Category: Self-Defense

Small Unit Tactics in a Post Collapse Environment, by Gunfighter

The time may come when all order and civility have broken down into chaos and unrestrained evil. You were a wise prepper and worked through your list of lists, acquiring all of the necessary knowledge and tools for survival. All of your bases are covered. Your survival retreat is intact and manned by your entire survival group. Each individual is most likely capable of firing a weapon and you probably have a survival retreat defense plan in the event a band of raiders, or some other group of people who wish you harm, decides they want to take what isn’t …


Musings of a Newbie Prepper, by Tyson D.

After being raised on my grandfather’s farm, spending time in the military and being a first responder for the last 15 years, it is strange to find myself being a Newbie in the daunting task of creating an emergency preparedness cache for my family.  I now find myself living in a suburban/rural area of a major metropolitan city and a long way from where I grew up and started learning about some of the skills needed to survive.  I’ve always considered myself to be a prepared, self-sufficient individual.  I’ve hunted small and large game, I’ve backpacked in the backcountry for …


Letter Re: Praise For Zanotti Armor Modular Gun Vaults

James, First of all thank you for running SurvivalBlog as it is has been a valuable source of information. Years ago, you mentioned Zanotti Armor as a high quality gun safe company, I’m glad you did, as I am now a very happy customer! I ordered the ZA-3 6-foot–the largest safe available from the company–and it fits my needs perfectly. It only took two of us to move all the [modular] pieces to the basement and assemble the walls. It required two extra pair of hands to assemble the top and door. I ordered the safe in June and received …


Pat’s Product Review: Kershaw and Zero Tolerance Knives

I don’t recall when I first started carrying a pocket knife, but I’m pretty sure it was back in the 3rd or 4th grade. And, yes, back in those days, a kid could carry a pocket knife to school – and the police weren’t called, nor were you suspended. Almost everyone carried a pocket knife back then – my how the times have changed. These days, most schools have a zero tolerance for any sort of “weapon” on school grounds – heck, some kids have been suspended or expelled from school for simply drawing a picture of a knife or a gun. …


Letter Re: A Practical Utilitarian’s Take on Firearms and Calibers

James, its time for like minded  people  to take off the blinders and use logic and intelligence in their planning. Firearms will play a major  part in survival of our people and nation. This role will be larger than anyone cares to  admit. Because of this reliance, our weapons will need to be the most dependable guns we can acquire.   My experience goes through 30+ years of gunsmithing, military service during the Reagan years, and contractor with a notorious private security firm in Iraq and Afghanistan. During these years, I have learned a lot about the serviceability of weapons …


Letter Re: A Practical Utilitarian’s Take On Firearms and Calibers

Mr. Rawles, I really enjoyed the SurvivalBlog article by Kyrottimus, titled A Practical Utilitarian’s Take On Firearms and Calibers. I appreciate his expertise and experience.  I commend his list of Must-Haves for the AR-15 or M4gery, and would like to respectively suggest one more item to add to the McFarland 1-piece gas ring, the Bravo Company Gunfighter charging handle, and the Magpul B.A.D. Lever.  The Defender D Ring should be an addition to your AR-15 rifles.  After listening to John Farnham sing the praises of this little device, it should be a serious consideration on a Personal Defense Weapon (PDW). The Defender …


Preparation Could Mean Survival, by D.S.A.

Some people say you can’t prepare for every situation.  I say, you can because every situation has one common element that can and will hurt you outside of the event itself: other people.  Lets face it, if you die in a storm, a nuclear/biological/chemical event, or terror attack, then you are dead.  There is nothing from stopping God’s will.  You don’t prepare for those events, you prepare for surviving those events.  There are many events, (and not far-fetched crazy extreme events) which people should be prepared to deal with to protect themselves and their families when it’s over and you …


