Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities

HJL, A very short but pointed book is How Do You Kill 11 Million People?. If things collapse, there will be radio broadcasts or just assumptions that rescue will come. The Jews were told by the Nazis that the trains were to take them to safety so they didn’t fight until they couldn’t. I’ve been through two major “grid down” situations in an urban setting. The first was an ice storm in southeastern Michigan, where there was no power for two weeks. The second was the east coast blackout about a decade ago. In the first case, it was just …


What We Lack In Training Can Be An Advantage- Part 2, by R.W.

Unfortunately, when we talk about FM and defense, we are probably going to wind up taking it up a notch to talk about guns and, of course, which guns are best for a WROL situation. Tons of articles abound about this topic, but suffice it to say I believe it is our duty to have a weapon or weapons and be people who are trained and proficient at using them effectively. Though the adage says “He who runs away will live to play another day,” that may not always be an option; if confrontation can be avoided and if use …


Letter Re: On the Golden Horde

Good day, Mr Rawles. It’s been a while since I’ve written to you or submitted anything, almost half a decade, in fact. How time flies. At any rate, having approached prepping from many angles for near a decade now, I wanted to share an opinion about the much-discussed Golden Horde. People seem infatuated with the idea of predicting what the uninitiated will do when a civilization-ending calamity occurs. “People will stay put,” says one. “People will flood out of the city,” says another. Bitter arguments ensue, neither recognizing that the very fact that they’re arguing indicates that they’re both right …


Letter: A Few Random Thoughts

Hugh, Here are some random thoughts on more outdoor work than usual when water is precious: Stock talcum powder, no-rinse washes, Lubriderm (or generic) hand lotion, lip balm. More on non-power tools: Get lots of can openers, because they all fail, older U.S.-made ones from yard sales will last longer; stock U.S.-made GI versions as backup because they always work. Egg beaters and hand drills with an idler gear on the back side are more durable, not just from the support but because they are better quality to begin with. Antique shops are high $ place to shop for hand …


Letter Re: Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness

Dear Editor: I have a response to Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness (A Cautionary Tale), by Bob C. from Oct. 9, 2015. H is article brings out the idea that beauty is way more than skin deep, an idea that I totally agree with and often share with young people. My husband and I are in the ministry and we often deal with teens who have not been taught the value of selecting a mate based on other qualities besides physical attraction. So, I think I understand the author’s point. I would just like to comment that …


The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities, by Patrice Lewis

A common concern among rural people in a grid-down situation is the concept of marauding urbanites swarming through the countryside looting and pillaging — the so-called Golden Horde. I addressed this issue on my blog a few months ago when a reader noted, “You can hide yourself, but not your garden. Are you going to take your beef herd into your house with you? In any long-term crisis situation, your cattle and garden will be indefensible and therefore gone in a matter of months. You cannot protect them from a determined large, armed group.” This reader respectfully listed what he …


Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness (A Cautionary Tale), by Bob C.

If you ask 10 different preppers this question you will undoubtedly receive 10 different answers. In the world of prepping this is tantamount to asking what a person’s favorite sports team is. The answers may range from building the right bugout bag, the right escape from the city plan, or buying land in the right location and building a retreat. Most of them may have completely valid points as to why what they say is in fact the most important thing to do but most of them fall short in one main regard. No matter what they do to prepare …


From Debt to Rural Independence, by R.T. in Georgia

You may read that the first thing you should do when prepping to prep is to get out of debt, but there is not much depth beyond that in the description of why you should get out of debt. My family has made a journey from debt to sustainability over the last seven years and absolutely the main thing that enabled that to happen was getting rid of our consumer debt. This is a quick description of one family’s fortune, what God allowed us to do and the opportunities that were made available to us when we took the challenge …


Sun Tzu and The Art of Prepping, by B.F.

Around 2,500 years ago, a Chinese general named Sun Tzu wrote a treatise called “The Art of War.” I first read it when I was in Officer’s Candidate School back in the 1970s. There are a number of translations and interpretations of the book available today. It is claimed that Marco Polo brought back a copy from his travels in the Thirteenth Century. I have also read where writers say that Von Clausewitz used Sun Tzu’s principles when he wrote “On War” and that (probably closer to the truth) Napoleon had a copy that had been first translated into French …


Gun Show Tips and Tricks, by Prepper Ray

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By now, many of you reading this should have attended a few gun shows. If not, you should go to one. All across the country these shows are meccas for shooting enthusiasts, survivalists, and gun collectors. Gun shows are great places to pick up items that you just can’t find anywhere else. But be warned, you won’t always get the best deal at a gun show unless you have the right tools and information before arriving at the show. Here are a few tips and hints along with a little insider information so that you can get the most out …


Letter: What You “Learn” Can Kill You

HJL, My name is Mark and I’m a Prepper. Sounds faintly like how you’d introduce yourself at an AA meeting, but even though I’m afflicted by the Prepping bug it’s not a disease like most of America would want you to think. Most of my family years ago were farmers and poor backwoods people. So prepping was the only way to survive the harsh winters after the short growing seasons. I fell into it easily being raised to hunt and raise a garden. When the last administration was installed in 2009 I saw what was happening. And being former military, …


Wilderness Fire: An Unexpected Retreat From Our Retreat, by L.F.P.

We have a boat-in only glamorous camping (“glamping”) retreat on a large lake in the West on the very edge of Wilderness-designated public forest land. The nearest road is more than three miles away. We were there in early August on summer vacation from the city. Several small lightning-caused wilderness fires had been burning for more than a month during the ongoing drought conditions. These fires flared up in very rugged terrain due to a rare severe August windstorm with gusts above 60 mph. The smoke had started to get noticeable on the lake and light ash was raining down …


A SHTF Guide to Mass Casualty Incidents, by W.G. Curry, NRP, TP-C

I’ve written this article with a hypothetical situation interspersed between some factual text: Your eyelids peel apart and allow dust to fall onto your eyes as you force them open and shut while rubbing them with filthy fists in an effort to washout some of the debris. The ringing noise is loud in your ears. “I wish it would stop,” you declare to yourself. A terrible ache forms in the depth of your skull. You ache all over. “What happened, where am I,” you ask? As your blurry vision begins to brighten and sharpen, you can see ash in the …


A Beginners Guide to Practical Prepping: Lessons From a True Story of Disaster, by R.L.

It was September 1989, a time in history that is forever burned into my memory. I was working as a firefighter in a small town outside Columbia, South Carolina. Hurricane Hugo had developed in the Atlantic, it was ripping apart the Carribean islands and it was headed our way. All the news on television and radio were inundated with updates on this killer storm; we were tuned into the Weather Channel at the firehouse carefully watching and waiting. The original forecast was that the Category 4 hurricane would turn north and only threaten the North Carolina coast. It was assumed …


Letter Re: Occupying Your Community- Part 2, by B.S.C.

Hugh, As a comment to the article titled Occupying Your Community, I don’t have a bug-out bag, because I don’t have anywhere better to go than my own castle. – Mr. X HJL Replies: Like you, I do not have anywhere better to go than my own home/retreat. (I live at my rural retreat year-round.) However, not having a bug-out bag (BOB) and quick get-away kit (see Tina Lewis Rowe’s suggestions) is terribly shortsighted. There could be many reasons that you might be forced to leave your castle beyond those addressed in B.S.C’s article. (In my area, the substantial threats …