Category: Retreat Logistics

Letter Re: The British Perspective on Food Storage and Preparedness

Dear Sir The two articles linked below detail issues surrounding world food shortages (and possible solutions) from a UK perspective. I thought that they might be of interest to you. Certainly there is increasing concern here about rising food and drink prices and its increasingly becoming part of the national conversation. It seems there are now almost daily broadsheet newspaper articles on the subject and I can categorically state that the UK is now experiencing similar trends to the US, as identified by your readers. Although rationing has not made the news yet, my father – who is a restaurateur …


Letter Re: Potatoes as a Survival Garden Crop

Sir, It’s important to maintain a variety of root and grain crops for use as survival crops. Potatoes are easy to grow, easy to store and are nutritious enough to keep you healthy as a sole food (if you eat 2/3 of them raw). It is true potatoes have to be grown every year and that they are vulnerable to soil pathogens, but they can be grown under relatively low light, cool conditions, so why not take a small part of the harvest and raise them in a greenhouse through the winter with supplemental light. A half 55-gal. drum filled …


Letter Re: Advice on Emergency Dentistry

Dear Mr. Rawles, I have read and been positively influenced by your novel [“Patriots”]. I am now making provisions for difficult times. Can you recommend any links towards obtaining dentistry kit and basic dental instruction? Mainly interested in being able to perform extraction safely. With Thanks and Sincerity, – Dan-O JWR Replies: This topic has been covered briefly in the blog, but is important enough that it deserves additional discussion. The most important resource is the book “Where There is No Dentist“, available for free download from the Hesperian Foundation (But I recommend getting a bound hardcopy. Ditto for their …


Raising Rabbits for Meat , by Pete C.

In most industrialized countries, including the United States, rabbits are not commonly considered a meat animal. However, before a TEOTWAWKI situation arises, small retreats may seriously want to consider raising rabbits as a reliable source of meat to feed their family, to use as barter or charity. Rabbits are fairly easy to raise which makes them especially adaptive for small retreats (to include urban areas) where limited space for other livestock – cows, hogs, goats, chickens, etc., are just not practical. In addition, many localities may not consider rabbits as live stock since they are often pets. Thus they may …


The Precepts of My Survivalist Philosophy

In the past week I’ve had three newcomers to SurvivalBlog.com write and ask me to summarize my world view. One of them asked: “I could spend days looking through [the] archives of your [many months of] blog posts. But there are hundreds of them. Can you tell me where you stand, in just a page? What distinguishes the “Rawlesian” philosophy from other [schools of] survivalist thought?” I’ll likely add a few items to this list as time goes on, but here is a general summary of my precepts: Modern Society is Increasingly Complex, Interdependent, and Fragile. With each passing year, …


Letter Re: The Survivor Mindset

Dear Mr. Rawles; I love the SurvivalBlog. It is fun and interesting, yet it is even more, it is educational! I believe that a lot of people are over looking the biggest part of the equation when it comes to survival. It is mindset. When going thru [US Army] Ranger school I knew from the start there was no way I was going to quit. I had the mindset they could “DQ” [(disqualify)] me and send me packing but I was not quitting. In a true survival setting one has to know in his heart and mind he is going …


Getting from Point A to Point B, by E.I.D.

You’ve got your Bug Out Bags (BOBs) all packed. You’ve prepped your house for whatever reason you’re leaving. You’ve made contact with what family you could, and you trust the rest to meet you at your designated meeting place, whether it’s your retreat or just a spot along the way where your two paths converge. Everything is set. Or is it? Points A and B are ready, but how do you plan to make the trek between them? Walking is always an option, but probably a last resort. Most people aren’t in good enough shape to walk ten miles, let …


Letter Re: The Importance of Acquiring and Learning to Use Traditional Tools

Jim, For those readers that have livestock they need to prepare for the day when hydrocarbon fuel may not be available for tractors. I would suggest a buck rake and a pull-behind sickle mower that a horse could pull. It beats cutting hay by hand. These items can often be picked up at farm and ranch auctions. Enough hay can be put up for a few cows, horses and sheep for the winter months when snow may cover grazing ground. I would recommend a treadle sewing machine. Clothes will need to be mended and taken care of until society gets …


