Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Three Letter Re: Cartridge Reloading Dollars and Cents

James, Having just read the letters regarding reloading economics, I noticed the following caveats and had two important points about them:   1.  “do not shoot lead bullets in a Glock” because of the polygonal rifling.  Polygonal rifling essentially creates rifling engagement angles that are less than 90 degrees, therefore whatever bullet material you use seals the bore better (because it’s easier to deform lead/copper into a rifling groove that has a more obtuse (open) angle) than a sharp 90 degree angle.    A standard cartridge fired out of a conventionally rifled barrel will travel faster out of a polygonal rifled …


Cartridge Reloading Dollars and Cents, by R.S.O. in Arizona

While we are all preparing for something most of us are not financially secure there for we must stretch our Dollars as long as we have them as a form of currency.  Here in falls the concept of reloading your own ammunition.  Because face it we need to practice and we need to store for when the supply runs out.  Let’s start by doing a little math, Ammo 9mm Luger Winchester USA 115 Grain FMJ 1190 fps 100 Round Box $21.11 x 10 = $211.10 bought online.  Now let’s order the individual component parts online and see how much we …


Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants, by Slim

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors survived for generations by gathering the food that nature provided. Some of those plants contain natural remedies to many common problems, and in fact are where many modern pharmaceuticals come from.  In this article we will be discussing various edible plants mostly found in the north east United States, as well as a few others. Provisos: Before getting started you should be warned that some plants can be highly toxic. We will cover some common look-a-likes, but you should never eat a plant unless you are one hundred percent sure of what you’re eating. Wild poisonous plants often resemble non-poisonous …


An Introductory How To Guide to Wild Herbal Medicine, by P. Farms Mike

DISCLAIMER:  I am not a medical professional.  All advice given in this article should be discussed with your doctor before attempting to use them.  Please be cautious that all plants that you use have been properly identified before using them medically. After a societal collapse, no matter the cause, store bought medicine will disappear.  If you are like my wife and I you have stored up medicines along with your food, water, and all the rest.  However, if the collapse will be long term then sooner or later you are going to run out of medicine.  About a year ago, …


Letter Re: An Arrow Re-Fletching Project

Dear JWR: The writer about traditional projectile weapons seems to have missed the most used feather for fletching arrows.  The best ever used that I am aware of is the turkey feather. They are known to stop 12Ga. birdshot pretty successfully.  That is why turkey loads are more powerful, and contain larger shot sizes. Lesser pellets flatten out and fall off the bird. Good fletching.  The American Indians then used a fiber (perhaps of hemp?)  to wind them to the shaft of the arrow, after splitting and shaping, of course. Not sure if there was any other kind of adhesive …


An Arrow Re-Fletching Project by H. of Bradenton

I decided to begin approaching the problem of surviving a possible collapse from the perspective of after it happened rather than before. And unless there is some extraordinary and unlikely event that sweeps this nation, one commodity that will certainly be depleted is firearm ammunition. There will be no running up to Wal-Mart or you local gunsmith shop to purchase more. Exotic and uncommon calibers will virtually disappear; whereas the more common will be in high demand. Trade and barter will eventually ensue to replenish to some extent expended rounds; but, that will come from an ever-diminishing original supply. With …


Letter Re: A Self-Sufficient Vermonter

Hi James,  Thank you for SurvivalBlog. It’s an incredible resource. I thought you and your readers mind find this interesting: There is a man that lives with his family on his 24 acre parcel of forested mountain in Vermont, completely off the grid using hydro-electric and solar for power and a natural spring for water. He builds everything himself, including his house and workshop. His land is mostly accessible only on foot (though he has cleared a road — by hand). This guy is building a giant mechanical robot. Seriously. But the best part is that all of this is documented …


Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Cartridge Handloading

Mr. Rawles, Kent C.’s article about handloading is a very informative piece.  However, I’d like to provide a little supplemental information.  First off is the matter of cost.  Kent makes the point, with good mathematical support, that reloading doesn’t really save much money when reloading common calibers (your primary guns are in common caliber, aren’t they?), but there are a couple elements he did not mention.  I have a friend who, in conjunction with a couple other guys, put in a large freight order of reloading components for several different common calibers.  We’re talking five-digit bullet counts here, with equal …


Some Thoughts on Cartridge Handloading, by Kent C.

In reading Don’s response to my first article, I’m going to write about a subject I was saving for next month, but I think is germane now. And I’ll probably forget it by then. Let’s talk about reloading, which also gets short shrift in a lot of books. Note–I’m not going to go into a great deal of technique here. There are books on that. If you like, I can provide my e-mail address and would be willing to answer questions that way. I’m also not going to tell you what brand of press or dies I use. If you …


What to Do With It, After It Hits the Fan, by Elizabeth J.

In Arizona a disgruntled city employee, upset with budget cuts made in 2011, manually shut down numerous valves to a large city plant. His goal was to build up enough methane gas to blow up a quarter city block.  Luckily, two hours after shutting off the valves he surrendered with no damage to the plant, and citizens were not affected by the protest.  What if there had been damage to the plant? It is time to think about these things.  After the poo hits the fan, it keeps coming! So now the question is, what are we going to with …


How to Eat the Abundance Around You, by Linda Runyon

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Long before the days of supermarkets and organized agriculture, people lived.  We are the evidence.  They lived in small groups and even alone as hunter gatherers.  And remember, this was in the days before language!  How did we do it?  Trial and error?  Instinct?  If so, the instinct has been lost, but with some simple rules, it may be regained. The good news is we don’t have to watch Uncle Ogg keel over in agony after grazing on a patch of poison hemlock to know that it’s something to stay away from. Solutions to common problems such as what to …


Four Seasons of Gardening Lessons, by Mrs. B. in the Midwest

Although I had a front-row financial services seat for the market collapse in 2008, it wasn’t until fall 2010 that I was stuck by an awakening that “something wicked this way comes.” With a master’s degree in Medieval Literature (it’s not as useless as it sounds, really) two things I have studied are the ravages of war and famine over the centuries, both of which desperately scare me as the mother of two young children. I have paid particular attention to the many SurvivalBlog entries on gardening, one of my few practical skills. Most are either submitted by seasoned vegetable …


My Gardening Journey, by Mr. Black Thumb Turned Green

Planting a garden is a sure way to find out about yourself.  Are you impatient and reckless?  Are you detail-oriented and methodical?  If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will when you till up some soil.  Three years ago at this time, I hadn’t ever planted a garden.  The last time I was even in a garden was when I was 10 years old at my grandma’s house many seasons ago.  I found out that year that I didn’t like gardening as my experience with it was mostly weeding.  Sure, I got to eat some carrots or turnips out …


Horseback Riding for Children and Beginners – A Primer, by Elaine M.

Many children today are ill prepared to safely conduct themselves in a variety of natural settings. Watching all the parents around me twist themselves into knots dropping off and picking up their children, running them constantly to practices and clubs and using all their vacation days to be with the precious children on every field trip, it is apparent that wrapping children in steel wool is still strongly favored. The world is a harsh place and many of these children are ill prepared for a really bad situation. Older but still useful skills can encourage independence in a child and …


Fire: Your Partner in Survival, by D.P.

Eons ago when people lived in caves, one of their most important tools was fire.  Its ability to keep them warm, cook food, provide light, and scare away predators was of the utmost importance.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that a societal upheaval will mean returning to a stone age existence, but when the systems that keep our everyday life humming along go down, fire will once again have a huge impact on our ability to survive. This fact was brought home to my wife and me two winters ago, when a February blizzard knocked …