Editor’s Introductory Note: Today, after a long interval, we present another Retreat Owner Profile. This one is for Mr. and Mrs. Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey (WWW). They recently relocated to Idaho.
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Present Home: 5 flat fenced acres with private irrigation and potable wells and river, 15 minutes from two small towns in central Idaho. 50,000 pop city 1.5 hours and 200,000 pop city 2.5 hours drive time. Relaxed CCRs with no enforcement. 5,000 sq ft living space [1,300 sq ft in rentable apartment] and 2,000 sq ft storage. 4 horse stalls, barn, sheds. 3 gas furnaces, 2 fireplaces. Planning on 2 wood stoves.
Ages: 65 and 61, one 25-year old child, who lives elsewhere
Annual Income: $275,000 plus latent available portfolio income.
Profession: retired portfolio manager and retired C suite executive and public company board member [3 boards].
Investments: Large amount of gold stored overseas with liquidity. Multi-million dollar California home to sell and invest proceeds. Substantial long term puts on US Markets, some income long positions.
Vehicles: 2016 Jeep Rubicon 4 door petrol, 2019 Range Rover Long Wheel base 5L petrol, 2012 Porsche C2S Cab, and 2018 Porsche GT2RS.
Firearms: 5 .308 Garand T-26 from Roland Beaver with scout scopes and 1/2 minute of angle accuracy, 200 clips. 2 SCAR 17 in .308, 20 20-round mags. 22 WMR rifle and revolvers. 30 Glocks in .45, 10 mm and 9 mm. With the new powerful 9 mm ammo available, no longer plan to sell our 9mms. Over 200 Glock mags. 2 gen 4 night scopes and FLIR scope. 8 portable ham radios and base station. 4 12 gauge Reminton 870s. A .375 H&H Magnum rifle, and .300 Wincheter Mag McMillan. 3 bullet stop vests [handgun only w/o plates]. 4 .30-30 lever action rifles [car long guns]. Etc.
Ammunition: 150,000 rounds 308, 50,000 rounds .45, 50,000 rounds 9mm, 25,000 rounds 10 mm, 20,000 rounds .30-30. 400 round Dixie slugs, 12,000 rounds buckshot 12 ga. 100000 rounds .22 WMR.
Fuel storage: just starting wood build to 30 cords under roof, considering propane nozzles and 2,000 gal tanks for gas furnaces back up if gas pipe supply stopped. Evaluating solar as house has sun every day even 5 hours in winter.
Improvements: As just purchased, Joel Skousen has been engaged to provide plan for retreat structures. TB reported.
Annual Property Tax: $9,500
Livestock: chickens, adding steers and sheep. 4 Labradors, 2 cats.
Communications: 8 Ham handheld Yaesus.
Food Storage: 2 years for 3 adults, 1 year dog and cat food food. Plentiful trout in our river and Elk and deer feed. Large supply household goods.
Hobbies: Investing, Geology, Hiking, Large Dog Rescue, Shooting, and Reading
Background: 30 years in Southern California as fish out of water conservatives. As our son grew, evaluated numerous US and foreign locations. We previously owned a Joel Skousen-designed retreat in Utah. Have permanent residency in stable English-speaking country, but recent events led US relocation to Idaho. While our Idaho county has some liberals, they are truly surrounded. (As opposed to California, where we were surrounded.)
All assets held in corporations owned by foreign trusts. No mortgage. No debt.
Why our location: For 12 years, sought location that appealed to husband and wife, finally found one. Idaho is Constitutional carry and conservative. We considered AZ again this time, but it’s about to go Democrat.
Who would join you: Our son, although we prefer that he go overseas, as he has residency. If it is nationwide civil war with the people being bombed, we’d likely exit to our foreign residence.
Worst case scenario: 2 years no winter utilities and bombs falling.
Shortcomings: No strong room or emergency exit yet, and security layers. Joel Skousen is preparing the plan for improvements to our retreat property.
I say this out of sarcasm, and do not want to sound like a troll, but “Sounds great! What was the exact address again?”
