Category: Emerging Threats

Islands in the Darkness: Some Local Power Utilities Have Prepared to Go It Alone

Many readers will recall that my 2011 novel “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” was partly set in and near Farmington, New Mexico. I chose that region because it has a particularly resilient power grid. In the novel I described how Farmington Electric Utility System (FEUS) has made contingency plans to immediately reconstitute a local power grid, in the event of a western power grid collapse. This was not just literary license on my part. It was based on a face-to-face interview with a FEUS manager that I conducted in 2009, as I was researching locales for the novel. …


Letter Re: The Great Ripple

James,  First let me say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading SurvivalBlog over the years. It has been a source of insight, inspiration and motivation to myself, my friends and most of my family whom I’ve shared it with. A few months ago we watched as Hurricane Sandy hit the upper East Coast from afar. I’m about 200 miles from the Gulf Coast and as any other resident in this area, we keep an eye on the sky during the Hurricane Season. But knowing this was not in our back yard, I didn’t worry. I generally keep everything stocked up …


Michael Z. Williamson on the New DHS “Non-Traditional Threat” Pistol Targets

Apparently, this server is straining as news of the DHS targets is spreading virally. A friend wrote to ask: “Don’t these people have any devil’s advocate types on staff who might say, “Gee Bob, I’m not sure this is the best idea…” Description: [Note: cut and pasted, all typos and bad grammar original to these Protectors and Servers of Freedom] Non-traditional threat dipicting [sic] a hostile young mother surrounded by childred [sic] on a playground. Background is faded further highligting [sic] and highlighting the threat. Full Color realistic target. Size: 23″ x 35″ Site is overloaded.  Target shows an armed …


The Leftist Lexicon: Translating Statist Rhetoric Into Plain English, by Ray X.

Statists use cleverly constructed language for obfuscation and to further their unconstitutional Big Government agenda. Statists rarely say what they mean or mean what they say. Ray X., a SurvivalBlog reader in Wyoming provides us the following dictionary that describes what the statists really mean: Access: Our people put on TV or put in positions of authority, via our access to your wallet. Activists: Rabble without jobs but with access to TV cameras. Affirmative Action: Giving hiring preference to those with lower test scores, for countless generations. Advocacy/Advocate: Advocating our agenda. All others are not Advocates. They are, Radicals, Haters …


Living a Double Life, by Sara Sue

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The biggest threat to this country right now is the Socialist/Progressive movement that includes the belief that we should not be “America the great, the free”; that we must take our appropriate place among the world leaders as equals, and that we must “spread the wealth” to ensure “social justice”.  In the end, this type of thinking leads to a one-world government under the leadership of a “benevolent” governing body who controls our every move.  This belief has undermined the security of this country and exposed us to those who would have us dead – the external threats.  The internal …


Letter Re: A Prepper’s Guide to EMP

Mr. Rawles, I have to make a comment about information in this article that is just wrong and I have seen others wrongly assume on the internet before. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to keep metal within the cage from touching the conductor that makes up the Faraday Cage. The reason is that the cage (assuming it has been constructed without gaps or holes, as it should be) forms an “INFINITE” barrier between the electric fields inside and outside of the cage. No electric field can go through the cage because they are dispersed across the surface and do not …


Two Letters Re: Buried Cache Retrieval

Dear JWR: After reading the post this morning on buried items, I would like to share a thought. If you bury items in PVC pipe and use threaded fittings, you will have to use a pipe dope to seal out moisture.  If you do this, unscrewing the fitting is going to be an ordeal.  You would have to dig out an area big enough to swing a very large wrench if you have one.  Or you would have to dig out the pipe and put the pipe in a large vise if you have one.  Or cut the pipe in the ground …


Letter Re: Low Sulfur Diesel and Refinery Shutdowns

Dear Jim, I wanted to provide a technical article to explain to your readers why refineries have to shut down more often than they used to. There’s a good reason for this, and its not greed.   A few years ago I went to welding school. I wanted a post-oil survival skill that would make me money and have real value. During the course of my education I learned how to weld stainless steel, and one of the key components of welding stainless is something called the Heat Affected Zone. It turns out that when welding stainless steel you can …


