Category: Retreat Locales

Letter Re: An Impromptu SurvivalBlog Meet-up at Front Sight

There was a bit of a ‘covert’ Survivalblog gathering at Front Sight recently. Along with Tim R & Tantalum Tom I was also in attendance earlier in March. I have two grown sons, both of which had expressed a desire to have a handgun for home defense. As a law enforcement officer and former SWAT team member I am familiar with the operation of and responsibility with owning a gun. I am confident in my training and ability to defend my home and family through that training. My two sons, however, had barely even held a gun, let alone fired …


Life’s Lessons and the Foundations of Preparedness, by A.B.

We may soon depend on all of what we have learned over the years. Putting all of the threads of knowledge together into a tapestry of self-sufficiency, and survival capabilities, is part of the lifelong quest for our family’s security. We learn from many sources and experiences such as: family, church, friends, teachers, teammates, co-workers, reading books and SurvivalBlog, and hopefully from our mistakes. Preparedness Skills from our Grandmas and Grandpas The foundation for preparedness begins with my childhood in Michigan. We lived in Lansing where my great-grandmother was next door and my grandmother lived next door to her. My …


Letter Re: Private Gated Communities May Not be Gated After All

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read Brad S.’s letter with interest today. About ten years ago I was working in property management for an apartment community in Lakewood, Washington. Not exactly a low-crime area, to say the least. One of our selling points was the gates at each entrance of the community. My manager and I took over the property not knowing the sort of people the previous management team had rented to. Over the course of four months, we evicted dozens of tenants for being months behind on rent, among other things. When this process began, we noticed that we …


Cold and Dark–An Account of an Ice Storm, by Steve S.

Preparations In January, 2008, the outlook for people in the United States appeared bleak. I told my wife that we needed to stock-up on food because I felt that the supply lines were thin and vulnerable. I began my preparations by Internet search. I found JWR’s SurvivalBlog and I bought a copy of his novel. In the meantime, I started buying cases of canned goods. I bought food that we generally ate. I looked at the expiration dates of every purchase. I tried to buy what would last through 2011. Not much would, so I bought with the idea of …


Letter Re: Private Gated Communities May Not be Gated After All

Hi Jim, Due to the real estate slump and the poor economy, my wife and I are trying to unravel our mess of real estate investments. One thing we did, was to abandoned our McMansion in a rural area near Seattle, Washington. It was a new four thousand square foot custom home in a gated community. All the other houses were as large and some significantly larger. We had abandoned the house about a year ago after failing to sell it for what we owed, and have not made any house payments since then. We also chose not to pay …


My Tale of the Hurricane Rita Evacuation. August, 2005, by Dan G.

I was working in a pawnshop in Aransass Pass Texas, about 20 miles North of Corpus Christi, Texas. Two days earlier my wife and I watched the destruction of New Orleans on National Television, the news coverage was continuing around the clock as the drama unfolded. Gasoline had shot up from $1.56 to $2.99 a gallon overnight and of course I had to fill up that morning to get to my menial low paying job. Late that afternoon a rich looking couple driving a huge brand new pickup truck, came into the pawnshop. They spoke very loudly about how their …


Letter Re: Selecting Retreat Properties–Pros and Cons of Buying Remote and Off Grid

Jim– A note regarding my own experience with remote property ownership …I owned a wonderfully ideal 40-acre bug-out property in northern Minnesota for many years. It was very remote. Some of the closest neighbors did not even know there was a cabin back in those deep woods. It was backed up to a large, forested DNR property that was itself bounded by swamp. My other bordering neighbors were full-time residents who were kind of ornery (very protective of their property and thus unintentionally served as guardians of my property) and so that was a plus. We were a half-hour from …


Letter Re: Idaho and Washington as Retreat Locales

Hi Jim, I heard that Washington state joined the 10th Amendment movement. Funny, but we moved out of that state in February because it was seemingly so socialistic. Since then we’ve been actively looking for a small farm in Idaho but when I heard that news I wanted to see if you think it advisable to look into eastern Washington too. I’m amazed at all the properties for sale there. You can get so much more for your money there. But I wanted to check with you first. Thanks, – Evan S. JWR Replies: Keep in mind that just a …


