Category: Survival Mindset

Another Perspective on Selecting Barter Goods, by OSOM

Dear Jim: The recent letter on barter goods caused me to sit down and organize my thoughts on the matter. Running a successful retail/wholesale operation, I can see some caveats and analysis that needs further exploration. What’s WRONG with Barter Goods As has been well emphasized before – forget about barter goods until you are squared away for your own logistics. Beyond that, remember that barter goods are much inferior to money or cash in a functioning economy, with a good division of labor. If you need to sell them to raise cash, it will take some effort, and you …


The Forgotten Survival Skill: Physical Fitness, by Ron D.

Most of the people of the world and especially Americans are urban dwellers. We commute to an office every day and sit at a desk. Just as the skills needed to do this don’t prepare us for a shortage of water or food, they don’t prepare us to evacuate on foot or run from danger. But unlike other parts of preparedness, they actually work against us in a future survival situation. When I was a freshman in college I was returning to school in Oklahoma with a friend. About three miles outside a little town in the middle of no …


Letter Re: An Early Snowstorm in Western New York

Well, mother nature really gave it to them this week. There were 24 inches of snow dumped on us in about 24 hours. That, and the trees still had most of their leaves still intact. That just made more surface for the snow to stick, and it was the wettest imaginable snow you have ever seen. I’m writing this on Sunday. The power has been out since about 5 P.M. on Friday, and they are saying it won’t all be back on till next weekend. I didn’t lose my power, since I live north of the worst of it. I …


The NGO Security Blog

The NGO Security blog has a few manuals that may be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The ICRC Staying Alive Manual has a good explanation for your readers who do not have military training on the effects of military weapons and how to protect yourself from them. Plus it is interesting to read the incidents happening in the rest of the world. That is how society will be should TEOTWAWKI happen in the developed world. Incidentally, I was the dot on your global SurvivalBlog hit map that you saw in Khartoum a few months back. I work for an International …


Letter Re: American Citizenry Preparedness — Columbia University Study

Jim- I sent a preparedness study [from Columbia University] to your attention a few weeks ago; I could not find the online source document. Since it showed up in my media scanning again today, I tried to track it down a little better. I have below some associated links, and the home page (which has a great deal of additional info on it: Preparedness Study News Article Columbia University Projects Web Page Columbia University Research Page Columbia University Index Page As a side note, I purchased Arbogast’s “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course.; it has much well thought out content. …


From David in Israel: The 2006 Hezbollah Rocket War– A Lesson Learned

James Sorry for the lag time, I have been very busy with Torah study and family time using up all the hours in a week. We are three days from Rosh Hashanna as I write this, the day the whole world is judged for the year (this Saturday). This past year has been tough on Israel but reinforces the reason I have chosen to live here. Our defeat on the military side is largely due to an incompetent army chief of staff and Kadima party cabinet appointments who were recognized even at the election to be incompetent in security issues …


The Moral Obligation of Survivalists, by Inyokern

The recent anti-survivalist post mentioned in SurvivalBlog dismissing survivalists is destructive. He’s entitled to his opinion. Everybody’s got one. I think that those who are brave enough and ethically strong enough to be survivalists have an obligation to their culture, people, and species to survive. It’s a thankless job, and too many survivalists go crazy from the sacrifices they make. Being a survivalist and being sane is tough because it requires many personal sacrifices. You have to balance work and home life, learning skills for independence, and skip buying fancy toys in favor of equipping yourself for a worst case …


What Happens After: Observations on Hurricane Katrina

Jim; Just a few notes about my experiences with Hurricane Katrina a year later. On the evening that Katrina passed our retreat, my partner and I began to make our way back to our homes (less than 30 miles) and businesses to secure them – (both firearms related). We chose to take different routes, him on foot, and me in my truck with my dogs & supplies. The routes required pushing and/or cutting trees, poles, fences and all manner of lines and debris from the road ways. The few roads that could be made passable with chain saws and simple …


Staying Prepared at All Times, by Christian Souljer — September

As I remember my personal 9-11-01 experience, I am reminded that it is smart to always be prepared for the unexpected. Many of us have some kind of story regarding that day in September of 2001. I was out bow hunting about 200 miles from home. One of the hunting party had a radio and heard the news. When we got back to camp from the morning hunt, that person excitedly proclaimed, “There have been several plane attacks on the world trade centers and the Pentagon!” We determined that a new type of war had begun. We did not know …


Letter Re: What We Learned From Hurricane Katrina

Dear Mr. Rawles, The anniversaries of Katrina and Rita offer us an useful opportunity to reflect upon the lessons of profound adversity. As a Texan and a native of Houston, the disaster and its aftermath have reminded me of three important truths. First, we were all cautioned that the time to leave is well before the mass of people thinks that leaving is reasonable. Second, if you do plan to stick around, plan to be on your own for longer than you expected in conditions more harsh than you anticipated. Third, any mass-casualty disaster is going to let loose a …


Letter Re: An Amazing Tale of Survival: Nine Months Adrift in the Pacific

Dear Jim, I think this would be a good story to link to on SurvivalBlog. Three fishermen survived on a 25 foot boat for nine months at sea, doing drastic things to ensure their survival. Two of the men on the boat died because they didn’t have the will to live (there were originally five on the boat.) As a sea kayaker who takes safety very seriously, it is a sobering story. Take care, – C.R.


The Pros and Cons of Government Service in TEOTWAWKI, by Jeremy G.

In 1976 Ronald Reagan said “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”” Why do so many of us agree with these words? Is our innate distrust of an organization that’s takes our hard earned money and uses it to restrict our rights and freedoms because “we need to be protected from ourselves”? Is it that we have seen how government agencies perform in major disasters like hurricane Katrina and we fear that we would receive the same treatment in a SHTF scenario? Or is it that the government …


Letter Re: Newcomers Syndrome in the Rural West

Hello Jim, My family and I are fortunate enough to live in a sparsely populated area of the Rocky Mountain West. Seems we are always being “discovered” by someone who wants to move here and get away from it all. Some even sell their homes and set up residences here, but more often than not, they last about 2 years and the “for sale” sign is back up again. Seems to me that the old adage is true… a Leopard cannot change its spots. You can’t take a fellow from the suburbs… drop them in the middle of a Prickly …


Letter Re: My Journey of Realization–Getting Back on Track and Stocking Up

Dear Mr. Rawles, I just finished reading your seminal work, “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” for the third time in as many weeks. In addition, after some internet searching I’ve found your blog, and am in the process of reading everything that I can, when I can. After reading so much of what’s on your mind, I thought I’d share a little of mine. First, foremost, and most importantly, I want you to know that your book was instrumental in leading me back to God, the Father of our savior Jesus Christ. I won’t delve into the diverse ways in …


Thinking the Unthinkable, By Norman Church

Editor’s Note: The following lengthy speech was given at the “Peak Speak 2” Peak Oil conference, held on July 15, 2006 at Bedzed, Wallington, UK. Introduction Oil depletion is just the first of a series of resource crisis humanity is about to face because there are just too many of us! This century we will face peak resources, period. There are many fascinating and exciting renewable energy developments. Wind turbines, solar energy, geothermal, biomass, wave and tidal power schemes which are all important energy sources for the future – and could at least help keep the electricity grid going to …