Before Rawles moved to Idaho he was a US Army Captain and then in civilian life he was a technical writer. He touts Patriots as a survival manual with a novel written around it. It's not Lucifer's Hammer, but it did make me think. It made me realize I was like the Dan Fong character - lots of firearms, ammo and equipment, very little stored food. There are parts in the book that I like and parts I do not like. The first copy of Patriots I read was published before 9/11 and to me was a little better than later revised editions.
He does have a "free to read" screenplay based on characters in the original novel. It's similar to Patriots but not identical. It lacks a lot of the technical info and is a decent story.
http://www.rawles.to/Screenplay1.html
His technical info, to me, has mostly proven sound. I bought most of it before I was active on any firearm/prepper forums.
I have and have read:
Rawles on Retreats and Relocations - I haven't seen anyone else publish a modern text on the subject. It came in handy when I was looking for property in 2006. I still have not purchased land, but it helped me a lot with my "DO NOT WANT" property criteria list.
The Rawles Gets You Ready course (basically what you can buy at Sam's/Costco in quantity - what stores well and what does not). This course has its place - especially helpful for the overwhelmed newbie, still a good resource for those in the know. The course came with a CD interview of Rawles. There's a statement he made in the interview I have used to help make friends see the value of storing some food - "You have home insurance. You have auto insurance. You likely have health insurance. Food storage is "Pantry Insurance"". Pantry Insurance seems to strike home with the uninformed. This book is similar to James Talmadge Steven "How to Make the Best of the Basics", but I like the was the Rawles book a little better. To me this manual is worth $30, but Rawles assoiciate that offers it asks a lot more for it.
How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It - by the time this was published I was familiar with a lot of the material, but makes for a nice "reminder list" to read while on the throne.
Rawles tries to make a living selling information so he can live in the hinterboonies. Can't say I blame him. I wish I knew how to make a living working from home with no employer based on info stored in my head.
Just my .02 centavos.