Your Vehicle and TEOTWAWKI, by TD

I have seen some (sort of) like minded people who are actually driving around in brand new vehicles. This would not be so bad if they were even in the least bit mechanically inclined, but they’re not. So on top of, they can’t fix it themselves, they haven’t even begun to buy the extras they will need when the SHTF. I honestly think that if you can’t lift the hood of your car and name at least ten components, you are in over your head. The first thing I learned was get a Chilton’s Manual for your year, make and …


The ABCs of WTSHTF, by Mark B.

The ABCs of When the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF.) aren’t what you have prepared, acquired or stowed but even more basic in the preparation processes that we sometimes take for granted. The A is the ability to learn, to adapt and to try. No matter how many classes we take or how much we have stored away there is the potential that we might have missed something or prepared for one scenario and ended up with another. We may be in the middle of TEOTWAWKI and not be fully ready but guess what, we aren’t scheduling it. Ability is …


Letter Re: Caustic Chlorine Troubles, and Using Dry Chlorine for Water Treatment

Dear Jim: As you know, ordinary chlorine bleach is an item with a multitude of potential uses in survival situations. In addition to its common use in the laundry to brighten our whites, it can also purify drinking water and serve as a general disinfectant to sanitize food preparation areas and control the spread of disease causing bacteria. Liquid chlorine bleach, however, is inconvenient to store. Only about 5.25% – 7.5% of each eight pound gallon is active sodium (or calcium) hypochlorite; the rest is just water. Yet because of the potency of its active ingredient, and the flimsiness of …


Time For Retreat Logistics Stage Two–The Soft Items

If you are a regular SurvivalBlog reader, the odds are that you already have the majority of your key logistics squared away, like food storage, tools, guns, communications gear. So now it is time to stock up on “soft” and perishable items. These include over the counter medications, vitamins, chemical light sticks, matches, paper products, cleansers, spices, liquid fuels, and so forth. You need to exercise caution when stockpiling soft items, for several reasons: 1.) Shelf Life and Deterioration. Some items like pharmaceuticals, batteries, and chemical light sticks are best stored in a refrigerator. Keep in mind that items like …


Letter Re: Implications of High Grain Prices for Livestock Owners — Stock Up!

Dear JWR, The prices for wheat and soy and orchard grass crop seed have risen 40% in our region this spring. And that is the farm supply co-op pricing. The N and Phos. fertilizer is pretty well matching this increase. Lime is only 20% higher than last fall. Most of the larger crop farmers (200 acres or more) in our eastern central area (which 5 years ago used to be primarily tobacco fields) are now counting on a moderate to large profit in return because these edible cash crops are being currently negotiated and purchased in bulk to be shipped …


Letter Re: Retreat Livestock Guardians

Hello, This is in response to TDs’ article on Retreat Livestock Guardians. My wife and I left the computer industry about 10 years ago and established our little retreat in N.E. Texas. We have 60 acres with a stream, couple of livestock ponds, well, and a cistern. We presently have as livestock: Boer goats, horses, donkeys – (both standard and what is called Giant), pigs, ducks, and chickens. And of course several cats. Cats keep the snakes, tarantulas, rodents, and other small nuisances away from the house and barns. Why I am writing is because when we moved out here …


Economic Climate Change: The Long Winter May Begin This Summer

I’ve had several consulting clients contact me in recent weeks, all with notes of fear in their voices. They realize that something is horribly wrong with the economy, but they cannot properly isolate and articulate the problem. I haven’t been able to calm them, however, because to an extent I share their anxiety. In my estimation, the “something wrong” that we sense is nothing short of a monumental shift in the economic climate. America is clearly headed for a recession. Most economic recessions are simply a product of the business cycle. These recessions are relatively mild and they often last …