A Practical Utilitarian’s Take On Firearms and Calibers, by Kyrottimus

I’ve been working as a firearms and ammo salesman (and thusly, a consultant) in a storefront gun shop in northwestern Montana for the past few years now. My firearms experience far predates my time there in other gun-related industries. However, I have had the benefit of learning a great bit more (and still am) regarding firearms, ammo and the unique perspectives and applications of the end users. The day I stop learning is the day I stop breathing. I get asked all the time, “What’s better, an AK or AR?” or “Mossberg 500 or Remington 870?” or currently the most …


Pat’s Product Review: Skinner Rifle Sights

Many, many years ago, when I started wearing reading glasses, I found that I wasn’t seeing the sights on some of my handguns and rifles as clearly as I would have liked. With age, comes reading glasses for many of us – just a fact of life! Now, while I could see the sights on my rifles – without reading glasses – the sights were a bit fuzzy! With my reading glasses on, the sights were sharp, but the target was blurred. Grrrr!   I did find though, that rifles with peep sights were much easier to get a good …


Bugging Out Abroad, by J. in The East

For the preparation conscious world traveler, life abroad means a unique set of considerations must be made to the manner in which you travel/live abroad.  After all, the primary objective of the prepper abroad should be to get back to their family and home.  It was, at least for me.  My time living in Asia during the outbreak of Swine Flu brought the fragility of the infrastructure I was living in to the forefront of my attention and garnered in me an appreciation for the self reliant upbringing my parents instilled in me and made all too frightening the prospect …


Pat’s Product Review: Benchmade CSK II – Combat/Survival Knife

As long-time SurvivalBlog readers know, I like big knives – be they folders or fixed blade. I believe bigger knives can do most chores easier and better than smaller knives can. Now, that’s not to say, that big knives can do all things better than smaller knives can – such is not the case. In a survival or combat situation, you need a knife that is capable of handling all manner of chores. Enter the Benchmade Knives CSK II, Combat/Survival fixed blade knife.   The Benchmade CSK II is one of those “just the right size” knives, for all manner …


Mike Williamson’s Product Review: ATI AK Strikeforce Stock

I like the AK platform, but I’ve never liked the standard military issue stock.  I’m too tall, and the shape of it means I can’t get my head low enough for a good sight picture, so I have to scrunch and contort to shoot. ATI sent me their AK-47 Strikeforce Stock Package to try.  I’ve heard criticism of their products over the years, but, while I’ve made some of my own regarding functional details, I’ve never had a problem with their workmanship or reliability. The instructions are clear, and you should pay attention to them.  The lower handguard, for example, …


The Psychological Side of a Defensive Shooting Incident, by B.D.M.

I have been reading survivalblog now for about 2 years and enjoy the information provided in the articles. I have often wondered what if anything I could contribute to the site.  After reading “After the Shooting” by Tupreco, which emphasized the legal aspect of a shooting, I thought this article would be a good follow up concentrating on the psychological side of it. My background: I have been a police officer for 8 years and was involved in a shooing in February of 2008.  You can watch the dash cam view of it here on YouTube. Basically, I stopped a …


Letter Re: Solutions to the Car Carry Gun Problem

Let me preface this information by saying it only applies to those preppers that live in states where it is legal to possess and carry a handgun in the car. I live in a state where it is not a problem or an issue to carry a handgun in a vehicle, it has been that way for many years. Our state considers it part of the “castle doctrine”, it is legal for a citizen to defend his castle and his vehicle is considered to be part of that castle. For years I have carried a variety of weapons, semi’s and …


Two Letters Re: A Parent’s Guide to Surviving School Rampage Shootings

Editor JWR: To paraphrase an old quotation, those that refuse to study history and learn from it are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. In the early 1970s, school classrooms in Israel were favored targets for PLO terrorists. They were favored for several reasons including maximum media coverage, maximum shock value (killing children) and softness of target (little security). The solution was simple and effective: All teachers were required to keep a selective fire weapon and loaded magazines in their classrooms. As another example of historical note of common sense, during the 1600s, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony had a …