How I Sued My Neighbor and Won- Part 2, by A.E.

In part 1 of this article about how I sued my neighbor, I described the details of how my young daughter and I arrived home to witness a dog attack of our chickens. I tracked this dog through the snow and had an uncomfortable encounter with this neighbor, to whom I explained the situation and asked for compensation. One of the men there pulled his finger, like a gun, and pointed it at me. Subtle intimidation ensued, but I didn’t back down. The end result was his refusal to pay for the expense of my chicken, so I took him …




Are You Preparing for SHTF or TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by 3AD Scout

There is SHTF, and then there is TEOTWAWKI. There is a difference. SHTF To me, SHTF means an incident that although it’s a disaster isn’t something that will collapse society as we know it. That is not to say that in a SHTF incident there won’t be looting or other behaviors outside societal norms, but for the most part order and daily life will be restored to some level in the foreseeable future. Hurricane Katrina is an example of a SHTF scenario. TEOTWAWKI TEOTWAWKI on the other hand is when societal norms are gone, with no recovery of vital infrastructure …




Traveling to Your Safe Haven During a WROL Event Addendum, by E.P.

I wanted to respond to a number of comments and a few misconceptions regarding my article, “Traveling to Your Safe Haven During a WROL Event.” There are several things that I want to address. Meaning of “Without Rule of Law” First, let me address the meaning of “Without Rule of Law” (WROL). I thought the common usage of these words alone provided a straightforward definition. To me it means a situation where a legitimate government no longer exists such that the rule of law (statutes, rules, and regulations) cannot be enforced and disputes cannot be fairly adjudicated. In short, there …




Evacuation, by S.A.

They’re coming. You know they are coming, because they have told you so. Yet, you have told them over and over through the years what lies ahead. They have listened politely with a small smile, then proclaimed, “I’m just coming to your place!” ‘Nuff said? Personal Message To Our People Our personal message is that when you get the call to come, then come. You must come, now. Leave within the next two hours so you can get out of the city before the roads become impassable. Some say if you miss the 24 hour window for evacuation, you will …




Traveling to Your Safe Haven During a WROL Event- Part 2, by E.P.

Yesterday, we began this article series on traveling to your safe haven during a without rule of law event. We touched on two major issues. These issues involved how to identify and communicate a WROL event within your group, unite your team’s commitment to its mission through a mission statement as well as agreement upon standard operating procedures and rules of engagement. Issue 3: Traveling by Vehicle, Standard Operating Procedures First things first. The suggestions below are just my opinion based on experimentation with several groups over a period of years. Use them as a starting point for your group’s …




Terms of Temerity: Why The Left Loathes The Words We Use

Five years ago in SurvivalBlog, I posted The Leftist Lexicon: Translating Statist Rhetoric Into Plain English, by Ray X.  Then, a few months later, I posted a brief essay that I authored. It was titled: Incendiary Words: Of Detonations and Denotations. In the latter essay, I warned that our language was being twisted by leftist terminology and that we need to hold fast to the proper, objective, and accepted meanings of words. Most recently, I’ve noticed that the assorted leftists, statists, globalists, and collectivists who dominate the American mass media now sneer at conservatives, Christians, and libertarians when we dare …




Brace Yourself: A Game Changer for American Shooters

Ever since late 2012, gun enthusiasts have been talking about getting arm braces for their pistols. Those of us who live south of the Canadian border have been deprived of shoulder-stocked pistols since 1934. So there was a tremendous pent-up demand for such a configuration. And, of course, they were a boon to disabled shooters. The clever devices were first developed by SB Tactical for AR pistols, and later popularized by SIG USA. Arm braces were later adapted to mount on AK pistols, HK9x family pistols, Uzi pistols, the SIG MCX/MPX, and many more. One key advantage of arm braces …




The Mathematics of Countering Tyranny

Introductory Proviso: The following essay on possible gun confiscation is a purely conjectural gedankenexperiment about the future that extrapolates from recent history and current trends. Nothing herein is seditious (per 18 U.S. Code § 2384), nor a call to arms, nor a threat to our government or to any individual, agency, or group. The Collectivist Dream The current mass media-driven “debate” on firearms (actually more like paternalistic lecturing or chiding) seems to be leading toward greater restrictions by Congress. The collectivist gun grabbers have the dream of ignoring the Second Amendment and somehow magically removing all detachable magazine semi-auto rifles …




Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.

