Category: Retreat Locales

So You Want to Become a Prepper — Now What?, by Daniel A.

History has shown that empires, nations, societies, and individuals all pass, and that the events of our lives can be, and oftentimes are, very uncertain.  About a year ago, my wife and I read the novel One Second After by William Forstchen.  While this book is a fictional account of a catastrophic event and the resulting collapse of civilized society, it may depict a disturbingly accurate account of events that could occur in a real-life catastrophe in the near future.  Reading this book resulted in a complete shift in our mindset and caused us to re-evaluate our pursuit of the …


Letter Re: Why Colorado is Running Out of Water

Hi Folks, I’m a transplant to my now-home state of Colorado.  When I came here where I’m living now was about the edge of suburban development.  Denver has a law that restricted it from growing called the Poundstone Amendment (wherein cities couldn’t annex without a vote of approval of land owners.)   My wife is a fifth generation native, her ancestors settled and farmed northeast of Denver for a few decades.  Winter wheat was a big crop, Rocky Ford produced perhaps the best melons I’ve eaten and in the summer it was nearly impossible to drive around without tripping over a …


News From The American Redoubt:

My favorite gunsmith for rebluing guns is Mel Doyle’s in Plummer, Idaho. They have very reasonable rates, and they do fantastic work. They can also handle more than just bluing and Parkerizing. For example they’ve done a few Saiga shotguns conversions for our family and cured Avalanche Lily‘s Galil rifle of a wicked “Curse of the AK” trigger slap. Mel and his staff run their bluing tanks almost every workday. If you aren’t local to the area, you can simply mail them a rifle or shotgun, and they will reblue it and mail it back to you. (Handguns or handgun …


Survivalism: A Jewish Perspective, by DystopianLiving

Since I am Jewish, I read with interest “A Prepper’s Holiday” by C.E.B. (posted March 7th), in which the author described what he has learned by observing the Old Testament holidays of Passover and Sukkot. It occurred to me that Jewish history and culture – being largely a five-thousand year track record of survival against all odds – actually has quite a few lessons that would be relevant to SurvivalBlog readers of all faiths. Here are a few. 1) WHEN IN DOUBT, GET OUT In 1941, Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. At the time, my grandmother and her family …


Three Letters Re: The Commerce Model of Prepping

James, In reference to “The Commerce Model of Prepping”, that was one of the best written and thought provoking pieces I have read on your web site in quite some time. If one can afford the Rawlesian Approach to having a high quality retreat in a highly rural location I believe that is a great decision, because it will allow that retreat to help kick start the local economy after a SHTF event, while continuing to be a blessing to those around them (acting as Christ to one another). I thought the authors point, to those who are not in …


Letter Re: Retreat Properties in Southwestern Oregon

James, In response to C.D.’s letter “Advice on Retreat Properties in Southwestern Oregon” found here: I would suggest this person change their retreat property search to just east of “the hill”. Klamath County and Lake County are within driving distance to allow continued work in Medford during the week (if renting in Medford) and travel to the retreat on weekends. I would suggest triangulating a search between Klamath Falls, Lakeview, and Bend (Deschutes County) or Prineville (Crook County). Personally, I set the western edge of the Redoubt at the eastern edge of the Cascades. There are several advantages to these …


News From The American Redoubt:

The folks at Bison Barrels (near Gillette, Wyoming) also make complete custom rifles.    o o o Of Plowshares and Swords. “We happy farmers of the American Redoubt…”    o o o Some eastern Idaho schools to get gun safes. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.)    o o o House clears bill protecting Idaho-made firearms    o o o Black Dog Machine down in Nampa, Idaho is making magazines as fast as they can, without sacrificing quality control. Their web site still shows that they have some of their .22LR magazines for ARs and 10/22s stock.


Letter Re: Real Estate Prices in the American Redoubt?

