Category: Retreat Security

Letter Re: Stealth Vegetable Gardening

Jim: An issue with putting in a garden for food security is that your neighbors or passersby know what a tomato or broccoli looks like and may feel inclined to help themselves. While not so much of an issue on a farm, in a subdivision, this could be a problem. Consider putting in a second garden full of what other people would consider weeds. Does your neighbor know what nettles look like and that they are edible? The starving hordes could just pass by your bounty with no need to fight it out . – SF in Hawaii JWR Replies: …


From the Memsahib: Developing Wildfire Defensive Space at Your Home or Retreat

Much of the western U.S. is starting to look dry as the Spring rains are over in many areas and the annual grasses have already gone to seed and turned brown. With major fires burning in several states, it seems timely to discuss the”defensive space” of your property. [JWR Adds: Not to be confused with “ballistic” defensive space, which I recently addressed in SurvivalBlog.] The goal is to prevent a forest fire from reaching your house by reducing the amount of fuel for a fire near your home. When forest fires lack fuel crown fires drop to ground fires. Ground …


Letter Re: Lock Picks as Survival Tools

Mr. Rawles, first off, let me compliment you on your writings. I just finished Patriots, and was highly impressed with it. I’ve already loaned it to a friend to read, and I will probably end up ordering another copy so I can use the book as reference. I have also just ordered your books : SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 and Rawles on Retreats and Relocation. One item that I haven’t seen on any list of supplies on your site is a set of lock picks. They have many uses, whether around the house or in …


Reader Poll Results: Your TEOTWAWKI Resume — 100 Words and 100 Pounds

Some of these stretched the 100 word limit. (I skipped posting one that rambled on far beyond the limit.) The poll’s premise in a nutshell: “If someday you went to the gates of a survival community post-TEOTWAWKI and pleaded the case for why you should be let past the barricades and armed guards to become a valuable working member of the group, would you get voted in? Taken objectively, would you vote yourself in?”   I am a shoe maker (not just a repairman) can repair saddles tan leather have done ranch work mechanics weld gardening skills set a broken …


Letter Re: Mercenaries a Post-TEOTWAWKI Threat

Dear Jim, Looking at the concept of mercenaries post TEOTWAWKI [mentioned in Ron’s recently posted letter], I’m not convinced there is a valid threat there. There are a lot of myths floating around about Blackwater specifically. I have several friends on contract to them in various capacities from maintenance to pilot to executive protection. The relevant facts are that they are highly trained, highly paid (up to $1000 a day, depending on assignment and location), held to high standards of qualification (must be honorably discharged veterans, no criminal background and with relevant skill sets) and do specifically fall under the …


Letter Re: Hidden Retreats Versus Open Fields of Fire/Visibility

Hello; Thanks for your efforts and the structure of your blog. I appreciate the lack of flaming and demeaning commentary. Wanted to get more input on this subject ” Hiding retreat versus open fields of fire/visibility”. We are leaning towards camouflaging, as much as possible views of our home from the road. However, this conflicts with my Army provided training, where on fire bases, we have open fields of fire and high visibility. I believe we need a compromise. As a less than visible retreat will avoid [confrontation with those who are] the less observant. But open fields of fire/ …


Poll Results: Why are You Preparing to Survive?

Here is the second round of responses to this question: Those who are well educated enough to see a societal collapse of some sort or another in the making fall into two groups, the merrymakers and the preparers. The merrymakers don’t see life worth living post-SHTF, so they live it up now. We on SurvivalBlog are the preparers and have chosen to survive, but why? Our children? To rebuild civilization? Because the collapse will only be temporary? Because we can and we’re stubborn with a stronger than normal will to survive? The following is the second batch of responses. A …


Gold and Silver: An Ounce in the Hand is Worth 77 Million Ounces “On Account”

The recent seizure of eGold’s gold bullion holdings by the U.S. Government may have some more far-reaching unintended consequences. I predict that it might trigger some panic selling of holdings at the various “virtual” precious metals institutions. And it might even spill over to the fairly new gold and silver ETFs. This situation also illustrates a key point that I often emphasize with my consulting clients: There is no substitute for personally holding your precious metals in tangible form. Don’t trust any individual outside of your immediate family or any institution to hold your precious metals for you–not even in …


A Matter of Will, or a Matter of Inventory?, by George L.