Yeah, 2 people in their sixties with a s**t ton of supplies and no others to help. Thanks for the supplies says the first group to encounter them. Seriously, how do these people think they are going to pull this off?
The owners might get through one or two mags of .308 (assuming they are aware and recognize a threat) and then it’s over. I have never understood why someone thinks at over 60 (or at any age) they are Rambo incarnate. I have a local acquaintance, former Marine, single man, 50, struts around town speaking loudly, who states that any person coming to his door seeking help in a shtf is going to die. My opinion: that pretty girl alone, walks up his driveway and knocks on his door…as soon as his curiosity, loneliness and attraction entrances him to open it…he catches lead from afar. Done deal…all his piles of ammo and food now belong to someone else.
Who says they don’t have anyone to help, or are a part of a MAG, for that matter? I wouldn’t tell, either.
I read your profile and found it very interesting. You sure sound like you are in very good shape with your preps. I would suggest you tone down telling so much info. People are very jealous of what others worked for and have. I would dump the 2018 Porsche (it only says these people have lots of “Money”). Buy and older 4X4 crew cab diesel 3/4 ton truck. Make sure you get it checked out by a “Good” older mechanic. You may want to add an extra fuel tank. Don’t worry to much about the exterior paint and a few dents. When you drive down the road people don’t see $$$$ they see a couple who are most likely farmers or ranchers. Dress like one.
I hope you have good medical supply’s and are stocked up. Keep up dated on the new programs for Basic first aid and look at EMT training.
I wish you well.
Second on a trailer puller(3/4-1ton p/u) with hitch for multi pulls(5th wheel,gooseneck+bumper). A plow is a good idea too.
Who wouldn’t like to be sitting like that!
How about a profile of someone with a few less monetary resources? My goodness, his property tax could feed us really well for a year.
Maybe $35k in income, but proficient in life skills? Total net worth maybe 1 million? Much can be done with less. Your example could fund a retreat village.
As a long-time SB reader you have had an enormous impact on our mind-set and preps, and I thank you sincerely for all your work, Mr. Rawles. God Bless.
Mr. & Mrs. WWW, I am not criticizing you. You listed want you have, but what can you do? Assuming you and your wife have many ‘survival skills’, you are still going to need a tribe you can trust; a very large tribe.
What are people’s thoughts on gaining the allodial title to your land so you truly own it and don’t have to pay property taxes? Apparently you can also gain the rights your straw man so you truly own your own body, without a birth certificate.
Would love to hear about the allodial title too. We’ve heard it’s as simple as tracing your ownership back to the original land patent and filing your allodial claim on that. We’re just about there but are missing one owner in the ownership chain.
Unfortunately, everyone that I’ve heard of who has tried testing this in court has FAILED. Statutory jurisdictions often display arbitrary assumption of powers. Even if you get allodium paperwork absolutely right, the courts will probably still find an excuse to rule against you. They have essentially eliminated most common law and constitutional precedents and recourses. This is because they are operating in a new, fabricated body of law. Read: “Heads I win, tails you lose.”
@James Wesley Rawles. What about having a baby off-grid? Meaning without a birth certificate? Is it worth it?
American parents who birth children overseas get a US state department birth certificate and in most countries, the child gets dual citizenship in the country of birth.
5 acres is a joke for a retreat, get rid of the useless cars and get some more property!
Precisely what I was thinking.
What good is a Porsche (two, no less) in rural Idaho? A Subaru wagon in turbo spec would be a great alternative, with more utility, I’d think.
I’d opt for a couple of diesel-powered pickups, and I’d trade either of the other SUV’s in for either a Ford or GM full sized SUV, but that’s just me.
Remember, Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket.
I agree with many. A retirement of $275,000 a year? New vehicles too! Am I jealous? Not really. I can tell you that both our Middle Eastern war took a toll on my airline career, including having my 401K stolen in corporate bankruptcy ($1.5 million) in 2003. My last 3 years flying were good, but the 27 years prior were like a yoyo. I’m doing fine right now. We’re well armed and supplied. We have some weaknesses but with limited income now it takes time. We have 4 & 7 year old pair of kids who depend on us.
