Category: Survival Mindset

How I Survived A Home Invasion – Part 3, by Mr. Y.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Part 3 – Lessons and Observations Unsurprisingly, I ran the whole episode over in my head quite a few times as the days and weeks went by. Small details that I had forgotten came back. Eventually, I thought it would be worth noting a few things to share with other people: The biggest takeaway was that things happened unbelievably fast. If my pistol had been in a different room, or been unloaded, or had the chamber empty, or had a manual safety, or was stored without the magazine in it, the outcome …


How I Survived A Home Invasion – Part 2, by Mr. Y.

(Continued from Part 1.) Part 2 – Interview and aftermath I sat around in the little interrogation room by myself for about 90 minutes before anyone came to ask questions. The two detectives informed me that The Bad Guy ‘didnt make it’. I wasn’t surprised but it added a new level of anxiety to things. If I was going to get into trouble over this, the consequences were a lot more severe for killing someone than for injuring them. We spent about two hours or so going over what happened. Did I know this person? What did they say? Where …


How I Survived A Home Invasion – Part 1, by Mr. Y.

Part 1: Backstory and The Event This is an article about the experience, aftermath, and lessons learned from a home invasion that I experienced. I feel strongly that retelling it provides some important lessons and food for thought for anyone who keeps a gun for self-defense. The Backstory It was a weekend late afternoon and I was in my computer room at my house, working on e-mails and generally perusing the Internet. I had headphones on so I was unable to hear anything going on around me. The only other people in the house were my girlfriend who was cleaning …


Hospitality in Exigency: Opening Your Home, by Jonathan Rawles

The tragedies of the wildfires in eastern Washington and on Maui, followed by hurricanes and flooding in California and Florida brought a secondary topic to mind: hospitality in exigency. It’s often alluded to, but it’s worth exploring the practicalities. How can a prepared household effectively support friends and family who have to leave their homes? If you successfully make your household productive and resilient, it will assuredly become a refuge to others at some point. It’s wise to consider what this might look like now. Types of Scenario Let’s start with considering the cases where you might have to offer …


Making It Count – Part 5, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, from 1990 to 1993 I worked for the late Colonel Rex Applegate as his assistant, on numerous projects. I also maintained his gun collection. He had more than 850 guns – many were prototypes and one-of-a-kind. It was a great honor working for the good Colonel. He taught me a lot about a lot of things, especially when he served in WWII for the military. He told me a lot of things that he said that he’d never mentioned to anyone else. He also taught me …


Making It Count – Part 4, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 3.) In 1989, I took a job as the police chief in a small town in Eastern Oregon. I had also completed my training with Executive Security International (ESI) at that time, the world’s best place if you wanted to do bodyguard work. I had completed their 650-hour home study course and then needed to complete two weeks at their school. There, I met John Farnam, who taught the firearms training portion, and to this day, I honestly believe that Farnam is probably the best firearms trainer there is. At the end of my training, I was …


Making It Count – Part 3, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 3.) I dated one girl at our store and her sister who worked at the other store, and they didn’t seem to mind it in the least that I was dating them both. Yes, I was a horrible womanizer, and I’m ashamed of myself for that. If I could only change the past – that is one of the things I would change. One girl I was dating worked in the back room, in accounting. I didn’t even know her name when I first asked her out – and didn’t really care. Sadly, I ended up marrying …


Making It Count – Part 2, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 1.) Went I turned 13 years of age, I attended Luther South High School – a private Lutheran school. All the rest of my friends either attended a public high school or a Catholic high school. We didn’t associate with each other much after that. On a good day, it would take an hour and a half to get home from that high school – during bad weather it would take a lot longer. And many times I had some “interesting” bus rides home. I had to travel on public buses through a rough neighborhood and I …


Making It Count – Part 1, by Pat Cascio

Editor’s Introductory Notes: Several months ago, I asked our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio, to write a serialized autobiography, and scan some photos, to accompany it.  In reading this, you will learn that Pat has had a remarkable life, with the opportunity to “wear many hats.” The title of this series is an homage to the “Make It Count” tagline that Pat has habitually used in signing his letters and e-mails. Pat’s life has indeed counted for something. His influence has helped shape the lives, improve readiness, and provide spiritual guidance to countless others. Pat touched the lives of …


Lessons From A Hard Disk Crash

In place of another feature article that I had planned for today, I’m posting a recap of a recent laptop computer problem, with some lessons learned. To start, I should mention that I’ve been a Macintosh user for my home computers since 1986. My first Mac was a Macintosh Plus, purchased just after I got off of active duty as an Intelligence Corps officer. This was before I was ever married.  I’ve owned a whole succession of improved Macs since then.  Since the turn of the century, most of those have been alloy-case MacBook laptops. I’ve always been fairly good …


Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 2, by Michael X.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT Sadly, I have found that it is very easy to not use the proper protective equipment. If I happen upon a piece of work that needs doing, I have a tendency to just start it. If a person doesn’t think about the proper tools and processes used for a task, they may not use them. If they don’t think about the risks with the work, or they decide the proper tools and PPE is inconvenient to get, they may just start the job. I have learned some hard lessons …


Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 1, by Michael X.

With the current state of decline afflicting many of the institutions of our country, many people may feel our country is at a tipping point and our lives will revert back to near-pioneer status. Those who feel they are prepared to continue living on separated from the sagging society and decaying government may soon be isolating themselves at their preferred location, whether it is the bug out location, homestead, suburban ranch, or even a bug-in location in a populated area. Once you are at your preferred location it could be for the long haul and things will get harder and …


The Time It Takes, by SwampFox

I work as a truck driver. That means I spend a lot of long, boring hours driving from state to state. I have a regular route, covering the same roads each day. On good days, not much happens that is new or exciting, and to pay attention to my job I need a bit of entertainment in the background. So I listen to a lot of audiobooks. A handful of these have been survivalist fiction or preparedness-oriented. I have discovered that many authors and readers may possess some unrealistic ideas about what a prepared life looks like, or what life …


Preparing With a Parent in Decline, by C.H. in Kansas

It’s a hard thing to watch a parent who is in decline. This may include physical failings, cognitive decline, loss of memory, forgetfulness, disturbed sleep patterns, and bad decisions. The person who once took care of you is simply no longer able to take care of themselves. What responsibilities do you have toward family? 

In this article,  I’m going to relate some thoughts regarding the care of an elderly parent and some considerations for general preparedness planning, not necessarily TEOTWAWKI. This is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject of hospice, elder care, legal issues, or anything …


Some Elements of American Redoubt Culture

It has been said that most regions of the United States have distinct norms and cultures. Though we lack a distinctive accent, Redoubters definitely have our own culture. To sum it up in one sentence, I’d say the culture is marked by: fierce independence and conservatism, but with a kindly streak.  I’ll try to articulate that more fully, in the rest of this essay.