Letter Re: Selecting Retreat Properties–Pros and Cons of Buying Remote and Off Grid

Jim: To follow-up on your recent article, a very big “Pro” to buying off-grid land that was not mentioned is that you will not have strangers having access to your property. I am specifically referring to the Meter Reader for the utility company. I have “country” property on the Grid and have to furnish the Meter Reader a key to access the property to read the electric meter. The Meter Reader comes once a month to read the meter. I have not figured a way to deny them access. (Maybe you have a suggestion on how to prevent the meter …


Selecting Retreat Properties–Pros and Cons of Buying Remote and Off Grid

I recently had a consulting client that hired me to do a search on his behalf for a rural retreat property in southwestern Oregon. In the early stages of the search, he asked about the pros and cons of buying undeveloped “off grid” properties that do not have utility power poles nearby. This summarizes my reply: From the standpoint of setting up a rural, self-sufficient retreat, an off-grid parcel is actually advantageous, for two reasons: 1.) They are generally more remote and away from natural “lines of drift” and hence are far less likely to be in the path of …


Letter Re: Advice on Silver or Gold Jewelry for Barter?

Hello Jim, Been learning a lot from Survival Blog, thanks for the great work. I’m just wondering if sterling silver and 14 karat [gold] jewelry (plain [rings or chains], or gemstones would make good bartering items? Have been thinking of selling them and using the money for preparedness, etc but wondered about this. Thanks very much for all the useful information. – Mrs. H. JWR Replies: Although at first blush keeping jewelry on hand might seem practical, in actuality its drawbacks outweigh its benefits. Perhaps metals, but gemstones are a definite no. Gemstones–either diamonds or colored stones–will not be trusted …


Three Letters Re: Hunkering Down or Storing Gear in a Commercial Building

Hello Jim: After doing Industrial Security in some of the roughest English Industrial Towns, we found that “moating” vulnerable doors and walls against heavy equipment traffic was a great help in preventing the equipment from prizing open doors, or more simply being run backwards through the doors and walls. The floors at the man doors and protected vehicle doors had a two foot deep by three-to-four foot wide ditch dug and a light weight (two inch in many cases) concrete topping poured over an infill of mostly styrofoam bead. When we needed to bridge in with heavy gear we used …


Two Letters Re: Voting With Your Feet–Comparing Economic Freedom in the 50 States

Jim: When I read that academic study of economic freedom in the various states, and saw the summary map, it was a strong piece of “ah-ha” confirmation for me. It immediately struck me that what a close correlation there is to what you had posted two years ago in your State Rankings on places to move with the best retreat potential. [in 19 western states.] Independently, you nailed those recommendations squarely, sir. Bonus Brownie points for you! Wishing You The Lord’s Blessings, – Ted J. JWR, I read through the PDF that you mention in your “Voting with your feet” …


Letter Re: Cloudcroft, New Mexico as a Retreat Locale

Mr. Rawles, I read your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation“, which is a very good resource. In it, you didn’t mention one area that interested me a little bit, and that was the area around the Lincoln National Forest, near Cloudcroft, New Mexico. I’ve driven through there a few times, and it might do well in a depression. Of course, it’s too close to the Mexican border, which might lead to a problem, though I’m not sure which direction the refugees will be heading. You probably heard that the mayor of Juarez has sent his family to El Paso …


The Incredible Disappearing Retreat in the Woods

Here is something that heretofore I have only shared with a few of my consulting clients: an approach at rural retreat construction that can make a rural retreat of 10 acres or more essentially “disappear”. If there is a thick screen of trees or tall brush between the public road and potential building sites at your undeveloped country retreat parcel, then your property might be a good candidate for a “hidden retreat house”. This is accomplished by making as few changes as possible when the parcel is viewed from the county road. No fancy entry gate, no mailbox, basically nothing …