Category: Retreat Logistics

Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for the Parents of a Newborn Infant

Mr. & Mrs. Rawles, I hope you and the family are doing well. I have been reading your blog for over a year now and it has been quite helpful. We are making our way slowly in our preps but now I have a new issue. My wife has blessed our home with a child. We had been trying for 12 years with no luck, I guess God decided it was time! My daughter is now two weeks old and with all the excitement I hadn’t put any thought into preps for a new born. Maybe the Memsahib could give …


Three Letters Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hello Jim, This note is in reference to the letter from Melanie and Rick in Columbus about the woman who never thought of using the grill to cook. I had a similar experience with my mother-in-law. While we had power and water, she had lost hers. I offered to bring buckets of water to her house so she could manually refill the toilet tank to flush with(she has septic). Not only did she not think of that, she couldn’t understand the concept. She ended up going to a hotel for a couple of days. People like this will not last …


Letter Re: Substantially Higher Food Prices at Warehouse Stores

Hi Jim, Yesterday I made my monthly or thereabouts pilgrimage to Costco to buy bulk items for our pantry and other needs. I immediately noticed that prices had gone up on just about everything. The 40 pound bags of Kirkland brand dog food (re-labeled Iams brand) had gone up from $19.90 to $23.64 which is about a 16% increase in price. The 25 pound bags of Indian long grain rice went for $20.00 to $24.00 – a 20% increase and other items here and there had gone up a dollar or two or three. While Costco continues to be a …


Five Letters Re: Welding Oxygen Versus Medical Oxygen

James: Just a quick note, never ever use oxygen under pressure near oil! Never use oil on the thread’s or fittings! The high pressure will cause the oil to detonate,similar to a diesel ignition! If you must,and probably should never need to, use a teflon tape seal!And if you have an acetylene bottle, let it stand for 24 hours as it may have been laid on it’s side before using it, separating the acetone from the gas. – Dean   Jim The letter in response to welding oxygen versus medical oxygen was interesting. Unfortunately [that readers} was wrong on one …


Letter Re: Firearms Battery Recommendations

Mr. Rawles, Thanks for all of the informative posts at SurvivalBlog. Based on your recommendations, I’ve put together the following list of firearms (all I currently own is a 38 year old .22 rifle): Springfield XD .45 ACP ($568) — for concealed carry, self defense Mossberg Model 500 Special Purpose Mariner 12 gauge Shotgun 9 Shot ($423) — for home defense, hunting Remington Model 700 Varmint Tactical Rifle .308 Winchester, 22 in with Muzzle Brake, Bolt Action ($643) — for hunting, possible tactical/precision use in TEOTWAWKI scenarios Rock River Arms LAR-8 .308 Caliber Standard A2/A4 Rifle ($1,170) — for tactical …


Letter Re: Welding Oxygen Versus Medical Oxygen

Jim, In one of the letters about acquiring oxygen, the following statement was made by a SurvivalBlog reader: “Aviation, medical and welder’s oxygen are all pure, dry and inexpensive. There is a deadly difference between oxygen made for use by a machine and oxygen made for use by people. Compressors, like any other machine, must be lubricated. Air compressors used in a dive shop [or a medical supply company] will use a natural oil, like peanut oil. Compressors used to inflate a car tire, or produce air and oxygen for welding and manufacturing processes, generally use a light machine oil. …


Letter Re: West Virginia as a Retreat Locale

Sir, I just wanted to get your thoughts on West Virginia. I live in Huntington which is at the conjunction of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. My family lives in a valley where we are related to nearly everyone there [by blood or by marriage]. We have industrial equipment in our business in the valley. Also a US Corps of Engineers lake covers one end of our road. This leaves just one roadway in or out. The only other approaches are to cross the heavily wooded hills. – Doug in West Virginia JWR: Replies: As I’ve often written in my …


