Is James Wesley Rawles and Arfcom member - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is James Wesley Rawles and Arfcom member

Posted: 2/6/2017 4:54:02 PM EDT

I have been reading his books (Survivors, Liberators), and I get the feeling he is an Arfcom member, anyone know? Mostly because he used "M4gery" in one of his novels, although its not a strictly arfcom word i guess....

The books are pretty damn good, btw. I am liking them so far.

Posted: 2/6/2017 5:46:46 PM EDT

[#1]

Posted: 2/6/2017 6:04:44 PM EDT

[#2]

We may never know who you are talking about since you used a random mix of capital letters and no commas.

Posted: 2/6/2017 7:45:37 PM EDT

[#3]

OP is missing required punctuation in title name.

Posted: 2/6/2017 8:55:27 PM EDT

[#4]

I thought Patriots was pretty bad. I couldn't bring myself to read anything else of his. He also has a lot of strange ideas.

Not sure if he would admit to being a member here if he is.

Posted: 2/6/2017 10:22:18 PM EDT

[#5]

The writing style was rather hard to read.

Posted: 2/7/2017 1:08:44 AM EDT

[#6]

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The writing style was rather hard to read.

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This

Posted: 2/7/2017 1:28:48 AM EDT

[#7]

If you read Patriots as a list of equipment to buy in the late 1990s, it was good.

20 years old now, some of the equipment mentioned there is now dated.

The characterization was sorta wooden.

Posted: 2/7/2017 2:15:05 AM EDT

[#8]

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If you read Patriots as a list of equipment to buy in the late 1990s, it was good.

20 years old now, some of the equipment mentioned there is now dated.

The characterization was sorta wooden.

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Colt gold cup!!! Or go home.

The ideas in the book are not bad but the writing is wanting.

Posted: 2/7/2017 7:34:46 AM EDT

[#9]

He was a member on the FALfiles forum about 10Years ago. I haven't been there in awhile so I don't know about now.

I bought the Patriots book in 06 or 07, I enjoyed it. But haven't bought any others.

Posted: 2/7/2017 9:08:12 AM EDT

[#10]

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He was a member on the FALfiles forum about 10Years ago. I haven't been there in awhile so I don't know about now.

I bought the Patriots book in 06 or 07, I enjoyed it. But haven't bought any others.

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He still shows up over at the FALFiles

Posted: 2/7/2017 8:25:47 PM EDT

[#11]

He is a one cool dude. I bought some FAL /L1A1 parts from him in Reno gunshow about 12 yeas ago.

Posted: 2/8/2017 2:30:16 AM EDT

[#12]

I very much disliked his books. The only good thing about them is the equipment lists, they got me thinking about some holes in my preps. His characters are all Mary Sue types with impossibly high skill and luck levels. Any bad situation is just a set piece for Rawles to demonstrate how well prepared the protagonists were.

Another bone I have to pick with Rawles has to do with his philosophy on freedom. In Patriots, his characters are flag-waving freedom-loving Americans fighting an tyrannical government. Standard prepper stuff, right? However, the main protagonist sets up what's essentially a tin-pot communist dictatorship. Anyone passing through the area gets held at gunpoint and searched. Summary executions for people who don't pass the group's litmus test. Etc. The dissonance between the freedom his characters want from the government at the macro level, and the tyranny they impose at a local level ruined the book Patriots for me.

Posted: 2/8/2017 6:44:55 AM EDT

[#13]

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I very much disliked his books. The only good thing about them is the equipment lists, they got me thinking about some holes in my preps. His characters are all Mary Sue types with impossibly high skill and luck levels. Any bad situation is just a set piece for Rawles to demonstrate how well prepared the protagonists were.

Another bone I have to pick with Rawles has to do with his philosophy on freedom. In Patriots, his characters are flag-waving freedom-loving Americans fighting an tyrannical government. Standard prepper stuff, right? However, the main protagonist sets up what's essentially a tin-pot communist dictatorship. Anyone passing through the area gets held at gunpoint and searched. Summary executions for people who don't pass the group's litmus test. Etc. The dissonance between the freedom his characters want from the government at the macro level, and the tyranny they impose at a local level ruined the book Patriots for me.

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You mean the two the stopped with the wheel barrow .....full of food.

It's been a awhile since I read it.

