Category: Retreat Logistics

Letter Re: Are Your Neighbors Prepared? by Doc

Mr. Rawles: One point to note with Doc’s observations as a home repairman. I had my hot water heater short last week. If a repairman had come to my home, he would have walked past my garden and wood pile, had to go down the stairs past one ammo cache and rifle, 12 cases of Mason jars, around bags of old clothes waiting to be used for quilts, past various toolboxes, a chest freezer, lanterns, a grain mill and workbench, et cetera. But, instead, I went to the hardware store, bought a thermostat, and made the repair myself. I would …


Letter Re: Get Ready While You Can, When You Can

Dear Mr. Rawles, Arguably, the first commandments of the preparedness movement is to get ready for bad times before they get here. However, it doesn’t have to be TEOTWAWKI for it to be too late, or darn close to it. I offer the following real life example to illustrate the point. I get a lot of sinus headaches, especially this time of year; what I have always relied on to relieve them is Tylenol Sinus formula. Traditionally, the active ingredients have been acetaminophen (for pain) and pseudo-ephedrine (for nasal decongestion). Because scum use the latter ingredient in making crystal meth, …


Letter Re: Angst and Stocking Up

Hello Jim, There has been a lot of chatter recently about a gut feeling that “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” I share that uneasy feeling and note that many of my business associates and I have begun to prepare for hard times. For myself, I’ve accelerated a bit on topping off my retreat supplies. Some recent additions include 500 pounds of Buffalo meat (at a cost of $2.09 a pound for yearling grain fed Buffalo heifer, cut, double wrapped and frozen.) I’ve had one of my M1A type rifles rebuilt to competition standards, added a case of 12 gauge 00 …


Letter Re: Joining or Forming a Faith-Based Survival Retreat Group

Sir: Many of the recommendations in your book, Patriots, and on your blog deal with survival contingency plans from a small-group/family perspective. Simply put; what is your advice to single (possibly young) people who have no dependents or family structure? In Patriots, one of the characters (who was not an original member of “The Group”) is a young, single male, who “freelances” (almost in the Medieval sense of the term) to the group. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, is it plausible to hope that one can form a mutually beneficial relationship, perhaps in exchange for goods or services? Of course, relying …


David in Israel Replies to Letters Re: On Suture, Staples, and Glue for Wound Closure

The letters stating that only trained people should suture wounds are absolutely correct, you must be trained and it definitely falls into the category of a “skilled intervention.” Clearly, I did not stress this enough. A good way to get an basic level (non-skilled) orientation to using medical skills is ride along with fire and EMS, Hospitals may allow observers in the ER and other wards if you can find a good reason. A good way to form a relationship with health care providers in this situation is to do research for writing a book. After the releases are signed …


Precious Metals Update

You may have noticed that yesterday gold briefly touched $565 per ounce and silver hit $9.44 per ounce and stayed there. Methinks this bull market is just getting started! Aside for some doldrums this summer (since summers are typically quiet for the metals markets), you can expect a choppy but generally upward (stair-stepping) path for the precious metal prices through the rest of the year. The 90 and 120 day moving averages (DMAs) point to the bull market trend to continue WELL in excess of the rate of inflation. There is even the chance of on “upright spike” in the …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival

Jim:  Two words say it all: SHOE GOO.  I snipped the following description from a retailer online: “Shoe Goo is a clear adhesive and sealant that easily and permanently repairs all types of footwear. Apply it directly from the tube to worn out areas, allowing it to harden overnight. Shoo Goo adheres to all kinds of materials, so use it to mend rubber soles, tears in canvas or leather tops or to stop shoelaces from fraying. It dries to a waterproof, flexible rubber, so it will repair waders and boots without breaking or cracking under stress. Commonly used to cover …


Two Letters Re: On Suture, Staples, and Glue for Wound Closure

James: After reading David in Israel I had a few further suggestions. All open wounds do not have to be sutured, in fact most wounds that are dirty should not be sutured but allowed to drain, and heal by “secondary intention” or basically healing from within. Not all soft tissue wounds need to be cleaned, and dead and nonviable tissue trimmed away. Abscess and further extension of infection can occur with a dirty wound that it sutured closed. Wash with copious amount sterile water, dilute betadine, or dilute hydrogen peroxide. Non dilute solutions often can cause more damage to the …


Letter Re: Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit, By EMT J.N.

