Category: Survival Mindset

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 …


Suburban Survival, by “Jim in Texas”

We all know that to be fully prepared we need a great survival retreat we can bug-out to. We all dream of the perfect retreat, were we will go post-SHTF. If you are like me however, this is simply not reality. I have no remote, armored, fully stocked retreat to go to in a disaster. Like millions of Americans I live not in the country, nor the city, but the area in between, commonly called the suburbs. Though all suburbs are different most of them share similar qualities, small, less than acre lots, single family houses with well maintained front …


What is Considered of Value in the Poorest Nations, by SF in Hawaii

I have a book called Material World by Peter Menzel in which average families from around the world put everything they own on their lawn and you get to see what they own and how they live. While I purchased the book as a way to demonstrate to my kids ‘just how good they have it’ there are also some lessons for us survivalists. I went through the poorest nations where per capita income was usually far less than $1,000 USD per year (and in the case of Mali, Africa, $251 per year). What I noticed was a pattern in …


Four Letters Re: Solar-Powered Versus Self-Winding Watches

James, If in the market for a solar powered watch, I think that the Casio G-shock “tough solar” is much more durable than the Citizen Eco-drive watch. While G-shocks are readily available in the US, it is important to note that the Japanese domestic market G-shocks are generally superior to the ones they export. Yes, the Japanese save the best stuff for themselves. Higuchi.com is a reliable source for Japanese watches. Regards, – MP   Jim, After all the discussion about the benefits of automatic watches, I have to say several things. I have a lovely Swiss top-brand automatic watch …


The Danger of the Armchair Commando Mindset

I’ve stated much of the following before, but it bears repeating: Don’t make the mistake of slipping into the “Armchair Commando” mindset. It is what my friend Keith in North Idaho calls the”Tommy Tactical” mindset. You know the type: your overweight friend with the big gun collection, but hardly any stored food. He is the same guy that will spend hours debating the finer points of exterior ballistics or starlight scopes, but that hasn’t even taken the time to zero all of his guns. He is too busy collecting guns, talking Schumer, and reading Soldier of Fantasy magazine. Armchair Commandos …


The Great Disconnect, by “IRVM”

The recent SurvivalBlog letters regarding wolves illustrate something that has interested me for a while. This is a phenomenon that might be called “The Great Disconnect”. “The Great Disconnect” is defined as the increasing number of people who lack the ability to distinguish between reality and their own beliefs. These are people who reject out of hand anything that conflicts with their internal world-view, no matter how out of touch with reality that view may actually be. I have no idea what percentage of the population falls into the ‘disconnected’ category, but judging from what I see on the Internet, …


Letter Re: James Kunstler at Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

Jim, As a regular reader of Survival Blog, I thought others might like a “field trip” report from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s (MREA) Energy Fair held this past weekend. This is an annual event hosted in central Wisconsin and it has had a growing number of attendees; last year’s fair drew over 10,000 and this year it was expected to draw ~17,000 people over its three days. In my mingling, I encountered people who had traveled from as far as New mexico, southern Oklahoma, Kansas, and many from Wisconsin and bordering states. The fair is a collection of vendors, …


Letter Re: David in Israel on “When the Only Tool You Have is a Hammer” Syndrome, and Building a Post-TEOTWAWKI Shelter

Hello James, David in Israel has done a great job sparking original thought in certain topics of discussion. I really like his log home ideas. I have one problem with it is: Today’s generation! I don’t think very many of us could muster up enough fortitude let alone man power to fell trees, drag to the site, de-bark and notch them, lift them into place and head from there, (without modern technology, equipment, and power). I grant him that he was talking about a smaller shelter which would be more feasible. His comments have made me think about creating a …


Letter Re: Why Christianity? and Recommendations on the Great Lakes

Mr. Rawles, I just finished your novel (“Patriots”), after a marathon reading session that consumed my entire weekend. It was marvelous. I loved every aspect of the book except all of the religious references aimed towards Christians. Can a man of your obvious intelligence really believe that “being a good Christian” elevates someone morally to a higher level than perhaps a Muslim, Jew (yes you showed respect in the book for [a Jewish character’s] beliefs, but…), or myself a fence riding atheist? I want so much to believe in god, but it appears that god has abandoned this world. Secondly, …