Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: Save Money, Get Prepared, and Eat Healthier with Intermediate Term Food Storage

Jim, Thanks for posting Travis A.’s letter regarding food storage. He makes some good points but I’d like to chime in with some thoughts of my own. I see an emergency food storage program as having two conflicting goals: The first is to allow you to eat “normally” after a disaster, because “different” food will just add to the stress of the situation. The second is to provide basic food that will merely keep you alive but will store long-term. I believe a hybrid storage plan that meets both goals is best, at least for my lifestyle. To meet the …


Letter Re: G.O.O.D. Advice for College Students

James, Our family recently found your book and blog. We are working diligently to prepare. One question I have not seen addressed: What do you think about sending a child to college? We are a conservative, Christian, home schooling family. Our daughter has been looking forward to attending a small Christian college that is about 1-1/2 hours from our home. Now that we are awake we are feeling that keeping her close to home as we prepare to relocate is best. Any thoughts? – S. in Southern California JWR Replies: A college that is just a 1-1/2 hour drive is …


Preparing Your Family for “Interesting” Times: A Covenantal Christian Perspective, by Jim B.

Discerning believers have sensed a decisive change coming for several years. If history truly repeats itself, we are heading into a season of judgment and serious difficulty which may last beyond our current generation. Whether judgment and difficulties are reflected in the current economic crisis, ongoing terrorist attacks, unrighteous leaders or a host of other combined circumstances, many believe we are on the threshold of very perilous times (II Timothy 3). Our family ministry has done significant travel throughout the country over the past ten years, and we never fail to be in awe of the Great Shepherd’s faithfulness toward …


Cooper’s Color Codes and Bugging Out Before the SHTF, by H.I.C.

Colonel Jeff Cooper once wrote that he was born in another country. Born and raised in the US before the Great Depression, the country of his youth was no longer. It had been hijacked by pointy headed socialists with academic degrees and not a trace of common sense. At 50 years of age I not only agree, but maintain that the “New America” based upon a globalized economy, Federalized powers, and an Urban-centered society is dying. Our great country is dying and our great cities will burn in the funeral pyre. Most Americans know that survival in our great cities, …


Letter Re: Preparedness Mindset and Logistics Pay Dividends

Hi James, I am 30 years old and began my survival mindset when I was about 25. I am a single father of three and that is part of what motivated me to begin to prepare years ago. 2008 was a real eye opener for me though as it all begin to hit home. I began to sell off my possessions when times got tough. Eventually I had to file bankruptcy and move my family into a smaller more affordable place. Settled in our new place I began adjusting thinking the worst was over, I was wrong within two months …


Letter Re: That Leaking Body in Your Living Room

Sir, There have been innumerable discussions on this web site, and others across the internet, about the mindset, preparations, training and physical responses to the use of deadly force. Every gun owner (or would be owner) has had to ask themselves if they have what it takes to kill another human being. We all know the argument. When it comes down to life or death, you or them, could you pull the trigger? Let’s assume, for the sake of this segment, that your answer is yes. Now let me present you with a hypothetical situation: It’s TEOTWAWKI. Infrastructure is nonexistent. …


Three Letters Re: Some Practical Lessons with Daily Concealed Carry

Jim, I thought your reader “D” in North Carolina had some very good observations on daily carry. In particular the mindset advice was solid. I would like to point out that despite the majority of his info being spot-on, I have to take a different perspective on his “fifth lesson.” First, it’s your choice who you choose to tell that you’re carrying, I’m not trying to tell your readers what to do specifically, but rather I’m trying to shed more light on the topic. It’s actually beneficial if some people know you carry (that you trust) as they will likely …


Letter Re: A Short Term Home Evacuation Taught Some Lessons

Sir, Thanks for SurvivalBlog and the efforts you put into it. I have read your online information over the years, going back to just before Y2K. Your insights, common sense and information diversity are great indicators of what it means to prep, get prepped and maintain. I have a few of your books, and have used your information and insights to help get my brother and his family started on preps. Recently, I experienced a situation that required evacuation and relocation on a personal/ family level. In our utility area, where the washer and dryer are, we had a fire. …


