IGX

A couple of people told me about this book after a one of our IGx "What to do during the next Katrina or worse scenarios" discussions. I had forgotten about it until my brother in-law gave me a copy and asked my opinion of the book.

A couple of disclaimers

I'm into self reliance, guns, military stuff etc. I grew up during the 1970's and 80's when the threat of nuclear war was real. If you were into guns, the military etc, in the 1970 and 80's chances are very likely you were at least acquainted with survivalists of all flavors. I went on to be exposed to a lot of military and survival stuff when in the military.

The book review

The author, James Wesley Rawles, is an ex Army intelligence officer that served from 1984-1993. He runs a survivalist blog and has been involved in most of the survivalist movements since the early 1990's. ; first the "New World Order/ Black helicopter" madness, then the "Y2K" madness and now the "monetary/economic" collapse madness. He’s also a self proclaimed Christian. He doesn't seem to a nutty end of times Christian or the, I hate all other denominations Christian.

The book is actually a combination of three books that each have been rewritten or merge over time. Patriot is Rawles’s latest effort. When reading the book you can tell that he has combined past efforts with new material. His book is filled with situations and descriptions of survivalist concerns from the 1990s.

The book is supposed to be a how to manual for the average slob and a work of fiction second.

As a work of fiction I give it a C-, the plot is OK, but you can tell he's pulling three different books together. Plus his characters are very wooden at times and the situations are can be very contrived.

As a how to manual I give it a B. Good information for the newbie to guns, survival, military tactics& survival strategy; but lacking in some areas

Here is Rawles’s plan in a nut shell.

(1)Buy and prepare a retreat in the country
(2)General survivalist strategy of guns, ammo, food, supplies to live out 5-7 year period when the USA is in chaos (think Balkans) or a total collapse of civilization (think mad max).
(3)Advocates forming a group of friends and family that bring different skill sets to the group or train themselves in particular areas; military tactics and doctrine, farming, animal husbandry, auto mechanic, machinist, wood working, medical etc. When “the shit hits the fan” everyone heads for the previously prepared retreat to wait out the fall of civilization
(4) Advocates being prepared for a barter system economy and use of silver and gold, with the emphasis on barter and junk silver.

Now my comments

The retreat

Rawles’s basic premise is that during a massive disaster like Katrina or even full on "Thunder dome" collapse of civilization you and your loved ones are not going to want to be in any of the urban or suburban. He advocates have a retreat in a rural area that is off the normal interstate or avenues of drift. The idea is to be off the beaten path during a collapse of civilization when the hordes of starved city dwellers and criminals follow the interstate and high way system looting and raping.

Rawles’s advocates living on this retreat full time, but also finds in acceptable to own a retreat that acts like a cache for your most of your survival food and gear. Plus, enough land to engage in subsistence farming and or ranching.

I generally don’t have a problem with his thinking in regards to a retreat. If you are concerned about a major break down in civilization etc, living outside of a major metro area and off the beaten path is a good idea. However, as anyone that has lived in a rural area can tell you, it isn’t all peaches and cream. Stores, hospitals, and the Sherriff can be hours away. Rawle’s either doesn’t bring this up or glosses over it. If it’s “thunder dome” time this isn’t a big deal since none of the before mentioned services exist, but in a normal natural disaster scenario or “thunder dome” never comes this can be a problem if you or your family have an emergency.

Guns, ammo, food and supplies

I also have no problem with this way of thinking; however I do have some problems with Rawle’s presentation and some of his advice.

Rawles’s does not prepare his yuppie urban readers for the major investment in time and money to do what he advocates. Forget guns, ammo, and general supplies; 5-7 years worth of food is a lot of food and money. You had better have a plan to acquire all of it and have a plan to rotate and consume this stock pile while waiting for civilization to collapse.

Rawles’s also doesn’t prepare his readers for the dangers military engagements. He’s got everyone out and about shooting UN bad guys. This is in my opinion a marketing plow to reassure the urban yuppie reader they can hack it fighting professionally trained soldiers. However, read some of the letters to Rawles’s on his website, usually it’s a husband and wife combo who plan on sitting in their bunker with Kpots on waiting to shoot it out with blue beret wearing UN bad guys. IMO pretty fucking pathetic.