Dear Mr. Rawles, I was very interested in the blog on the $20 medical kit. I was thinking of the situation where in the event of a major storm, hurricane, blizzard, fuel crisis, nuclear attack or where transportation and communications are severely disrupted over a wide area for an extended period, it may not be possible to get to the doctor or pharmacy or if one could get there, it may not be open due to a lack of electric power or severe damage to the facility. Instead of discussing a group buy, a more practical approach may be the …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival

James, Here are some shoe and boot making resources that I’ve book marked: http://www.simpleshoemaking.com/index.html http://www.walrusshoe.com/books_home.htm http://www.thehcc.org/ http://home.earthlink.net/~lizjones429/shoe-advice.html http://www.florilegium.org/  (See “Clothing”) http://www.bootmaker.com/dwswb.htm Regards, – Parmenio


From David In Israel: On Suture, Staples, and Glue for Wound Closure

One of the most used high skill medical interventions is suturing. In times of disaster when qualified medical practitioners are not available, suturing can be performed easily as long as it is not in nerve rich areas such as the face and hands. (Sutures in these areas could cause debilitating nerve damage and should only be attempted by a person that is specially trained.) 1- Suture. I will not attempt to describe the knot in writing but practice with forceps and pre-threaded suture packs on raw chicken or turkey skin on the bird (sew then eat). Keep Ethylon 5 and …


Letter Re: Supplementing The Medical Kit

Mr. Rawles: The two links listed below provide good basic information to supplement the low cost medical kits previously discussed on your site. This information is available free for downloading and printing. This link is to the Virtual Naval Hospital which is being discontinued due to a lack of funding. It was set up for use by military medical personnel: http://www.vnh.org/ The link below is another free link that was mainly for use where there is no doctor and pharmacy available and would be helpful in an emergency situation. One example of a good source of information is Chapter 7 …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival

In regard to Matt’s statement in his letter on survival footgear: “BUT, you cannot fake or approximate footwear!” Don’t be so sure about that. See: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/tarafeat.htm I have yet to scale a 10,000 foot peak in tire sandals or moccasins, but I’m going to give it a try one of these days: http://www.hollowtop.com/sandals.htm  Less along the lines of “field expedient footwear” and more along the lines of “Post-TEOTWAWKI skills,” here’s a link to a site that deals with making “medieval style” shoes: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM If things ever get bad, having the skills to make well-fitted shoes could make one a welcome …


Letter Re: Surplus Ultra-Cold Medical Storage Freezers

I have been watching the U.S. Government surplus auctions for ultra-cold medical storage freezers. This one (“KELVINATOR, MDL: UC50RFMS, LAB REFRIGERATOR”) recently sold for just three hundred bucks. See: http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=743367&convertTo=USD Not a bad price at all. I hope that it went to some frugal individual who will be using it for long-term storage in the event of TEOTWAWKI! I’ve become hopelessly addicted to the govliquidation.com site. Keep up the good work. A 10 Cent Challenge check is headed your way. – T.K.


Letter Re: Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit, By EMT J.N.

Mr. Rawles, I enjoy reading your blog. It is full of useful information. I have a couple of suggestions to add to the 1-13-06 letter by EMT J.N.  Alacer (the makers of “Emer’gen-C”) has an prepackaged instant electrolyte mix available. Just mix with water and drink. ‘Electromix‘ is available at most health food store. It costs about 35 cents per packet. I also would not want to be without aloe vera for burns. Small tubes or bottles are not that much, but it is amazing stuff!! Some Aloe vera products have colorings and such in them; the ones without are …