Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft


Letter Re: Eating The Food That You Store

Sir: I currently store many foods which I routinely eat, none of which has the long shelf life of many of the ‘survival staples’. I’m ready and willing to buy several thousand dollars’ worth of hard wheat and other canned supplies, but I have one problem: I don’t know if I will actually eat them! Is there anyone out there that has a sampler pack, that allows one to try various offerings to make sure that we and our families will eat those staples? Thanks for all your hard work in helping us prepare! Warm Regards, – Rich S. JWR …


Three Letters Re: Treadle Sewing Machines and Advice on Storing Bolts of Fabric

Mr. Rawles. I have thought about this at some length and being an avid seamstress it would be distressing to not have fabric to sew new or repair old clothing. I have bolts of muslin,denim,canvas stored in Rubbermaid tubs. Plus a huge stash of quilting fabrics. Also sewing thread,needles for hand and machine sewing, extra bobbins for my old treadle machine if I need to dig it out,zippers and a big button box. If new clothes aren’t available keeping the old ones patched will be very important. Some good places to get sewing supplies are www.homesew.com or www.newarkdress.com. For bolts …


Letter Re: Treadle Sewing Machines and Advice on Storing Bolts of Fabric

Jim: Having just restored my 1925 Singer treadle-powered sewing machine to operation, I want to get some fabrics so that I can start making clothes for my family. Would someone with the appropriate experience please advise for a semitropical climate what weight fabrics, what types of fabrics and how many yards would be considered a good ‘cache’ of fabric so as to make a family of four clothing independent? Thanks, – SF in Hawaii You question about fabrics goes beyond my expertise. Perhaps some of our readers would care to comment. The Memsahib and I do have some experience with …


Letter Re: Plan B — Your Bug-Out Route

Mr. Rawles, In the event of a natural or manmade disaster you may need to retreat despite extensive preparations at your base of operations, whether in suburbia or in the mountains. You may find yourself in a desperate situation; facing forest fire, fallout from a malfunctioning nuclear power plant, terrorism, organized bands of looters or an invading army. Where will you go? How will you get there? What is your route? Whether you have been preparing for years or weeks you need a Plan “B”. Identifying the threat will help you determine the safest route and mode of transportation to …


Letter Re: A Learning Exercise with “Get Out of Dodge” Applicability

Dear Jim, I thought I’d relay an exercise I learned from last year. Every year, I do a large historical re-enactment in Pennsylvania. I take two tents totaling 300 square feet, my forge, tools, clothing and gear for a family of four down to a four poster bed, tables, chairs and workbench, plus merchandise to sell. This fills a conversion van with rear seat removed and a standard kit-built trailer. It’s great rehearsal for bugging out. Packing takes about 8 hours. Before I left, I realized the brakes were a little soft. I made a point of leaving lots of …


Cold Weather Survival Tips, by David in Israel

James, Winter is coming [in the northern hemisphere]. An important skill is treating and preventing cold exposure, especially if a person is disabled and on the ground. The ground steals heat through direct conduction and by absorption of moisture. Always go out well fed, include plenty of protein, copious warm hydrating liquids, and fats. Together these break down in a heat generating reaction as well as providing large amounts of energy for more heat generation. Have a way to make a warm drink. A Thermos is skimping, better a small stove that is easily lit and kettle that will let …


Letter Re: Advice for Newbie on Food Dehydrating, Canning, and Storage

Sir: I started reading SurvivalBlog just two months ago,following a recommendation by an elder at my Baptist church. Your blog has become a daily habit. I just recently signed up for $3 a month for the 10 Cent Challenge. Right now, I’m “peeling back the onion layers”–going through the [SurvivalBlog] archives. I am blown away by how much knowledge you have amassed there, all free. Thank you! I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of what I now realize that I need to do, to prepare for my family [for] disasters. I wasn’t raised on a farm, …


Letter Re: Building Design Questions for a Retreat

Mr. Rawles: Several years back I purchased 40 acres next to a National Forest. In three months I will have the property paid off free and clear so I am using the cooler months ahead to clear a homestead site, put in a well/septic system and try to move ahead faster than the world is declining. (It is surreal at times to live a nice life now but constantly prepare for what a lot of folks are seeing coming down the tracks – a huge train wreck!) I am always feeling I’m behind the curve, but I’ve decided that if …


Letter Re: Les Stroud (aka “Survivorman”) Off-Grid Living Videos

James, I’m not sure if you’ve mentioned this series before, but on YouTube there is a video series called “Off the Grid” hosted by Les Stroud of Survivorman fame. He moves his family out of the city and into the country in search of an off-the-grid home and lifestyle. It’s a fairly realistic look and (I think) good introduction to what it would take to make the jump to living in the country and self-sufficiently. The other videos in the series can be found linked from the first page, or just search for “Off the Grid”. Hope you enjoy this, …


Letter Re: The Versatile Propane-Fired Turkey Deep Fryer

James: So here is a cheap, useful item for your preparations: The “turkey deep fryer” kits that sell for around $100 as [the U.S.] Thanksgiving [holiday] gets closer are perfect for all kinds of disaster-related tasks. They often sell for even less on the day after the holiday. The typical kit comes with a large, high-powered propane burner with stand, a 5 gallon stainless kettle, lid, a large thermometer, and often and assortment of pans and perforated steaming/frying inserts. You can boil 5 gallons of water in about 20 minutes with one of these, and they are perfect for steaming …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Chainsaws

James: Probably the best [chain]saws on the market are Stihl and Husqvarna. Unfortunately, as noted previously, they use a lot of plastic in the construction of them today. One design feature you need to look at very carefully is the handle bar and how it is mounted to the saw. I own an 046 Magnum Stihl, which is supposed to be one of Stihl’s upper end, “pro” model saws. The handle bar wraps around to the right side and mounts with two self tapping screws into the gas tank. Any blow to the top of the handlebar results in shearing …


A Trip to the Yucatan–Observations of Mayan Primitive Living, by Michael G.

First, a preface on my background: I can’t decide if I should be a Cassandra (Sunspot cycle, Peak Oil, suitcase Nukes, Mayan Calendar mythology) or a Pollyanna (Y2K Flop, Heaven’s Gate, 2003 Hindu prediction Flop, and the 6-6-06 Flop; not to mention all of the countless predictions of the beginning of the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” rapture, et cetera, that hucksters and zealots have hawked for thousands of years). I believe whatever happens will happen and be over very shortly, and it will either leave us relatively unharmed or (given that I live in a city and work at an …


Letter Re: Advice on Chainsaws

Dear Mr. Rawles, We are in the market a new chainsaw. We currently have an old Homelite Super XL which has served us well for the past 25 years, but it is getting tired. We have looked at the Stihls and Husqvarnas, both of which are mostly plastic. I guess I am spoiled by the old heavy duty all metal Homelite. Do you have any suggestions regarding a saw, how many chains, and how much lubricant to keep on hand? – Mark G. JWR Replies: I also miss the sturdy, all-metal brutes of the 1970s, but I certainly don’t miss …


“Zeroing In” Your Bugout Bag, by SF in Hawaii

Last week my wife told me that another couple had gotten reservations at the cabins at Haleakela State Park for the Labor Day Weekend. We would hike across the crater floor, then down the Kaupo Gap. These are hard to come by and since we were invited, I felt we had to go. Great, a chance to try out my bug out bag. I gave my feet a liberal and prophylactic spraying of anti-fungal medication (a ritual I would end up doing every morning on that trip) and put on my Bug-Out Bag (BOB). Before we left, I unscrewed the …