Category: Health and Fitness

Two Letters Re: Providing Crucial Fats and Oils in Your Diet

Jim: I just wanted to let you know of a web site where one can buy natural oils in bulk. It’s a company in Solon, Ohio, called “Oils By Nature“. They produce their own oils with the lowest amount of refining and don’t add things like detergents and anti-foaming agents, etc. Prices are based on seasonal availability. Their customer service is great! For example, I bought a 55 lb. of unrefined Palm Kernel Oil for a very good price. This kind of fat is solid at room temperature and it’s molecular composition is very usable by the human body. It …


Survival for the Disabled, by Hegh

To survive one must be physically fit! This statement has been said and written over and over, time and again. To say that Survival is for this group of individuals exclusively has strong weight when it comes to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. How ever I would disagree with this assessment. Granted, total invalids could pose a problem but that is not the focus of this article. The focus is on those individuals who are disabled but can still function to some degree and contribute to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. During the fall of the twin towers on September 11th there were 31 …


Two Letters Re: Providing Crucial Fats and Oils in Your Diet

Dear Mr. Rawles – I need some advice on storing fats and oils. I have read that the shelf life these essentials can be extended by keeping them in an air tight container, and avoiding exposure to heat and light, but even then the shelf life of these products is no more than a year or so. Shortening, which used to have a shelf life of up to ten years, is no longer sold in metal cans, giving it a much shorter shelf life. How are others dealing with this problem? Also, I have thought about other sources of oils …


What if The Schumer Doesn’t Hit The Fan? – Reasons to Prepare Anyway, by MB

As long as I can remember, I have felt that someday the comforts of a modern American lifestyle would vanish, at least temporarily. So I have made small mental preparations for some time now; keeping my mind and body fit and strong, staying informed, dropping hints to the wife, etc. Recently, and mostly after reading Patriots, I have a renewed interest in preserving my life and protecting those I love. After educating myself on the subject of survival, I felt, as I’m sure many others have, very vulnerable and even overwhelmed. I needed to take action, immediately. Many thoughts spring …


Letter Re: How and Why to Get Physically Fit

JR- With regard to the article on getting into physical conditioning and buying used exercise equipment, here is a general rule for readers to remember. They are like room heaters, air conditioners, pools, and lawn mowers etc. They are very seasonal. I have friends who work at thrift stores, and I can assure you the time to buy any exercise equipment is during the warmer months like right now [in the northern hemisphere]! The Ski Machine you refer to that costs almost $1,000 for the higher end models can be had for song during the summer months. Sometimes pennies on …


Letter Re: How and Why to Get Physically Fit

Jim: Hello again from a very wet England. I’ve been reading with interest the articles on physical fitness and would just like to add my two penny-worth. Cross country skiing is generally considered to be about the best form of aerobic exercise, inasmuch as it works pretty well all the muscles. The Nordic company do a ski machine that retails new around $700.00, but second hand they sell [on eBay)] for peanuts. Here is an example of one currently on that well known auction site. GBP 15.00 is about $30.00 – a very small price to pay for the ultimate …


Are You Preparing Without Physical Fitness? How and Why to Get Physically Fit, by Flhspete

Introduction The more physically fit one is overall, the better your odds are you will survive WTSHTF. Or, maybe you don’t believe that survival preparations should include physical fitness. U.S. military forces emphasize solid fitness in part because the higher the fitness level, the more an individual can maintain acceptable performance levels while under stress. Police SWAT units emphasize high levels of fitness for the same reasons. Organized units like these are highly effective also because they conduct rehearsals of established SOPs until it is ingrained to the point that they are able to perform under any conditions. They are …


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 …


Reverse the Public School Brainwashing and Keep Your Kids Safe, by Captain Dave

The recent school shooting at Virginia Tech demonstrates a huge underlying societal problem that many of us are either ignoring or are ignorant of. Because society has spent much of the last several decades trying to stamp violence out of schools and out of our children, we end up with kids who are made-to-order victims that will line up to be shot execution style rather than fight back. The answer to school violence is not to arm the campus police, have campus SWAT teams, or class rooms that can double as fortresses, it is to teach our children to protect …


Bicycles for Emergency Transportation, by Grandpappy

Unlike horses and other farm animals, bicycles do not require any food, or water, or pasture, or daily care. They also don’t generate any garden manure and that could be either a plus or a minus depending on your situation. And a bicycle is ready to go the instant you need it, even if an EMP blast disables other modes of transportation. A bicycle can be stored for decades with just a little oil on its chain and on its other moving parts. In the event of a serious worldwide catastrophe, a bicycle may become extremely useful in two important …


Reader Poll Results: Your TEOTWAWKI Resume — 100 Words and 100 Pounds

Some of these stretched the 100 word limit. (I skipped posting one that rambled on far beyond the limit.) The poll’s premise in a nutshell: “If someday you went to the gates of a survival community post-TEOTWAWKI and pleaded the case for why you should be let past the barricades and armed guards to become a valuable working member of the group, would you get voted in? Taken objectively, would you vote yourself in?”   I am a shoe maker (not just a repairman) can repair saddles tan leather have done ranch work mechanics weld gardening skills set a broken …


Letter Re: A Get Out of Dodge Physical Fitness Test

Jim, First of all as a reader of your SurvivalBlog and a purchaser of your “Patriots” novel, your Rawles on Retreats and Relocation book, and a copy of your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I wanted to offer my thanks for your information and insight. I am only a few months into the preparedness way of life but was hit hard this last week by an object lesson that I don’t feel gets the priority needed in some preparedness writings. My current physical fitness was tested as I re-shingled my roof and the realization I had at my lack …


Reader Poll: Your TEOTWAWKI Resume — 100 Words and 100 Pounds

S.F. in Hawaii suggested another poll topic: “If someday you went to the gates of a survival community post TEOTWAWKI and pleaded the case for why you should be let past the barricades and armed guards to become a valuable working member of the group, would you get voted in? Taken objectively, would you vote yourself in? I suggest the following poll. Put together your survival resume in 100 words or less. The resume is what you would present to a panel of tough as nails judges who would decide if what you offer is worth what you will consume …


Letter Re: Advice for a Preparedness-Minded ROTC Cadet

Hi, I appreciate your advice. Here is my situation: I attend college full time in a post-industrial [Eastern United States] city that has had a 50% population decline in 30 years. Most people here are on welfare, and the largest employers are prisons. I am in a bit of a predicament because I only make about $6,000 per year, so I cannot really afford to spend much on supplies. My goal if things go downhill is to do a ruck march (assuming EMP, otherwise I would drive) with my ROTC-issued [TA-50] equipment to my family’s summer home in farm country …


Letter Re: Positive Feedback on the “Rawles Gets You Ready” Preparedness Course

Mr. Rawles: I just wanted tell let you know how much I have enjoyed your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. It was very informative and is going to really help my family get prepared for whatever may be in our future. I recently purchased the “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1” and the Rawles on Retreats and Relocation book also and those were equally wonderful. The amount of information in your course was outstanding and has really jump started our family’s preparedness program. The covering of “A years supply of everything” angle was a unique approach …