Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Letter Re: Getting Third World Experience to Prepare for More Austere Times

Mr. Rawles, I have been prepping and working on self-reliance for some time now, and starting reading your blog about a year ago. Thank you for your efforts. I am a dentist and would like to mention a training option that may be of interest to some of your readers. Especially medical personal. For the past 11 years I have been a “volunteer” dentist for a week or two at a time in a very poor, Central American country. I am part of team that includes other dentists, medical doctors (MDs), and assistants. I picked this country because of its …


A Practical Guide to the Recon Patrol, by TMC

Okay, the stuff has hit the fan, you have made it to your retreat, and you are geared up, stocked up and ready to survive. Inner security has been established, with LP/OPs located at likely avenues of approach. You at some point will start to wonder what else is out there, how far away it is, and what it means for your group. You might want to start implementing the recon patrol. While I could write what may very well be a small manual on the subject, I will just put out the basics that will point you in the …


Two Letters Re: Disseminating Local News and Information in a Grid-Down Societal Collapse

Jim, I think Brian raises a good question and your suggestion about using manual typewriters and mimeograph machines is a great idea. Here’s another one. While watching the the first season of Jericho DVDs, I noticed that in an episode titled “Black Jack” some of the characters went to a barter fair called Black Jack. They had to travel 200 miles to get to this town. The town’s fairgrounds were used as a barter fair location and in the middle (I assume the middle) was a tall board with a platform and a big roll of newspaper on the top. …


Letter Re: Disseminating Local News and Information in a Grid-Down Societal Collapse

James: I haven’t seen much information about this, so I ask you: How do you plan on “Getting the word out”? Once the ink/toner runs out of your printer, what will a survivalist group do? We’ve nearly lost the ability, and knowledge, to operate hand-presses. Moveable type suppliers are long gone, and there’s precious little available on eBay. Certainly not an entire printing press. You might find some blocks of moveable type, but not enough to actually make an entire flyer, book, or other piece of information, such as a book or even a Bible. And we can’t rely on …


Letter Re: The Tomato Rebuild–Machining Technology is Crucial to Modern Society, by Thomas G.

Jim, After reading the recent letter by Thomas G, I felt compelled to offer a response to demystify some of the technologies he talked about. First, I am a tool and die maker for an ammunition manufacturer. If it’s broken, I fix it, if we need it, but can’t buy it, I design and make it. From reloading dies, case feeders, powder measures, primer feeders, cold header press parts, I have done a lot. So I feel somewhat qualified to shed some light onto how things are done. I’ll start basic, and then work up to complex. Aside from the …


The Tomato Rebuild–Machining Technology is Crucial to Modern Society, by Thomas G.

Have you ever really thought about your food? The intricate system that conveys it to your fingertips, and often to your mouth directly? The complicated processes and machinery that make everything run so smooth? You mat be amazed at the phenomenally complicated process involved in bringing that jug of milk, candy bar, or perhaps a simple tomato to your feast. This is an abbreviated sequence with the express purpose of shedding light on a dwindling craft: Machine work. While this trade is flourishing around the world, we here at home have swept it under the rug in favor of cheap …


Letter Re: The Pulp Hook–A Labor Saving Device for Moving Firewood

Hi Jim, Several years ago I was hunting black bear in the boonies of Canada. As I came out of the bush I could see a native cutting fire wood. As I walked towards him I watched him at work and he did something completely out of my experience. He had what I thought was a hay hook which he proceeded to snap into a cut piece of birch. He then turned towards his pickup and carried the piece of firewood stuck onto the end of the hook. He got to the pickup, swung the piece of firewood onto the …


Letter Re: Lessons From Grandpa–Firewood Cutting for Seasonal Employment

Good morning, Mr. Rawles. Thank you for your good work. I have reciprocated by being a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber from a while ago. I wish to correct an item from today’s SurvivalBlog entry – while otherwise a very, very nice article – Lessons From Grandpa–Firewood Cutting for Seasonal Employment, by JSW The author says “a Pickeroon [a.k.a. “Peavey” or “Cant Hook”] which is glaringly incorrect; they are three separate and unique tools. A pickeroon is a short-handled hookeroon – which is a single straight pick about six inches long set at a 90 degree angle from the end of …


