Category: G. O. O. D.

Letter Re: Another Perspective on Vehicles for Prepared Families

Hi, We’ve read your blog pretty faithfully for some time now and found it extremely good in all regards. While I’m actually writing regarding vehicles, I’d like to share for just a moment how preparedness saved our behinds recently. This year we have had a string of minor events that collectively should have put us in the poor house. Broken bones, loss of a tenant and friend to a heart issue, surgery, car accident that totaled the vehicle – right in the middle of the other mentioned things – and a few other items too. Had we not maintained a …


Letter Re: Grab-and-Go Soup Mix for Bug-Out Bags

Hello Jim, First let me say how much I appreciate your site and how much I’ve learned from it. I visit it usually a couple times a day as I’m trying to fill in gaps in my preparedness plan. I thought I’d share a few tips. Over the past couple years, I’ve bought about a dozen Nesco American Harvester food dehydrators and have set up an assembly line to dehydrate several cases of fruits, vegetables and meats every week. In the off-season when fresh produce is relatively expensive, I switch gears and buy cases of canned vegetables and proceed to …


Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB

Mr. Editor: I have been a reader of this blog for a little while now and one of the earlier postings I read caught my eye: In regards to a vehicle “bug out” kit. That list was certainly a good place to start, but it was missing a few items, so I thought I would put my “two cents” worth in. To give you a little bit of background, I would describe myself as essentially being a realist. I watch the news, I read the papers. I know what is going on around me. I am aware of today’s political …


Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB

Jim: There was some interesting commentary posted to your blog about a vehicle bug out kit and how to keep your vehicle running during a time of troubles. Most of us concentrate on using the vehicle for a short period of time to get out of Dodge and then [if need be] plan on walking from there. I would suggest that we also look at using the vehicle as our bug out kit. At least at first when we have to get out quickly, and if we don’t have a longer term farm/ranch that we are planning on going to. …


Letter Re: A Vehicular Bug-Out Kit

One thing that I have not seen properly addressed anywhere online is an appropriate kit for the bug out vehicle. You folks in snow country can reply to this with some recommendations for that scenario. Please do. I survived five hurricanes , one of them in the Virgin Islands, over the years so I consider myself an advanced student of the Bug Out Vehicle. First and foremost. Cars are useless without fuel. They make a decent shelter but they’re tough to carry with you. I haven’t seen a backpack that would hold one. Get yourself as many large cans as …


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

Hello James: A recent letter from a reader mentioned that he was looking for a retreat. If I remember correctly, that person lived in the Washington D.C. area. You had suggested Tennessee and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) as retreat possibilities.One disadvantage of Michigan’s UP for that particular reader is that to get to the UP, they will have to drive through, or very close to, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, and Saginaw. The Old Uooper was on-target regarding the challenges of living in many places in the UP both microclimate and soil are key factors. My personal choice would be to …


Letter Re: Hunt Packs Available at Cabela’s

James, I often read your blog and have read your novel , “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, (and have given it as a gift to several folks!) I just wanted to let you and your other readers know about something I found at Cabela’s recently: 3-day and 10-day ‘Hunt’ Packs. These nifty boxes contain a mix of energy bars, gels, drinks, etc. designed for use by ‘Wilderness Athletes’. Aside from the humorous effect of the name, these are quite handy and can be ordered from Cabela’s on-line web store and may provide survival minded people an excellent option for Bug …


Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner

Jim, I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance. After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare for a short (several days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase permit but never bought a weapon. Working …


Letter Re: Recreational Vehicles and Investing in Tangibles

Jim, Thank you for the blog and all the great info you put out. I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask you, but first a little info about myself. I am a 40 year old male with a wife and two kids. I live in Kansas, I work at a large manufacturing plant and my wife works for a insurance company. We have a mortgage and other dept. I would like to buy some land out of town and build a retreat for my family and myself for when TSHTF but can not afford it …


Letter Re: Suddenly Homeless on the Potomac–Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

Jim & Company, I thought that I would communicate an interesting story for your web blog. As I write this, I’m holed up in campground/RV park near the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan area. How I got here was totally unexpected. My roommate is female, a former army buddy and suffers from chronic depression—maybe bi polar disorder. We maintained a platonic cohabitation for two months until she swore a Temporary Peace Order against me because she felt “threatened”. In the liberal pest hole of Maryland, that’s all it takes. No battery, assault or actual threats—I just yelled at her to …


Letter Re: Cemeteries as G.O.O.D. Overnight Bivouacs?

Mr. Rawles, I completed reading your novel “Patriots”, I just finished reading “Rawles On Retreats and Relocation“, I’m about to read the “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog” book and I’m going to order the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I do have a couple of questions: When one would be Bugging Out, or in route to a retreat, I was thinking about having a cemetery to rest in, they are generally isolated, either on the edge of town or even in the countryside. There is plenty of good cover there like hiding behind headstones and maybe taking shelter …


Letter Re: Getting Adult Family Members Home in Times of Crisis

Greetings, Mr. Rawles, I need advice and I trust you implicitly in survival matters. Here’s my issue: I live in the country north of Tampa, Florida. Good dirt, well water (and well bucket), dogs, garden, silver coins stashed away. We are ready for whatever happens. My 27 year old daughter lives in Austin, Texas. We have discussed her bugging out to come home, or to her grandmother’s home in Southwestern Alabama. She is preparing her bugout pack today, and waiting to hear from me to tell her to come home. My question is this: At what point do I tell …


Letter Re: Getting Adult Family Members Home in Times of Crisis

Greetings, Mr. Rawles, I need advice and I trust you implicitly in survival matters. Here’s my issue: I live in the country north of Tampa, Florida. Good dirt, well water (and well bucket), dogs, garden, silver coins stashed away. We are ready for whatever happens. My 27 year old daughter lives in Austin, Texas. We have discussed her bugging out to come home, or to her grandmother’s home in Southwestern Alabama. She is preparing her bugout pack today, and waiting to hear from me to tell her to come home. My question is this: At what point do I tell …


Letter Re: In a Tight Spot with Long Distance Travel Plans

Jim, Thanks again for all you do. I am in a tight spot and need some good advice. I have to travel to the Washington, DC area this weekend for a two week class at a Federal facility. I have tried (unsuccessfully) to cancel my plans. This will put me thousands of miles from home and family during times of mounting crisis. Due to the areas draconian gun laws, and the classes location I will be unable to travel with a firearm. I have some loose family in the New York City area, but no other regional contacts. I plan …


Replace Your FUD with Preparedness Action–a Pre-Crash “D” List

All of the recent economic news may be overwhelming to some. This has left many people virtually petrified by Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). Don’t be a proverbial “deer in the headlights.” I strongly encourage you get past your anxiety uncertainty and instead of sitting around glued to CNN, wringing your hands and saying “ain’t it awful”. Replace that angst with action. Get busy preparing. Here is my suggested Crash Countdown “D” List, for folks that are already fairly well-prepared: 1.) De-Hummelize Sell off any collectibles that are not family heirlooms. The worst offenders here are the mass produced “limited …