Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Practical Survival Trapping, by Jason C.

There is nothing more soothing to the soul then quietly enjoying a stroll through the woods, forests, and outdoor areas of this great countryside. And having a rifle or shotgun over your shoulder for the chance opportunity at a squirrel, deer, dove, or pheasant is nothing short of perfection for many of us. However, in a survival situation, a hard day of hunting with nothing to show for it is not only depressing but can be downright dangerous. A person in a survival situation must conserve their energy at all costs. Any activity that doesn’t produce something towards the goal …


Letter Re: Brumby Compressed Air-Powered Well Pumps

Dear Captain Rawles, Are you perchance familiar with Brumby Well Pumps? They work using compressed air and are being manufactured in Australia. From what I can tell, this is a good idea if you can get compressed air to the pump. This leads to the next question: Is there a practical way of operating an air compressor with either a wind turbine or a mechanical means not requiring the grid or a gasoline engine of some sort? When I lived in Germany I saw a number of old Volkswagen air-cooled engines that had been converted to serve as air compressors. …


Two Letters Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation

Jim: The figure [cited by “Feral Farmer”] of 100 square miles per hunter-gatherer can’t be correct. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles). So, at 100 square mile per hunter gatherer, would only support 95,400 natives. Considering that large chunks of the Arctic and desert are minimal in their resources, not to mention Greenland, this figure (100 sq mi) can’t be correct. Here are a couple of online references: Agricultural practices and policies for carbon sequestration in soil By John M. Kimble, Rattan Lal, Ronald F. Follett and, Food, Energy, and Society By David …


Letter Re: An Outward Bound Prepper’s Perspective

Hi Jim, I’m new to your site and books but not to the concepts and precepts. My dad had a survivalist/self-sufficient mindset with a cool mix of Native American philosophy and know-how. I didn’t eat store bought meat or baked goods until I was 10 or 12 and thought processing shoulders of venison in the kitchen was the norm. We had a huge garden and fruit tree orchard. My mom was a master at canning; although I think it should be called “jarring” because you’re putting it in jars, not cans. He collected, traded, and rebuilt guns and amassed quite …


Two Letters Re: Cost Comparison: Factory Loads and Reloaded Ammunition

James, Grandpappy isn’t comparing apples to oranges correctly. His reloaded ammo pricing is for premium self defense bullets, which cost $150 or so per thousand. Most people are going to reload cast lead, which would cost $50 or 60 per thousand for a .40 S&W for example. If you price new premium self defense ammo, like Doubletap, it is going for around $700 a case. If you purchased new brass (why?) Hornady or Speer premium SD bullets, you would still be able to build your own (which we supposedly should not due to legal concerns) SD ammo for half the …


Cost Comparison: Factory Loads and Reloaded Ammunition, by Grandpappy

There are some significant cost differences between reloading shotgun shells and reloading pistol and rifle ammunition.  The following cost summaries illustrate these differences (all cost data collected in June 2009): Pistol Ammunition Summary: $0.270 = Total Cost of one New Factory-Loaded 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. $0.206 = Total Material Cost to Reload one Used 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. $0.064 = Cost Savings of Reloading one Used 40 S&W 165 Grain Pistol Cartridge. Rifle Ammunition Summary: $0.800 = Total Cost of one New Factory-Loaded 308 Caliber 165 Grain Rifle Cartridge. $0.480 = Total Material Cost to Reload …


The Jump Kit, by Skyrat

Inside the trunk of my vehicle is a near duplicate of the “jump kit” or “Green Bag” used in my days with the Detroit Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Service Division. When I come across a roadside collision before the local medics, everything I need to start patient care is in the green canvas bag I sling over my shoulder. The supplies in my personal vehicle are very much like those I carried in my street medic days, and reflect a strong basic life support/trauma bias. Basic life support includes those interventions that do not go past the skin, and generally …


