Category: Retreat Logistics

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

Jim: The figure [cited by “Feral Farmer”] of 100 square miles per hunter-gatherer can’t be correct. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles). So, at 100 square mile per hunter gatherer, would only support 95,400 natives. Considering that large chunks of the Arctic and desert are minimal in their resources, not to mention Greenland, this figure (100 sq mi) can’t be correct. Here are a couple of online references: Agricultural practices and policies for carbon sequestration in soil By John M. Kimble, Rattan Lal, Ronald F. Follett and, Food, Energy, and Society By David …


Letter Re: An Outward Bound Prepper’s Perspective

Hi Jim, I’m new to your site and books but not to the concepts and precepts. My dad had a survivalist/self-sufficient mindset with a cool mix of Native American philosophy and know-how. I didn’t eat store bought meat or baked goods until I was 10 or 12 and thought processing shoulders of venison in the kitchen was the norm. We had a huge garden and fruit tree orchard. My mom was a master at canning; although I think it should be called “jarring” because you’re putting it in jars, not cans. He collected, traded, and rebuilt guns and amassed quite …


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

Dear Editor: John M.’s letter was excellent, polite, and to the point. The following are my rules for townies: 1. If your water comes out of a faucet or a bottle, and you can not safely walk to a permanent backup source in less than 10 minutes every day, then you will die. 2. If you do not raise your own food, or personally know the family that you bought it from, you will either die, or be forever controlled by someone with a clipboard and a list, and you will wish you were dead. 3. If you live in …


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 …


Two Letters Re: Cost Comparison: Factory Loads and Reloaded Ammunition

James, Grandpappy isn’t comparing apples to oranges correctly. His reloaded ammo pricing is for premium self defense bullets, which cost $150 or so per thousand. Most people are going to reload cast lead, which would cost $50 or 60 per thousand for a .40 S&W for example. If you price new premium self defense ammo, like Doubletap, it is going for around $700 a case. If you purchased new brass (why?) Hornady or Speer premium SD bullets, you would still be able to build your own (which we supposedly should not due to legal concerns) SD ammo for half the …


Cost Comparison: Factory Loads and Reloaded Ammunition, by Grandpappy

There are some significant cost differences between reloading shotgun shells and reloading pistol and rifle ammunition.  The following cost summaries illustrate these differences (all cost data collected in June 2009): Pistol Ammunition Summary: $0.270 = Total Cost of one New Factory-Loaded 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. $0.206 = Total Material Cost to Reload one Used 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. $0.064 = Cost Savings of Reloading one Used 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. Rifle Ammunition Summary: $0.800 = Total Cost of one New Factory-Loaded 308 Caliber 165 Grain Rifle Cartridge. $0.480 = Total Material Cost to Reload …


The Jump Kit, by Skyrat

Inside the trunk of my vehicle is a near duplicate of the “jump kit” or “Green Bag” used in my days with the Detroit Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Service Division. When I come across a roadside collision before the local medics, everything I need to start patient care is in the green canvas bag I sling over my shoulder. The supplies in my personal vehicle are very much like those I carried in my street medic days, and reflect a strong basic life support/trauma bias. Basic life support includes those interventions that do not go past the skin, and generally …


Letter Re: It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI

JWR, Skill is critical, parts and tools can be improvised. While I agree with C.A.Y.: “… the combination of skills plus tools plus parts is what’s needed”, there are important exceptions. In some south asia villages, a highly skilled artificer [with a few assistants] can create a self-loading pistol, per day, without parts, and only the most primitive tools of drills, belt sanders and files. The steel is recycled from wrecked cars and trucks. The skill is what makes this possible. This town near the Khyber Pass makes one thousand guns per day. Look at minute marks 3:33 and 3:46 …


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 …


Two Letters Re: It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI

Jim: I would like to whole-heartedly second Chris M’s article that skills are more important than stuff. A wide basis of knowledge provides you and your family new options as you develop courses of action to solve a specific problem during a crisis. While I’ve been stuck as a suburbanite in the Washington area for the last two years, I’ve exploited my access to military and civilian training to more than make up for my vulnerability. I’ve joined local weapon/hunting ranges, significantly improving my pistol, rifle and bow skills. I’ve become certified as a Level I Combatives Instructor. I’m scheduled …


Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009, by Bill in Chicagoland

I think as a boy my favorite stories were always about epic journeys or quests. I always saw myself as the lone hero; bravely making his way through a barren landscape overcoming impossible obstacles and having fantastic adventures along the way. As preppers I think many of us still believe that WTSHTF our trip to “Get out of Dodge” will be an adventure such as those we read in books. I’m afraid however; the reality will be much grimmer than we can imagine. I fear that it will be more like The Road by Cormac McCarthy or the recent novel …


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: Storing Paper and Envelopes

Jim; After reading “Patriots” one thing that has stuck with me is the non-availability of writing paper: No paper, no envelopes. Now there won’t be any mail delivery either but envelopes have many other uses. One of these is garden seed storage. Keeping notes together in ones jacket etc. So i have been taking the envelopes that come in my monthly bills ( I pay with my online banking) and those that come in all the various offers that you get for magazines, insurance quotes etc. and put them in a box. They don’t take up much room and can …


Letter Re: Advice for an M4 and AR-15 Newbie

Hello JWR: I recently bought my first AR-15[-family firearm], a Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT) Defender Carbine. I was wondering if you had any advice as to a good starter “book” on the AR generally, but also one that would assist in my rifleman’s training. I am an intermediate shooter on rifle, but am finding the AR to be a beast unto itself as far as “how” to shoot it. Can you recommend any text on complete takedown, best cleaning practices, replacement parts, and marksmanship with the M4 version of the AR would be very helpful. Thanks! – JB in …


Letter Re: A Useful Web Site on Government Auctions

Good evening, Mr. Rawles – I always enjoy reading your site and find it informative, with plenty of links and good advise on just about everything. One site I’d recommend for your readers is GovDeals.com. It has a wide variety of goods on an ongoing basis, with generators, trailers, tractors, and a lot more. I spotted one lot in particular that seems to be a kind of ‘starter barter kit’. I’m not connected with this web site in any way. In fact, most of the best ones seem to be too far away for me to take advantage of. “Them’s …