But as said...20+ years ago. Its what we had....and it's a gear list buried in a story. Go into it knowing it's dated it's not bad.
Similar to max velocitys patriot dawn book.
Or on a more prepper based version is EMP equipping modern peppers....
Same concept. Gear/retreat/group info based in a story line.

Posted: 2/8/2017 6:45:41 AM EDT

[#14]

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Colt gold cup!!! Or go home.

The ideas in the book are not bad but the writing is wanting.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
If you read Patriots as a list of equipment to buy in the late 1990s, it was good.

20 years old now, some of the equipment mentioned there is now dated.

The characterization was sorta wooden.

Colt gold cup!!! Or go home.

The ideas in the book are not bad but the writing is wanting.

Icom or no talky ...lol

Posted: 2/8/2017 11:10:40 AM EDT

[#15]

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We may never know who you are talking about since you used a random mix of capital letters and no commas.

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It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

Posted: 2/8/2017 4:09:59 PM EDT

[#16]

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I very much disliked his books. The only good thing about them is the equipment lists, they got me thinking about some holes in my preps. His characters are all Mary Sue types with impossibly high skill and luck levels. Any bad situation is just a set piece for Rawles to demonstrate how well prepared the protagonists were.

Another bone I have to pick with Rawles has to do with his philosophy on freedom. In Patriots, his characters are flag-waving freedom-loving Americans fighting an tyrannical government. Standard prepper stuff, right? However, the main protagonist sets up what's essentially a tin-pot communist dictatorship. Anyone passing through the area gets held at gunpoint and searched. Summary executions for people who don't pass the group's litmus test. Etc. The dissonance between the freedom his characters want from the government at the macro level, and the tyranny they impose at a local level ruined the book Patriots for me.

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Gee, I don't know. In a world with no government, I'm not sure I would want some thieving commie cannibals running around my AO.

Posted: 2/8/2017 11:11:21 PM EDT

[#17]

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It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

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Quoted:
We may never know who you are talking about since you used a random mix of capital letters and no commas.

It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

You clearly don't know much about James Wesley, Rawles.

From Wikipedia:
James Wesley, Rawles (born 1960) is an American author, best known for his survivalist-genre Patriots novel series. Rawles is a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer. He is the founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog.com, which covers survival and preparedness topics, and has published collected material from this in two books.[1] He also works as a survival retreat consultant.[1][2][3] Rawles is a Constitutionalist Christian libertarian.[4] On his book covers, in his signature, on his checks, in his blog, and as his legal name, he presents his name as "James Wesley, Rawles", using a comma to distinguish between his given and family names.[5]

Posted: 2/9/2017 6:52:31 AM EDT

[#18]

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It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
We may never know who you are talking about since you used a random mix of capital letters and no commas.

It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

The guy could be known for liking the 9mms over 45 and arfcom would be marching down his drive way..pitch forks and torches...screaming..burn the witch..burn him...

Posted: 2/9/2017 7:59:16 AM EDT

[#19]

Speaking of punctuation, that stupid comma he uses in his name makes him a little tough to take seriously.

Posted: 2/10/2017 12:36:25 AM EDT

[#20]

Op doesn't know good writing.

Or even decent writing.

Posted: 2/10/2017 1:08:25 AM EDT

[#21]

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It appears that his grammar is correct. Please don't GD in here.

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Look into ,Rawles and you'll know exactly why it wasn't a GD comment

Posted: 2/11/2017 2:00:01 AM EDT

[#22]

I enjoy is writing style... Of course I also like lists...

Posted: 2/12/2017 2:42:59 PM EDT

[#23]

Wasn't the legal online version "ought something or other" or is that something else?

I remember reading it back when and then it got changed and published I guess.

Heck, I remember the fiction section at that squirrel site.

I read a lot of stuff. I feel that for the time it was well done and worth the time partly because it did make me think about some odds and ends, and anyone starting out could make lists right out of the book and have a reasonable foundation.

Yeah it had issues. So do the muppets. I still like watching old muppet episodes.

Most any of these books are going to cause folks to feel the author is this or that.

I never felt like buying his book cause I think it was way overpriced initially, in my opinion.

When half fast came out with his book, I bought that one. And I had read his stuff online already as well.

Then again, over 2 decades or whatever the time frame would be I changed a tad.

