Category: Retreat Groups

The Precepts of My Survivalist Philosophy

In the past week I’ve had three newcomers to SurvivalBlog.com write and ask me to summarize my world view. One of them asked: “I could spend days looking through [the] archives of your [many months of] blog posts. But there are hundreds of them. Can you tell me where you stand, in just a page? What distinguishes the “Rawlesian” philosophy from other [schools of] survivalist thought?” I’ll likely add a few items to this list as time goes on, but here is a general summary of my precepts: Modern Society is Increasingly Complex, Interdependent, and Fragile. With each passing year, …


The ABCs of WTSHTF, by Mark B.

The ABCs of When the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF.) aren’t what you have prepared, acquired or stowed but even more basic in the preparation processes that we sometimes take for granted. The A is the ability to learn, to adapt and to try. No matter how many classes we take or how much we have stored away there is the potential that we might have missed something or prepared for one scenario and ended up with another. We may be in the middle of TEOTWAWKI and not be fully ready but guess what, we aren’t scheduling it. Ability is …


Lessons From Fiction–A Critique of “I Am Legend”, by Michael Z. Williamson

I finally had a chance to see [the 2007 movie] “I Am Legend“, and analyzed it as a writer, and from a technical perspective. I’ve seen a lot of discussion over his [use of a] M4 [Carbine as his primary weapon]. I have to say for that type of fighting, I’d prefer a shotgun. However, a shotgun doesn’t reload fast enough. He might be better off with a good .308 self-loading carbine, if he can find adequate soft-point ammo. In New York City, that’s unlikely. National Guard armories would only have ball ammo, and likely wouldn’t have anything other than …


Family Learning for Preparedness, by T.D.

My husband and I are like minded, (he realized way before I did), and he and I didn’t meet until I was in my mid-thirties. I was considered weird, called a tomboy and later, a gear head. Don’t get me wrong, I cook, sew, knit and crochet. I had many interests though and wanted to learn. What I have seen lately and in some people we met that are like minded, is the lack of initiative on the part of some spouses. I have seen some women and men that will ridicule their spouses or will just roll their eyes …


Letter Re: Deep Family Roots Versus “Ideal Location” When Considering Relocation

Good Evening, I’ve recently become a reader of your web site – thank you for the excellent resource. Having read through your information on Recommended Retreat Areas, I have an additional question or two. My husband, kids and I currently live in Utah. He has family here, within an hour drive. We also live in a heavily populated area, right on the Wasatch Fault. That is worrisome. My mother, many cousins and close friends live in rural coastal North Carolina. My mom lives alone and is aging. We have thought ahead to the possibility of needing to care for her. …


A Flooded Basement – Friends You Can Count On, and Lessons Learned

Mr. Rawles, Once again, thank you for your research and SurvivalBlog posts. I have been a [10 Cent Challenge] contributor for a couple of years and have gotten more than my money’s worth. Thank you. Last night my group and I met at my home. Here in New Hampshire we received a record amount of snow fall this year. (Over 108 inches!) That is the fourth largest every recorded. Yesterday it was warmer then normal there for a lot of snow melt. Last night it rained. As the group was getting ready to head to the range for night shooting …


Letter Re: Self-Sufficiency–How Do We Do It All?

Dear Memsahib and Jim, I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader and contributor, along with my husband. I am very interested in learning more how Memsahib and other retreat women manage to do all that they do. How does a day or week in your life go? How do you can, bake, cook, shear, spin, weave, knit, sew, teach, et cetera and get it all done? We are moving to our retreat soon. I have baked, cooked, knit, learned to spin and weave, and have canned in the past, but not all at once. I forgot to mention clean, wash, take …


