Category: Survival Mindset

Basic Preparations for Urban Outskirts in Third World Countries, by Jorge Gato

The following observations are geared toward expats or even locals living in the Third World, although most would apply as well to residents of the First World. Here in México, there have been countless horror stories, albeit, most of them not life threatening and essentially not classifiable as DEFCON 1 situations. Both expats and locals have been the victims of countless assaults. An acquaintance on the street was recently told simply to hand over his money and music player. Another fellow, a philosopher, became inspired at midnight on a city street and only had his laptop to record his divine …


Letter Re: An Expat’s View of Overseas Relocation and Expatriation

CPT Rawles, I want to provide a counterpoint to AmEx’s letter about the futility of permanent expatriation.  I too have taken a job overseas, after much effort, and am establishing myself permanently in a particular country in Asia.  I agree with AmEx that renouncing one’s US citizenship is probably a bit much, I think he severely underestimates the danger that the US government will (I believe) present to it’s citizens.  While I am still a US citizen, my wife, who earns all our non-salary income privately, and our children are not.  This is something we worked out years ago to limit the reach of my government into our lives. …


Prepping the Space Between Your Ears, by Tona

I don’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t doing at least some planning for “worst case” situations.  That may have come from growing up in an earthquake prone part of the country, and during the cold war when we drilled for nuclear attacks during the school day.  My mother, who was a single parent through much of my life, also modeled planning for “hard times” by storing food, following world and local trends closely, and being careful with money.  I became serious and more intentional in prepping following Katrina, when it confirmed my suspicion that we had …


Letter Re: Defending Static Positions in a Survival Setting

Good day, Mister Rawles. Thank you, as always, for the good work you do. Regarding J.G.’s article homestead defence, it occurred to me that stand-off situations would become a likely possibility. Reasonably, a group of attackers will launch an assault on your homestead and either succeed or fail to kill/capture you. If they succeed the point is moot, but if they fail, what then? Unless their force is clustered or small you’re unlikely to kill them all. Odds are strong that after half their force (or maybe less) gets ventilated the rest will attempt to retreat. What will they do …


Letter Re: Rules of Engagement and Escalation of Force for the Armed Citizen

Recently Fox News published an article about a Hew Hampshire man being arrested on reckless endangerment for discharging a firearm into the ground as a warning shot to stop a burglar. Reading that article got me thinking about what rules of engagement and escalation of force would look like for civilians. As a former infantry officer and combat veteran of the U.S. Army, I am familiar with the Army’s rules of engagement (ROE) and the use of escalation of force (EOF). Soldiers have a clearly defined set of rules of engagement and escalation of force for different scenarios from peace-time …


Bugging Out, But to Where?, by Paddy O.

I read a lot of material in SurvivalBlog and several other similar sites about methods and means of bugging out if you live in a city or other area where it would be undesirable to live during some kind of calamity.  After seeing so much about this idea of waiting until the SHTF, or some other event that would necessitate leaving the area in which you live, I feel the need to weigh in and give the position of the person who’s already living in the area to which many of the city dwellers are being encouraged to bug out …


Simple Defense Tactics That Can Save Your Life, by Belle Ringer

As a woman, I had heretofore never envisioned myself in the scenarios I am about to describe.  The decay of our society and culture has made it necessary for me to know how to defend myself.  It hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but professional training in proper handgun handling has empowered me.   Through hours of practice, I am learning to be a responsible and proficient handgun owner.  I take my privilege of carrying a gun seriously, and recent national events should serve to inform all of us to avoid violent encounters whenever possible.  I carry a gun …


Ninja Prepping: Learning from the Medieval Mystery Warriors of Japan, by Alex N.

Imagining guys running around in black pajamas and swords, disappearing in a puff of smoke? Well let’s start with a proper… non Hollywood idea of what the Ninja were… or are… and then see what we can learn from them. Today we have this image of the Ninja as evil assassins sneaking around Japanese castles and killing under cover of night. What most people don’t know is that the Ninja were simple farmers, priests and shopkeepers who were forced out of Japanese society and hunted by their own government. They were the ultimate survivors. In fact the word Ninja in …


Predator or Prey: The Single Parent Survival Guide, by Sarah B.

While the majority of single parents are women, men too can be found in this situation. Generally speaking, single women with children are usually on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Let’s face it, poorer young mothers (or fathers) with very young children need to learn survival skills as much as anyone else, and do not have the financial resources to buy all they need.  So what do you do if you are a single woman with a babe-in-arms and two toddlers and have no money? I can tell you what you can’t do, you can’t sit around and …


Communication Skills: Key Tools for Survival, by S.S.F.

Most people wouldn’t keep .22 shells on hand for their .30-06 rifle.  They likely wouldn’t waste space in their pantry, storage, garden or go-bag for foodstuffs that were not calorically or nutritionally dense compared with the space they occupied Each serious or well-intentioned survivalist knows how precious resources, energy, space and time can be, and would likely strive for a high level of efficiency.  Being well prepared and resourceful is a cornerstone of success when it comes to survival. And yet, there is a fundamental tool that is oft overlooked- effective communication strategies. The tools in a survivalist’s arsenal should …


Selling the Truth, by Ben S.

I am not sure on when it happened, or how it happened, all I know is that it happened. I woke up one morning and realized that I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t know what I needed a plan for. Something inside of me was tearing at my chest, not in the form of fear, but in the form of urgency. I started to react instantly and in an almost frantic way because I knew that there was something very important I needed to do. After a couple of weeks I stopped myself and took two steps back …


Letter Re: Change Your Mind, Save Your Life

Jim, There seems to be a lot of debate on ‘should I head for the hills, post-SHTF‘. In my opinion, what most people miss is: Yes, it is a bad idea to head for the hills with no firmly established destination. Either move now or establish a place you are welcome to before the SHTF. I doubt a small town will be welcoming strangers in that situation. As for the fantasy of ‘living off the land’, you and 85 million other people? Ever try to bag a deer during hunting season with the limits in place today? – Ross JWR …


Change Your Mind, Save Your Life, by Marc P.

Apocalypse: en route or ongoing? I won’t argue whether something terrible will happen. It’s a flawed premise. Something terrible is already happening, just not where your computer is plugged in. It is not necessary for the entire planet to be threatened for a single region to be thrown into chaos. It wasn’t necessary for the whole state of Louisiana to be in peril before New Orleans turned medieval after Katrina. The mistake in logic occurs with the base assumption that a survival scenario is the end game. If that’s your assumption, there’s no need for extensive preparations. All you can …


Musings of a Newbie Prepper, by Tyson D.

After being raised on my grandfather’s farm, spending time in the military and being a first responder for the last 15 years, it is strange to find myself being a Newbie in the daunting task of creating an emergency preparedness cache for my family.  I now find myself living in a suburban/rural area of a major metropolitan city and a long way from where I grew up and started learning about some of the skills needed to survive.  I’ve always considered myself to be a prepared, self-sufficient individual.  I’ve hunted small and large game, I’ve backpacked in the backcountry for …


Letter Re: Prospects for the Eastern U.S. in a Societal Collapse

Mr. Rawles, Can you provide more detailed information on what you believe will happen East of the Mississippi River in and around major population centers in the event of a collapse.  You briefly addressed this when you were interviewed by Michael Ruppert in his Collapsenet podcast program last year.  Most of the population simply can’t relocate to the Western mountain states much less realistically get out of debt.  As I believe it was stated on your web site some years ago it will be a “Come as you are collapse” and that is what we all will get.  I’m perhaps …