Rawles’s is enamored with big ticket firearms and IMO a gun snob. I cannot tell you how many times he mentioned Kimber Gold Cup (the most expensive production Kimber) 45 autos; it must have been at least 40 times. Quite simply, he presents and indirectly recommends to his readers (most of them urban non military types) buy and use weapons that are IMO a waste of money. Most people could make do with a used .45 from the local gun shop.


Survival group

This was another sound idea I generally have no problem with. However, Rawles’s glosses over some potential problems regarding group dynamics. In Patriot, the retreat is run democratically with several members in charge of security and logistic. However, he never deals with or prepares is budding yuppie survivalist for issue of living with other people. Twelve or more people-married couple & single members living in the same compound is a recipe for disaster or at least a Jerry Spring episode. In patriot everyone gets along fine, no one gets angry enough to assault another member, no one steals, no one has an affair etc. These are all real world potential outcomes living with other people for a 5-7 year period. Rawles’s readers had better understand this and Rawles’s should have cover it in detail.


Barter and silver economy

Rawles’s believes that economy during a partial or total collapse is going to be barter and junk silver. I agree with barter by I’m not so sure about silver.

Having barter items people may want makes sense. Having a stash of barter guns/ammo, food, alcohol, and drugs is always a good idea, since people are going be concerned about security, food, and escape.

Silver (and gold) on the other just don’t make sense in a total collapse of civilization scenario. Outside of their scarcity, what do these metals do for the average owners? While gold and silver have industrial uses, what exactly are you going to do with it out in the sticks with hordes of starved urbanites and zombies trying to kill and or rape you? Absolutely nothing! IMO you’re better off with a pile of copper, lead, scrap iron, sheet metal etc. You know, useful metals that you can make stuff with. Maybe in a partial collapse of civilization scenario, having some precious metal would help, but All the pre 1965 junk silver isn’t going to help you when it’s mad max time.


My overall impression

IMO he’s just reselling what he was selling during the Clinton years & Y2K. Now that we are in a recession he’s making hay while the sun shines. In short, Rawles’s Patriot is a mediocre book with some good info for the complete newbie or the unimaginative. However, to the newbie, he does list some good ideas and general survival strategies.

One more note, Rawles’s doesn’t provide a list of all the items he mentions or where to procure them. For the complete newbie this would have been a nice thing to include, since the goal of the book is to give instruction and inform.

You just made Napalotano's list.

Like many others talking about (and in some cases getting a hardon about) the "Mad Max future," it looks like he chose to gloss over disease.
Using damned statistics, most people haven't died from war or violence. People die from disease.

The Max Max future, given that Survivalist X is so totally badass that he fears no one, is really a scenario of watching his kids drown in their own pus for lack of $10 worth of non-expired antibiotics.

Or if his lovely daughter survives (she's been vaccinated already, so her chances are better) then when she meets her Stalwart Christian Soldier and gets blissfully married, she gets to bleed out during childbirth from what should have been a minor complication.

Or maybe he covers all this and you didn't mention it. Regardless, it gets glossed over a lot and is something to think about.

GoDogGo! wrote:Like many others talking about (and in some cases getting a hardon about) the "Mad Max future," it looks like he chose to gloss over disease.
Using damned statistics, most people haven't died from war or violence. People die from disease.

The Max Max future, given that Survivalist X is so totally badass that he fears no one, is really a scenario of watching his kids drown in their own pus for lack of $10 worth of non-expired antibiotics.

Or if his lovely daughter survives (she's been vaccinated already, so her chances are better) then when she meets her Stalwart Christian Soldier and gets blissfully married, she gets to bleed out during childbirth from what should have been a minor complication.

Or maybe he covers all this and you didn't mention it. Regardless, it gets glossed over a lot and is something to think about.

When I went to a doc to get vaccinations and meds for my recent trip to India, I was joking about a TV show I'd just seen on "India's Deadly Dozen". It included assorted tigers and cobras etc. She was incredulous that it didn't include mosquitoes, and whatever lives in unclean water. They're the real killers.

Yaaaaaay, Guinea Worm!

GoDogGo! wrote:Like many others talking about (and in some cases getting a hardon about) the "Mad Max future," it looks like he chose to gloss over disease.
Using damned statistics, most people haven't died from war or violence. People die from disease.

