I finally finished Rawles's lastest book. Pretty much if you have been reading his blog for the past year or more, you know what is in the book. He has some original info in there, but most of it is re-posts from his blog. Not that that's a bad thing. I really enjoy http://www.survivalblog.com/ . It's good info and it's nice to have it in book form, should the Internet ever go away. He also has a good number of links in there to some of his advertisers. It's a good primer for those just getting started and for those who may have hit a plateau as far as prepping goes. It covers so much ground, it's sure to remind you of some areas you've neglected. On the other hand, it covers so much ground that its almost useless because he can't get into specifics.I am always suprized when I see his recomendations for night-vision gear. Given the cost, I believe that the money could go to lots of other preparation areas instead. Another suprize is his recommendation to store 10% of your networth in silver! That's a lot of silver.
I didn't enjoy the book nearly as much as his novel "Patriots." But, that was a different type of book. I bought this one with the intent of adding it to my collection of survival books on the shelf. It will probably stay there or be loaned out to those looking to get started in prepping.
I did like the ideas about camp kitchen, food and shelter kits. Right now, I have my BOBs and a big tote full of camp stuff. These will all go into my truck should I have to G.O.O.D in a hurry. On his advice I believe I will make a few more special totes with more stuff in them. For instance, my BOBs have camping mess kits, but in a camp kitchen kit, I could have a cast iron skillet, more food supplies, cups and bowls, more soap, lighters, plates, spices.... The camping kit will have a tent, rope, tarps, hatchets... Everything will be modular and each kit will have some food, knives and lighters should I lose one.
I also learned that water does not have to be boiled for a 10 min to kill bacteria. It only has to reach 149 degrees F. You can use a roasting thermometer or a dairy thermometer- but he warns that the roasting variety are inaccurate and to add 10 degrees to be safe.
3 comments:
All that gear sounds good if you can take it with you, but I would recommend a knapsack with gear you can take with you on foot. You never know when you may have to ditch the truck.
Yep, that's the plan. I have individual backpacks and knapsacks already loaded if we have to go out on foot. The totes of course would have to stay with the truck in that case. But, in the event that I can make it with my truck, then that's more supplies I can take with me.
Looking back to the pioneers that traveled west along the Mormon trail; many went with full wagon loads and others went with handcarts. Many of the handcarts were successful, but the wagon trains faired much better due to the amount of supplies they were able to carry with them- among other factors.
I agree Jimmy. Something else we can learn from those pioneers is the amount of items they ditched along the way because of weight. These items would have I guess been things that in the final annalisis, they decided were not really necassary to their survival, but would have made it more comfortable.
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