Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Soap (Part 1 of 3), by Grandpappy

During hard times sooner or later everyone runs out of soap. To make soap you only need three things: 1. Rainwater, 2. Cold ashes from any hardwood fire, and 3. Animal fat from almost any type of animal, such as beef, pork, goat, sheep, bear, beaver, raccoon, opossum, groundhog, etc. All soap consists of the above three ingredients in one form or another, and that includes bath soap, dish soap, laundry soap, and hair shampoo. Soap is not difficult to make and it does not require any special equipment. And soap can be made from things that exist in large …


Letter Re: Steam Locomotives in a Post-TEOTWAWKI World?

Dear Jim and Family, Its true that boiler maintenance and safety are a serious concern. As my wife is a rail fan (train chaser), she knows a bit, and knows people who know a lot more. One of these was kind enough to send me this info in his reply. “Bear in mind that the great costs mentioned are all meant to get the boilers up to federal-mandated standards, i.e. extremely safe conditions. If you just want to get it to function, you don’t have to do near as much work. The problem of course is that while under steam …


Letter Re: Steam Locomotives in a Post-TEOTWAWKI World?

Jim, I’m a big fan of western movies and was thinking of how trains seem to dominate so many. These old steam locomotives are still running in many locations around the world so it got me to thinking. I’ve heard you discuss steam power before and I was wondering what you thought of a return to steam power for transportation in between settlements in the case of full societal collapse that may drive us back a century or more in technology. It seems we have a good supply of lumber in our forests as well as a good supply of …


Four Letters Re: Providing Crucial Fats and Oils in Your Diet

Jim, One oil that I think is very good for us and has exceptional storage life is coconut oil. That is, organic, extra-virgin coconut oil. There is quite a bit of info out there on it, the two best sites that I have found are, www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com, and www.tropicaltraditions.com. In our research, coconut oil is better for your health than even olive oil. We have been using it exclusively for about nine months. God Bless, – Bob P.   Mr. Rawles: One of your readers recent comments about geese as a source of fat served to jog my memory about the …


Survival for the Disabled, by Hegh

To survive one must be physically fit! This statement has been said and written over and over, time and again. To say that Survival is for this group of individuals exclusively has strong weight when it comes to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. How ever I would disagree with this assessment. Granted, total invalids could pose a problem but that is not the focus of this article. The focus is on those individuals who are disabled but can still function to some degree and contribute to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. During the fall of the twin towers on September 11th there were 31 …


A Second Income–A Key Goal for Family Preparedness

I often encourage folks that are preparedness-minded to develop a second income stream. Why is this important? “Living off the land” style self sufficiently is an admirable and commendable goal. But even if you are living truly “debt free”, you will still have property taxes to pay. That means that you will need at least a modest recession/depression proof revenue stream in the event that you lose your primary job. Let me underscore this point with a bit of Rawles family history: My family came out west by covered wagon in the 1850s. They soon after set up a sheep …


What if The Schumer Doesn’t Hit The Fan? – Reasons to Prepare Anyway, by MB

As long as I can remember, I have felt that someday the comforts of a modern American lifestyle would vanish, at least temporarily. So I have made small mental preparations for some time now; keeping my mind and body fit and strong, staying informed, dropping hints to the wife, etc. Recently, and mostly after reading Patriots, I have a renewed interest in preserving my life and protecting those I love. After educating myself on the subject of survival, I felt, as I’m sure many others have, very vulnerable and even overwhelmed. I needed to take action, immediately. Many thoughts spring …


Digging Tools Basics, by JN EMT

Knowing how to dig holes, make trenches and move earth is an important, if often overlooked skill. Here are tips that I thought might be helpful. The Tools of the Trade Digging instruments are as sexy or fun to shop for as battle rifles and Snap-On automotive tools, but having a good selection of these can mean the difference between completing a task in a day or spending three weeks in agony. Here are the basics. Folding Shovel – Every vehicle you own should have at least one shovel. A small folding shovel or “E-Tool” is compact and easy to …


My Adventure in Growing Wheat, by Carl in Wisconsin

Some time about June of 2006 I decided after long months of listening to James, the editor of The Bison Newsletter talk about storing wheat that I would try to grow some in an exercise in Post-TSHTF Farming/Gardening. On page 172 of the Readers Digest Back To Basics book it states that a 10’ by 109 ‘ foot plot would grow about 100 pounds of wheat, enough for a family of 4 for a year. I figured that a plot twice that size would be perfect for two people and a dog and a cat. I also question if 100 …


Repairing Gardening Hand Tools, by Christian Souljer

Being able to plant your own vegetables during hard times will be greatly desirable. In order to do this, a preparedness person should have multiple duplicates of commonly used garden tools. Gardening tools such as rakes, hoes, and pitchforks often break at the connection between the handle and the head. The wood becomes aged and with downward pressure/force – the wood can break away and or the tool head can just become loose and fall out. This occurs mostly on older tools where the wood has shrank but can also occur on the cheaper imported garden tools. I recently had …


Letter Re: The Formulary Book Mentioned in the Novel “Patriots”

Mr. Rawles: First, I’d like to thank you for your novel “Patriots”. I bought it and read [the 31 chapter edition] in 2002, and loved it. I implemented many of your suggestions, and have my bug out bags prepared and ready. I especially have medical supplies on hand. I have been trying to remember the name and author of a “formulary” book I believe you mention in Patriots. You said it was out of print but showed how to make things like paint, if you had no paint. You said it was a fixture on American farms at the turn …


Survival Labor and Delivery, by John O. MD

The return of home delivery is a fact that most of the survivalist community needs to face, and is a topic I have seen relatively little written about. My own experience derives from 10 years experience as an Emergency Physician, delivering 3-4 infants a year in situations either where the woman has had no prenatal care whatsoever and arrives in our emergency room (ER) [in] crowning [condition]; or as a private patient upstairs who progresses so quickly that her private obstetrician (OB) can’t make it to the hospital in time. This has skewed my experience toward “normal” presentations where the …


Cutlery Considerations for TEOTWAWKI, by Gage

In a post-TEOTWAWKI environment many of the services we take for granted now will be nonexistent. We will be growing or own produce, butchering our own livestock, cooking our own food, performing our own minor surgeries and protecting or own lives. We will have to rely on our own skills, knowledge and equipment. Of all the tools available to humans none has more importance than a wide selection of cutlery. History has revealed to us six simple machines that revolutionized the world: the wheel, the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw, and the wedge. As you may have …


Letter Re: Chainsaws and Long Term Gasoline Storage

Sir: I get great satisfaction cutting firewood and “stockpiling” fuel for winter, and I always put Sta-Bil in my gas if I know I will not finish the gas can. But I know if my Stihl chainsaw won’t start it is the gas(premixed with 2 stroke oil) If my knuckles are bloody from trying to start it, I dump the gas, pull it a few times to get the fuel out of the line, refill with fresh gas and it will fire-up on the second pull. My saw doesn’t like gasoline that has lost the volatile gases. Post-TEOTWAWKI I will …


Weather Forecasting the Old-Fashioned Way, an Important Skill for WTSHTF

One thing that we take for granted in our modern age is ready access to sophisticated weather forecasting, complete with satellite imagery. But when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF) and the power grid and Internet go adios, those will no longer be available. Under these same circumstances, gardening, hay cutting, and small scale grain raising will be crucial. You will need to be able to predict the weather with some accuracy. If you cut your hay at the wrong time–just before the advent of a wet summer weather system–you could end up with a moldy hay crop. And if …