Category: Survival Mindset

You Can Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, by Adam in Ohio

I started my preparedness journey a few years before Y2K. A friend of mine opened my eyes and both of our families have been adding to our preparations ever since. Unfortunately, looking back over the last 10 year, I have not been able to convince one more person to become better prepared. I am obviously not happy with the results so I have decided this year I will try something different. I think where I went wrong is being too open about my preparedness journey. I would become very excited about some new aspect of preparedness that I had discovered …


Letter Re: Advice for Preparedness Newbie

Hey Guys. I came upon your site, and all I really had to say, was “Wow”. I suppose I’m not the best candidate to be a survivalist. I’m 21, I rent my apartment, have a mountain of student loans, and work as a waitress. My friends are mostly of the classic female-materialistic variety, and have no immediate concerns beyond a swimsuit sale at PacSun. Anyway, I’m an avid reader. I began to develop an interest in the term “Peak Oil”. I read several articles, and conducted a few small studies of my own. The fact that many of the articles …


Letter Re: Dick Proenneke–A Modern Day Pioneer in Alaska’s Bush Country

Mr Rawles, I saw the link to the anchorage daily news about alaska and I thought that you or your readers might be interested in a man named Dick Proenneke who basically left his life behind in the {Lower 48] states and lived alone in the Alaskan bush for about 30 years. Yes, he did have some outside support, and a few visitors a year but the man was amazingly resourceful. There is a documentary he filmed himself that actually shows how he made his own cabin by hand with no power tools, he makes not only the table and …


Ethical Preparedness for WTSHTF, by SF in Hawaii

What (if anything) are you willing to kill for post-SHTF? To consider this question, first let’s start with a quote on justifiable homicide from Wikipedia: Under early Athenian law, it was considered justifiable homicide to kill an adulterer caught in the act or a burglar caught in the act at night… in eighteenth century English law , it was considered a justifiable homicide if a husband killed a man “ravishing” or raping his wife (Blackstone, Wm. at p. 391), but modern law treats this as only a circumstance that will mitigate murder to a conviction for manslaughter . In other …


Letter Re: Some Results From the CDC’s Asian Avian Flu Preparedness/Education Budget

Hi Jim, I’m a regular reader and 10 Cent Challenge contributor. I just wanted to pass on a little info that struck me as very unusual. I live in Louisiana, too close to New Orleans unfortunately. In my mailbox on Saturday, I received a 32 page publication from the Louisiana Dept of Health & Hospitals. It is titled “How You Can Be Prepared for a Flu Pandemic” Individual & Family Handbook. What do they know that we don’t? The state spent $663,594.40 publishing 1,658,986 copies of this Handbook under a grant support from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This …


Letter Re: Why Gold and Silver Investing? Will They Have Utility for Barter?

Hello Rawles Family, First off let me say thanks for all the work y’all have put into sharing the knowledge you have. It has opened many eyes and caused may to be saved in the event something really does happen, I’m sure. I have recently started preparing for several types of emergencies and one of them is the collapse of the American dollar. I have seen several times that you suggest pre-1965 [silver] coins, and gold coins. They are a good item to have in this situations but I continually find myself asking “Why?”. My position on this is, people …


Letter Re: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina and Indiscriminate Weapons Confiscation

Dear Mr. Rawles, First off, I would like to thank you for writing the novel “Patriots” and starting SurvivalBlog. My dad sent me your book in the mail and told me to read it. Being a fan of Tom Brown-ish survival literature, I decided to give it a try. I read it in one night, starting at about 8 pm and finishing at 3 in the morning. Truly, my world view has changed. I have immediately started making preparations—getting my Bug Out Bag together, my Bug Out Routes planned and starting to practice some of the skills sets I’ve let …


