Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Letter Re: It Takes a Brickmaker To Build a Village

Mr Rawles & Co., I recently found a project on the Kickstarter web site while browsing for good DIY options for brick making machines. The project seems right up any survivalist’s or prepper’s alley in that it involves designing cheap and durable machinery for use after the collapse of civilization, using mostly only scrap metal or other junk. If successful, the end result is going to be an open-source database (and various CDs) containing schematics and instructions for the construction of at least 50 machines and vehicles. These include brick makers, primitive CNC machine tools, tractors etc. (You get the …


Weekend Homesteaders, by R.M.H.

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This is the story of how two middle-aged city dwellers became weekend homesteaders, and how we bumbled our way through planning and building an off-grid survival cabin. Top to bottom, the project took about two years to complete, working only on weekends. We started out naïve but ambitious, and learned everything as we went along. Our off-the-grid plans actually began with an intriguing documentary. The program posed a series of questions: What would you do without power for two days? For two weeks? For two months? The show went on to explain how incredibly fragile the power grid is, and …


How to Defend a Retreat Against Wheeled Vehicle Threats, by B.W. in Pennsylvania

I recently finished JWR’s latest novel “Survivors”and have read it predecessor, “Patriots”. I have realized that there were some things that the retreat owner could do to better prepare the land to prevent or slow down vehicles from entering your ground. Although the offsetting of obstacles works well in funneling, this does not stop vehicles. I think of my own retreat and how I plan on defending it, I thought back to my former MOS when I was in the service. Although I can block the roads into the farms that sit on the lane, there is a power line …


Letter Re: Land of Plenty–Establishing or Reclaiming an Orchard

Mr. Rawles,  I very much enjoyed the recent article on orchards. Fruit and nut bearing trees are definitely low maintenance. I am now benefiting from my forebearers’ efforts to establish fruit and nut bearing trees and bushes. One thing that they always did if they could: They would always plant a few trees every year. It’s a habit. It doesn’t cost a lot at a time to plant one or two trees a year, and it’s a lot less work to maintain. If one dies, at whatever growing stage, you replant it. It’s always good to have a great variety …


Land of Plenty–Establishing or Reclaiming an Orchard, by D.V.

Like many preppers we are preparing for food shortages.  Gardening is a mainstay and takes knowledge and lots of work on a regular basis.  Harvesting wild foods requires specialized knowledge.  But orchards and vineyards are a mainstay for a long term homestead that had plenty of land.  For the purpose of this article, an orchard will refer to all reproducing fruits (cane, bushes, vines and trees) although there are technical names (orchard, vineyard or patch).  For our forefathers the planting of the orchard was a priority after a shelter and water source.  The practical reason behind this is that orchards …


Four Letters Re: Wattle and Daub Construction

Jim: Here are some more links to YouTube.com videos that I forgot to include with my previous note on wattle and daub construction. The links below include construction of a debris shelter, a good instruction on how to construct a clay and stone fire place with chimney.  When constructing a clay chimney without stones you need to build up about two feet and stop and let it dry, continue the next day with another two feet, etc, until you have a height that you prefer.  In log cabin construction in the old days they used to build chimneys of smaller …


Three Letters Re: Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper

J.W.R.: Greeting from a long time reader in Southeast Texas. Regarding the article “Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper” by Pat in Oregon: When I was a child some 60 years ago, my neighbor had a problem with pigeons eating the chicken feed.  She solved the problem with large rat traps, which you can still get in any hardware store.   She baited the traps with the feed and placed them on the fence posts.  She also attaching about two feet of string to the trap and tied it to a nail in the post.  This kept the pigeon from taking …


Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper, by Pat in Oregon

Most folks are familiar to some extent with animal trapping but have little experience.  In a TEOTWAWKI world I suggest there are several advantages that trapping will offer almost everyone.  With minimal equipment and some basic experience trapping can offer security, food, and economic opportunities.  Before taking any action please familiarize yourself with your local laws and requirements related to fur-bearing animals and trapping.   I trapped coyotes and bobcat back in my college days with a good friend.  It was a great time but required considerable equipment, preparation, effort, and skill.  Today I still do a lot of trapping, …


An Army Veteran’s Thoughts on Camouflage, by H.R.