Letter Re SurvivalBlog Logo Hats as Networking Tools

Hello Jim, I’ve been lurking since last November after I re-read [your novel] “Patriots”. On a whim I tried a web search looking for any newer books you may have published and found your blog. What a tremendous surprise. I had several questions when I first started reading your blog and decided to go back through the archives. Glad I did. Thus far all of my questions have been answered (I just finished [reading the archives of] December 2006). I feel being a recent contributor to the 10 Cent Challenge is dirt cheap for the knowledge I’ve gained, and I’ve …


Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness

James, I have to disagree with some of C.D.’s measures listed in his letter (i.e. using Scroogle and Zone Alarm) and refer your readership to the best article I’ve yet seen on the great difficulty in online anonymity: The Ugly Truth About Online Anonymity Also note comment on the linked article 12 – even if all else could be secured, the moment you behave according to your established surfing profile, you’ll be spotted. Kind Regards, – J. in Kyrgyzstan JWR Replies: I have my own perspective about online activities: Do the best that you can to cover your cyber trail, …


Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness

James, To amplify on the excellent recent letter from SoCal titled “Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness”, I have some suggestions that all of us SurvivalBlog readers should implement to keep a low profile in our online activities. Anonymizer and Comprehensive Risk Solutions (both mentioned in the letter) are great ideas. They are cheap insurance. I can also recommend a few other measures, to wit: 1.) Use the Scroogle Scraper for web searches. This allows you to use Google through an intermediary site. That way Google cannot create a profile on your searches. On background: Google is notorious …


Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for a Law School Student

Hello, I am a law student in Oklahoma.The recent ice storm really opened my eyes. I lost power for a week in freezing temperatures (as did many thousands across Oklahoma) I had no fuel in my car (a Ford Focus) and no food. It really opened my eyes. I am currently heavily in debt and have little extra funds but would like to start getting prepared. I have a dog (a Welsh Corgi) and a cat. My girlfriend thinks I have gone insane and does not like to talk about things like this. I live in a rented house in …


Prepare or Die, by J. Britely

Throughout my life I have been caught unprepared several times and while nothing seriously bad happened, it easily could have.  I have been lost hiking.  My car has broken down in very bad neighborhoods – twice.  I have been close enough to riots that I feared they would spread to my neighborhood, been in earthquakes, been too close to wildfires, been stuck in a blizzard, and have been without power and water for several days after a hurricane.   I managed to get myself out of each situation, I thanked God, and tried to learn from my mistakes.  I could have …


Two Letters Re: Retreat Group Recruiting and Organization

James, Some tips when looking for like-minded suitable people for a survivalist group: At work look for people who carry a pocket knife–a real pocket knife not a tiny little Swiss Army knife– in these politically correct times it’s one of the first thing that sticks out in an office environment When sharing a ride to lunch you may notice some people always have some hiking/camping gear always in their cars. Having a spare pair of shoes such as hiking boots at work. Observe if anyone goes for a walk at lunch or any other indication that they are staying …


Letter Re: Retreat Group Recruiting and Organization

Mr. Rawles, One subject that seems vastly under-represented in the bulk of survivalist literature is that of organizing and recruiting. It’s fairly obvious that in a real WTSHTF scenario, a lone wolf, or small family would be in a precarious position regardless of how well armed and well prepared they may be. A group of three or four would be hard pressed to maintain any real degree of security while going about the [gardening and other self-sufficiency] work required for basic survival. In my experience, it’s hard enough finding someone that’s even “like minded”, let alone skilled or intelligent. There’s …


Give Me That Old-Time Survivalism

Call me old-fashioned or whatever you’d like, but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of gadgets that are now being sold under the banner of “preparedness”. The latest one mentioned by a reader was this: The Tactical Mirror Sight. Oh yes, and don’t forget the combination vertical foregrip and laser. And while you are at it, get yourself a M-203 look-alike 37mm flare launcher! It isn’t just tacti-cool, it is practically a fashion accessory! Who buys all this stuff? I’m sure that some of the more strident Armchair Commandos over at AR15.com just can’t wait to unlimber their …