Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: Advice on Convincing a Spouse to Prepare

Mr. Rawles, I am not sure if you can help me, however I was not sure who else I might be able to turn to for advice. I have always been a “prepared” type person, that stems from growing up relatively poor and living/working on a cattle ranch in southern Arizona, for a good portion of my life. We had to be prepared, living so far away from town! My wife and I were married almost three years ago, and currently live in southern Idaho. Being quite a few years my junior, eleven to be exact, she grew up with …


COA Analysis of Common Survival Strategies, by JIR

Having spent a lot of years on military planning staffs, I can’t help war-gaming scenarios. In short (as you know well) Course of Action (COA) development is a big part of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and is a fairly reliable way of looking at possibilities and choosing likely sequels, given scenarios. In effect, a way of war-gaming out the future. There are a number of horror scenarios that seem to me to be fairly probable and they keep going around and around in my head as I try to sequence them and assign probabilities to each one. I …


Normal Disasters, by Blane

I live in the suburbs of our nation’s capitol and of course I want to keep myself and family safe, so I have taken steps to mitigate and eliminate the dangers of my area. My challenge for a while was getting my new bride on-board with my preparations. She thought my supplies, guns and gear were “weird” and she chalked it up to my military experience and largely ignored it. If anyone else has a similar problem getting buy-in on prepping from their partners they may find this useful, it sure works better than arguing. As Mr. Miyagi said in …


Death and Dying in TEOTWAWKI, by Snowman

Most of the SurvivalBlog.com articles focus on the “how tos” of living in or preparing for survival situations. We all understand these needs. However, there has been much less discussion on preparedness for death and dying. I have worked in the medical profession since 1975. I have worked with people in various stages of death and dying in hospitals, hospices, operating rooms, clinics and accident sites. While most of us are doing as much as possible to prepare and stay alive in bad situations we know that our options may be greatly limited in future scenarios. Death and dying are …


A Preparedness Plan for a Single Woman With Children

I’ve been reading SurvivalBlog for almost a year.  I am thankful for the advice that I receive each day.  I have had a “be prepared” attitude for about 30 years, although the past two years have thrown several speed bumps and roadblocks my way.  Two years ago my son and his family were in a life threatening accident.  I spent almost every penny I had saved toward retirement to help my daughter-in-law recover.  This year I fought for and won custody of three of my grandchildren from my daughter.  So now, instead of planning for TEOTWAWKI for just myself, a …


Letter Re: The After Armageddon Documentary

Mr Rawles, Thanks for all you do for the Prepper community. It is always a pleasure to see what is new on your site. Just for the record, I was the black shirted “Tracking and Survival Expert” quoted on After Armageddon. I consulted fairly extensively with the production company on the direction of the script early on, but did not know what was going to happen until I saw it. We filmed my interview up in Harlem in an old condemned apartment building in August. The epidemiologist from England was there also. They filmed three hours of interview with me, …


Letter Re: Lessons From “The Twilight Zone”

Sir: I’ve just watched an original episode of [the 1960s television series] The Twilight Zone called “The Shelter” from 1961. It’s interesting to notice how some tenets of preparedness haven’t changed much in almost 50 years. In the episode, a group of neighbors is gathered at a birthday party when a report of unidentified flying objects, alluded to as nuclear missiles, comes over the radio. As the guests depart for their homes to gather food, medicine and water, we learn that the protagonist, Dr. Stockton, has a recently completed fallout shelter in his basement. He secures his family in it …


Letter Re: The Bosnian Experience, Part 2

Sir: The next thing that I would like to cover is mode of transportation. When the society collapses more likely you will have to leave your home. Having a 4×4 vehicle that is equipped with everything that you need to survive would be everyone’s choice for travel but that sometimes might not be possible. In the broken society there is no law. Everyone and everybody is a target. Traveling in the vehicle on the road or off the road is extremely risky. First, vehicles make noise and everyone can hear you. Second, vehicles are big and they can be seen. …


Letter Re: A Holiday Trash OPSEC Warning

James Wesley, I just wanted to mention something that has been on my mind for some time but recently re-emphasized as I drove to work the other morning. Along my route (20 blocks or so before I hit a main thoroughfare) the other day the concept of trash OPSEC really hit me. It was trash day for that part of town and I saw signs everywhere that said “come burglarize this house”. I saw flat screen television boxes, video game boxes, stereo boxes, DVD player boxes, computer boxes, small appliance boxes, toy boxes, you-name-it boxes in all sorts of shapes …


Letter Re: The Bosnian Experience

Mr. Rawles, I want to thank you for having this site and presenting people with opportunity two obtain useful information that could save their lives one day. I have been dedicated reader of your blogs for some time and now think that is my time to contribute some information instead of just reading it. I have survived through collapse of former Yugoslavia and the years of war that followed after. I will try to cover as much of different topics that pertain to every day survival. No matter on how much the person is prepared, it might not be enough. …


Letter Re: Preparedness with Very Limited Resources

Mr. Rawles, I am grateful to you for providing this site. I am one of perhaps to many, who can barely make it check to check. Though I have been aware of what is happening for several years now, the amount of provisions I have been able to secure has amounted to nothing compared to what I am reading here. However, within this site is information which has been the greatest of value to, at the least, strengthen me with understanding. I sit here in the comfort of my home, surrounded outside with cold and over a foot of fresh …


Lessons from History: The Immigrant and the Refugee

As a student of history, it is surprising how often the same traumatic patterns emerge in times of economic turmoil, political upheavals, and civil unrest. All too frequently, average citizens get caught in the middle of tumultuous situations and unwittingly are soon reduced to the status of refugee. Unlike someone that intentionally emigrates to better themselves, a refugee typically hits the road with few or any assets and no sure destination. As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, if the 20th century taught us anything, it is that the one category you don’t want to find yourself in is “refugee.” Refugees …


Seven Basic Steps, by Jared O.

I first became fascinated with the art of preparedness in my youth during the days and months leading up to Y2K. The thought societal meltdown and global collapse seemed almost too much to bear, hard to wrap my head around. I was 17years old, just starting my life — now faced with a potential situation that I had little training or experience to deal with. But my parents had instilled in me a valuable lesson early in childhood; fear is derived from the unknown and the lack of preparedness. With knowledge, preparation, a “never quit” attitude and maybe a little …


Letter Re: Gerald Celente Predicts Survivalism Will Go Mainstream in 2010

James Wesley: The often-quoted prognosticator Gerald Celente (of The Trends Research Institute) is predicting that the Survivalist movement will go mainstream next year. In a recent issue of The Trends Journal, he wrote: “Back in the Cold War days, survivalism meant building a bomb shelter and stocking it with enough food to outlast nuclear fallout. In the late 1970’s, with inflation soaring, Iran raging, and gold and oil prices skyrocketing, survival meant cashing out of paper money and heading for the hills with enough ammunition and pork & beans to wait out the economic and political storms. In 2000, the …


Prepping as an Active Duty Servicemember Overseas, by M.B.

As a member of the Armed Forces stationed overseas, and for those civilian government employees likewise stationed, we face unique situations as we attempt to get ready for TEOTWAWKI scenarios. First, when you are stationed overseas, usually for a 12 to 36 month tour, whatever happens back home seems magnified in your mind because you are so far away and feel helpless to do anything about it. Mental preparation is of utmost importance if you get a sense of panic after reading about all the horrible things going on back home.  It is important not to panic when you see …