Two Letters Re: Plan B: Key Phrases to Memorize for Citizens’ Reservation of Rights

JWR, I am a 14-year veteran of one of the “top 10 by size” police departments in the US. My whole career has been within this department so my perception of this issue is only that of a large urban city department. I want to comment on your article “Plan B: Key Phrases to Memorize for Citizens’ Reservation of Rights.” In my earlier days I can unfortunately admit I probably may have been one of these officers that would try to find something to turn a civil violation traffic stop into a felony arrest. I will add though that I …


Four Letters Re: A Prepper’s Guide to EMP

Jim: That was a very good article by Chris C. to get people up to speed on EMP threats and mitigation, there is one very simple thing to add that was shared with me by a former military contractor who was involved in EMP work.   While it’s possible to protect equipment in place with shielding, grounding and specialized electronic components, the most economical solution is to store spares.  This has the advantage of protecting (remember, “two is one”) with backups from ANY type of equipment failure, EMP or otherwise.  This method uses readily obtainable and very economical materials.  There’s …


Plan B: Key Phrases to Memorize for Citizens’ Reservation of Rights

I’ve posted numerous articles and links in SurvivalBlog that emphasize the importance of remaining silent whenever you are contacted by law enforcement officers. I strongly recommend that before reading the rest of this post, you take the time watch this lecture: Don’t Talk To The Police, and take it to heart. I’ve heard from several readers who say that that they’ve been pulled over by police officers on “fishing expeditions”. The officers refused to let the motorists go, even though it was obvious that no crime had been committed. These readers did everything right. They presented their identification and proof …


A Prepper’s Guide to EMP, by Chris C.

Those of us who frequent this web site, the prepper community, prepare for a host of potential crises that may befall our nation.  Some are more likely than others, but most share a common background when it comes to being prepared for them.  The event of an EMP strike, however, requires some very specific knowledge and safeguards.  This is a serious enough issue that a study was commissioned by congress several years ago, which found that the threat was real and that we were woefully unprepared. This essay will provide a brief description of the event itself with some supporting …


Letter Re: Personal Debt Levels

Dear Mr. Rawles,  I have read Patriots and am working on (from the library) your three other books.  I have a great group I am connected with and all are reading your material.  Also, I have the book Strategic Relocation–North American Guide to Safe Places by Joel and Andrew Skousen.  I really appreciate all your advice and tips and have been working as best I can to prepare.  My question revolves around how crucial you think it would be for  me to pay off as much debt as possible before the coming collapse or whatever comes?    I am struggling with balancing paying a credit card …


Nunc Pro Tunc: The Coming Day of Burn Barrels and Blessings

This is a standing invitation to my fellow Americans: If congress ever enacts a law mandating the registration and/or a production ban of detachable magazine semiautomatic rifles then you are hereby invited to the town square of your local community. There, burn barrels will be set up and we will publicly burn Form 4473s, FFL Bound Books, state and local registration records, and the sales receipts for every firearm in the United States. On that same day, FFL holders and public officials holding electronic firearms records will simultaneously erase those records, permanently and irretrievably. (Using special file erasure software such …


Letter Re: A Lifetime Gun and Magazine Purchases in Just a Few Months?

Brother Rawles, Thank you to you and Ulysses in Montana for the detailed article on .308 battle rifles.  The current political environment kicked me into high gear, buying one.  Ulysses information helped me out tremendously.  It will help me save time and money on getting familiar with a new caliber and rifle.  In the beginning hours of the Gun Grab I picked up an Armalite AR-10 lower receiver and mags. I’ve got a number of 5.56 AR’s but have been putting off getting my “dream” rifle for a couple of years.  Depending on what happens in Washington DC, I might trade it toward a FAL …