Is it Enough?, by Axman

I remember the Great Gas Crises of the 1950s. I filled several metal five-gallon cans with gas and put them behind the seat of my 1941 Plymouth 6-cylinder Business Coupe. I got 21 miles per gallon with that peppy little car! When Kennedy’s Cuban Missile Crises came about I dug a foxhole in my Mother’s back yard — which she later filled in and used as a flower bed. Then the Cold War with Russia, where we rattled ballistic missiles at each other. I actually built an above-ground fallout shelter out of a retired metal dumpster and a piece of …


Disaster Preparedness–Of Lists and Preparation in Depth, by Ed C.

I would like to offer my own experiences in the hopes that they may provide some small amount of practical advice to others. Here in Oklahoma, of course, we face tornadoes, but many do not realize we have also suffered from paralyzing ice storms – three within the past ten years. Lessons gleaned from practical experience are: Have inventory lists; Have ‘Oh-Schumer Lists’ of items and chores for each type of contingency situation (tornado, flood, ice storm, etc.) Prepare ‘in depth’ for each major need, such as heat and light, food, water, shelter, and protection Calmly think through scenarios on …


My Initial Experiences with Concealed Carry, by AceHigh

As I started my journey into preparedness, one of the areas I pursued was getting my Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) license (sometimes called Concealed Handgun License (CHL) or Concealed Carry License (CCL)). I thought it might be helpful to Survival Blog readers to share my recent experiences related to obtaining my CCW license and getting to a point where I felt comfortable carrying a concealed weapon in public. I know there is some concern regarding obtaining a license that puts you on record as a gun owner/carrier, but that is the trade off of being able to legally defend yourself …


Two Letters Re: Barnyard Junk: The Things that You Do and Don’t Need for TEOTWAWKI

Jim: Regarding post on junk: Right on! When I recommend the OAR system for preparedness the O stands for organization. It does no good to have supplies you can’t find or access. I see an awful lot of farmers with yards that look like the municipal landfill. It isn’t safe or healthy. True preparedness requires doing the work of tracking supplies and useage so you don’t find yourself short or waste hours looking for the tool that you know is here…someplace. One of the best features of the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course is the organized inventory lists. For …


Letter Re: Barnyard Junk: The Things that You Do and Don’t Need for TEOTWAWKI

Jim Much has been written in all the various books, discussion groups and forums about acquiring the best G.O.O.D. bag, BOVs and medical kits. Much has been said about what garden seeds to get and the best lead delivery systems to have. There’s been endless discussions about setting up the most survivable retreat and packing the maps to help get you there. …But I recall very little talk about what you don’t need. I’ve lived on the family farm all my life. I’ve also spent a great deal of time delivering survival supplies to Indian Reservation all over the US. …


Letter Re: Jared Diamond Predicts the End of Cheap Oil and an 85% Global Population Decline

Mr. Rawles, I found this article informative. A quote: “Cheap, plentiful fossil fuels discovered in the last hundred years (or so) spurred a food bubble, which led to a population bubble. Cheap oil, in other words, created the temporary conditions necessary to support a runaway population explosion that is, without question, unsustainable without cheap energy.” Here is another quote: “complex civilizations are quite fragile, and short-terming thinking can easily doom a society or civilization to irreversible collapse.” The author believes that world population will be reduced to 1/7th of its current size in a post-oil economy. BTW, there are lots …


Emotional Stressors During Societal Collapse by Campcritter

As determined men and women of yesteryear made their way west to make for a better life, pioneer women often kept journals of their life on the great prairies or sent letters home to their sisters back East. In those letters they described the silence as the most unwelcome guest. These brave women wrote about being left for weeks on end alone, lost in an endless sea of grass with only the wind for company while the men hunted or went for supplies. In some cases the quiet was so severe that it became unbearable and the women developed mental …