Sir:
Many of the recommendations in your book, Patriots, and on your blog deal with survival contingency plans from a small-group/family perspective. Simply put; what is your advice to single (possibly young) people who have no dependents or family structure? In Patriots, one of the characters (who was not an original member of “The Group”) is a young, single male, who “freelances” (almost in the Medieval sense of the term) to the group. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, is it plausible to hope that one can form a mutually beneficial relationship, perhaps in exchange for goods or services? Of course, relying on that alone is a poor plan. As not everyone will be able to develop the same level of networking, or preparations for when TSHTF what do you suggest? Is a covenantal relationship something that would be desirable, especially from a Christian standpoint? Thanks, – Mountain Goat
JWR Replies: I strongly recommend that anyone that does not yet have a firm retreat locale planned and coordinated link up with an existing group long before TSHTF. If you can’t find an existing group, then form your own, preferably starting with like-minded friends from your church. The chances of finding a group that is looking to expand post facto are slim, since most rural farmstead retreats will have burgeoning populations as “cousins by the dozen” inevitably arrive.
As I previously stated (see my August, 2005 posts in the SurvivalBlog Archives) to have a good chance at pulling through when things get Schumeresque, it is important to pre-position logistics at a defendable retreat in a lightly populated, agricultural region with plentiful water that is well-removed from major population centers and the likely “lines of drift” for a torrential flood of urban refugees. This entails pre-positioning large quantities of logistics—far more than be could carried in a car or pickup. Ideally, to assure the security of your pile-‘o-logistics, you should start with an existing farm or ranch that is owned and occupied year-round by a relative or close friend.