Category: Survival Mindset

My Grandfather’s Wisdom

My paternal grandfather, Ernest Everett Rawles (1897-1985), was a largely self-educated man. Coming from a pioneer family (his father and grandfather came out west by covered wagon in 1857), he had a profoundly practical outlook on life. Ernest grew up on a 6,000 acre sheep ranch near Boonville, in Mendocino County, California. There, he lived life at its basics: The change of the seasons, hunting and trapping, hard work in foul weather, lambing, shearing, and the constant state of war with the predators that annually killed dozens and sometimes hundreds of lambs. It was hard life, but it had its …


An Architecture Student’s Lessons Learned, by “Mr. Whiskey”

As an architect for the last 30 years or so, I have been applying some important lessons learned in college that have an eerie resemblance to the survival mindset of those of us who think we just might be in for some hard times, and much sooner than we think. Let me explain.On the very first day of class, on my very first day of college back in the 1970s, I found myself in a design class with other new students who knew absolutely nothing about the profession or business of architecture. But we were there to learn, and our …


Eskimo Sod Huts–60°F Inside and Minus 50°F Outside

SurvivalBlog reader “KonTiki” sent the following article excerpted from the Duffy’s Law web site: http://www.duffyslaw.com/current14.htm The following is from a collection of random notes from the 1913 book My Life With The Eskimos by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. For serious research, one should read the unabridged edition. Eskimo Housing Eskimo houses were constructed with a hole in the roof to allow in light. The hole which was most often left open was covered with Bear intestine. The base of the house was five to six foot thick made of earth and sod and tapered and thinned out towards the top which was …


David In Israel on “The Gray Man” Survival Approach

In a survival situation you must clear the military mindset from your head, since you are not backed by 300 million citizen western economy and trillions of dollars in supplies. Walking about the land with a AR-15 and BDUs could be one of the best ways to be shot on sight. To the causal observer you will be instantly branded as both clearly dangerous as well as covered in priceless gear.   What is the “gray man”? The gray man mode operates much like a spy, a recon team, or a sniper does. If the gray man is noticed he …


Jeff in Afghanistan on: The Combat/Survival Mindset

I have been a soldier, police officer, and am now working overseas as a security contractor in Afghanistan. I’ve attended and given a great deal of firearms related training, and over the past few years I’ve started to see a serious deficiency in typical law enforcement and self defense training. The United States is a country filled with people who live lives mostly untouched by serious violence. That fact is a good thing, and is a testament to our country, but it handicaps us in the way we train ourselves and our warriors, particularly our police. I want to cut …


Just What is ‘Survivalism’ Anyway? — By “Warhawke”

This question causes a lot of confusion for people who are new to survivalist movement. The mass-media has always portrayed people in the survivalist movement as paranoid nuts. Either they show us as racist killers waiting for the day when the ‘mud-people’ can be put in their place, or religious freaks praying for the end of the world, or cold-war nut cases who think the Russians are coming to steal their women and rape their cattle. In truth, the run-of-the-mill survivalist got his start as an average person with an average job who simply looked around and didn’t like what …


On Preparing Your Children

Introduction Let us review the basics of child rearing. Children are a gift from God and we are to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. All preparedness means nothing if we have prepared our children for the eternal fires of hell. God, in His eternal wisdom and grace, providentially provided His son Jesus to restore us to a loving relationship with the Almighty. God provides covenantal blessings for those who obey Him and curses for those who don’t. With that being said it is imperative that all our worldly preparation be first and foremost spiritual …


Archives of JWR Radio Interviews on Pandemic Preparedness Available

For two successive weekends, I was interviewed by Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute on her shortwave/webcast radio show. The topic of both of these two hour interviews was family preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic. These interviews are available for free download from Republic Radio in a variety of audio streaming formats at: http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Geri05.html


Letter Re: James K.’s Survival on a Budget Letter

Hi Jim, I enjoy the blog very much! I have your advertisers in mind when looking to purchase. I read your answer about the Remington 7400/7600 models, what is your opinion of the 7600 Police model with the heavy barrel? Thank You, – Frank JWR Replies: A heavy barrel 7600 would be slightly better, but they still are not made to military specifications.You can expect slightly better accuracy–since the barrel has more thermal mass–but the same functioning/chambering problems will be encountered during extended strings of rapid fire. Consider that for about the same price as a new Model 7600 Police, …


Letter Re: James K.’s Survival on a Budget Letter

James: While shotguns are great (my preference is a Mossberg 590 with bayonet lug), a rifle chambered for a centerfire cartridge is essential. Whether its something like a Ruger Mini-14 or 30 or a bolt action hunting rifle in .30-06 or .308. There’s good reason why a used M1A is over $1,000, but you could get a ‘Poor Man’s M1A’, a used Remington 7400 in 30-06 or 308 and a bunch of the aftermarket 10 rd mags. Remington even has a shorter model 7400 or 740 that’s marked Carbine on the receiver. – Dave F. , People’s Republic of N.Y. …


Richard S. Goss on Free Education (Or at Least Cheap)

The old saying is that if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Being a proponent of a self-reliant lifestyle like most readers of SurvivalBlog, I find it is sometimes costly to get the training we need to make ourselves better informed. Being basically frugal (read: cheap) I’ve searched out some ways to get the knowledge I wanted without a large outlay of money. My first stop in my hunt for knowledge was at the Human Resources office at my place of employment. I discovered that there were several American Red Cross (ARC) first aid and CPR classes offered. The …


Letter Re: Survival on a Budget

Dear Mr. Rawles, I really enjoy your blog and novel “Patriots“. I am someone who is on a tight budget, yet as made some progress in get myself prepared for tough times. I have found the best approach is small, but constant movement toward my goal. Take food storage, for example. I began by purchasing a few extra canned goods (>$20 worth) at the grocery store during my weekly shopping, and just kept repeating. Over time, I have built-up a food reserve that could sustain my household for several months. I make sure all of the items in my reserve …


Survival On a Shoestring Budget

I often get e-mails from readers claiming either directly or indirectly that preparedness is “only for wealthy people”–that working class people cannot afford to prepare. That is nonsense. By simply re-prioritizing your budget and cutting out needless expenses (such as alcohol, cigarettes, convenience foods, and cable television) almost anyone can set aside enough money for a year’s worth of storage food in fairly short order. It is amazing what can be done with hard work, ingenuity, and very little money. While I do not endorse interloping on public lands nor do I suggest that you live like a hermit, the …


David in Israel on “Ant” Versus “Grasshopper” Survival Preparation Approaches

For years I have listened to survivalists of two sorts muse about the days after TEOTWAWKI. One is the “grasshopper” type, with a decked out M1A, full pack, and plans to live off of berries and venison. The “ant” on the other hand has saved up and purchased a nice cabin maybe a stock of fuel a nice 4×4 vehicle and some food storage, he likely even has a good solar or generator setup for power and light. Let’s fast forward five years… Now where are both of these people? Grasshopper had a pack of food, a wad of cash …


Letter Re: Other Web Sites and Newsletters

Sir: I subscribe to the [name deleted] investment e-mail newsletter. If you go to the web page listed below, he has an article where he gives his opinion of the “doom-and-gloom” naysayers. I don’t think he was speaking about you specifically, but I thought you might be interested in reading what he has to say and maybe responding to him with a rebuttal. I also wonder how you feel about someone like [name deleted], who claims he runs a survival, not a survivalist web site. I had never considered that there was a difference until he pointed it out. Thanks …