Category: Retreat Locales

Letter Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation

James – We think along similar lines, as my wife and I relocated to Central Idaho in 1995, raising and homeschooling our four children here. We’re electrically functioning off the grid, engage in animal husbandry, grow what vegetables we can, and stock up on essentials we cannot produce and always meticulously rotate the stock. And we hunt, big time. I read the entry on your site today about the fellow who intends to travel ore than a thousand miles in a blink of an eye, and use this blur to make a life-changing decision based on distorted glances at sixty …


Letter Re: Dealing With Local Building Inspectors

Mr. Rawles, [To follow up on TANSTAAFL’s letter,] I have worked for several engineering firms as a GIS technician, then manager. Counties will advertise when they will be re-flying parts or all of the county. Most county engineers, auditor, or Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) offices will tell you what the schedule for mapping is out a couple of years (usually the department in charge of tax assessments). A give away that it is happening is when you see large X’s painted in intersections with a metal spike sunk in the middle of the X (these are control points), with survey …


Avoiding Bugging Out, by Steve M.

One core tenet of the Survival and Preparation (S&P) culture that is often misunderstood, misapplied and has a high probability of failing, and that is “the bug-out”.  I am prompted to write this after reading so many S&P-related books, blogs and forums where individuals are indicating that their primary plan, and the focus of their preparations, is bugging-out.  The common discussion topics of bug-out vehicles (BOV), bug-out bags (BOB), bug-out land, etc, and the overall S&P lexicon confirm the importance placed on the bug-out concept.   Although well organized and executed, a 1,600 mile bug-out is portrayed by some of “The …


Letter Re: A Retreat Property Shopping Trip — Three States in Six Days

Mr. Rawles, At one time or another I have driven every mile of the trip as you described in your reply. Like you, I have encountered those who [are unfamiliar with the driving distances in the western US]. I’ve even met folks that cannot discern the difference in scale on a road atlas from switching the pages between Montana and Massachusetts. I see this regularly with Army inspectors who call me and say that they want to fly into Billings, inspect Army Reserve units in Billings, Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula & Kalispell all in two days and then fly …


Letter Re: A Retreat Property Shopping Trip — Three States in Six Days

Mr. Rawles: I am planning a trip to the Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming area the first week of October. Is there any area to avoid at all costs? Is there any area to “must see”? We will only have 6.5 days on the ground so must make every minute count. Your knowledge and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, – Mr. Falsch JWR Replies: Wow! Covering three states in six days? That will really be pushing it. Given that incredibly tight time constraint, I’d recommend this itinerary: Fly in to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and rent a four wheel drive SUV. But …


Five Letters Re: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009

Jim, I live in a rural farming area east of the Mississippi and can tell you that cutting a gate or fence would be a very bad choice (in this area).  In 99% of the cases you would already be on private property, so cutting the fence or gate would be considered a “hostile” act.   Most of the folks I know would shot first and ask questions later . . . these folks all hunt, so they are not likely to miss . . . and trust me they know when someone is on their property.   When the police are …


Letter Re: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009

Mr. Rawles, Concerning the article: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009, by Bill in Chicagoland, I would like to add to these comments. My 20 years experience driving the county roads and the farmer ranch roads with the Soil Conservation Service have given me a perspective of the potential for choice this road system presents. I have a considerable amount of experience driving cross country. I have driven from the Northern Texas panhandle across the Oklahoma Panhandle into southeastern Colorado and north to the Colorado Springs area on mostly gravel and dirt roads. Several times I have driven …


Letter Re: Advice For Older Preppers With Limited Mobility

Hi James, Thanks for your many years of great work. While I was enjoying and learning so much from your books and the web site, I was also growing older and have physically “lost the edge”. More accurately, I reaped the unintended consequences of 55 years of smoking and now have a tough situation Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This is [best described in layman’s terms as] a combination of bronchitis and emphysema. I have not smoked for three years and my breathing is now stable at 51% of normal. This ailment is not unusual in the senior community, and …