The Max Max future, given that Survivalist X is so totally badass that he fears no one, is really a scenario of watching his kids drown in their own pus for lack of $10 worth of non-expired antibiotics.

Or if his lovely daughter survives (she's been vaccinated already, so her chances are better) then when she meets her Stalwart Christian Soldier and gets blissfully married, she gets to bleed out during childbirth from what should have been a minor complication.

Or maybe he covers all this and you didn't mention it. Regardless, it gets glossed over a lot and is something to think about.

Rawles isn't your stereotypical survivalist. He's not a racist, religious nut (he a protestant, but not a nut), nor does he claim the world is going down in a Ragnarok like ending. He freely admits that any crash will likely never near the description in his book. He presents a worst case scenario in order to present the reader with a variety of situations and how to plan for them.

To answer your question, he doesn't down outright describe disease (it's implied, along with starvation), but he lists a couple of books I'm adding to my library "Where There is No Doctor" and "Where There is No Dentist". Both are field guides for people working in missionary type endeavors that need to engage in medical issues. You're quite right about how brutal the real world is absent modern medical care, but with enough planning you shouldn't slide straight back into the stone age. He also describe some medicines that can be stored long term, but doesn't go into enough detail.

BTW-next to disease, starvation is a huge killer of humans. Plus, it usually goes hand in hand with disease. If the trucks and trains ever stop moving in this country, I'd say 90% of people would starve to death.

Also, expanding on my original post I would like add something to my comments regarding group dynamics. In his book everyone gets along fine, but what if two of the group got caught in an adulterous affair? How would a small group of people hiding out in their Idaho retreat handle that issue? How about an accusation of rape? What if a chick caught having an affair claims she was being raped in order to cover up her adultery?This shit isn't far fetched and needs to be thought out.

Another thing that just mystified me was the group as a whole never deals with their families. It's like they just headed for the hills and said, "well see you mom and dad, I hope things turn out well when the looter show up". How realistic is that? If you have a hide away and the world is falling apart, would you let your immediate family just suck it and head for the hills? I don't know about you, but I'd basically kidnap my parents, my in-laws, my brothers families, and my sister in-law and her husband to get make sure they were safe and sound.

There is a lot to the book and I'm not about to rehash the plot. I will say this, it's a cheap book; about $12.00 a a borders book store. That's what it says on the price tag on the book my brother in-law gave me.

I may have some problems with Rawles info and presentation, but his book is still very informative for the newbie.

DARTH wrote:You just made Napalotano's list.

I'm sure I'm on someones list at the BATF.

Batboy2/75 wrote: To answer your question, he doesn't down outright describe disease (it's implied, along with starvation), but he lists a couple of books I'm adding to my library "Where There is No Doctor" and "Where There is No Dentist". Both are field guides for people working in missionary type endeavors that need to engage in medical issues.

Both are excellent, BTW. I've actually used them at home. Ragnar Benson has a little one called "Survivalist's Medicine Chest." It's mostly about which vet meds (wound dressings, etc) are okay for people. It's ok if you can get it cheap.

Of all people Don Paul (remember him?) covers more group dynamics in one of his survival books. He stresses the dangers of factionalism and how to avoid it in a small group, since that can tear any group apart fairly quickly.

So what are some good basic survival books, ranging from minor shit i.e. a bad day or two to a full out shit storm.

Ed Zachary wrote:So what are some good basic survival books, ranging from minor shit i.e. a bad day or two to a full out shit storm.

A recent average Joe survival book I just picked up recently was "Build your own Survival Kit" by John McCann. It was on sale at Borders for 5 bucks or so. I picke up three of them and gave two of them to my brothers.

Very solid advice and great place to start in being prepared. Everything from small carry in your pocket kit, back pack kits, to medium and larger vehicle/boat/plane kits. Introduces the reader to layering. We learned about layering in SERE school. Layering is having layers of survival equipment on you, your equipment, and your vehicle. For example, it's not a great idea to have just one compass. You should have back ups; say a military compass on belt, a smaller compass on your watch band, another compass in your pocket survival kit, and maybe another one in the handle of a knife etc. That way if you become separated from your gear or one of your compasses break, chances are very high you'll have a back up on you.

An oldie but goodie that I've suggested before is Dean Ing's "The Chernobyl Syndrome." It needs to be updated and reissued, but it's def worth the read.