Category: Clothing

Letter Re: Nomex Flight Suits for Ground Troops in Iraq

Dear Mr Rawles, Just wanted to thank you for SurvivalBlog, and I especially like the useful tidbits from the troops overseas. I was a Navy Corpsman / combat advisor with a Marine [Corps] Police Transition Team (PTT) in Hadithah six months after the alleged massacre, interesting times for sure.We got in-country in August 2006, and the Nomex suits were just catching on [with Marines]. We managed to snag a set for each of our 10- man team. The only real reg[ulation]s were that at Al Asad or any large Garrison type Base they wanted you wearing camouflage [utilities], otherwise they …


Front Sight’s New “Get a Gun” Training and Gear Offer

Front Sight has been a SurvivalBlog advertiser for nearly as long as I have been writing the blog. The Memsahib and I have both attended four-day courses at Front Sight, and we can attest that the training there is absolutely top notch. We were both very impressed with the world class quality of the instruction and the quiet professionalism of the instructors. The Front Sight experience is hard to put into words. You really need to experience it for yourself. To be prepared for the potentially dark days ahead, I highly recommend that at least one member of your family …


Family Learning for Preparedness, by T.D.

My husband and I are like minded, (he realized way before I did), and he and I didn’t meet until I was in my mid-thirties. I was considered weird, called a tomboy and later, a gear head. Don’t get me wrong, I cook, sew, knit and crochet. I had many interests though and wanted to learn. What I have seen lately and in some people we met that are like minded, is the lack of initiative on the part of some spouses. I have seen some women and men that will ridicule their spouses or will just roll their eyes …


Post-Doomsday: Dress Incognito, Play Down Your Preps, by Ranger Man

Rawles, at SurvivalBlog, had a good post earlier this month that included reader-submitted comments on survival lessons from the homeless. Check the link to read the advice, which mostly contains thoughts on street survival as the homeless see it, how to score a free shower, etc. Let’s flip this line of thinking around and brainstorm on how staying dirty could be a SHTF survival technique. If (when) the world is your enemy, deception is your ally. I think this is particularly pertinent to urban dwellers, but it could be valuable for everyone. WTSHTF – dress like a bum. Post-doomsday: George: …


Letter Re: Consider Volunteering at a Homeless Shelter

Sir; I once had an opportunity to volunteer at a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. What started as a chance to be of service, turned out to be a lesson in survival. I was surprised to learn that many of the “guests” at the shelter had become experts at existing comfortably, on a permanent basis, without benefit of a home. Here are some of the things I learned: 1) The first lesson is – The quality of your bags determines the quality of your life. If your possessions are contained in fragile garbage bags, you are limited in how much …


Letter Re: Self-Sufficiency–How Do We Do It All?

Dear Memsahib and Jim, I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader and contributor, along with my husband. I am very interested in learning more how Memsahib and other retreat women manage to do all that they do. How does a day or week in your life go? How do you can, bake, cook, shear, spin, weave, knit, sew, teach, et cetera and get it all done? We are moving to our retreat soon. I have baked, cooked, knit, learned to spin and weave, and have canned in the past, but not all at once. I forgot to mention clean, wash, take …


Letter Re: How/Where Can I Learn About Fiber Arts?

Dear Memsahib: In your biography, I noticed that you wrote: “I also have taught Fiber Arts. I can shear a sheep, angora goat, or angora rabbit and wash, card, dye, spin, knit, weave, (and/or felt) the wool into socks, mittens, a hat, scarf, or a sweater.” Speaking for those who happen to have a small herd of Angora goats, but no practical knowledge of shearing or weaving/knitting, to say nothing about “wash – card – dye – spin,” are there any books you can recommend? Or perhaps, alternatively, a DVD? Thanks, – Pete M. The Memsahib Replies: I think hands-on …


The “Come as You Are” Collapse–Have the Right Tools and Skills

When the Second World War broke out in September, 1939, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis powers. In the late 1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Pentagon’s strategic planners came to the realization that the next major war that the US military would wage would not be like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury of time to train and equip. They realized that we would have to fight with only what we had available on Day …


Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness

Jim, My missus and I have been into “prepping” for about 15 years. Our house has a basement and it is practically wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with shelves–with just narrow aisles in between. The shelves are chockablock with storage food (all labeled and organized “FIFO“-style), medical supplies, assorted “field” type gear, tools, barter/charity stuff, ammo cans, propane cylinders (that fit our camp stove and camping lantern), reels of field phone wire, paper products, and so forth. Following the example of Mr. Whiskey (from your “Profiles“) we have recently built up 27 sets of designated “charity duffles”, each packed in a cheap …


From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Start With a “List of Lists”

Start your retreat stocking effort by first composing a List of Lists, then draft prioritized lists for each subject, on separate sheets of paper. (Or in a spreadsheet if you are a techno-nerd like me. Just be sure to print out a hard copy for use when the power grid goes down!) It is important to tailor your lists to suit your particular geography, climate, and population density as well as your peculiar needs and likes/dislikes. Someone setting up a retreat in a coastal area is likely to have a far different list than someone living in the Rockies. As …


Prepare or Die, by J. Britely

Throughout my life I have been caught unprepared several times and while nothing seriously bad happened, it easily could have.  I have been lost hiking.  My car has broken down in very bad neighborhoods – twice.  I have been close enough to riots that I feared they would spread to my neighborhood, been in earthquakes, been too close to wildfires, been stuck in a blizzard, and have been without power and water for several days after a hurricane.   I managed to get myself out of each situation, I thanked God, and tried to learn from my mistakes.  I could have …


Sources for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet, by K.L. in Alaska

Recent comments in SurvivalBlog provided excellent advice on using the public library. You can gain lots of knowledge with no expense, then purchase only those books you want to keep on hand for personal reference. Also, many colleges and universities loan to local residents, so you can use them too, even if you aren’t a student. If your local libraries participate, a great resource is Worldcat. It lets you search for books from home, then go check them out, or get them through interlibrary loan. What will happen to the Internet when the SHTF? There’s no guarantee it will survive. …


During a Disaster Event Should You Stay at Home or Leave?, by Grandpappy

Different types of disasters may require a different response if a family wishes to maximize their chances for long-term survival. Therefore each family should have several different disaster plans that they could successfully implement depending on the circumstances. These plans should include: 1. Staying at your home and being able to survive for a reasonable period of time without any outside assistance, and 2. Quickly and efficiently evacuating your home and traveling to a predetermined destination. Staying at home is probably the best overall strategy for most families in a variety of different disaster type situations. However, there are a …


Letter Re: A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space

Mr. Rawles, First off I would like to thank you for your profound impact on my life in the last four months. All of my life I grew up with a father and grandfather who were/are minor survivalist men. They believe that the end times are coming and we should prepare for them. They keep about three days of food and water at their homes and plenty of guns and ammo. For the longest time I always thought it was ridiculous and never understood it. Now my thinking has changed to the fact that they are under prepared. When I …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr Rawles, Having read your reply to S.’s letter “Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget” I must say you made my day! It made me realize that I am much better off than I thought and on the right track. I am one of those weird (smart?) people who was raised in the city, but for some reason, never belonged. From earliest childhood, I was always “preparing” long before I really knew what for. In other words, I was not your typical “raised in captivity” child. I learned to sew at nine, and spent a lot of time making sleeping …