Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

The Hard Truth About Starting Your Survival Homestead, by Mitch M.

I have noticed a frightening trend being used by many of the “survival seed” companies that have started up in the past several years. The same trend shows up on many “survival/ prepping” web sites. This is pushing the idea that in TEOTWAWKI one merely needs to open the bucket and have an instant survival homestead. That isn’t necessarily so. Does buying the latest fancy rifle with rangefinder, laser pointer, and fancy toilet paper holder make you a marksman? There is a range of preparations and skills necessary for running a successful farm or homestead. That is why our forefathers …


The Ethics and Methodology of Sniping after TEOTWAWKI, by P.A.

Introduction Having served as a scout-sniper section leader in the United States Marine Corps’ Fifth Marine Regiment for two years from 2002-2004, I would like to share my thoughts regarding the application and role of sniping and long-range precision marksmanship (herein defined as shooting beyond 700 yards) in a TEOTWAWKI scenario.  Since the end of my enlistment I have had the opportunity to discuss emergency preparedness scenarios with the well-prepared, the well-grounded, and those that were neither.  Given my background the subject of sniping frequently comes up, and the sum of those conversations have led me to believe that there …


Letter Re: Cold Weather Patrol Tactics and Techniques

Dear JWR: Regarding the recent Cold Weather Patrol Tactics and Techniques article, just one note about condensation prevention from bringing a cold weapon indoors. Packing or leaving a heavy duty garbage or similar bag outside and placing your weapon inside the bag can greatly reduce condensation from the indoor climate. Just place your weapon completely inside the bag. I like to compress the opening in my hand like a balloon opening and instead of blowing into this opening, I suck as much air out as I can with my lungs. If two or more deep inhalations are required to remove …


Letter Re: Tips on Wild Food Foraging

Jim: I just wanted to add a note to a well-written article. In addition to wild plant collection, I would seriously look to ornamental plants in the landscape as sources of both edible foods and medicinal plants. I currently work at a botanic garden and have been identifying and eating wild plants as well as ornamental ones for more than 20 years. I also teach plant identification. As your article points out, season is everything. I am confident that I could walk into the woods from May through September and probably not starve to death. Late Fall and Winter are …


Cold Weather Patrol Tactics and Techniques, by B.P. in Colorado

With the onset of widespread severe winter weather over most of the continental United States, I thought it prudent to share my experiences with cold-weather small unit tactical operations. A little about me: As part of my active duty Army career, I spent three years stationed in Alaska in a leadership position in an Airborne Infantry battalion.  During those three years, we spent a significant amount of field time in sub-Arctic conditions, my longest deployment being two weeks in a tactical field environment in the frigid interior at temperatures pushing -40 degrees.  Through these exercises, I learned a lot about …


Letter Re: In Defense of Bolt Actions

Dear Jim and Family,   I have been shooting for a dozen years and I learned some things, going from BB guns and .22s to proper hunting rifles. I got started on .22s, to learn to shoot properly with them, and worked my way up to .223, which is an excellent teaching tool for marksmanship and as a backup firearm since its a milsurp caliber (5.56×45 NATO) and good for taking groundhogs, bunnies, squirrels, and coyotes at range. Mostly, its a [transitional] teaching round, same as a .22 LR. Its also useful in a proper length carbine, but its limitations must be …


Letter Re: Fuel Refining, 19th Century Style

James, Please have a look at this series of photos! If the link doesn’t work, it’s at Flickr under “Traditional Oil Drilling, Indonesia” If these guys used a ox, instead of the engine, to power the bailer (their “pump”) this set up would be exactly the same as was used in Canada and eastern Europe 150 years ago. The simply thermal-cracking refinery they’re operating, or a variant of it, can produce not only diesel but gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oils as well. I was simply dumbfounded to see these pictures. This would be like finding a Cavalry company mounted on …


Letter Re: Post-TEOTWAWKI and Off-the-Grid Entertainment

Dear James,   Thank you for the excellent work you do for those that listen and hear your guidance.  I’ve been an avid reader for many years and moved my family from urban Michigan to a full-time retreat property in the woods of North Idaho largely on recommendations here on SurvivalBlog.   Reed’s article on pastimes really should include the card game of cribbage. Any game, like chess, which has survived pretty much intact for many hundreds of years must have something good doing for it!   Adding cribbage is as simple as investing in a quality board and taking a few minutes to learn …


Post-TEOTWAWKI and Off-the-Grid Entertainment, by Reed C.

