Category: Survival Mindset

Dragging Your Family Into Preparedness, by W.M.

I am 52 years old – a working woman, a wife, mother, stepmother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, and daughter.  My parents had six children, I have six grown children, and you can start counting out from there.  We are a big family.  We are the typical outgrowth of middle class American suburbia.  Some of us are financially better off, but all of us are accustomed to our luxuries, even if that means rich, freshly ground coffee in the morning or a delicious sip of good red wine in the evening.  Many of us lost substantial resources during the past …


A Prepared Child is a Safe Child, by Gary T.

I am a father of three and have one on the way. My oldest is now almost 20 years old. One thing I have learned over the years as a father is not to underestimate children and young adults. I am pretty blunt and a straightforward guy, if anyone gets anything from what I share it is this….if you love your children then do not shelter them, prepare them! Let’s tackle the big one first, children and gun’s. When my oldest was around four years of age he had a rare opportunity for someone so young, he got to see …


Get Home Bag Lessons Learned, by Traveling Salesman David

I’ve been seriously prepping for a decade and consider myself a prepared and competent guy.   Y2K got me started, but the events of the past few years have kicked my preps into higher gear.   I’m confidant with my guns and food storage.  I have alternate power and heat sources established at both our home and retreat location.  I have a co-worker who includes me in his prepper group’s  meetings.  My family (immediate and some extended) is on board with our plans for TEOTWAWKI.   Although I’m not where I want to be, I’m know I’m better off than 98% of the …


Letter Re: Combating the Darkness Within

Jim, Reading Paul’s “Combating the Darkness Within” article, I can see that he has a scientific mind, lacking faith in God, or maybe even belief! And this is one of the first things you need in the survival mind set, a true faith in God, and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and without this guidance, no matter how prepared your are materially, your chances of making the right decisions when the time comes are questionable at best, without God’s spirit guiding you. This is why you always store a little more than what you need for [charity for] your family, friends and …


Combating The Darkness Within, by Paul B.

I am a new arrival to the survival community.  Until recently I was just another mindless suburbanite going about my daily routine blissfully ignorant of the world around me.  It was only by chance that a series of events happened in my life that opened my eyes to needs of survival preparation.  I won’t say that I was completely clueless about survival, but rather it simply wasn’t real to me.  Yes, I knew that tough times are just over the horizon but I simply believed that I would make it through somehow.  Ironically, it was the housing crisis that completely …


Letter Re: Unprepared Sheeple in the Wilderness

Good Morning Mr. Rawles!  I had to share this link with you: Maryland Hiker Uses iPhone App For New Year’s Eve Rescue. In brief: a man out hiking on New Year’s Eve Day got lost in the wilderness.  He used his cell phone to call rescuers, and then used his “flashlight” app on the cell phone to shine a light so that the rescuers could be lowered down to him on the trail and lead him out.   My sons, who are both experienced scouters and back country hikers who teach wilderness survival watched this news story in disbelief  last …


Letter Re: When The Ancient Mayans Got Out of Dodge — All The Way To Georgia

Dear Editor: I’m sure that the readers of SurvivalBlog will find this quote of interest, from an article entitled Ruins in Georgia mountains show evidence of Maya connection: “In July of 2011, Waldrup furnished a copy of the 2000 Stratum Unlimited, LLC archaeological report to People of One Fire members.  Those with experiences at Maya town sites instantly recognized that the Track Rock stone structures were identical in form to numerous agricultural terrace sites in Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Johannes Loubser’s radiocarbon dates exactly matched the diaspora from the Maya lands and the sudden appearance of large towns with …


Letter Re: How I Survived an Attempted Murder

Hi James, In reference to A.’s recent article “How I Survived an Attempted Murder”, we lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the early 1990s. I taught at the American School in Guayaquil called The International Academy. We bought an Isuzu Trooper and drove over 20,000 miles during our stay there. We visited many areas on the frontier with Columbia and Peru that were described to us a bandit country, often drove out into the mountains to distant villages that seemed to have hardly had any contact with Europeans or Americans. Several times drove all the way east of Quito over the backbone …


How I Survived an Attempted Murder, by A. in Ecuador

I am an American in Ecuador, and I have a story to tell.  This happened in July and I should absolutely be dead.  A little introduction to the kind of person that I am.  Growing up in Alaska and playing in the great outdoors has always been a huge part of my life.  When I was a couple of years old, my wonderful father would strap me on his back and take my sister and I fishing.  I absolutely love him for that.  The beauty and serenity of the great outdoors has always been a stress reliever for me.  My …


Getting Prepared For a Disaster on a Tight Budget, by L.G.W.

In a perfect world, if something went wrong, my family and I would get in our off-road vehicle and travel to my fully stocked large retreat cabin, that sits on a thousand acres of farm land, complete with it’s own water source, (a spring fed creek and stocked lake), its own vegetable garden,  surrounded by plentiful game and its own moat. Our six-bedroom cabin, with it’s own array of photovoltaic (PV) panels, charge controller, and battery system, along with our solar hot water system, and fireplace, and it’s stocked pantry with several years worth of food and ammunition- would be …


Save Them!, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Spokane was sparkling with light and still bustling when I looked out at it from a downtown building last night. So beautiful in the darkness. My thoughts went out to the hundreds of thousands of little children, women, grandmothers, grandfathers, boys, girls, and men those lights represented. Not just people – persons, each one unique, each with God’s calling on their lives for His purposes. Yet most of them are lost: hopelessly adrift in an empty, frantic, stupid, shallow culture of blindness and conformity and entertainment. Like the people of Jonah’s time they metaphorically don’t know their right hand from …


Practical Preparedness Perceptions, by Charles S.

In the past Americans expected to be prepared.  Whether it was helping to raise a barn, saving seed for the next spring planting, or being part of the local militia, it was expected that you would be ready.  Today we have become increasingly more dependant on others to do such things for us.  Many people wonder if we need to know how to save food, cut wood or light an oil lamp. If you are reading this you are probably fully aware of the value of preparedness, but maybe someone among your friends, family or neighbors needs convincing.  And convincing …


Maintaining Good Morale in a Survival Situation, by Lisa F.

While much has been written about the essentials of survival (emergency shelter, fire-making, water purification, defense, hunting, bug-out-bags, etc.), few survival experts have focused on ideas and tactics for maintaining morale and good mental health in a stressful and possibly sustained emergency situation.  This essay is intended to arm the reader, figuratively speaking, with some tools for helping people stay positive and energized while under stress.  These tips and ideas will be useful for any group, whether or not it includes children, or an individual.  The games are not my inventions; rather, I’ve picked them up over the years from …


Letter Re: Why are Preppers So Hatefully Persecuted?

Hello, I am writing about a topic that has bothered me for some time: Why are preppers so hatefully persecuted? We know from the Bible that this is not a new phenomenon, as Noah was severely persecuted for the preparations God ordered him to make. Could you please put it out to your readers? Thank you very much for your time, – Drew in Idaho JWR Replies: Envy is a sin that is all too common. That is just part of living in a sinful, fallen world. Those who are unprepared often feel both envy and guilt for not providing …


Taking The Gap–Your Move to The American Redoubt

I will soon be interviewed by John Jacob Schmidt on Radio Free Redoubt. The theme of this podcast hour will be “Taking The Gap”. My goal is to exhort listeners to re-prioritize their finances and set a goal–with a date attached–to make the move to the American Redoubt. (This region includes Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.) I urge preparedness-minded Christians and Jews of all races and from all walks of life to make the move, soon. I sincerely believe that the American Redoubt the will be the safest and most free place to live in North Americas in …