Category: Survival Mindset

The Top 7 Items Left Off of Survival Lists, by David in California

There are many useful survival/preparedness lists out there. All have the usual items and practices in common (survival knives, fire starting materials, food storage methods, etc.), but over the years I’ve also noticed several gaps in common. These tend to be of the nasty “I wish I’d realized I would need this item before” variety. This is especially alarming as these gaps could be remedied in most cases very inexpensively or even just with a little forethought. 1. Bleach. No, it’s not a substitute for a proper water filtration system, but in a pinch it does just fine and it’s …


On Physical Conditioning by “Bings”

When contemplating the self-sufficient/survivalist lifestyle, the most common concerns are weapons, power generation, and food. One area that is frequently overlooked is that of physical fitness. All the non-hybrid seed in the world won’t do you any good if you have a heart attack while trying to plant it. All the guns in the world won’t do you any good if you can’t run to a defensive position without wheezing like an asthmatic in a field of ragweed. Getting in shape often seems like an impossible task. Although you may never be able to be a body double for Brad …


A Word to the Unconvinced: Ten Minutes that Could Save Your Life by “Clannad”

What exactly do you stake your life on? Better stated, what is it that you are willing to gamble your future on? A few dollars spent on a fast-food meal that might have purchased a flat of beans or some medical supplies? Perhaps it is a scoffed-at and discarded notion that our society might indeed be fragile and easily disrupted? Maybe it’s the insecurity that your friends and family will think you are a some sort of a nut? Are you secure in your lifestyle and beliefs because you still get your paycheck at the end of the week and …


Guest Book Review by “The Rookie” Dancing at Armageddon, Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times

Dancing at Armageddon, Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times, by Richard G. Mitchell, Jr., 2002, University of Chicago Press. Unlike some of you “lifers”, I’m new to preparedness. So I’m always looking for good books to read to learn more about preparedness, like Patriots. But there is one topic I don’t find written about very much: what is a survivalist, where do they live, and how do you meet one? So when I stumbled across this book on the internet, I was very curious to read the synopsis. It turns out the author spent 12 years interviewing and living with …


Letter Re: Sources for Pre-1965 Circulated “Junk” Silver Coins?

Jim: Why is it, Jim, that when I ask a coin shop about “junk silver” or pre-1965 [$1,000 face value] bags of silver they look at me as if I’m nuts? Am I going to the wrong place? – Gerry JWR Replies: It sounds like you visited a “numismatics only” shop. Some shops don’t bother selling bullion because the markup is so much less than rare coins. Just call around to several other dealers in your region. Odds are that most of them will sell pre-’65 by the bag or half-bag–or can at least they can order it for you.


CONEXes, Not Rolexes

In person at guns shows and at public speaking engagements, as well as in e-mail, I often have folks mention some of the odd, if not bizarre things that they have purchased for their survival preparations. They run the gamut: Ostentatious: The reader that blew virtually his entire preparation budget on a brand new BMW 4×4 SUV Impractical: The gent who said that he owns just one firearm: An AR-15 with five 100-round Beta C-MAGs, a rail-mounted white flashlight, a rail-mounted IR flashlight, PAQ-4 laser target designator, a Gen 3 PVS-4 starlight scope, bipod, and a pseudo-M203 (37mm) flare launcher. …


Intelligent Consumerism for the New Survivalist by “A. Friend”

Reduce, re-use, and recycle. This article addresses intelligent consumerism for the new survivalist. You’ve heard it many times before: you get what you pay for. As consumers in a global economy we have more choices than ever, but perhaps not as many wise choices. Imported junk fills the shelves of many stores and being a smart consumer is not as easy as knowing a few brand names. Once upon a time you had a general sense of quality by the brand name of a product but the new global economy has made brand names largely irrelevant outside their use as …


Letter Re: Doing Business in Urban California

Mr. Rawles: Your book has been highly recommended to me by an acquaintance in another state. He asked if I’d read your book because you and I seem to have the same opinions on being in a large city (like Oakland, California where I live) when any kind of disaster strikes. These people rioted when The Raiders [JWR adds: For the benefit of our overseas readers, The Oakland Raiders are the local professional football team] made it to the super bowl and rioted again when they lost. A good friend of mine lost his thriving auto body business because his …


Letter From Novelist David Crawford Re: “Lights Out” EMP E-Novel: Free Download

Dear Mr. Rawles, Some time ago you mentioned my novel, “Lights Out”, in your blog. It was quite an honor for me to have my humble work discussed on your web site. I wanted to let you and your readers know that “Lights Out” is now finished. It can be read in its entirety at http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/LightsOut-Current.pdf I plan to edit and improve this first draft and then to pursue publishing. Any constructive criticism and help from anyone will be gladly received at dcrawford@email.com. Thanks again and please keep up the fine work you are doing with your blog. Sincerely, – …


Letter Re: America at the Crossroads

Perhaps it was the camping and outdoor adventures of my youth that led to a desire to be self-sufficient and ultimately to my own “survivalist” attitude, but it’s been more a change in society that has formed the current “survivalist” movement than any of our own individual experiences. Modern society has reached it’s pinnacle, and we are now in a very awkward period when society as we know it will spit and sputter and flare up before it burns out entirely, at least society as we know it. The time of great  achievement has passed and society is now working …


From David in Israel Re: Body Armor and Handguns

James: About some of the subjects addressed by Fernando in Argentina: For a while people were really into getting body armor here [in Israel]. It was popular during the start of the intifada, but the problem was the bad guys mostly used rifles so you had to use the mega-heavy ceramic chest/back plates. Nobody uses them anymore, I suppose they might come out of the closet if things heat up again. We can also legally get snap in shoulder stocks for handgun here. I believe they are an NFA item with $200 transfer tax with background investigation in America. It …


Letter Re: Leadership in Survivalist Circles

I’ve been looking for a U.S. Survival site to take the lead and looks like you are it. John has done a great job with http://www.aussurvivalist.com and Jim Benson keeps the torch of the original ASG thinking alive with http://www.modernsurvival.net, otherwise Yahoo groups has been the best place to hang out – but now this is this site and I wish you all the best. Love what I see so far. The “Survivalist” movement is going to make a comeback in the next 4-to-6 years IMHO, and it looks like you are going to be a real leader in that. …


You are “Not” a Survivalist? — by “Buckshot”

A friend once told me back in the late 1990s: “I am not a survivalist.” I replied, “Oh really? Why do you get up every morning and go to work?  Because you love working here so much?” He answered: “No, I come to work to feed and shelter my family.” I then quipped; “Oh, so in order to survive you work, so you are a survivalist too.” He cracked a smile and said that I had a good point! By the same token you have house, life, car and health insurance, right? Why? Do you plan on having your car …


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 …