There a lot of people here on SB who are worst off, and they probably are not wanting to read about a rich guy who pays $9500/year property tax on a 5 acre retirement home.
I’ll take my 10 acres in the foothills of Tennessee at $850/year property tax and no income tax any day.
Wow. The judgemental attitude of some of the posters is amazing. First, more power to mr and mrs www. They appear to have a very thoughtful approach and have made serious investments in time and money. Second, To assume the the level of thought already demonstrated doesn’t apply to things unsaid (networking, comms, low profile) would be illogical.
Nicely Done WWWs.
Interesting retreat set up. Five acres does not seem anywhere near enough land to have cattle and sheep. Chickens, pigs and a couple of goats perhaps. 30 cords of firewood is great , but requires about a 900 sq. foot shed . I would sell the Porsches and do the 3/4 ton pickup as was mentioned above.
Learning skill sets is of primary importance as is blending in with the community. I am sure they are a subject of discussion in the local community. Wise to build relationships with neighbors.
I applaud this couple in every way. Gosh…. They have money. Good for them! Smart people. I like smart people. I like the way they are using their own money as tools to improve their survivability. Gosh, they don’t have a support group yet. We’ve lived where we are for 30 years and my tribe is 4 people. People who deride other’s efforts to be self sustaining are the very people you don’t want in your tribe. They will cry, moan, and complain about anything and everything. Thanks for sharing their story.
Wealth and specialized “intelligence” are no substitute for not knowing how a chainsaw works — i.e, for ignorance of important matters. Witness all the rich morons on Wall Street buying up property in New Zealand in case the USA collapses.
Gee — a population of 4 million with 4 BILLION Asians just to the north. What could possibly go wrong?
New Zealand and Australia were terrified of a Japanese invasion in WWII until Roosevelt sent a large group of US Marines and we won the Battle of Midway. They would be speaking Chinese within a decade of the day the US taxpayer can no longer fund the Pacific Fleet.
1) Given their age, if one of the local towns does not have a hospital they are more likely to be killed by a stroke, accident or heart attack than by urban cannibals. 10 minutes deadline.
2) Might ask Joel to build a fallout shelter:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_nuclear_strike_map.svg
yellow: <= 3000 rads
blue: 3000-6000 rads
light brown: 6000 to 15000 rads
dark brown: greater than 15000 rads
3) Looking at history (Greek city states, Tuscan hill villages in Middle Ages, Roman towns in Gaul circa 415 AD ) I think there is something to be said for being a resident of the county seat so you can speak in the town council and be protected by walls/guards at night. Outlying farms either screwed on tax collections, robbed at harvest time or left on their own for bandit prey by local militia (i.e Sheriff's posse).
Mel Tappan explained this back in 1980 — see "Tappan on Survival". I liked his comment that even small rural towns have some self-serving psychopaths but they are usually fewer than the number of rounds in a 1911 .45 ACP magazine.
Note also Mel's comment that a sniper can put a bullet in your back at any time if you are on an isolated farm and that isolations gives bandits have plenty of time to torture you and your family into revealing your hidden gold deposit — and God help you if you don't have a hidden gold deposit.
Here’s my assessment, Mr. and Mrs. WWW.
You, Mr. WWW, are a successful professional who has spent a career working at a desk and computer, making what is an enviable living by most Americans’ standards.
Mrs. WWW was probably a stay-at-home mom when your son was younger. If she has worked at a job that in any way contributed in a direct way to your survival prospects in a SHTF situation, you didn’t mention it.
Your income level during the previous decades allowed you to engage services by others because it did not “pencil out” financially for you to, say, handle plumbing issues, landscape maintenance, or auto mechanics while sacrificing time spent at the office handling client matters. Even if you were inclined to handle such tasks yourself, which I expect was not the case, from a purely financial point of view, an hour spent, for example, building a deck on the back of the house meant that you lost money. You could pay a professional to do it and earn more money at the office. Even hanging window blinds was a waste of your time from a purely financial point of view.
