Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr. Rawles, I have recently begun reading your blog and I am intrigued by the ideas behind survivalism. As a Mormon who grew up in an area with frequent inclement weather, I have maintained an interest over the years and made, at least, some preparations. I presently have a well-equipped Bug-Out-Bag (FYI – Mormons generally refer to these as “72-hour kits”) for both my wife and I, an easily portable lock box containing all vital documents and an external hard drive with all digital documents, plenty of bottled water on hand, and sufficient food in our home for one month. …


Letter Re: LDS-Mandated Food Storage is Not Actually Widely Practiced

Hi, I enjoyed reading your Recommended Retreat Areas page. As a member of the LDS church [commonly called the Mormon church] who has lived for a long time in Utah I think your assessment of our attitude towards preparedness is too optimistic. (Sadly). I would agree that Utah is probably better prepared than any other area that I know of, but that’s not saying much. Only 3% to 5% of LDS families in Utah have a year’s supply of food. The majority of families practice no preparedness at all. The church used to strongly suggest at least a two year …


Letter Re: Extended Care of the Chronically Ill in TEOTWAWKI

Hello Jim, I am a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber and have looked at your site daily — great job! I have a medical background and would advise readers to consider what gear they will need if a friend, relative or team member becomes ill, hurt, disabled etc. The basic first aid supplies will not provide the level of comfort et cetera needed. We are talking basic nursing care, not “first aid”. Take care, stay safe and God Bless! – Dave T. JWR Replies: Thanks for bringing that subject up again. Aside for fairly some brief mentions (such as photovoltaically-powered CPAP …


Your Life in Your Pocket by John T.

A significant part of being prepared and being able to weather a crisis is having information. Remember, those in charge now will make it their first priority after TSHTF to return to the status quo. Banks and mortgage companies will do everything possible to continue banking and lending. Landlords will do whatever it takes to make sure they continue to collect rent from their tenants, and any police or military personnel you come into contact with will be very unhappy if you cannot prove who you are or otherwise deflect suspicion. You can call having critical information available during and …


Letter Re: Preparedness for Less Than a Worst Case, From an Eastern Urbanite’s Perspective

Jim, I found the following in a letter posted on your blog: “Barring TEOTWAWKI, it seems to me that we are infinitely more likely to face moderately scary scenarios, like Hurricane Katrina and necessary urban evacuation, some urban 1970s-style civil disturbance but nothing like Mogadishu, high-intensity individual criminal acts, a low-order terrorist event nearby and the accompanying panic, or some other situation shy of the worst case scenario.” Do people realize that New Orleans wasn’t far from becoming Mogadishu-like after Hurricane Katrina? Certainly if the water hadn’t flooded the streets it very well could have been much worse. The flood …


Storm After-Action Report and More Thoughts on Western Washington as a Retreat Locale, by Countrytek

Introduction I’m a life-long Western Washington resident – except for five years in Kansas & two in Berlin while in the U.S. Army. I’m the great-grandchild of Washington pioneers. I love this state – the ocean, mountains and fertile valleys – but what it has become — not so much. This past weekend, (November 30 – December 1, 2007), the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state was hit by an arctic front from the Gulf of Alaska, dropping 3-6″ of snow in our area. The weather folks told us not to worry, that it wouldn’t last long, because we had a …


Letter Re: Thanks for SurvivalBlog!

Dear Mr. Rawles: I am a newly-minted reader and fan of SurvivalBlog. I stumbled upon [SurvivalBlog] by doing a web search on what turned out to be one of your “Quote of the Days” from [the late] Jeff Cooper. All that I can say is that I am mega-overwhelmed at what you and the readers have put on-line. I started out by going back through your current threads, and that seemed like a lot. But then I started clicking on the monthly archive links [in the right hand column] and then I started doing searched on particular topics. Wow! I …


Letter Re: Preparedness for Less Than a Worst Case, From an Eastern Urbanite’s Perspective

