Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Lessons Leaned from a Wildfire Evacuation, by Daniel in Montana

It was a gorgeous Saturday night, Sept. in Montana’s mountains the weather was hanging onto summer’s 70 degree temperatures, warm and dry. Working all day at the hospital and finishing some of my home preparedness projects gave me a satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Time to relax, I sat down, put my feet up and was sipping my week’s end treat, a cold beer. I phoned my friend, “Brett” to finalize our plans to butcher a few of his farm animals tomorrow. He was finishing a Bible reading with his boys and was putting them to bed, and would call …


From David in Israel: Off Grid Alternatives to Utility-Supplied Electricity

James One of the most troubling things I see when speaking to people about going off grid is how badly they want to keep all of their electrical appliances and just spend many thousands of dollars on a battery bank more appropriate for a U-boat and solar cells or generators to keep them topped off. Having had a minor role in a micro-satellite system design proposal one thing you learn when confronted by limited power supply is to either economize or do without. The appliances you own for on grid use are not efficient. They are built to be inexpensive …


Survival Preparation on Low or Fixed Incomes, by Shawna M.

So you’re convinced that the free ride is over, that things are getting worse, and when the worst happens, you want to be prepared. But you have a problem—you don’t have a lot of money for prepping and day to day living. Maybe you only make minimum wage. Maybe you make a little more than that, but you’ve got a lot of bills. Maybe you live on a fixed income, or have irregular self-employment. Regardless, don’t assume because you can’t afford expensive classes or pricey gear that WTSHTF, you’ll be unable to fend for yourself and your family. My husband …


Two Letters Re: How to Capitalize on Urine, Car Batteries, Wood Ashes, Bones and Bird Schumer

Jim: Car batteries are designed for one thing and one thing only – delivering a bunch of power for a very short period of time. Said time is measured in seconds, not minutes, hours, or days. I have been living “Off the Grid” for fifteen years, and can assure your readers that vehicle batteries can only handle 3-5 complete discharges before they are useless, i.e., after but a few discharges they cannot be recharged and expected to hold said charge. Ergo, they are the wrong choice for any task where discharge exceeds the constant charging input into the battery. They …


How to Capitalize on Urine, Car Batteries, Wood Ashes, Bones and Bird Schumer, by Jeff M.

Throughout the last few centuries, mankind has been building and building up, combining raw materials and energy to create… stuff. This stuff is scattered all over urban population centers, and many of it can be used for basic life-sustaining purposes. I thought I’d write in and share some information I’ve gathered over the years in my work and in my hobbies, as it relates to sustaining life if you’re trapped in an urban area. I’m enumerating the primitive uses of some very basic components for those interested, this wasn’t meant as a guide for building any of this stuff, further …


Two Letters Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump

Two Letters Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump Mr. Editor: Jim W. in Indiana did a wonderful thing, he became utility independent for his water. Not to be critical but constructive, I didn’t see where he made any mention of drilling a small (1/8”) hole in his drop pipe down into the casing about five feet down, to allow for water to drain out of the top section of the pipe to avoid the water from freezing within it. One would think that Indiana might experience some below freezing temperatures. Without drilling the relief hole, one could experience …


Letter Re: Archiving How-To Videos From YouTube

Dear Jim, I would like to commend you on your new book, “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”. It has a plethora of great information and a welcome addition to my preparedness library. As far as Internet information available for preppers, YouTube has an abundance of information ranging from food storage, weaponry, survival skills and many other topics. The videos are very useful. I would like to let everyone know that there is a simple program that they can use to download and convert YouTube videos for reference and/or storage. The YouTube Downloader enables …


Letter Re: Some Advise of Starting Wood and Charcoal Fires

Hello Mr. Rawles; Recently I have seen lists recommending the storage of charcoal lighter fluid. I would like to suggest the use of a charcoal starter chimney. You will not need to use and store the lighter fluid and worry about running out of it. With the chimney all you need to store is a supply of newspaper. It takes just a sheet or two of newspaper wadded up to start the charcoal and in short order your charcoal will be ready to use. You can find the chimneys on eBay or go to the Internet and find instructions for …


Letter Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump

Mr. Rawles, I consider myself adequately prepared for whatever events that may happen in regards to a break down of society. I live out in the country and have never been one to rely on local government or social infrastructure for immediate needs. I’ve had too many occasions where I have had to fend for myself because of a tornado, snowstorm, flood or other event that causes disruption in services. I have a good supply of storage food from canning, dehydrating and past hunting seasons to last for a while. I’ve got all the hand tools necessary to keep going …


Letter Re: Survival Notes from the Dominican Republic

Jim, I’ve recently read several of your books and found them both interesting and educational. I would like to offer some personal insights based on my experiences from living in a small rural town one of the larger Caribbean islands. Most of my notes are cheap solutions used by people in developing nations all over the world. There may be better ways, but these work and cost next to nothing. Water: There is something especially disturbing about opening the faucet and hearing a sucking air sound. Not being able to shower, flush, or wash dishes is the worst. One or …


Noise, Light, and Litter Discipline, by Survival Ranger

“If I can find your MRE trash, I can find your patrol base!”  A quote that has stayed with me, haunted me, and perplexed me throughout my military career. Who would have thought that simple traces of life could serve such a double edged purpose? The very fact that we could locate (almost better than a GPS fix on a position) an enemy encampment, an over-watch position, or cache by sight sound or smell is an amazing concept. But the fact that careless lapses in security on any of the above could compromise our own is a very harrowing one. …


Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina, by TiredTubes

In September, 2008, Hurricane Ike–a Category 4 hurricane–pounded the Gulf Coast of the southern US. Some coastal communities like Crystal Beach no longer really exist. Inland, life was severely disrupted. For those of us on the South Coast hurricanes are a frequent reality. We were quite well prepared, but used the disruptions and dislocations as a test and opportunity to tune up our preparations. 1. Be ready to help others and to accept help We didn’t need much during Ike, but the power went out before a neighbor finished boarding up his house. My 1 KW inverter, hooked up to …


What Recovery? Find Yourself a Recoveryless Job

For more than a month, the mainstream media has been yammering about an economic recovery. Chasing phantom “good number” statistics amidst an onslaught of otherwise bad economic and global credit market news, the Wall Street cheering section is desperately seeking some news that the current recession is coming to an end. They talk about “the recovery in progress”–almost a fait accompli. They have been so good at this that they have fooled some investors into putting their sidelined money back into the stock market. What a masterpiece of disingenuous grandstanding. But the sad truth is that there is no genuine …


Heating With Wood, by SGT B.

I don’t know that you would call my father a prepper. He was more just in love with the idea of economic independence and living in the woods. When I was nine (after the woods behind us were clear cut for an apartment complex), we sold our house in the suburbs, bought ten acres far enough out that he figured the developers would never find us, and built a home in the woods. We heated this house with wood, and as any of you who grew up with a wood stove can already guess, that meant I spent a good …


Grub and Gear–Lessons Learned from an Alaskan Trapper, by Old Dog

James, I enjoy your blog. I’m praying the Lord’s peace during your mourning. I greatly enjoyed the recent letter on Lessons-Learned from Alaska. I’d like to add: One way to deal with condensation on a rifle, or other piece of equipment, in cold climates is to bag it in plastic [such as a trash bag) outside, before entering a warm area. Once inside, the condensation will build up on the exterior of the bag. Once the rifle, or other equipment, comes up to the indoor temperature it may be removed from the plastic cover [and checked for condensation]. Lord Bless …