Category: Field Gear

Two Letters Re: Advice on Rifle Stock Pouches

Sir I saw in the blog someone mentioning the stock pouches soldiers have on their rifles overseas. Sadly these pouches are there because our servicemembers are not trusted with a loaded weapon while on the FOB. We are required to maintain possession of the weapon and a minimum amount of ammunition (usually one magazine) but we are not allowed to have the weapon loaded. Unfortunately we don’t teach our servicemembers to be safe with weapons–we simply don’t allow them the possibility to have an accident. – Jake Dear Jim: I use the SpecOps [brand] Ready Fire Mode pouches, and second …


Letter Re: Advice on Rifle Stock Pouches

Mr. Rawles: In television news footage and magazine articles about U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, I often see soldiers with nylon pouches attached to their rifle [butt]stocks. They seem to hold extra magazines. That seems pretty handy, so you always have a spare magazine, even if you get separated from your “Deuce” [web] gear. Do you recommend doing this? If so, what sort of pouch do you suggest for my M1A and AR-15? I also have several bolt actions, but only one of mine takes [detachable] magazines, and only four rounders are available for it. What should …


Letter Re: Survival Sewing, by “Springmtd”

A sewing machine is a critical item in my household that has saved me thousands of dollars in gear I would otherwise have had to buy. Sewing actually provided me higher performance customized gear that simply wasn’t available unless I made it myself. In normal times it makes more sense economically to buy most clothing since it is readily available inexpensively or second hand. Sewing time is better spent on [making] higher-priced items like outdoor gear. During difficult times even clothing might not be available. It could be necessary to rely on home sewing to provide almost everything that is …


Letter Re: Advice on a Rust-Resistant Method to Store Spare Magazines

Hello Mr. Rawles, I just read your recent post on investing in full capacity magazines and was motivated to place several large mag orders. I already had at least 150 rifle mags, so I have quite a few mags around. I recently have been trying to get my preparedness storage organized so that items can be stored for long periods without being damaged. As part of this I have been vacuum sealing mags in my Tilia Food Saver with an oxygen absorber thrown in for good measure. These will then be stored in bins in my clean, dry attic. (I …


Letter Re: Reverse Osmosis Water Purification for Urbanites

Dear Jim, Concerning Justin B.’s letter on reverse osmosis: Why go to all the trouble of using a reverse osmosis system and having to Jerry-rig a way to use it if the electrical system goes on the blink? Use a non-electric, non-water wasting, gravity-based water filtration system like the Big Berkey (30,000 gallons on one set of filters!) and get used to using it for your drinking water every day. It’s a great way to develop a habit and a mind set of preparedness. Every time I fill my Berkey (once or twice a day) I think about my preps …


Three Letter Re: The Recent San Diego, California Wildfires

Jim: I have the rest of the day off due to the wildfires in the area so I am at home. The firefighting aircraft have been grounded due to wind until a couple of minutes ago. The evacuation zone is currently a 1/4 mile east of me. My northeastern and southeastern escape routes are currently out of the question. I figure that by the time I get told to Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.), the Northern route will be closed off or too crowded to take. Going South into Mexico is currently not an option due to the makeup of …


Letter Re: Mylar “Wine in a Box” Inserts for Liquids Storage

Mr. Rawles I stumbled upon this thread about these guys doing a cross-Africa trip. Its pretty long, but worth the read. One piece of interest was the use of the bags that wine-in-a-box comes in to store fuel. Here is the link to the start of the thread, just keep clicking “continue” at the end. Warning: There is some National Geographic-type nudity. – Slinger JWR Replies: This topic came up once before in SurvivalBlog. OBTW, it would be quite dangerous to store anything that is more flammable than waste vegetable oil (WVO) in a Mylar bag. Use only proper containers …


