Category: Retreat Security

Three Letters Re: Surviving A Home Invasion Robbery

James: First thank you for your site; helping others and spreading the word of Jesus Christ. A few years ago I came across a company called Armor Concepts and their product Door Jamb Armor. After watching video on their site, I decided to purchase three sets for every entry door to my home. I’m 100% positive that no one will kick in my door – in fact, one of their videos shows how hard it is to bust the door in even with a police battering ram. I’ll admit it’s not the most decorative, but I can almost guarantee very …


Surviving A Home Invasion Robbery, by Susan G.

On August 2nd, 1997 I had the hardest choice in my life to make, that was to survive.  Masked men wearing camouflage and carrying guns kicked my front door in at 12:40 am.  I was sitting about five feet from the front door waiting for my son to arrive home for the evening.  I heard my doorknob jiggle.  I thought it was my son trying to get his key in the door.  I made it within two feet of the door and stopped because I had not heard him set his car alarm.  With one kick from a 299 pound …


Some Hope for the Low Budget Survivalist, by D.L.

You’ve heard it before, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”  That principle can be, and should be, applied to every facet of your survival preparations.  It applies to the possession of material items such as food, weapons and first aid.  It applies to your skills such as how you find your food, use your weapons and administer first aid. It applies to your physical abilities such as endurance, speed and agility.  It applies to your state of mind such as courage, honor and ingenuity.  And, of course, it applies to …


You Versus the Perps, their Lawyer, and the D.A., by P.J.

I’m writing anonymously because I’m facing misdemeanor charges for spraying a trespasser with mace. Our county has an anti-self defense district attorney. Being next to three fraternities, I’d been having problems with trespassers; this was third time I saw them. (There was evidence of past intrusions; I’d videotaped it and will submit as part of my legal defense.) To prep, I’d purchased a mace-pepper spray-UV dye compound in a canister about the size you see for bear, with a range of 20 feet or so. I saw two trespassers in the side lot from the kitchen, where I leave lights …


Letter Re: Learning From an OPSEC Failure

Letter Re: Learning from an OPSEC Failure Hello Mr. Rawles, The shopper who had a badoperational security (OPSEC) experience at the grocery store is not alone. Here in Canada I had the same thing happen to me in a slightly different way. It was a tax free weekend at a major store and I stocked up on everything subject to both provincial (state) and federal sales tax. Big (12%) savings on every item that wasn’t food. I provision a family of seven, I wait for these weekends. For the first time I noticed I was stared at by other shoppers …


Letter Re: Learning From an OPSEC Failure

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read your site daily and am very appreciative of your work and that it is from a Christian perspective. Thank you so much. I wanted to relay a personal operational security (OPSEC) failure that happened last week that your readers may learn from. My Husband is gone on an extended business trip and before hand I had convinced him to allow me to “prep” for his being gone. We have several young children and I didn’t want to have to go shopping regularly. While my Husband is not a prepper, he is slowly listening to me …


Letter Re: OPSEC and Pattern Analysis

Dear SurvivalBloggers: The concept of operational security (OPSEC) is simple. You conduct yourself in a way that doesn’t give anyone the impression that you’re doing anything out of the ordinary. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It’s not. Everything you do and say is an indication of the things that are going on in your life. Most importantly, people tend to operate in predictable patterns. It’s called a rut. When you get into one, you define who and what you are. If someone has an interest in you, all they have to do is watch and establish that pattern. If you make …


Loose Lips Sink Ships, by Margaret

The title of this piece is a motto used during WWII by which the population was being warned to be circumspect about what they discussed and with whom they discussed it. It seems to me that it may be timely for the motto to be recycled for use by the Preparation Community. I’ve read over and over in this excellent blog and in other articles “find someone or a group of people you can trust”. I think that instruction is much more difficult and more time consuming than stocking up on beans, Band-Aids and bullets. Although I live in Australia …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Insuring Survival Gear

Mr. Rawles, Regarding the recent post on homeowner’s insurance: I am an insurance claims professional. Most standard homeowners policies have a stated limit (in your example, $250,000) for the main structure and then 70% of that (or $175,000 in this example) for personal property. This 70% is the amount that would cover all food storage and other gear. Even in total house fires, I rarely see a claim where that limit is exceeded. If someone thinks it would be, then that coverage limit for personal property (called Coverage C) can be increased through your insurance agent. Like you said, the …


The Disappearing Suburban Basement–Part 1, by Jeff W.

Two years ago, as I began preparing for TEOTWAWKI, the first thing I did was take a real, accurate assessment of what I had and what I was going to be able to do for my preparations. One of the first issues I needed to face was the fact I would never have a true “survival retreat” located out west, far away from any major population centers, and tucked away in some forgotten corner of the country. As much as I would love to have something like this in place, the balancing act between having a family, financial commitments and …


Letter Re: Advice on Insuring Survival Gear

Hi. I have a question that I haven’t found the answer to yet on your site (which I read every day.) I have over $40,000 in storage food and survival supplies. I was wondering about insuring it with my homeowners insurance. I doubt my company would believe me if a fire or tornado destroyed everything. If I take out a supplemental addition to my insurance there goes OPSEC. Should I just take pictures on everything and store them off site? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks for all the great information. – Nancy S. JWR Replies: Many homeowner’s policies …


Letter Re: Advice on Building Harder Off-Grid Houses

James, The article on perennial food sources was both timely and excellent! Kudos. We are already planning to introduce many of the species into our farm. Next, a question. Since your book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” has caused me to re-think several things — and after I have spent 20 years being a prepper –I figured I should buy your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. Chapter 14 is of special interest to me right now as we are building a snug little adobe house on the farm we just bought. We …


Letter Re: Feral Dogs and Coyotes in a Schumeresque World

The problem of feral dogs after TSHTF will be a real one. In my part of the country we have a problem with people dumping unwanted dogs. They were cute when they were pups but outgrew the family. Some people would take them to the pound, but with it’s over population and short ‘stay’ led a lot of people think that they were doing the dogs and cats a favor by letting them loose to fend for themselves. This is animal cruelty any way you look at it. There have been several cases where a feral dog joined up with …


Lessons in Survival From Rural Afghanistan, by FrmrMarineGrunt

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade in service to our nation. First as a Marine in Iraq and the last three years in Afghanistan as a civilian “security” contractor. And I’ve spent more of the last three years in a very rural valley in north-eastern Afghanistan than at home. In the last year with the birth of our first child, and the destruction of the ideals our country was founded on I found myself thinking more and more about the state of affairs in the world today and began to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. Starting as many beginner …


Letter Re: Storage Options–Hidden in Plain Sight

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: How do you conceal resources so an intruder won’t see them? Try storing things in plain sight. An old soft drink machine, the kind that looks like a large refrigerator and dispenses cans, makes a great weapons locker. Anyone looking through your shop or garage would walk right past a machine like that, if it’s not plugged in and shows no sign of active use. The great thing about these is they are very difficult to break into and when all the can distribution stuff is removed, they can hold a lot of guns, ammo or food. …