jericho, Kansas, but when a baffling explosion occurs in the distance, Jericho’s residents are plunged into social, psychological and physical chaos. No one knows what to think, and fear of the unknown takes over the town, especially because its isolation cuts it off from outside help. When nearly everything they know seems gone, will the residents of Jericho band together to face their unfamiliar and mysterious new world?” Here …