Mr. Rawles, Now that you’re recommending we all vote with our feet and move to the American Redoubt, it seems you have created a demand that is causing prices to rise in those areas. How are those of us who wish to stay out of debt supposed to pay upwards of $300-400,000 for a retreat? – Barb in the Frozen Mid-West JWR Replies: I only have about 300,000 readers. Of those, less than 5% are likely to make a move to the Redoubt, so their impact will have a negligible impact on housing prices. The bargain retreat properties are remote …


The Commerce Model of Prepping: A Personal Re-Evaluation, by B.H. in North Idaho

Introduction: Over the years since I first read the novel Patriots by James Rawles and made the decision to embrace prepping my idea of prepping has changed.  It started when I recognized that friends, acquaintances and strangers all had varying ideas and degrees of preparedness even within very similar prepping models.  The greatest characteristic of Survivalblog.com is that there is something for everyone presented in articles and information.  Regardless of your station you’ll find information pertinent to your specific situation to help you improve your own preparedness level. I realized that my own prepping mindset was slowly shifting over time …


Letter Re: Advice on Retreat Properties in Southwestern Oregon

Dear Mr. Rawles, We relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area at the end of 2012 to southern Oregon, as I was able to find a job with [deleted for OPSEC] in Medford. We have been spending part of each weekend looking for a retreat property, while renting a modest home in town. We were even under contract for a lot outside of Jacksonville, but the well produced just 0.16 gallon per minute and other wells surrounding were over 400 feet and were also low producers, Oregon has plenty of water not to struggle with that unknown outcome of re-drilling. …


News From The American Redoubt:

Gunwerks in Burlington, Wyoming has introduced several new products and they now offer a ballistics calculator, but their phenomenally accurate long range rifles are still their forte. Their long range shooting courses have been taught in Wyoming, Utah, West Virginia, Texas, and Canada.    o o o Larry Pratt will be speaking at two southern Idaho Patriots Night events! Friday, March 22, 2013 at the Nampa Civic Center, 311 Third Street South, Nampa, 6:00 p.m. Social Hour/Meet and Greet, 7:00 p.m. Keynote Speaker Larry Pratt followed by Q&A. Admission is $5.00 for Club members (Parma Rod and Gun Club, Nampa …


Letter Re: Gabbs, Nevada as a Retreat Locale

James,   I recently moved from Phoenix to a neat little remote town in North central Nevada about 7.5 hours north of Vegas and 3 hours west of Reno.   It is a survivalists dream,  sits in a approx 50 mile high desert valley about 4,500 foot elevation surrounded by mountains ranges that protect it from almost all adverse winter storms, etc.   The people are mostly mine workers and very old fashioned, level-headed types who enjoy being isolated and unregulated by the current trends elsewhere.  The area has hundreds of old forestry, mining locations most long since shutdown and forgotten, historic ghost  towns, and …


Islands in the Darkness: Some Local Power Utilities Have Prepared to Go It Alone

Many readers will recall that my 2011 novel “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” was partly set in and near Farmington, New Mexico. I chose that region because it has a particularly resilient power grid. In the novel I described how Farmington Electric Utility System (FEUS) has made contingency plans to immediately reconstitute a local power grid, in the event of a western power grid collapse. This was not just literary license on my part. It was based on a face-to-face interview with a FEUS manager that I conducted in 2009, as I was researching locales for the novel. …


Redoubt Retreat Consultant Offers Discount For Gun Law Refugees

Taking note of the recent passage of The Firearms Safety Act in the Maryland Senate, New York’s SAFE Act, and other legislation that appears very likely to be enacted, Todd Savage of SurvivalRetreatConsulting.com has announced a 20% discount for “gun law refugee” clients. He is now extending the 20% discount to residents of California, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York who identify themselves as gun law refugees. I predict that the American Redoubt will soon have a large influx of residents hailing from states with draconian new gun laws. I was glad to hear that Todd Savage is helping …


Three Letters Re: How Racially Tolerant is the American Redoubt?

Captain Rawles, I am one of those people that the liberals like to call a racist because I am outspoken about my hatred of the Muslim anti-American criminal in the Whitehouse. In 2000 I voted for Alan Keyes. In 2004 he wasn’t on the ballot so I wrote him in. If Dr. Benjamin Carson decides to run, I will very likely vote for him too. LTC Alan West is one of my heroes. I read the editorials of Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and Ellis Washington every week without fail. I consider them to be extremely intelligent and honorable.   If …