I really enjoy sitting down and watching movies. What the radio once was to us as Americans, I believe the DVD player has become to us now. On any night of the week, people are gathered together watching movies together. That being said, The Usual Suspects is one of the most interesting movies around. I should warn you before I go further that it is not for the squeamish, or the easily offended. The subject matter is coarse, and the movie is unapologetically rough. However, there is one particular exchange that sticks with me to this day, and it’s been …


Two Letters Re: Living in Times of Partial Law and Order, by FerFAL

Jim: As a veteran cop and blog subscriber, I read FerFAL’s posting with interest. He makes solid points but forgets some basics about the response of “law enforcement” in a SHTF time. Additionally, US law enforcement is a different culture than say, Argentina. What kind of peace officers a particular jurisdiction has is based upon where there are. Rural towns and regions usually have a more dedicated cop that will stick around when things go bad (ala your Iowa example in [your novel] “Patriots”). They live in the area and are often either born and/or raised there. Even when the …


Living in Times of Partial Law and Order, by FerFAL

Many people tend to think about survival as if it where an on/off switch, black or white reality. You have a relatively nice, normal life, such as the world most first world citizens live in these days, and suddenly you have a SHTF event and you go into Post-SHTF mode all of a sudden, meaning people start carrying their load bearing vests full of mags, with their SHTF rifle of choice, scavenging around the ruins of the city, shooting trespassers and burying them in the back yard. This is all very cool to talk about, its fascinating in a Hollywood …


Letter Re: The Importance of Proper Hearing Protection

JWR, I was having a discussion tonight with a friend of mine who has his own plans. One of the things that came up is those other things we may be missing from our “duty equipment”. It’s great to have rifles, pistols, magazines, bullet proof vests, gas masks and all the other kit. But the one thing we were both missing was hearing protection. While some people may argue that the damage done to the ears during a gunfight is “minimal”. If you are firing your MBR in indoor conditions, you will be in some very serious pain in a …


Letter Re: Barbed Wire and/or Concertina Wire to Supplement Retreat Defense

James, It is 4:00 PM and I have been out since 7:00 AM this morning repairing and running new barbed wire on my property. I ran about two miles worth today. While I was out enjoying the sun and spring air I got to thinking about some of the profiles in your database and how some of our friends say they X amount of Razor Wire ready to be installed when TSHTF. I would like to suggest that during or after TSHTF is the wrong time to be doing this kind of work. It is back breaking, dangerous work to …


Letter Re: Any Utility in Caltrops or Tire Spikes for Retreat Defense?

James: How do you rate caltrops for retreat defense? Would they flatten tires quickly enough to be useful? Perhaps on a long driveway? Thanks, – LKP JWR Replies: Caltrops have been used as a defensive measure for centuries. I have my doubts about their utility in daylight, but they might prove useful at night. To be useful in daylight for defense against vehicle-borne looters approaching a retreat slowly, caltrops or tire spikes would have to be concealed, which is a huge legal liability. Because we live in very litigious times, I DO NOT recommend using caltrops or tire spikes in …


Letter Re: Is There Any Utility in Bump Firing a Semi-Auto Rifle, for Retreat Defense?

Mr. Rawles: I’ve seen your comments on the pros and cons of registered [Class 3] full autos [in the United States]. But can’t a similar effect be accomplished with a “Tac Trigger” or “Hellfire” [or similar device] for someone like me, who plans to have a marginally-manned retreat? They are banned in California, but here in Arizona, they are legal to own and use. Merci, – G.H. JWR Replies: I don’t consider trigger reset devices particularly effective, because of the way that a shooter has to loosely hold a rifle to get it to bump fire sequentially.This is not conducive …