In case of TEOTWAWKI, being successful in the art of camouflaging will be a serious matter. It will be necessary for many aspects of life to include; movement, reconnaissance, and ambush. Camouflaging is a multi-tiered animal, including camouflaging your skin, your clothing, your gear, and your weapon. I spent six years in the army as an Infantryman. As a result I personally have spent 26 months of my life in Iraq, and I have been on well over 500 combat patrols: to include raids and ambushes of all kinds. Camouflaging of your outfit or uniform begins with the construction of …


Letter Re: The Sling Shot Channel

Sir: I think you might enjoy Jörg Sprave’s slingshot channel on Youtube.com. His videos on his home made slingshot weapons, I mean he is something else!!  he has a slingshot rifle with scope, a pump action repeating slingshot sort a rifle or pistol device, one that shoots machetes (yikes!!!) and a cannon slingshot, etc, etc, etc.  I like the pump action job.  He even has a tutorial video on how he makes it.  He shoots .50 caliber lead balls and I think it is comparable  to  a firearm for knock down power and penetration.  he tests it on ballistics jell …


Four Letters Re: Homemade Powder Solvent For Gun Cleaning

JWR: There is a great reference for barrel cleaning and break-in procedures that is available free on web, courtesy of Krieger–a well known barrel maker. It is a reference worth printing out. – J. McW. Jim, Just a quick note on the letter about home made gun solvent. He mentions that “All of these solvents comes in colored glass to keep out sunlight.” He goes on to mention hard liquor bottles as a possibility. My problem with them is their size. You can get the “pocket flask” but most often you see 750 ML and 1.5L bottles. Common old beer …


Letter Re: How to Butcher a Squirrel

Dear Sir, I write to correct a glaring omission in the now-archived SurvivalBlog article "How to Butcher a Squirrel", by B.T.: There was no mention of scraping the "Vel" from inside the skin as this is the only fat available on a squirrel or rabbit.   Eating only lean meat protein can take a lot of energy to digest and if under cooked it may result in it taking more energy to digest it than you get from it so you deplete your reserves instead of adding to them.   Without this fat you have wasted the energy held within. Many …


Some Seed Saving Advice, by Lydia S.

Currently I have a couple hundred tomato seeds in my supplies. For the moment, I am focusing on cv. “Raincross Rock” as that is saved seed for a variety I happen to be developing. If I continue to grow and save this variety each year, those few seeds pretty much means that my friends and family (and hopefully many generations into the future) will be assured of a bounty of tomatoes each year. Such is the promise of seed saving! However, not every plant in every place is a great candidate for seed saving. Plants have rules, too, and while …


Building a Fire in a Post-Collapse World, by Entropy

Recently (based on a suggestion by a SurvivalBlog reader) I began a Meetup Group for Emergency Preparedness.  One of the Meetup events that I’m soon to host is entitled “To Build a Fire”.  Hosting this Meetup which I originally conceived as simply a fire building class has forced me to think logically about tactical fire building in a WTSHTF scenario where you are forced to build a fire for survival purposes.  I’ve synthesized these ideas into this article. By “tactical” what I mean is “low observability” because technically no true definition of tactical perfectly fits this discussion.  However people should …


Letter Re: Is There Utility in Melting Silver for Ingots?

Mr Rawles:s Silver alloys cannot be refined by just melting and skimming the dross from the top–no precious metal alloy can.  Silver alloys usually contain copper as a hardener, some of the new sterling used in jewelry is alloyed with other metals to keep it from tarnishing.  Simply melting silver will not cause the copper to rise to the top and oxidize. Separating silver from copper requires nitric acid and should not be attempted at home.  I’m not sure how some of the other alloys are refined.  Furthermore a home chemist will never get scrap silver refined to .9999 or …