Hello Jim, I am very new reader of your blog and am just now starting to go through the archives. Based on what I’ve read so far, I commend you on putting together a useful, fact-intensive blog on “survivalism” (whatever that means), that isn’t geared towards loony, off-the-reservation, tinfoil hat-type readers, who believe that 9/11 was a plot masterminded by Halliburton. That said, one problem I suspect I will have with your blog is that you consistently seem to be preparing for an extreme, and more-or-less permanent, breakdown of society—or TEOTWAWKI, if you will. In one of your blog posts, …


Letter Re: Preparedness While on Business Travel–What to Pack

Jim, I’m a frequent flyer and I enjoyed the article by LP on what to consider bringing on business travel [“Preparedness While on Business Travel –What to Pack“]. Here are some additional ideas: Water – I carry an empty bicycle type water bottle through security and fill it at a drinking fountain before my flight. This keeps you hydrated during your flight and from having to use the water glasses in your hotel room. (FYI – they don’t really clean those glasses.) Food – I carry 4-6 Cliff [“sports energy” type candy] bars in my laptop bag and my checked …


Western Washington — A Retreat Potential and Disaster Assessment, by B.H.

I am writing to you at length today about Western Washington and its retreat potential and Assessment of disaster scenarios. Last year I made a career move that required us to move to Western Washington from Eastern Washington. We moved into what is considered the South Sound area of Western Washington (WWA) this area includes the State capital of Olympia and its bedroom communities of Tumwater and Lacey. Lacey and South East Olympia border the “Argonne Forest” of Fort Lewis. On a side note the 3rd Stryker Brigade is starting to rotate back home—Great job to you all and were …


Letter Re: Reactions to Preparedness Course

Jim: What a coincidence. I’m quite certain, that the amazing e-mail that you received from HH happens to be from my very good friend and colleague. HH is a good man that care’s for his family and friends. He cares so much, that he often risks the ridicule and accusations as he mentioned, to try and help inform and consequently protect his loved ones with the gift of information. People are waking up, and I am one of those people. I was the guy that listened to the wisdom HH was resonating, much of that information came from the “Rawles …


The Pre-Test and the Ultimate Test

There may come a day when you have to put all of your training and preparations to use. That will be ultimate test of whether or not you have a true survival mindset. Do you think that you are ready for WTSHTF, physically and mentally? Assuming that you live in the suburbs, try a weekend “grid down” test with your family. This will test both your mental preparedness and how well you have prepared for the basics. Here is how it is done: Some Friday evening, unannounced, turn off your main circuit breaker and shut the valves the gas main …


The Upright Spike in Technology Dependence–Changing “Grid-Down” from an Inconvenience to TEOTWAWKI

If someone were to construct a chart showing human dependence on technology, it would portray an essentially a flat line from Biblical Times to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. From there, there the line would curve upward slightly until the 1890s, when the line would tilt up to perhaps a 10 degree slope. The curve would further steepen in the 1950s (with the advent of computers). The line would then turn into an almost upright spike, starting in the 1990s. In this new era, with each passing year, our dependence of electronic technologies grows greater and greater. Some technologies, …


Preparedness While on Business Travel–What to Pack, by LP

If you’re like me, there are times when you have to leave almost all your preparedness stuff behind as you journey by air to strange, far-off places on behalf of your employer. No access to your well-stocked SUV. You are alone, and home is hundreds if not thousands of miles away. But disaster will not be consulting your personal travel itinerary before it strikes. How best should you prepare? Let’s first discuss the objective, as it determines the approach. For most of us, we leave family, friends, and a (more-or-less) well-stocked homestead behind. This means Your primary objective is to …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

Isolation, Neighbors, Security and the Golden Rule This week we’ll look into some characteristics of retreat shopping that normally won’t become an issue until you have actually spent time “in theater” and have narrowed your search to several possible retreat properties to purchase. After taking the time to look at the properties available through SurvivalRealty.com and/or working with an experienced local agent in your selected retreat region, you should eventually work your list up to perhaps a half dozen prospective retreat properties that are on the market. . Then it is time to whittle that list down, by selecting the …