Posted: 2/12/2017 4:39:59 PM EDT

[#24]

JWR has definitely traded his writing talent for a box of ammo but he had some good ideas in his books. The scenarios in his books are hardly believable or even remotely realistic. He sees the world in black and white colors too.
If you want to learn true survival, read history books.

Posted: 2/12/2017 10:28:54 PM EDT

[#25]

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JWR has definitely traded his writing talent for a box of ammo but he had some good ideas in his books. The scenarios in his books are hardly believable or even remotely realistic. He sees the world in black and white colors too.
If you want to learn true survival, read history books.

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As long as you remember 2 things...

1- history was written by the winners.

2- more history is made with secret handshakes in the dark than with all the battles ever fought.

Posted: 2/12/2017 11:33:29 PM EDT

[#26]

I tried to read Patriots, but could only get 15 or 20 pages in before I had to put it down. Terrible. It's not every day you pick up a book that is heavily within your interest but is so awful as to be unreadable.

Posted: 2/13/2017 1:29:05 AM EDT

[#27]

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As long as you remember 2 3 things...

1- History was written by the winners.

2- More history is made with secret handshakes in the dark than with all the battles ever fought.

3 - Don't trust any politicians, especially the ones who call themselves - "Patriots". True patriots don't dress in red, white and blue and don't surround themselves with pretty flags.

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Posted: 2/13/2017 1:42:39 PM EDT

[#28]

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I tried to read Patriots, but could only get 15 or 20 pages in before I had to put it down. Terrible. It's not every day you pick up a book that is heavily within your interest but is so awful as to be unreadable.

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You didn't even make it to the bad writing if you only made it 20 pages! IIRC that was just the leadup to the economic collapse.

You didn't see any of the Sovereign Citizen BS or roadside cannibals. That was a real treat. It's not everyday you read about atheist, communist, cannibals pushing a shopping cart of body parts and Mao's little red books up your protagonists' driveway. Then there was the war with the NWO UN troops, complete with a VX gas attack by our protagonists on a UN COP near Spokane. Rawles is to survivalist fiction authors as L. Ron Hubbard was to scifi authors.

Posted: 2/22/2017 2:18:44 AM EDT

[#29]

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Gee, I don't know. In a world with no government, I'm not sure I would want some thieving commie cannibals running around my AO.

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True story. Years ago I was in a Barnes and Nobel's and picked up a copy to flip through. The page I opened it to was when they encountered the card carrying communists with Mao's Little Red Book and baby parts in their back packs. I put it back down.

The writing made William W. Johnstone's Ashes series read like great novels.

Posted: 2/22/2017 11:20:56 AM EDT

[#30]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiction

Posted: 2/22/2017 11:35:21 AM EDT

[#31]

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Wasn't the legal online version "ought something or other" or is that something else?

I remember reading it back when and then it got changed and published I guess.

Heck, I remember the fiction section at that squirrel site.

I read a lot of stuff. I feel that for the time it was well done and worth the time partly because it did make me think about some odds and ends, and anyone starting out could make lists right out of the book and have a reasonable foundation.

Yeah it had issues. So do the muppets. I still like watching old muppet episodes.

Most any of these books are going to cause folks to feel the author is this or that.

I never felt like buying his book cause I think it was way overpriced initially, in my opinion.

When half fast came out with his book, I bought that one. And I had read his stuff online already as well.

Then again, over 2 decades or whatever the time frame would be I changed a tad.

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"I still like watching old muppet episodes."

Posted: 2/22/2017 6:41:58 PM EDT

[#32]

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Wasn't the legal online version "ought something or other" or is that something else?
snip

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I read the online version when it was called "The Grey 90's" way back when around 1998 or so. He asked everyone who read it to send him a silver round or $5. I never did

but I felt guilty so I bought a print copy of Patriots much later. It had changed some but not much.

Yes, mediocre writing at best but it did help introduce me to prepping and in a way changed the direction of my life. Strange I know.

Posted: 2/23/2017 12:27:13 PM EDT

[#33]

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"I still like watching old muppet episodes."

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Get to see real actors do some singing and stuff. I bought the 1st dvd set and it has alice cooper and the short fat guy from smokey and the bandit and some others on there.

And actually I have more faith in kermit being real than thinking that democrats mean well and are just misguided.

What do you watch when the power is out?