Letter Re: It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI

JWR, Skill is critical, parts and tools can be improvised. While I agree with C.A.Y.: “… the combination of skills plus tools plus parts is what’s needed”, there are important exceptions. In some south asia villages, a highly skilled artificer [with a few assistants] can create a self-loading pistol, per day, without parts, and only the most primitive tools of drills, belt sanders and files. The steel is recycled from wrecked cars and trucks. The skill is what makes this possible. This town near the Khyber Pass makes one thousand guns per day. Look at minute marks 3:33 and 3:46 …


Seven Letters Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era

Hi James, There is a mission-oriented web site with a tutorial on making valve leathers at this site. There is other useful water well-related information on the site, too. Where John C. is living, if the static level is 400 ft., then he will be looking at needing a fairly deep well. If he gets by with less than drilling a 500 foot well I’d be surprised. Water wells here locally have a 350-400 foot static level and run 700-800 feet deep. The depth, quantity, and quality of water you find all depends on the area you live in, the …


Letter Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era

James, I know that I have seen posts about deep water wells, but when I search I really don’t see that many applicable posts. I am looking at a property where water [static level] is about 400 feet down. In a “grid-up” scenario, this isn’t really a problem, but I am looking for “grid-down” options for using a well at this depth. Not knowing much about the specifics of wells, I am not having much luck searching with Google, either. Would you be able to cover some deep well basics and some options for grid down/solar/backup pumping, specifically for deep …


Two Letters Re: It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI

Jim: I would like to whole-heartedly second Chris M’s article that skills are more important than stuff. A wide basis of knowledge provides you and your family new options as you develop courses of action to solve a specific problem during a crisis. While I’ve been stuck as a suburbanite in the Washington area for the last two years, I’ve exploited my access to military and civilian training to more than make up for my vulnerability. I’ve joined local weapon/hunting ranges, significantly improving my pistol, rifle and bow skills. I’ve become certified as a Level I Combatives Instructor. I’m scheduled …


Letter Re: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009

Mr. Rawles, Concerning the article: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009, by Bill in Chicagoland, I would like to add to these comments. My 20 years experience driving the county roads and the farmer ranch roads with the Soil Conservation Service have given me a perspective of the potential for choice this road system presents. I have a considerable amount of experience driving cross country. I have driven from the Northern Texas panhandle across the Oklahoma Panhandle into southeastern Colorado and north to the Colorado Springs area on mostly gravel and dirt roads. Several times I have driven …


It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI, by Chris M.

The topic I will cover is one I have not seen on SurvivalBlog. Everybody is caught up in the equipment side and not concentrating on the training. I have two examples several months back our dryer started squeaking & we had to stop using it. I am a trained air conditioning technician. At first I thought about going out and purchasing a new dryer and then I had a thought: I have fixed multi thousand dollar air conditioning units, how hard could it be? After two days it was back up drying clothes and for a lot less money than …


Getting Started With Dairy Goats, by The Memsahib

Getting any dairy animals is a very big commitment. However, I believe that they are a valuable part of your livestock preparedness. Even more importantly I believe goats are the best dairy animals for the survivalist. Here are my reasons to recommend goats over cows for a survival situation: 1. A dairy goat is about one fifth the cost of a dairy cow. 2. Five goats can be fed one the same amount it takes to feed one cow. 3. If your your one cow dies you are out of luck. But the odds of losing all your goats is …


Sprouting is Key to Good Nutrition in TEOTWAWKI

If you were to take an inventory of all your preparedness supplies, would you feel quite confident that you are in fact “ready”? Your supplies might include a good, well thought out long-term, food storage program, complete with a variety of dehydrated and freeze-dried legumes, grains, vegetable, fruits, dairy and meats. If you’ve gotten this far, you are to be commended for taking two giant steps toward emergency preparedness. But have you also considered the very process by which these foods are preserved to give you the benefit of long-term food storage? Did you know that both the dehydrating and …