Category: Retreat Locales

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 …


News From The American Redoubt:

Here is an interesting new underground storage shelter made by a company on the Montana/Idaho state line: NotaBunker.com. They have a PDF brochure available. They are offering free shipping in a 200 mile radius of Heron, Montana.    o o o The Washington state legislature opting for Full Californication? A 47.5 cent per gallon fuel tax? (More reasons for Washington’s eastern counties to spilt off and form their own state!)    o o o Oregon legislators clone Washington’s bad law: Is Oregon writing the Worst. Gun. Law. Evah? (If this passes, it will be the queue for Oregon’s counties east …


Letter Re: How Racially Tolerant is the American Redoubt?

Hello sir. I am a sheepdog that is very aware and nervous about the way things are progressing. I have been a prepper for a while. It’s a side effect of my upbringing and career. I have been researching whether it is realistic and feasible for me to relocate to the American Redoubt. I am a black American, although I am really just an American like you! I see a lot that I like, however I am worried that a black man (light skinned, but still, LOL) would not be generally welcome in that region and/or have to be constantly …


News From The American Redoubt:

News from Western Montana: Fertile Ground for Gun Makers    o o o Several new property listings have been posted at SurvivalRealty.com. Nearly half of the 120+ listings are in the American Redoubt. OBTW, one of the latest listings is in Moyie Springs, Idaho–one of the two towns where I maintain mail forwarding addresses.    o o o Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Position on Gun Legislation: “As our state and country continue to discuss and debate gun control legislation, the position of our association remains steadfast: the MSPOA will not waver in our defense of the Constitution and …


One Way Out of Dodge by Mrs. W. in the Missouri Ozarks

Our story begins enslaved to a job in a middle-class suburb and ends mortgage-free in the Missouri Ozarks with us making ambitious strides toward off-grid living and growing all we eat. Unlike Jed Clampett’s kinfolk who urged luxurious city life, ours would have warned us to stay put, keep our jobs and fit in – if only they had known what we were up to. If you dream of “someday” leaving your weekly paycheck for a more rewarding, self-reliant country life, but think you must wait (because of your “secure” job, societal expectations or whatever else is holding you), consider …