Category: G. O. O. D.

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 …


Letter Re: Peace of Mind Through Systematic Preparedness

Dear James and SurvivalBlog Family: Thank you for this tremendously vital preparedness forum. It has been the direct impetus for me to seriously prepare to survive various natural disasters that could assail the New England area, but more importantly, to be prepared for the inevitable TEOTWAWKI situation, which I expect, we will face within a decade, as soon as the oft-predicted Winter Solstice of 2012–Which still leaves us plenty of time to prepare, if we only make that crucial decision to begin (or to enhance) our preparations and remain steadfast in our intentions to survive whatever may come our way. …


Letter Re: Hawaii-Specific Disaster Preparations

Jim, Greetings from another SurvivalBlog newbie. I discovered your site back in the spring of this year and all I could say then was “Wow! I think I’ve found a home!” I’ve been lurking here ever since. I’d been wandering in the wilderness of flame-filled newsgroups and not-quite-filling-enough survival/self-reliance publications since the days of “Survival Tomorrow”, nearly thirty years ago. Back then, I mostly spent time just collecting information on various survival topics while making only small, half-hearted preparations. At last, here is a site that has revived my slumbering interest in the disaster preparedness movement and inspired my wife …


Letter Re: Surviving Major Changes in the Political Landscape

Jim, I’m a believer in being prepared for the worst. However, how do I (we) survive 4+ years of an extreme left wing political take over of our system? Right now it looks like Hillary or Obama will win the Presidential elections in ’08. With either of those two in and a left wing house and senate, I have to believe that we’re doomed. You have to know that firearms will probably be banned similar to Canada, Australia, and Great Britain. Are you going to give up your means of defense? When times get tough and food gets scarce, the …


“Zeroing In” Your Bugout Bag, by SF in Hawaii

Last week my wife told me that another couple had gotten reservations at the cabins at Haleakela State Park for the Labor Day Weekend. We would hike across the crater floor, then down the Kaupo Gap. These are hard to come by and since we were invited, I felt we had to go. Great, a chance to try out my bug out bag. I gave my feet a liberal and prophylactic spraying of anti-fungal medication (a ritual I would end up doing every morning on that trip) and put on my Bug-Out Bag (BOB). Before we left, I unscrewed the …


Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Mr. Rawles, I have been considering sending you this note on fuel, so I’ll tag on now. I work for a very large pipeline/oil company and I am in management. My family & I have been in this business for nearly 30 years. I run diesel pickups and use a CFN card as well. The real point I want to share is that when we may no longer get gasoline or diesel fuel, there are hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles around in which fuel can be “obtained” with a hose or pump [in the cited absolute worst case situation.] …


Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Sir: I work for a truck company and came up with an idea that may be useful to others out there. We fill our trucks up with diesel at Commercial Fueling Network (CFN). We do this for a couple reasons such as it is more cost effective and low key. From a city survivalist point of view its a great location to acquire fuel in two situations. One would be the natural disaster scenario where one is trying to flee the city only to find that regular stations are out of fuel. At this point they could divert low key …


Book Excerpt–Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse

Geographically distinct units were formed from the Northwest Militia, as planned, late in the April of the fifth year. To avoid confusion amongst the local citizenry that they protected, they designated those at the original retreat as “Todd Gray’s Company” and those at Kevin Lendel’s house as “Michael Nelson’s Company.” The responsibility for patrolling was divided along a line east-west between the retreats. Todd Gray’s Company was to patrol the northern half of the sector, while Michael Nelson’s Company patrolled the southern half. Separate CB channels were assigned to each Company for locals to use to contact either Company. On …


Letter Re: The Suburban Resident’s Last Ditch Logistics Play–Store Stock

James: We poor individuals left stranded in Suburbia have a rough lot when it comes to making survival preparations. An easy trip down the expressway for the Golden Horde, enough ordinances, zoning restrictions, and association bylaws to hamper the efforts of even the most ingenious survivalist, long commutes, and the list goes on. Clearly, its best to get out while you can. But for those of us stuck here, it makes sense to use whatever resources we have at our disposal, and one of the few areas we just might have the country folk beat is easy shopping. I know …


Letter Re: A Nearby Wildfire Was My Preparedness Wake up Call

James: Don’t know if the callow-youth angle is of interest to your readers, but I dashed this off after a recent wildfire alert: This evening around 5:30 there were reports of a fire very near my home. Wildfires around here can get interesting quick, especially this late in the year with plenty of dry fuel waiting around. I thought we might have to Get out of Dodge and so I ordered the wife to pack up the paperwork and prep the munchkin for a few days field trip. Error. Wife does not respond well to orders, and she judged the …


Letter Re: Garage/Shelter for RVs as a Retreat Option?

Jim- A few days back a contributor asked about hardening up her mobile home. That reminded me of a plan I have been considering over the last couple of years. This might work for those who can’t relocate now to their retreat. I was motivated to write because I just saw a news report of a family offering a considerable reward for the recovery of their ATVs which had been stolen from their vacation cabin.[My idea is to] develop a retreat location with: 1. A water supply and septic tank and [leach] field (all disguised, to discourage squatters.) 2. Underground …


Letter Re: Diesel Motorcycles

Mr. Rawles: The August ’07 issue of Motorcyclist [magazine] (pg 74) has an article on a diesel conversion of a Kawasaki KLR. They are currently making the bikes for military only, however the article does mention that a civilian design is in the wings. The company is Hayes Diversified Technologies. I have seen discussions on the SurvivalBlog about storing diesel and people wanting a motorcycle. This may be a great advertiser for you to chase. I have no relationship to Hayes. I am just a reader of you blog. Good luck, and thanks for all the great info. – Vince


Letter Re: Bicycles for Emergency Transportation

James Rawles; I have been riding bikes since I was old enough to learn some 35 years ago. In my teens I had a paper route with over 100 customers and I used a ladies single speed bike (the lower center bar allowed me to get on and off easier)with wide (balloon) tires and two of the biggest baskets you could find on the rear like saddle bags and one up front so I could grab a paper and throw it up on the porch. The wide tires handled the weight better than the narrow ten speed tires. I could …


Letter Re: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina and Indiscriminate Weapons Confiscation

Dear Mr. Rawles, First off, I would like to thank you for writing the novel “Patriots” and starting SurvivalBlog. My dad sent me your book in the mail and told me to read it. Being a fan of Tom Brown-ish survival literature, I decided to give it a try. I read it in one night, starting at about 8 pm and finishing at 3 in the morning. Truly, my world view has changed. I have immediately started making preparations—getting my Bug Out Bag together, my Bug Out Routes planned and starting to practice some of the skills sets I’ve let …