Category: Retreat Security

How to Win with Asymmetric Warfare, by Robert R.

As preface, I would like to say that I abhor violence and believe killing should only be done when absolutely necessary, but if things in America ever deteriorate to the point of national collapse, with murderous gangs of looters, or other violent oppressive groups wandering the land, it might be worth going on the offensive instead of sitting tight and hoping for the best. Even in the most well-defended retreat, a dedicated group of aggressors has all the time in the world to devise an attack strategy that could defeat you. They could rain .50 caliber rounds on you from …


Letter Re: Getting Yourself–and Your Rifle–Fitted for Body Armor

Dear Jim: Boston T. Party backs up your opinion on the value of Body Armor – to quote: “… An order of magnitude advantage” (“Boston on Surviving Y2K and Other Lovely Disasters“). you posted a good letter from Ryan that mentioned adjusting your buttstock length to account for Body Armor, web gear, etc. The main point to test all your gear – all at the same time – is a real nugget of wisdom. It’s amazing the glitches that pop up that you can never foresee until you test. One thing to note – 2″ is probably a little too …


Letter Re: Ballistic Protection of Straw Bale Houses?

Jim, I love your blog site and appreciate the service that you provide. I stumbled on SurvivalBlog several months back and quickly ordered your novel [“Patriots”]; loved it and found it to be life changing event. I am a former Infantry Marine of 13+ years medically retired from wounds received in Fallujah in November of ’04. Needless to say, I have had some pretty major paradigm shifts (in the line of preparedness and government encroachment) since I retired in August of ’06. On with my question: I have done quiet a bit of ballistic demonstrations on the usual and conventional …


Snap Shooting Skills, By Robert R.

Snap shooting is something I learned a few years ago that can make one well trained, aggressive shooter, able to defeat many lesser-trained opponents. The idea of snap shooting is to present as small a target as possible while quickly peeking out and delivering accurate fire, and then returning to your cover. In the movies you always see the bad guy will put his back against a corner, using it for cover. He then turns the corner, exposing his entire body, raises his weapon to take aim, and is promptly shot dead by the good guy. Snap shooting aims to …


Elements of Quality Pistol Holster Design, by Steven

Does a good holster really make a difference? The answer is that sometimes it doesn’t. That may sound odd coming from a custom holster maker, but lets consider the average handgun owner. They keep their firearm on the top shelf in a shoe box in the closet, or in a nightstand drawer. On the way to the range, it might ride in a plastic case in the car trunk and back to the closet again. Should they need a container for their pistol that affords some protection and allows belt carry for short-periods of non-critical use, then factory produced budget …


Letter Re: Hardening Gates for Retreat Security

JWR: Since I had some spare time over winter break I re-read “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. It is an awesome book, I really like the “survival manual wrapped in a fiction novel” format. It left me with a few thoughts on physical retreat security. I am talking about locks, fences, gates, and so forth –not people. When the gate lock was cut [in the novel] you mentioned the characters welding a 3 inch pipe [section to the gate post] to protect the [new] lock. That is a great idea, except many who live in timber country are aware of …


Letter Re: Cashing in on Scrap Copper, Brass, and Aluminum

Dear Jim, I am a daily reader of your blog. With all the discussion about gold and silver value I thought it might be prudent to bring up the value of other metals. I am a Master Plumber and I make a small fortune by recycling old copper pipe, brass fittings, valves, and faucets. Number 1 copper is up to $2.75 a pound. Four years ago it was $1.50. Yellow brass is $1.60 a pound. It was only 60 cents four years ago. An old water heater can get you $5.00. I know people that save aluminum cans and take …


Letter Re: Hunkering Down in an Urban Apartment in a Worst Case Societal Collapse

Hello, In the event of a disaster (I live in New York City) I intend to shelter in place until all the riotous mobs destroy each other or are starved out. I am preparing for up to six months. I have one liter of water stored for each day (180 liters) and about 50 pounds of rice to eat as well as various canned goods. I have not seen on your site anything about heat sources for urban dwellers who intend to shelter in place. I’m assuming that electricity would go first soon followed by [natural] gas and running water. …


Letter Re: Retreat Security–Lessons Learned from the Rhodesian Experience

Jim: After giving it some thought [to post-TEOTWAWKI retreat security], I think we need to study many of the homestead/farmstead fortifications used during the [late 1970s] Rhodesian Bush War and to a certain extend in rural South Africa in the present day. Of course, one would need to adjust for legalities so one would not be breaking any laws. – Lame Wolf [JWR Adds: Lame Wolf also sent us a great quote from a letter by “Rhodesian” that was first posted at the Small Wars Journal (SWJ) web site. BTW I recommend the SWJ site–in particular their Reference Library pages–as …


Letter Re: Comments on the Movie “I Am Legend”

JWR, My wife and I saw “I Am Legend” last night at the local theatre. The movie house was packed. Almost every seat was filled. Of the most interest was the end. As the movie faded to black and credits rolled, there were more than several spontaneous bursts of applause throughout the audience and a few cheers. Wow! The last movie that I remember ever getting applause was the last “Star Wars” installment. Something really hit deep with many in the audience… My wife was weird’ed out by the zombies though, as they were quite scary. So viewer beware. As …


Letter Re: Thinking Like an Infantrymen or Thinking Like a Frontiersmen

Jim: I read a post about this a while back and it sort of stuck in my head. It did make a lot of sense. What exactly does it mean to plan like a frontiersmen mean versus plan like an infantrymen? The biggest areas that stuck out were resupply, weapons, numbers, static defense, and caches. Infantrymen can almost universally depend on getting resupplied within 12-to-48 hours if they run low on ammo or anything else. Survivalists or frontiersmen do not have this luxury. Which means two things, first stock up on as much ammo as you can afford and use …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

St. Maries, Idaho and Snow Country Logistics Today we take a quick look at St. Maries, Idaho, located an hour or so south east from Coeur d’Alene and an hour and a half from Spokane, Washington. The first noticeable thing about the town’s geography is that it is on the south east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene which provides a natural barrier from possible refugee paths from Seattle and Spokane. But it is also still in reasonable commute distance to the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane area for work until a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI event. The icing on the cake is …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr Rawles, Having read your reply to S.’s letter “Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget” I must say you made my day! It made me realize that I am much better off than I thought and on the right track. I am one of those weird (smart?) people who was raised in the city, but for some reason, never belonged. From earliest childhood, I was always “preparing” long before I really knew what for. In other words, I was not your typical “raised in captivity” child. I learned to sew at nine, and spent a lot of time making sleeping …


The Survivalist’s Coffee Cup, by Matt M.

In the novel “Patriots”, one of the characters scrounges a packet of Sanka from an MRE and complains that the coffee has run out. In the Civil War, Southerners used chicory as a substitute, which (to say the least) is an acquired taste. These unfortunate uses of ersatz coffees can be avoided, if the prudent survivalist plans ahead and learns the relevant skills now. Beans Coffee is harvested from the fruit of the coffee tree, and the fruit discarded. Its inner green seed is the bean itself, which is then roasted, ground, and sold in your local market. This is …


Letter Re: The Importance of “Weak Side” Firearms Practice

Jim and SurvivalBlog Readers, If you are already reasonably accomplished with your defensive firearms and you have the time and money, then it can be most educational to take a firearm course (e.g. Front Sight) and shoot the entire course with your weak hand. Two or Four days of solid enforced practice with the off hand will do wonders for your ability to wrap your brain around the other side of your body. Plus, when it comes time to do the ‘weak hand’ drills, you really surprise the instructors 😉 – SCD