Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Built-in Obsolescence, by Margaret G.

I’ve had a very frustrating three weeks. My laptop crashed and as I couldn’t get back the files, it had to go to the computer doctor. I know that I’m not alone and that this has happened to many people but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it. What really made me irritable though was that it is only three or four years old. I was told that three years is “old” for a computer. Pardon me? Fortunately the computer doctor was able to recover my files, but I’ve had to buy a new laptop. It’s not hard …


Forecasting the Weather in a Grid-Down Situation, by the Old Farmer

I love satellite radar in real time. I’m a big fan of NOAA‘s weather alerts and a unit sits in our kitchen next to the old-fashioned pilot-light gas stove. But over the years I’ve learned a couple of things. One, they’re never completely right, and two, it all depends on technologies we might not have in the not too distant future. I could maybe add a third, just a theory of mine, that computer weather models are based on prejudices that might not be entirely true, like global warming. That could mean that the forecaster is assuming a kind of …


Insight on TEOTWAWKI from Quilting, by Don L.

Life offers us inspiration in the oddest times and ways. My wife is a third generation rag rug weaver but also has many other endeavors, such as baby quilts. She has a craft show coming up and wanted to finish the three quilts she had started. My occupation stems from working in the operating room and I have developed a fairly fine sewing skill so I offered to help. Little did I know this would give me insight in the preparations I am currently working on. As I was running a fine invisible stitch on the inside of the seams …


Letter Re: A Lifetime of Prepping Without Knowing It

Mr Rawles, I recently read “Patriots” and wanted to let you know how this book got me to thinking about how to be prepared for a potential social collapse. I thought through all of the steps that needed to be taken and realized that I’ve been prepping since I was born. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Kansas City, but my family history was one of extreme self sufficiency. My mom who lived through the last great depression taught me how to can, garden, make things stretch as far as possible and be able to survive without …


Letter Re: Extreme Cold Weather Engine Starting Without Electric Heaters

First off, let me thank you for a great web site with lots of practical information. Over the last few months I have taken the liberty to read a large portion of the information i the SurvivalBlog archives. I have, I believe, an untouched tidbit: Many folks live in areas susceptible to frost. Some of us live in areas susceptible to sub-zero temperatures. Cold starting a vehicle, either gas or diesel can become problematic at best, or almost impossible when the thermometer dips into the minus figures. Having lived in an area that sees the minus 70s (without a wind …


The Forgotten Skills, by Andrew C.

First please allow me to give you a little background on myself. I have been preparing for TEOTWAWKI for about nineteen years but I have focused (until recently) on wilderness survival. I even managed to get a book published on how to survive when you get stranded in the middle of nowhere (it is called What We Forgot a lesson in survival). About a year ago I heard about this site while I was listening to Coast to Coast one night and I was so thrilled to find out that I was not alone in my thinking. Since then I …


A Bug Out Bag Reality Check, by Stranger

I thought I would share some thoughts on my weekend bug out bag guerrilla camping trip. My purpose was to use my BOB in the manner in which I expected to have to use it in an emergency. My general plan has been to get away from people, camp with stealth, and wait for the dust to clear.  With this in mind I mostly want to put my gear through its paces and get my body used to the rigors of backpacking. I live in central Connecticut.  I am a man in my 40s and have a dropped foot in …


Letter Re: Self Sufficiency Christmas Gifts on a Budget

Just a note to Richard C. and others who are interested in creating books from public-domain sources. I think it’s a great idea to give knowledge as a gift, especially in the form of books. However, I’m not sure that Richard’s plan is an economical one. Most people have ink-jet printers, with high cost ink cartridges. Plus the added danger of the risk of fading and lack of water-fastness in most ink-jet inks might make the information unusable for the long term. Another option is using a laser printer, which will deliver a lower cost per page and will have …


Learning Traditional Skills, by R.I.P.

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There is only one sure thing about plans: at some point they have a good chance of failing. Not necessarily because the plans were faulty, but because it is nearly impossible to plan for everything. The universe has a way of ensuring that we get to experience the widest range of possibilities. So what if, after all your preparing, storing food, water, fuel, fortress etc., etc, what if you suddenly do not have access to all of that? We don’t have to go through all the ways that this might happen, I’ll let your imagination work on that. So, could …


Cross-Training for TEOTWAWKI Preparedness, by Beau F.

I’ve been preparing for a number of years now and found a great way to prepare others in your group as well. I realized a long time ago that I could not survive alone. Now that I have a family, and close like minded friends, I realize that I don’t have to. A couple of years ago I really started stockpiling my “tactical” gear. I would buy a lot of ammo, good mags, the right tactical clothing, and so on. I started reading up on certain things that would be helpful in a TEOTWAWKI situation and would start to practice …


Letter Re: Self Sufficiency Christmas Gifts on a Budget

Dear Mr. Rawles, My mom gave me a copy of your novel “Patriots” a couple years ago for Christmas. I am married but because college debt and being unemployed for seven months before finding my next job my wife and I do not have much money, (BTW, after reading your book my wife and I saved every penny we could and are now debt free) I have been trying to stash away survival gear, beans, bullets and band-aids, and I have been looking for affordable survival books. In my search for inexpensive books I found out that I could download …


Letter Re: A Source for Free Firewood

Hello Jim, Firstly, I would like to thank you for your books and all the information you make available on your blog. The last three years have been very hard on my family and I, but have given us a needed shove to be prepared for what life can throw at us. The information we have gained from you and your site has been invaluable. I thought I would let you know of a free source for firewood. I work for a large pallet company. Every day we bring in many truck loads of broken pallets to be repaired. Pallets …


Our Preps are Portable, by Dan W.

Prepping has a distinct vein that runs through each choice my family has made to better prepare ourselves for the possibility of the social upheaval that seems to be inching nearer each and every day. Our preps are portable. They have to be, due to the uncertainty of where my family will be in the near future. Over the last six years my family has moved six times, as my jobs changed and the family grew. Due to this movement, the rising price of houses in our area, and being at the very beginning of my earning curve made buying …


Letter Re: Low Cost Merino Wool Clothing

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: I would suggest as an alternative to buying wool clothing is to shop the fabric stores for Wool Fabric and practice your sewing skills. I have found 100% wool on clearance for as cheap as $1.99/yard with the average width of 54 inches In Shopping for wool fabrics, you will find a lot of blends. I recommend not purchasing anything with more than 30% mix of synthetic material (example: 70% wool/ 30% nylon). I also find that blends with natural materials to be completely acceptable (example: 50% wool/50% silk). As a note: synthetic materials and fire do …


Lighting a Fire Under Myself, by Matthew B.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” – Robert A. Heinlein Heinlein’s quote leaves me feeling about half an inch tall and roughly the length of a worker bee. I was raised to trust God, not government, and my education through …