Category: Clothing

Letter Re: Keeping Honey Bees for Survival

I just read the SurvivalBlog writing contest article on keeping honeybees.  It was an excellent primer for someone to read and get started working with honeybees.  I have a few tidbits of information from my experience keeping bees.  We have had bees at our home for three years now, and it’s been one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  We got started with a local supplier, and stood up two full size langstroth hives, and then brought the two “nucs” home (driving with 30,000 bees in a minivan for an hour and a half is exhilarating to say the …


Letter Re: Advice on Sleeping Bags

CPT Rawles: I have read with interest all the good advice on sleeping bags and how to stay warm in very cold weather.  Most of the writers speak about a specific area they lived in, or traveled in, as a basis for the post.  There is a lot of good, sound advice out there by these writers.  I thought I might contribute my own personal opinion as well, since my own experience ranges pretty much across all weather extremes, and was under conditions far harsher than hiking, camping or hunting – at least for the most part.  I spent 29+ …


Letter Re: Advice on Sleeping Bags

JWR: Okay, I hesitated to write, but here it is. I want the gal with the questions to get some good solid advice. First, I do not always agree with James Wesley Rawles, I read his site every day, I agree with lots, but not all of what he says. As for the sleeping bags, I do agree. I’m a 5’2” female at 140 pounds. I’ve lived in Alaska for as long as my memory goes back. I camp, hunt, trap, all winter long. I’ve tried a lot of things, two sleeping bags, liners, bivvy sacks. I’ve slept out in …


Six Letters Re: Advice on Sleeping Bags

JWR: As a long time camper, backpacker, outdoorsman, and now K-9 SAR Tech, I understand that temperature regulation at night can be a problem.  Here are some of the tricks I’ve used: I almost always use a silk bag liner.  This has multiple advantages: 1) silk feels warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot (2) silk protects the sleeping bag from dirt, minimizing the amount of needed washings and prolonging its life (3) in the winter, silk will make you bag about 5-10 degrees warmer (technically speaking, this “drops” you temp rating number- a 35 degree bag becomes …


Letter Re: Advice on Sleeping Bags

Dear Mr. Rawles, Would you please address outdoor sleeping gear for women?   I feel like I am very prepared. However, the one glaring problem I have had my whole life is sleeping comfortably outside in about any season.  When I was 20, I just didn’t care but now that I am 40 and have five kids, not getting enough sleep is not an option.   I would love to hear how others, especially women, stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  The biggest problem I have is that I either sweat too much and freeze (doesn’t …


Letter Re: Adaptation to Cold Environments

James, Thank you for your excellent web site and the forethought that has gone into making it so successful. I wanted to make a brief comment on the “Adaptation to Cold Environments, by D.W.” piece which appeared 11/24/11.  One of the best ways to maintain internal body heat is by increasing specific foods in one’s daily diet.  During extreme cold conditions, there are few foods that improve thermoregulation better than fats — specifically, animal-based fats.  Fat is an easily digested, readily utilized metabolic heater that “stokes the furnace” to help maintain body temperatures during extreme cold conditions.  Although our culture …


Letter Re: Rawhide and Brain Tanning

James, J.M.’s article on brain tanning mentions buildings and furniture held together with rawhide straps, and I thought I’d mention another such building. The roof of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah is a particularly innovative design for its time, and because of the builders’ lack of available metals (the few metal fasteners in the roof were made from discarded ox shoes) most of the structure depends on wooden pegs to hold it together. The builders wrapped parts of the wooden trusses in green rawhide; as the rawhide shrank during drying, it formed tight, strong straps around the …


Adaptation to Cold Environments, by D.W.