As a newcomer to the “prepper” lifestyle, I’ve been devouring the wonderful information I can find on SurvivalBlog.   These articles have prompted some deep and serious thinking from both me and my wife.  But one day, as I was reading about food handling and storage and how to survive after the crunch, I began to consider what it would be like to spend many long months locked up in a safe-house somewhere with two young children.  I remembered the Diary of Anne Frank, and how much they suffered from boredom while locked up in the attic of their safe house…and …


Letter Re: Two Snowbound But Prepared Elderly Sisters

We are sisters, age 67 and 73  and live in Southeastern Connecticut near the shore on several acres.  We were fortunate that we grew up on a 100 acre Connecticut farm where we grew our own food, farm animals, had a smoke house, three freezers filled with what we raised, three ponds, learned to shoot, trap, fish, and had very capable parents.    Until several years ago, we lived as most Americans do, on the grid with only a week or two provisions in the home.  I had moved to West Virginia in 1990 (retired early) and lived alone with …


Some Great Depression Lessons, by Kristi N.

By now, many of us have heard, and perhaps even put into practice, that old adage of practicality: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”  I think of it as the wisdom of the Great Depression.  When so many people had so very little, the best use was made out of every single resource – be it a sock, a newspaper, a swatch of fabric, or any number of little things I take for granted every day.  Perhaps I should restate that last sentence – that I used to take for granted every day. Since …


Incorporating Preparedness into Your Everyday Lifestyle, by Mike M.

My foray into prepping began over a decade ago after I became hopelessly lost in the Adirondack Mountains.  My birthday falls on October 24th and on this particular year, the day was uncharacteristically warm.  I felt the urge to take advantage of my good fortune by scouting out some new area for the upcoming deer season.  Telling no one of my intentions that day, I jumped into my four-door beater sedan that I fondly called “The Kevorkian” and resolved to boldly go where no man had gone before.  I went off the beaten path and drove the Kevorkian down some …


A Primer on Harvesting Iron-Rich Sustenance, by Dr. R.

Introduction My family has harvested food from our farmland for generations. I would love to say that since I was a child, I had gone into the fields with my father and grandfather and learned the ways of hunting and ethical harvesting of animals for food and resources, but unfortunately, I made very few decisions which I consider to be wise until I lived to be around 26 years of age. It was around that time that I formally accepted Christ in my heart, and around that time the seeds of becoming a true skeptic were planted. As a young …


Returning to My Retreat After a Three Year Absence: Lessons Learned, by C.J. in Montana

My wife and I own  a 50 acre place in Northern Maine that was originally intended to be a home-building site.  It is remote, quiet  and off-grid.  Along with an outbuilding/bathhouse I constructed,  there is also a 40 foot shipping container I set up as a  secure storage building/shelter.    The land  has  plenty of water nearby  and the entire property is wooded in White Cedar (weatherproof/rot-proof) Balsam Fir , Birch and Spruce.  Unfortunately over the years the location has became less ideal for us.  The  political climate (until very recently) is unfavorable ( taxes, government regulation, overall policies).   The economic …


Letter Re: Archery Equipment for Those Living in Gun-Deprived Locales

Hi Jim,  I’d like to make a short response to the blog regarding “Archery Equipment for Those Living in Gun-Deprived Locales”. As a lifelong archer and hunter myself, there are a couple of things I think should be pointed out in so far as archery relates to survival.  One of the biggest advantages an archer brings to the table in a confrontation or survival situation is stealth and camouflage.  By necessity, we have to be closer, better camouflaged, and more stealthy than when hunting with a firearm as we are now pitting our skills against an animal with physical senses …