Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: How I Convinced My Wife to Prepare

Dear Jim, I am a very recent reader of your blog, and just finished your novel [“Patriots”] (which I thought was fantastic). I plan on taking the 10 Cent Challenge just as soon as I set up a PayPal account. Anyway I thought you might be interested in how I was able to convince my wife that our family needs to be more prepared in case “something happens.” My wife thinks that I am a little nuts because I believe that society is extremely fragile and will collapse with just a little prodding. She has always put off my desire …


Letter Re: Yet Another Article Touting “Mobility” for Survival

Dear Jim: See this piece on Survival Preparedness as: “The Ultimate “Contrarian” Investment for 2007 — Be Prepared” The author knows a lot about economics (excellent web site), but one can certainly critique his “Batman in the Boondocks” or “mobile refugee” survival strategy. Regards, – OSOM JWR Replies: I’m dismayed to see such strategies proposed again and again, usually by folks who have never actually attempted to fill–much less actually shoulder–their “everything that I’ll need” backpack. It is incredibly naive to think that anyone can “head for the hills” with just what you can carry, and survive for an extended …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Retreat Locales–Former Microwave Sites?

Dear Jim and Family, This is in response to the article about microwave sites for survival shelters. As it happens, I spent half my summer just South of Whitehall, a couple years before I met you in [deleted for OPSEC]. I was finishing my geology degree and the geology of the area is very interesting. This is the new free mapping program through Wikipedia. It allows for annotations and contains good quality aerial photos of the terrain using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The region described around Whitehall is curious and deceptive. For one thing, there’s an active gold mine north …


Knowledge and Skills are the Keys to Survival–Start With Gardening, by Bill K.

The truth of the matter is that most of us with the survival mindset are not rich enough to own all the radios, bunkers, and other fancy stuff we read about. Sure we drool about having the forty acre “gulch” all ready to go when the SHTF, but it’s just not in the reality of the regular working family, just a fantasy. I’d like to suggest a great survival tool for the rest of us. The very best and the cheapest and the least hyped survival tool is parked right between your ears and can be put to use for …


Two Letters Re: Survivalism and Personality Types–Pessimists and Optimists

Dear James: Here is a link to an outstanding essay that I’m sure you and your wife will enjoy. It is a perfect corollary to your wife’s essay. Print it out and pass it around to your friends. Here is the host site in case you are interested: http://www.textfiles.com/ Best Regards, – Donald   Memsahib: There is another kind of personality-at least in these parts: people who think it’s a sin to prepare. They think God will provide for their needs (Matt.6). When the subject comes up-the only thing that I can counter with, is that I know deep down, …


Letter Re: Manpower Requirements for Defending a Retreat in a Worst Case, and the Jealous Neighbor Factor

James: The “Mr. and Mrs. Oscar” profile was most interesting. For a lot of us, probably the epitome of “If I had the money, my retreat would be…” On the downside, I would be concerned with: 1. The problem of defending/patrolling the property. A quarter section translates to a full mile of frontier. In a full SHTF situation, I’d want a trustworthy, commo equipped, well-armed loyal soul every 100 yards or so. If those folks put in 12 hour shifts, you’d need about 35 hands for perimeter security. That doesn’t take into account the roving patrols on the interior of …


From The Memsahib: Survivalism and Personality Types–Pessimists and Optimists

I’ll be curious to see if the recently released TEOTWAWKI futurist movie Children of Men inspires any greater interest in preparedness. From what I’ve read about the gritty realism of the film, it might. But then, Jim thought the same thing back in August when he heard about the television series Jericho. Apparently it attracted considerable fan following and inspired some debate, but little action. From what I’ve heard from the food storage and other preparedness vendors, their market went into a slump last fall. With the current global threats–most notably Iranian and North Korean nuclear saber rattling, both Sunni …


Preparing for TEOTWAWKI–A Change of Lifestyle and a Change of Mindset, by D.O.