Letter Re: Plan B — Your Bug-Out Route

Mr. Rawles, In the event of a natural or manmade disaster you may need to retreat despite extensive preparations at your base of operations, whether in suburbia or in the mountains. You may find yourself in a desperate situation; facing forest fire, fallout from a malfunctioning nuclear power plant, terrorism, organized bands of looters or an invading army. Where will you go? How will you get there? What is your route? Whether you have been preparing for years or weeks you need a Plan “B”. Identifying the threat will help you determine the safest route and mode of transportation to …


Cold Weather Survival Tips, by David in Israel

James, Winter is coming [in the northern hemisphere]. An important skill is treating and preventing cold exposure, especially if a person is disabled and on the ground. The ground steals heat through direct conduction and by absorption of moisture. Always go out well fed, include plenty of protein, copious warm hydrating liquids, and fats. Together these break down in a heat generating reaction as well as providing large amounts of energy for more heat generation. Have a way to make a warm drink. A Thermos is skimping, better a small stove that is easily lit and kettle that will let …


Letter Re: Advice on Survival Retreats and Bug Out Vehicles

Hello, I have been reading your blog and I find it very useful in many ways. I have a couple of questions for you: 1) For a secure compound or retreat would a multi family area (with like-minded people of course) be something useful? And if so, how would you bring it to the attention of members that would be willing to invest in something like this? [JWR’s replies are in-line, in bold.] Yes, a multi-family retreat can be viable, but only if there are clearly delineated rights and responsibilities. These should spelled out formally–either contractually or covenantally–lest there be …


Two Letters Re: Betavoltaic Batteries

Jim, Here is an article describing the challenges associated with betavoltaic batteries. The recent buzz over the 30 year battery, while intriguing, is overly optimistic. As stated in the article I linked to, betavoltaics currently have low efficiency, require heavy shielding, and the energy absorption media tends to degrade due to the high energy bombardment. I think it would be great if they could overcome these issues, but it looks like it may be 30 years before we see anything like a 30 year battery. – Mark D. in Utah Mr Rawles, Firstly I would like to say that after …


Letter Re: Digitized Data for Your Bug-Out Bag

James: JN is absolutely right about TrueCrypt, it’s an excellent tool. Be aware, however, that you can be compelled to disclose your encryption keys in the UK legally, and you can always be compelled to do so via extra-legal means. If you have any data that you truly wish to keep secret, a good start is to use a second TrueCrypt volume containing important data inside the primary volume which contains data that is less crucial. Regards, – PH


Letter Re: Digitized Data for Your Bug-Out Bag

Sir: Regarding the SD card idea, I have been doing something similar but with a few improvements: 1. Instead of a camera flash card, get a USB keychain drive [also known as “thumb” drive or “jump” drive]. These are cheap, available in at least 4GB [capacity] and are darn near impossible to break. The USB models can be read by nearly any PC or Mac. For encryption, I recommend using True Crypt. This program is free and has been well-tested in the computer security community, as its code and design are open source. One nice thing about this program, is …


Letter Re: Digitized Data for Your Bug-Out Bag

Jim, First, thank you for the work you have done. Your blog site will surely save many lives. Also, thank you for your books. I’ve just started on “Patriots” and am thoroughly enjoying it. I’m very new to ‘long-term’ survival and much of the political and economic machinations that are going on that potentially may lead to SHTF. Living in hurricane country (Florida) I’ve always been better prepared than the average family and I’ve maintained my preps year round due to fears of terrorist attacks and bird flu pandemics. However, I’m completely shocked, horrified actually, about what I’ve learned over …


Letter Re: A Security Contractor’s Convoy Experience in Iraq

Dear Jim, A friend of mine who is a contractor sent this. It’s been posted elsewhere. Foul language warning. – Michael Z. Williamson Info from Iraq From Someone Who is Doing the “Run and Gun“ Yesterday a friend of mine who runs a small security company here in Iraq emailed me. He is standing up a protection detail and wanted my opinion on tactics and equipment running the roads of Iraq; Tactics, SOPs, hard car or soft? I have been giving it some thought and here is where I am at. I am willing to speculate I’m as well traveled …