Round 55 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

First prize goes to SheperdFarmerGeek for “Ebola Unafraid: A Preliminary Ebola Treatment Protocol, Part 1” & “Part 2” as well as “Making Your Own, Part 1” & “Part 2” which was posted on October 27, 28 and November 11, 12. He will receive the following prizes: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, DRD Tactical …




Letter Re: SurvivalBlog Advertiser Safecastle

JWR, I just thought I’d send you a quick note about one of your sponsors, Safecastle. I placed a $200 food order with them, based on them being one of your sponsors. A month later, it still hadn’t arrived, so I called, just to check on the status of the order. I figured with the Ebola panic, everything was back-ordered. I called, and it was answered by… gasp!… an actual person. She pulled up the order and “oops! we blew it. You should’ve gotten it a long time ago. No excuses. You’ll have it in two days, and we’ll throw …




Letter Re: Question on Audiobook Formats for Liberators

Hello Jim, I purchased your latest novel Liberators last week and have just now received it. Forgive my lack of modern tech-no-media; however, the CD I ordered was the new MP3 format, which none of my older devices can play. Do you offer a traditional CD set? Dealing directly with Amazon is a pain sometimes, so I was hoping you might be able to advise me. Best Regards, – Steve G. JWR Replies: Sorry, but I don’t sell any CDs directly. You can listen to your existing MP3 CD with just about any laptop computer, or on newer car stereos. …




Round 54 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

First Prize goes to LEO Medic for “Musings of a Law Enforcement Paramedic, Part 1”, “Part 2”, “Part 3”, “Part 4”, and “Part 5”, which was posted on September 2-6, 2014. He will receive the following prizes: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 Nato QD Billet upper with …




Letter: SurvivalBlog Advertisers

I noticed RepackBox giving a gift certificate as a prize, so I decided to check them out. I ordered boxes in several sizes and found them to be of excellent quality and strong enough to hold 50 rds. securely. I also ordered .50 cal ammo cans and found them to be as advertised, new, and solidly made– not some knock off. The service was excellent, and I had my boxes the same week I ordered them. Every advertiser I have used through your blog has been honest and sell what they say they do. Thanks for a good job! – …




Round 53 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

We have completed Round 53 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest! First Prize goes to M.H. for “Killing, Dying, and Death – Part I” and “Part II”, which was posted on Sunday July 27 and Tuesday July 29, 2014. He will receive the following prizes: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, Two cases of …













JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

Today, I’m launching a new weekly column to focus on the books and movies that I have found particularly useful and entertaining. I either have these on the shelf here at the Rawles Ranch, or they’ve been recommended to me by my family members or close friends. Please note that many of my movie recommendations are not “training films”; they are simply entertainment. Also note that many of these films depict times of peril, so they are not suitable for children! Books Cookin’ with Home Storage by Vicki Tate Raising a Calf for Beef by Phyllis Hobson Wolf And Iron …




Thoughts on Nevada, by SFE

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 That scripture came to my mind as I thought about the tragedy in Nevada when two soulless people murdered two police officers and a good Samaritan who marched to the sound of the guns and paid the ultimate price by placing himself in harm’s way in the defense of others. Without seeking to second guess the dead and without full information, I would like to make a few comments. I’m assuming that everyone is aware now of the shooting in Las …




Round 52 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

We have completed Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest! First Prize goes to T.Y. for “Low Moisture Aged Cheese – Hard food for Hard Times”, which was posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. He will receive the following prizes: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried …




Reading the New Blog Format for iPads/iPods

For those who have eyes like mine, the font on an iPad/iPod is difficult to read, but there is an answer. Since everyone’s eyes are different, it doesn’t make sense to regulate that aspect of the blog from the server side. Rather, each iPad/iPod needs to adjust specifically for its user. To that end, these instructions should alleviate the issue. If you are using a Windows or an Android tablet/phone, there should be similar methods available to you as well. For those who want the advertisements to show on the smaller screen identical to the desktop, you pretty much have …




Writing Projects Update from Jim Rawles

As most of you know, for nine years I posted SurvivalBlog daily, almost without fail. (I did take a break for a few days, immediately after my first wife passed away.) In January, I decided to hire a Managing Editor, to allow myself the time to concentrate on some other projects. Hugh Latimer assumed the day-to-day responsibilities of editing and posting SurvivalBlog two months ago. He has done a truly commendable job of maintaining the continuity of the blog. Not one to rest on my laurels, I have been quite busy with completing two contracted book manuscripts: Liberators: A Novel …




Introducing SurvivalBlog’s New Product Review Editor

I am pleased to announce that SurvivalBlog has selected Scot Frank Eire (a pen name) as our new Product Review Editor. He is a perfect fit for the blog, both editorially, experientially, and in personality. For those that are curious, his pen name is a play on Scotts Irish as well as working in “Frank” from the Frankish tribes the city of Frankfurt is named for. Frankfurt is where his family was based in the mid-18th century. Here are a few details about Scot: He has spent the bulk of his career in Newspaper publishing as both a photographer and …