The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI): statistically speaking, the odds are that you and your family are going to die. However, because you are reading this, you have decided that you want to die of old age in the event that Schumer hits the fan. 1. Your Level of Preparedness is dependent on where you are living. If you are living in large metro city. Then have about 60 days of supplies. After that time in a true TEOTWAWKI situation living conditions will have deteriorated to the point that it is unlivable and you will die …


Pre-Crisis Survival Skills, by D.A.L.

Pre-crisis survival skills: The only tool more valuable than knowledge is an attitude of self sufficiency. The mere willingness to provide for your own needs can pay off everyday, even absent any “end of the world as we know it” event. In fact, simply being willing to provide for your own needs can pave the way for not only learning valuable skills, but saving money to boot! By way of example let me tell you about a recent experience with the steam heating system at my lady friend’s house. It is a Victorian house and the main boiler furnace was …


City Versus Country Mindsets and Expectations, by Inyokern

As we all know, City people and Country people have a very different outlook on life. Some of that is opportunity, some is envy, some is ignorance. For the last 120+ years, the US economy (and much of the world economy) has been one of capitalism and materialism. Making stuff and selling it, making the economy grow until the physical limits are reached. Well, they’ve been reached. Peak Oil has led to the beginning of what is probably a pretty long collapse, but I can only judge based on the Roman Empire and the 1929 crash, history, rather than compare …


Letter Re: First Hand Observations on the Recent Pacific Northwest Wind Storm

Background: I am an 11 year veteran peace officer and survivalist, or in more politically correct terminology, a POP – Preparedness Oriented Person. I work in a moderate sized city in the Seattle area. On 14-15 December, the Tacoma-Seattle-Everett metropolitan area suffered one of the most deadly and damaging windstorms in recorded history. The storm easily eclipsed the last major deadly blow on Inaugural Day, 1993. That storm had been identified as a “once in a century” type storm. At the peak, over 1 million people did not have power. This storm was modeled and forecasted with accuracy five days …


Letter Re: Robert A. Heinlein Didn’t Just Talk and Write About Preparedness

Dear Jim, I’m not sure if you have covered Robert A. Heinlein’s shelter that featured in his novel, “Farnham’s Freehold.” This site describes the house that Heinlein built in Colorado Springs before NORAD moved into the area And here’s an archived link of the shelter underneath, which included both air bottles and ventilation, escape routes, and antenna mounts.- Michael Z. Williamson


Letter Re: Property Owning “Refugees” on Adjoining Property

Mr. Rawles, Thank you for putting so much effort into your blog and your writings. I bought your novel “Patriots” a few years back, dog eared it, and passed it around. To my wife’s consternation (and my to the consternation of my brothers’ wives), you’ve started to make a difference in how we look at life. Your blog is a daily “must read.” Since I live 200 miles from my brothers in Iowa (my most likely doubling-up partners) I have to consider a retreat farther north in Wisconsin. There are large tracts of federal, state, and county forest, plus the …


Letter Re: Some Good Things Prompted By SurvivalBlog

Jim, The following are some things SurvivalBlog.com has prompted me to do since I began reading it: I’ve had no debt for 20 years, but my meager holdings are now about 1/3 precious metals. Is lead considered a precious metal? 🙂 My freezer is full of elk, whitetail deer, and caribou. I added to my long-term foods during your Safecastle special, but I’m now reviewing the viability of my existing stocks. Like the realtor’s mantra of “location, location, location”, a survivalist’s creed should be “Rotate, rotate, rotate. “ A 10 KW Generac generator is ready to be wired to my …


Letter Re: Advice on Cash and Weapons While Traveling Overseas

Mr Rawles: My first family vacation is coming up and we’ll be in New Zealand for three weeks. I’ll be away from my food, guns, ammunition, and assorted survival stash. Add to that that I can’t take more than $10,000 in cash out of the country and can’t take any weapons with me. So, what do you take with you on such a trip? Gold is too heavy. Any ideas on what to bring that won’t weigh me down. Thanks, – S. JWR Replies: Assuming that your main purposes in carrying cash and/or specie would be 1.) to secure passage …