Letter Re: Controlling Your Inner Gun Nut–Balanced Preparations are a Must

Hello Jim, Like many readers I have always been somewhat of a gun nut. Back when I was young and single I spent a lot of money on guns and ammo including items I didn’t really need that have since accumulated over time. I was single and had money to spend. Fast forward to the present with wife and kids and money is tight. There is not much left for prepping. So I decided to take stock of what I really need for my core battery of weapons/ammo and sell the rest and use the proceeds for prepping. Here are …


Letter Re: Hurricane Gustav–Learning From Mistakes

Jim, A friend first introduced me to your blog, and I have begun to seriously consider many of the suggestions made by you and others for preparedness. One of the biggest indicators of a person’s level of preparedness is an actual or potential disaster event My wife and I have lived in Northwestern Louisiana for a little over two years. On the eve of Hurricane Gustav, we realized how unprepared we were for lack of power, water, let alone social breakdown. I certainly didn’t expect a major disaster, and we didn’t have one, but it is better to be prepared …


Letter Re: Some Storage SNAFUs

Jim: Why do the incredibly robust “cheap” imported AKs have chrome lined bores , yet some of the expensive and finicky American-made ARs not chrome lined? Well, if you live in a humid climate, it makes a difference. I made the classic error of storing my guns in gun cases. In fact, that’s the worst way to store them as the humidity accumulates inside. One of them had nearly rusted solid in three years. Thanks to the ministrations of another firearm enthusiast, all my guns are being de-rusted, dipped in preservative oil and mylar bagged along with oxygen absorbents, rust …


Letter Re: The Shenandoah Valley as a Retreat Locale?

Mr. Editor: I live 50 miles west of Washington, DC. How do you feel about the Shenandoah mountains area as a retreat location? I was thinking about building a cabin with a Safecastle underground [blast/fallout/security] shelter. I have not yet bought the land yet but it is a good time to do so. I look forward to talking with you soon. – Mike JWR Replies: I highly recommend Safecastle’s shelters, but a shelter by itself will not ensure our safety in truly desperate times. You will also need geographic isolation. I think that anywhere that is within one tank of …


Two Letters Re: A Do-It-Yourself Denture Adhesive Formula

Jim: In answer to the recent query in SurvivalBlog about denture adhesives, Sea-Bond is an all natural wafer with [a very long shelf life–] no expiration. It sells for $5.99 for three boxes of 15 wafers each. It is the only thing I could find that would do. I’d stock up on these for long term use. – TD   Mr. Rawles, This formula comes from a book that I have in my arsenal of survival books, entitled “Formulas, Methods,Tips and Data for Home and Workshop” by Kenneth M. Swezey (I can’t tell you how many times over the years …


Letter Re: Retreat Region Demographics and TEOTWAWKI

Hi James, Thanks much for the exceptional information you provide. Your book “Patriots” and your site have been tremendously helpful in my preparation efforts. I’m not there yet, but well on the way. As far as a retreat location goes, I’ve heard you and others cautioning folks away from poorer areas. I think you might want to re-think this somewhat, and for one simple reason: Poor folks are already used to doing without. Consider two post-TEOTWAWKI scenarios: One, an affluent or even typically middle class family suddenly has little food in their pantry and no grocery store from which to …


Letter Re: Advice on Food Storage and Preparation

Hi James: Thanks for publishing my past essay and thanks again for what you do on your SurvivalBlog. Your web site and the consequent path I’ve traveled since I began reading here has put me in contact with many folks who are pursuing similar courses of action; to take personal action to be prepared, and when possible to discuss and work with others to secure a survivable future. Please advise me on some of the best and up to date books you’ve found on food storage. Being new to this line of endeavor, I feel our family needs some better …


Letter Re: Advice for a Concerned Investor

Greetings, Jim, I looked at your research list under “Investing”. I have read much of it, and it doesn’t help me in my immediate concern. The sites on this list are good either for big-time or experienced investors, or they deal with specifics such as buying gold. Where can I get overall, what-to-do-immediately-today, type of advice for the small guy. Say someone has one or two small businesses with maybe $20,000 in checking and another $2,000 in Savings (all in a bank). What to do? Where to keep the money? Is offshore a possibility? Recommended? Anyplace where I can still …