Dear Mr. Rawles;
I love the SurvivalBlog. It is fun and interesting, yet it is even more, it is educational! I believe that a lot of people are over looking the biggest part of the equation when it comes to survival. It is mindset. When going thru [US Army] Ranger school I knew from the start there was no way I was going to quit. I had the mindset they could “DQ” [(disqualify)] me and send me packing but I was not quitting. In a true survival setting one has to know in his heart and mind he is going try to make it at all cost.
I am a Christian, a true believer of God’s saving grace, yet when the Schumer hits the fan I am going to survive or die trying. I think a lot of people need to re-evaluate their thinking about a time of total collapse. At that point, you will have to become good spirited yet know and believe that you will do what it takes to survive. There are going to be cold nights, days of being in the rain watching your home, and sweating because there is no air conditioning. You can provide charity and help to people you truly trust. I know that sounds selfish but it isn’t. If you start to give food and other goods away [to strangers] you become a target and the thieves will come! If you decide to take them to a church then someone at that church is going to know you had it and again you will become a target. When people become desperate they will do anything. I hope folks realize that when these times come, a trip to town will be a heart attack event, because driving or walking down a road and not having proper recon is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Another issue I would like to make is bugging out. If you think you are going to bug out after the Schumer hits the fan, then you are full of Schumer! When it hits, there is going to be widespread panic and martial law will follow. Therefore moving is going to be a major problem. I think if you are concerned enough now to have a retreat, then move to it now. I live in semi-rural North Carolina and I would love to be in Montana but it ain’t happening! Therefore my family has decided to square ourselves away and hunker down in place. People need to realize that they don’t want to be a refugee! That can not be stated loud and hard enough. Most people would take two or three days to really be ready to leave home, if they could do it that quickly. In two or three days a lot can happen! The roads would be clogged, fuel inventories depleted, grocery stores barren, and then the nightmare of trying to avoid the military and police enforcing the martial law rules. You would be either stuck at home or out in the open with no where to go. I am totally serious, either go now or prepare to stay in place.
Be physically and mentally tough. The hard times will be like nothing you can imagine unless you have been to a warring third world country. In those times everything will matter, you will see the strong survive and the rest dwindle away. With My Best Regards, – A.F. in North Carolina