Letter Re: Record Keeping for TEOTWAWKI

Mr. Rawles, Many have written on this topic and many more have mused on it. Some have even written on what I thought about, but revisiting topics and ideas allows for fresh perspective and ideas to surface and breath. 1. How Many People? – Does it take a Village?: ‘Billary’ references aside, what is the ideal size for a group of people after the Schumer hits? So many people really buy into the image of the rugged, self sufficient individual. However, if we isolate ourselves, does not that make us easier targets in the long run? Small numbers of people …


Letter Re: Convincing the Unconvinced that TEOTWAWKI is Possible

James Rawles; I enjoy your blog and wish I had more time to review [all of the content]. I plan on getting the best of the blog when my funds permit. I saw the “Convincing the Unconvinced” post and thought I would reply. I like what another reader recommended on bringing people around to preparing and hope you have a section dedicated to this subject somewhere on your blog. Pushing a lot of information too fast will be counterproductive. They need to learn and decide for themselves to be prepared, and how prepared [they want] to be. MJS could try …


Letter Re: Convincing the Unconvinced that TEOTWAWKI is Possible

Jim: To the young man having trouble getting his parents to prepare for disaster, I have some suggestions that may help. These ideas can be easily modified to fit other relatives and friends too. First, lead by example. Whenever you, personally, do have money, no matter how little, spend a bit to stock up on something you, personally, use. It can be something as inexpensive as a toothbrush, or a bag of potato chips, whatever. Store it in a clear bin somewhere prominently in your room. As your parents see that it is so important to you that you spend …


Two Letters Re: Convincing the Unconvinced that TEOTWAWKI is Possible

Good Evening JWR: I am very thankful for you site. It has catapulted our preparedness agenda, leaving 99% of our friends and family lost in a smoke screen of Utopian chatter. We have been in a preparedness state of mind and action since hurricane Andrew. Approximately 3 million had the same experience and are unmoved. Here is my problem: Many of your readers still “don’t get it”. The three primal needs are water, food, and shelter. Now I agree 100% with the ability to defend your home, and family. You will buy the ‘BIG’ gun, the intermediate rifles, the short …


Letter Re: Save Your Fired Cartridge Brass

Dear Jim and Family, In the beginning of a collapse, you carry a concealed weapon, and deal with the police if you have to use it. Gunfights [typically] last 4 rounds or less, and its usually just one attacker. In theory, after the fight and you’ve survived, you get it back, eventually. Use a revolver or automatic, your choice, just be sure its small and light enough you always carry it. As the collapse deepens, you start encountering more and more threats, packs of them. They attack your vehicle, they go after your home, they try to stop you with …


Three Letters Re: Firearms Questions from a Distaff Newbie

James, I wholeheartedly agree with your response. For quite some time now, I have been trying to get family members to visit your web site and make the appropriate investment into their own security in a very similar fashion as you did. I always advise those who inquire about personal/home security that appear to be starting from ground zero, like the ‘Distaff’ writer, to add layers to your security. The easiest quick fix is a big canine. I have five (all adopted from shelters and subsequently trained to get along with each other.) Yes, a canine can be defeated. However, …


Letter Re: Firearms Questions from a Distaff Newbie

Mr. Rawles: I have been reading your blog and enjoy it very much. I have been stocking up and working at independence, but I am sadly lacking in the area of protection. I have been taught my whole life that guns are bad, evil, dangerous. I can barely bring myself to touch one. I shot a boyfriend’s handgun once many, many years ago but I really could barely stand holding it. I’ve never even let my children have toy guns or pretend to shoot people. My youngest son (8 years old) has been given a real rifle and a box …


Letter Re: Greenspan, Gold, and the Safe Store of Value

Dear Mr. Rawles, Regarding the use of gold as a store of value, it’s important to realize that gold often functions as a fiat currency. It does have intrinsic value for jewelry, electronics, rust-proofing, and some chemistry applications but the vast majority of its value comes from the shared expectation that people will accept it as being valuable in the future. The only difference from fiat dollars is that it’s harder – but not impossible – to increase or decrease the gold monetary supply, and that supply isn’t controlled by any government. In a disaster situation things get even worse, …