None of us want to unknowingly share personal information, but it’s happening everyday if you browse the web, use email, or have a mobile phone. You could decide “I’m going off the grid!”. That’s great if you can, but it’s not practical for 99% of us. The Breadcrumbs So, how might you go about reducing the breadcrumbs produced by your digital life? ProtonMail First, consider using ProtonMail for your personal email. There are no ads and no tracking. A basic account is free. I paid for the Plus account, since I wanted more features. I access ProtonMail on my iPhone …




A 21st Century Tangibles Investing Rationale

I often have people ask me: “Why do you stress tangibles investing, Mr. Rawles?” In my estimation, tangibles always trump intangibles. I have three primary reasons why I distrust intangibles:: First: Nearly all intangible investments are denominated in fiat currencies. Because of this there is an underlying currency inflation, revaluation, or repudiation risk. Even when buying stock in the safest, most secure and impeccably-managed company it still has some risk when the investment is denominated in Dollars. Ditto for Dollar-denominated bonds. Ditto for redeemable life insurance policies and annuities. Ditto for business investments. Ditto for money market funds. Ditto for certificates …




Preparing for Chaos, Theory and Application- Part 1, by DF

Many people view the possibility of economic/societal disruption and collapse as science fiction, suitable as entertainment in dystopian novels or movies. I view it as actual science, not fiction and am preparing for the ensuing chaos and necessities to get past it. Well-proven theories in the areas of nonlinear systems and economics can help us partially understand what can happen, how we can prepare and respond, and even what is not possible to predict. My first section on “theory” is quite abstract. It looks at some of the basic principles of chaos theory to describe the mechanisms of economic/societal collapse. …




America’s Gun Grabbers Have Accelerated the Mass Exodus to The American Redoubt

Do you live in The American Redoubt? Be aware that you have some friends arriving soon. The great Redoubt Exodus has begun! For the past two months the newspapers and electronic media all around the country have been filled with headlines such as these: Florida adopts wide package of gun laws, while Washington stalls Three States Pushing Stricter Gun Laws After Parkland (Plus 2 States That Want to Make Gun Ownership Easier) Rhode Island adopts ‘red flag’ gun policy; other states close Federal judge upholds Massachusetts ban on AR-15, large capacity magazines Vermont Governor Signs Sweeping Anti-Gun Laws Bank of …




The DHS: Acquiring a Core Competency in Tyranny

Did you see this recent news item at Forbes? Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And ‘Media Influencers’’. Hmmm… That’s interesting. The contract will be for “DHS Media Monitoring Services.”  Ah, that sounds suitably mundane. But digging deeper into the original FedBizOpps announcement to read the Statement of Work (SOW), I noticed that it begins with: 1.) Core competencies. Introduce your company’s core competencies and relate those to the specific needs of the attached SOW. That gave me a laugh. How does one describe a Core Competency in Snooping?  Or a Core Competency in Tyranny? I see that …




The First Question is Always Jurisdiction

Earlier this month, I posted an article about the ATF’s recently-opened comment period on the planned Federal ban on bumpfire stocks. In it, I recommended that SurvivalBlog readers post their comments with the ATF, and I suggested several major areas that should be individually addressed: Constitutional issues (Under the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 14th Amendments!) Imprecise Terminology Agency Over-Reach (creating new legal definitions, bypassing congress) Vague Wording Technical and Historical Inaccuracies These were all sound recommendations. However, SurvivalBlog Reader Richard T. reminded me that I had left out a fundamental law issue in my list of …




The Slippery Slope: Proposed ATF Rule Redefining “Machinegun”

The ATF recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on bumpfire stocks, redefining them as “machineguns.”  This NPRM is worse than I had anticipated  This is in part because the new rule has no Grandfather Clause. By the ATF’s own estimates there are more than 350,000 American bumpfire stocks (worth about $96 million) already in circulation. The proposed rule would declare these all contraband unregistered machineguns, with no compensation to their owners, and no method provided to pay the $200 tax to register them. (Because of the FOPA Hughes Amendment machinegun freeze of 1986.) Therefore, owners would be required …