The human body can do little to adapt to a cold environment. This is in contrast to the body’s ability to adapt and become more efficient when exercising in a hot, humid environment. Cold, wetness, and wind challenge the body to maintain core temperatures above 35oC (94oF). Heat loss or inadequate heat production elevates the risk of physical discomfort, hypothermia, or surface injury such as frostbite. Blood flow bears principal responsibility for maintaining peripheral temperature in cold weather and is the metabolic vehicle for the transportation of oxygen and generation of heat. The one adaptable characteristic that can contribute to …


Letter Re: Secondhand Store Bargains, by Rucksack Rob

As most of the readers of SurvivalBlog know, preparing for disasters can be a lifelong commitment and can be most costly, even when buying used or on-sale items.  However, after 30 years of prepping, I find that I do 40-50% of my shopping at secondhand stores, such as Salvation Army, Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, and American Cancer Society, to name a few. If you visit regularly and keep your eyes open, not only will you find a treasure trove of preparedness items, but the employees will get to know you and your products and put them aside and hold them for you …


Letter Re: A Suburban Ghillie Suit Test

I debated about writing this, but in spirit of sharing with your readers the recent usage of a Ghillie suit in a real world situation, with very surprising results. This event occurred as a what to use for the neighborhood halloween, trick or treat crowd, and it was quite a crowd.   We live in a fairly large suburban subdivision on the outskirts of Phoenix. My wife and I have as much fun as the kids who are almost always with parents or a group of adults. My problem was what to “dress up as”, the wife has her ghost outfit, and mine was …


Letter Re: Choosing the Right Footwear

Sir: I found the letters on footwear interesting and informative, but I have a problem that their information just did not address that may affect others: I have big, very wide feet.  The suggestions on Redwings boots is great-a wonderful product, but even their “H” width is too small for me!  I have found that Hitchcock Shoes has an excellent selection of all types of shoes and boots available from many sources, including their own brand.  They sell for Men only from size 5-24 and widths from 3E to 6E. Even when the brands are available locally, the sizes are special …


Two Letters Re: Choosing the Right Footwear

Captain Rawles, I just read Desert Rat’s piece on footgear, and would like to put up a bit of advice and a recommendation on the subject.  Bates, while they put out excellent footwear, primarily makes footwear for institutional environments.  This is to say Police, EMS, Corrections, Hospital staff, etc.  Many of the officers I worked with in Corrections wore Bates on board our facility, and the footwear served them quite well in all conditions.  However, the footwear did not serve as well in the field, when we had need to be out in the boonies.  From my own experience, I …


Choosing the Right Footwear, by Desert Rat

I am relatively new to prepping, but one thing I have noticed is that there are quite a few “oh by the way” mini-lectures on footwear that sneak in among other topics.  This is unfortunate, because footwear should not be relegated to a bunny trail or an afterthought when planning for an uncertain future.  Your choice of shoes can be the difference between comfort and misery, so they deserve careful consideration.  By careful consideration, I don’t mean going to the nearest military surplus store to buy the most expensive tactical boot you can afford.  As I have discovered, there can …


Letter Re: An Army Veteran’s Thoughts on Camouflage

Sir, In regards to the article: An Army Veteran’s Thoughts on Camouflage.  I have a few comments and recommendations: There are many different types of materials that a ghillie suit can be made from and burlap being a very good and cheap and easily accessible one, a couple bundles of natural color jute and some color dyes (mixed with some burlap) can make one very nice ghillie suit.  There are many places that these materials can be purchased from.  Ghilliesuits.com (which I have ordered my Jute from) is just one.  Do a quick search for “ghillie suit kits or jute …


An Army Veteran’s Thoughts on Camouflage, by H.R.

In case of TEOTWAWKI, being successful in the art of camouflaging will be a serious matter. It will be necessary for many aspects of life to include; movement, reconnaissance, and ambush. Camouflaging is a multi-tiered animal, including camouflaging your skin, your clothing, your gear, and your weapon. I spent six years in the army as an Infantryman. As a result I personally have spent 26 months of my life in Iraq, and I have been on well over 500 combat patrols: to include raids and ambushes of all kinds. Camouflaging of your outfit or uniform begins with the construction of …