Letter Re: Growing Food on a City Lot

JWR: While we all dream that perfect place in the country it is important to emphasize how much that can be accomplished on a small city lot. My home sits on about 6,000 square feet of land, a small suburban house in a cookie-cutter neighborhood . The house and garage and drive way take up about half of the lot . Of what’s left, I’m slowly converting the ornamental landscape to organic food production. My current garden consists of 48 tomato plants (4 varieties) 2 beds of sweet corn, 2 rows of cucumbers staggered 2 month s apart for continuous …


Creating a Crisis Decision Matrix, by Steve N.

It’s been said, “It takes a village to raise a child”. While I do not agree with much of anything else Hillary says, that was certainly true in my case. My upbringing consisted of guidance and council from a rather diverse group of individuals, a large segment of whom were 1970s-era survivalists, (How many of you remember Mel Tappan’s “Personal Survival Letter”?). These were self-sufficient, hard-money, common sense, salt-of-the-earth type people. A few even had underground bunkers, (I mean “root cellars”). Given the mind set of my mentors, you might assume that I’m all stocked up on beans, bullets, and …


Letter Re: Advice for Newcomers in a Community–Overcoming the We/They Paradigm

Good evening Mr. Rawles, My name is Ignacio, I’m a Cuban-born American. The three best days in my life were when I married my wife, when I became an American citizen and when my daughter was born (in this country). I am an avid reader of your blog, and working hard to get prepared, we bought a small place (1.5 acres in southwest Florida, it’s in the woods) it was the only thing we could afford to get ready. But I am very concerned that my neighbors might not like us because we are Hispanic (although my wife is blue-eyed …


Letter Re: The Top 200 Hunting, Fishing, and Low Cost of Living Towns

Jim, The June / July 2009 issue of Outdoor Life magazine is out, and they again rate the top 200 towns to live in based on the following data: 1. Gun Laws 2. Huntable species 3. Fishable species 4. Public-Land access 5. Trophy potential Their top Five? Lewiston Idaho, Marquette Michigan, Idaho Falls Idaho, Rawlins Wyoming, and Pocatello Idaho. They also rate the 30 places to live for hunters and fisherman based upon the cost of living index. (Your dollar goes further there.) This magazine is out now, and also has an excellent review on many current binoculars and spotting …


Letter Re: Prince of Wales Island, Alaska as a Retreat Locale?

Sir: I understand your comments on Alaska’s [poor] potential for survival retreats .Your logic is sound and I have to take seriously someone who has thought about these issues longer than I have. But there is always a but…What about Prince of Wales Island, Alaska? Backwoods Home magazine published an article written by a Jon Stram that I have not got out of mind. The article sold Prince of Wales Island very well, so [for counterbalance] I need an unbiased, expert opinion Thank you, – Russell: JWR Replies: You aren’t the first to suggest that locale to me. it. I …


Letter Re Advice for College Students Living Abroad

Hi, I’m a student from Singapore studying overseas in Australia and I’m also a Christian. I have been following your blog for quite awhile, and there are some things I would like to ask. First, what advice can you give to students studying overseas? As a student, I stay on my own in a rented place, and probably will have to move every six months or so, so stockpiling food and goods are only feasible for about a month or two worth of food, as I will have to shift everything I own on my own to my new place …


SurvivalBlog Reader Survey Results: Conveniently Bypassed Areas

The following are the first batch of responses to our survey about areas that might be bypassed by looters and refugees, WTSHTF: There are many islands off the east coast that in my opinion would be avoided by most and are rich in natural resources. Particularly Virginia and believe it or not New Jersey–one that comes to mind that I’ve visited in NJ is Island Beach State Park. And don’t forget Acadia in Maine. — In Arizona: The Santa Rita Mountains are south of Tucson, just east of I-17, and are used as a landmark for everyone coming across the …