Category: G. O. O. D.

Long Term Situational Awareness Can Give You The Edge, by Todd S.

I’ve been fortunate to live in the same general area for my entire adult life, the Rocky Mountains of Utah. I am very familiar with the area made more so by various employments, a variety of interests all centered around the outdoors and twenty years of being a Scout Master. Being familiar with my surroundings for a long period of time increases my knowledge base of useful things to know, information unique to my immediate surroundings.      I have always been curious and a great observer, of both people and things.  Some years ago my brother mentioned something to me …


Letter Re: Disturbed by the After Armageddon Docudrama

Dear Mr. Rawles, I fully enjoy your site and have been reading it daily for some time now.Only yesterday did I follow the link to the You Tube video, After Armageddon. And only yesterday did the question dawn on me: Following any disaster, what percentage of survivors would be forced to leave their homes? In twenty years of practicing preparedness, I’ve never given the question any thought! Sure, I am well prepared and sited in a very rural area flush with abundant water, fish and game, mature hardwoods and other natural resources. I’ve a modest farm with large gardens, we …


Letter Re: Some Thoughts on The Golden Horde

One of the SurvivalBlog concepts that has fascinated (and haunted) me since learning of it has been the concept of the Golden Horde: the exodus of the unprepared-but-entitled softies, fleeing the cities in search of food, water and shelter after a SHTF scenario. I say “haunted” because – out of necessity – my retreat lies in the middle of a triangle formed by three medium-size cities, so I’ve long suspected that I would be in prime Golden Horde country. In order to understand what such an exodus might actually look like, I decided to make some assumptions about travel behavior …


Five Letters Re: The Art of Humping a Pack

Hello Mr. Rawles, Blake’s recent post on the fine art of “humping a pack” is much appreciated. I’m a bit of a backpacker, but have never been subjected to the rigors of “forced humping” for Uncle Sam. I’ve found that I rapidly become an unhappy camper when my pack weight exceeds 45 pounds. Thanks go to Blake for his service to our Country! The magic (but painful) blister remedy to which he referred is Tincture of Benzoin (sometimes abbreviated Tr. Benzoin). This mixture of specific tree resins in alcohol, and it’s cousin, Compound Tincture of Benzoin, are used in health …


The Art of Humping a Pack, by Blake in Arkansas

Walking with a loaded pack on your back is what the United States Marine Corps Infantryman refers to as “humping”.  And while it may not take a lot of brains to put a loaded pack on and walk, it has definitely become an art, science, or skill that is constantly honed by infantrymen of all types. With eight years as a Marine Corps Infantryman I have learned quite a lot about the art of humping myself.  There are several factors that come into play before you strap on your pack and take your first step. PHYSICAL FITNESS:  What is your …


Letter Re: Survival Tips for the Business Traveler

The recent SurvivalBlog piece titled “Survival Tips for the Business Traveler”, by F. Russell was well written with lots of good information. I also travel on business and didn’t see anything I disagreed with but I would add a couple of items if you care to link my comments to the article. 1) No matter how well you plan, if you travel much over the road you are going to be places where the fuel in your tank is not enough to get you home. Be that because of the distance you are from “home” or that traffic congestion or …


Incremental Preparedness: The Good, Better, Best Approach, by Jeff B.

For many, the idea of preparedness seems like an impossible undertaking. The amount of equipment and supplies needed is staggering. When I first came to the realization that I was under prepared, the gap between what I had and where I needed to be was too much for my public servant’s paycheck to bear. I would spend a lot of time discussing preparedness with a group that I would go shooting with, and all of these meetings would always gravitate to “which weapon do you plan for X meters?” or “how many rounds do you think I need for X …


Getting Prepared: From the Homestead to Living Off the Land

Introduction I currently do not fall in the category of the less than 1% of the population that can afford the real possibility of a “retreat” on 40+ acres, based on a Rawlesian criteria. However, I do have a solid brick house on 1.5 acres in a rural area on the southern plains. For the immediate future this will have to serve as my permanent abode. I have always had an interest in outdoor survival skills, and have lived, vacationed, and worked for extended periods of time in isolated outdoor camps while working “in the bush” with limited modern comforts. These …


Survival Tips for the Business Traveler, by F. Russell

I’m both a family man and a business traveler. When I’m on the road, my primary mission is to do the best job I can and get home again. In the event of an emergency, that mission immediately reduces down to get home as fast as I can.  Most families have emergency plans that assume that the family or group will be together. But what happens if one or more of the group can’t be there? When you’re on the road, your primary mission in any catastrophic emergency is to get home to your family and support system. You can’t …


Two Letters Re: The Cessna 172 Bug Out Plan

James, In response to the recently-posted writing contest article The Cessna 172 Bug Out Plan, by Captain Zoobie: 1. Unleaded gas works perfectly well in Cessna 172s. (Just use some leaded fuel once in awhile to lube the valves). Even with an open window, fumes from gasoline containers in the cockpit will likely be unbearable, especially at altitude! (You have to vent them or they might burst as you climb, the original poster should know this.) 2. If you want to be able to get out in an emergency, you should hangar your plane at a small airport and get …


The Cessna 172 Bug Out Plan, by Captain Zoobie

My Situation I currently live at the outskirts of a larger metropolitan area. In the event of TEOTWAWKI, I want a way to quickly get out of Dodge. I have a retreat a few hundred miles away from where I live which I know my family can, and almost certainly get to in the event it is necessary. I have my BOB for both my car and my home and while I could try to drive to my survival retreat, I recognize that survival is about adaptability and relying on my skills. I hold a pilot’s license with multiple ratings …


The “Power of Ten” Planning Model, by Sandkicker

This article has nothing to do with any special properties of the number ten, but rather refers to a progressive planning method based on the size of a problem. This is a way to organize thinking and planning for chaotic situations.   “If you fail to plan, you’ve planned to fail”.   It would be irresponsible to present any particular plan as suitable for everyone, however, these are some guidelines on how and why you should develop your own plans.  Why do I have the nerve to write this piece?   I’ve been in the middle of more than one “adventure”… and in …


JWR’s Comments on the “After Armageddon” Docudrama

The History Channel recently aired a docudrama that was interspersed with interviews of subject matter experts, titled After Armageddon. The show was previously mentioned here in SurvivalBlog, but I just recently got the chance to watch all of it. It portrayed a fictional family making some horrible mistakes, in the midst of a major pandemic. I assume that these mistakes were written into the script to increase the quotient for drama. (At least I hope so!) They certainly illustrated the peril of attempting to hunker down in a city with insufficient supplies. They should have “bugged out” weeks sooner! I …


Letter Re: A Bugout Time Saving Tip

Hi Jim, I just wanted to share a quick storage tip and a bugout time saver. I’m currently in a condominium but still working on my preps and keeping my stuff bugout ready. One of the issues I’ve overcome is the need to keep my bugout ready but out of the way. In my condo building we actually have storage areas in the basement (fenced off partitions with personal locks) so that is where 90% of my preps stay. In order to keep these preps bugout ready I’ve organized them into Rubbermaid [lidded storage] tubs that I stack about four …


COA Analysis of Common Survival Strategies, by JIR

Having spent a lot of years on military planning staffs, I can’t help war-gaming scenarios. In short (as you know well) Course of Action (COA) development is a big part of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and is a fairly reliable way of looking at possibilities and choosing likely sequels, given scenarios. In effect, a way of war-gaming out the future. There are a number of horror scenarios that seem to me to be fairly probable and they keep going around and around in my head as I try to sequence them and assign probabilities to each one. I …