The Warrior Way as Survival Strategy: Attune Yourself to a Martial Mindset in Daily Living, by Jeff Trasel

One of the constant knocks by the mainstream media on the preparedness movement is the oft-touted canard that preparedness, indeed the “survivalist” mindset is nothing more than an excuse by far-right loons to engage in Rambo-esque fantasies of firearms, firefights and macho posturing. While there is a scintilla of truth to this in some far dark quarters of doomsday lunacy, it is for the most part fiction. (This matches JWR’s caveat on discussing unregistered suppressors [in the US] or other illegal preparations). So that we bring no discredit on what is nothing more than prudence, perhaps a few short observations …


Lessons From Grandpa–Firewood Cutting for Seasonal Employment, by JSW

Grandpa was never one of my favorite people. He wasn’t a bad person, just that I thought he could be more like the grandfathers in the books I was reading. Born in November, 1893, in north-central Minnesota, a World War One veteran and farmer, he moved to his last residence in 1952. So he’d grown up in a rough and tumble era, had a rough life and died owning his home, his truck, and a full baker’s dozen children had been born to him and Grandma- who I did like a lot more. Probably because she made bread daily, filled …


Letter Re: My Real, Live-Fire Self-Sufficiency Test

Well, I am back on the Internet for a time at least. Mind you, from the look of the soap opera world, I didn’t miss much. Grin A bit of background first for context. I am forecasting grim things for the fairly near future, particularly in financial terms. In one sense I am a type of survivalist, in that I want to prepare. Most survivalists tend to plan and prepare for a type of bunker at a fixed location to survive whatever doomsday they foresee coming. Such a plan has very distinct, real, and important advantages. However, the armed forces …


Ten Tips to Save Money on Ammunition, by Mr. Yankee

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As prices increase, many shooters are looking for ways to take the bite out of their shooting budget. Here are ten tips to help: Take the bite out of your shooting budget: If you are like most, you did not buy nearly enough ammo over the past few years. Most of us told ourselves that our budgets just couldn’t be stretched any farther. So our ammunition reserves either dwindled or stayed static despite knowing that prices were rising. Boy are we sorry now! Anyone who was not paying attention had a severe dose of sticker shock when hunting season arrived, …


Packing The Vehicle G.O.O.D. Bag, by Ryan S.

This is a brief outline for preparing a vehicle-borne Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.). bag or Bug Out Bag (B.O.B.). We are all hopefully suitably prepared at our homes or retreats, but what if you find yourself away from your retreat WTSHTF? Recent events and some blog readers have mentioned the importance of having a G.O.O.D. bag in your vehicle. The floods in the midwest as well as the wildland fires in my neck of the woods, speak to this necessity. what ever the situation you are facing you should be able to get back home or at least remove …


After 10 Years–Some Observations and Lessons Learned by a Y2K-Era Prepper

It was June, 1998. Y2K was a salient topic of conversation. It got my attention. When the electricity went off and there would be no water to drink, and no fuel to move food to the JIT grocery stores, I could see things getting very ugly. I had been willing to fight for this nation as a member of the US Army. Now it was time to fight for my household. I bought a Springfield Armory M1A. I bought a safe to store it in. I bought another M1A (for the spousal unit of course!) I bought ammo. Lots of …


From David in Israel Re: Some Preparedness Implications of Rapidly Escalating Fuel Prices

James We are all seeing the rise in fuel prices affecting food prices. I would like the readers to do a acres of farm to miles traveled evaluation of their plans when planning for a world with sparse petro-fuels. The current option is to ignore the prices and continue to fuel large SUVs and pickup trucks even for for “pick me up milk” runs. A fuel efficient car or motorcycle makes more sense depending on the number of passengers travelling. Bio-diesel or ethanol from your field rarely makes sense for anything other than a few very important drives per year …