I notice that you haven’t even mentioned attaining any gardening experience through the years or even the existence of a garden at your home. I suspect that Whole Foods was the origin of most fresh vegetables on your table while you lived in California.
I notice that the only hobby you mention that would potentially assist you in a period of great social calamity is shooting.
You don’t describe the area surrounding your home. Five acres doesn’t provide much in the way of seclusion (or for meeting daily needs from a subsistence lifestyle if the need arises), but seclusion can also be a bad thing, as it usually means that you are on your own when bad things happen.
You mention CCRs, so I expect that you live in an area with similar residences and tracts of land. I also expect that, like you, these homeowners are not from Idaho. I expect that outside your real estate development, your Porsches and Range Rover will, to the locals, mark you as being an outsider.
Being a “fish out of the water conservative” will help you only to some degree in a SHTF situation, but unless you are well ensconced in the community before that happens, you will likely be regarded with considerable suspicion after things fall apart.
I expect that your neighborhood is filled with retirees who share your socio-economic status, and even with “refugees” from Blue States. Some homes may even be vacation homes/retreats owned by people well above your socioeconomic status. If a major disaster occurs with little or no notice, these absentee homeowners may never be able to get to their retreat and their homes will be vacant. This will mean that the homeowners will not be able to provide you with mutual support, and that their vacant homes could even attract those with ill intent. These “new neighbors” will be very unsettling.
While your survival assets are substantial, to say the least, I expect that the great majority of those around you do not have 1/10th of your preps, and that they are not any better prepared from a skills level than you are. While they may be the sort of people you can invite to a barbecue and opine where the Dow Jones Industrial Average is headed in the next six months, or discuss the impact of relaxed caps on H1B visas, they will not be all that useful to you after a social meltdown occurs except for moral support. For example, it is likely that half of the males will have never shot a firearm, and the number of women who have done so will be even smaller. Some may have to have the difference between a slot head and Phillips head screwdriver explained.
From my perspective, the most striking deficiency you have in your preps is the lack of support from family and friends. You can’t even count for sure on your son to assist you in a SHTF situation (and I notice that you do not mention that he has a family).Two people in their 60s living alone will have to depend on the “spicy times” not occurring in their neighborhood in order to survive for very long. Distance from the calamity is one of your most important survival factors, because you and your wife are not going to be able to withstand for very long a concerted effort by a lawless group hellbent on finding dinner that night.
With your considerable financial and survival assets at your disposal now, you should have already sent feelers out to close relatives and friends, inviting them to your place if things turn apocalyptic. Plainly and simply, you need a group. Without it, even with your wife and all of your survival assets, you are simply a glorified “lone wolf.”
Do not misunderstand. I am not criticizing your lifestyle or your choices. I am merely describing them. Of the readers of this blog, I expect that you are in the top 1% of preparedness, but your preparedness lifestyle is one that will help you sustain you for a specific duration only.
Yet, you foresee a worst case scenario that involves “bombs falling” and you mention needing an emergency exit, so it is clear that you are not just preparing to ride out an economic meltdown or a flu pandemic. While you will be situated to handle such calamities better than most for a couple of years, should things turn really “spicey,” you will be seriously challenged in preventing others from taking what you have from you.
Welcome to the club.
survivormann99, maybe they didn’t describe the area around their home b/c they didn’t want to publicize their security measures. I can’t imagine why anyone would make that info public, b/c it’d allow looters/attackers to find the weakness in the security systems. I work in a semi-public position & learned decades ago not to share some personal stuff, b/c I don’t care for others’ opinions or want them to know my personal data. There are good, solid reasons why people don’t disclose things publicly.
I would have to agree with Gman. I would ditch the fancy car for the truck(s) I would also look for older diesels that don’t use DEF. And good supply of diesel stored. Sounds like a good start
So tell me: Where is Jesus our Lord and Savior in your life???????????
Was that a judgemental question? Just askin’…
It sure sounded judgemental.
Might not help when SHTF, but a Porsche GT2 RS!? Good for them. One of my dream cars, just need the $400,000 to afford one haha. People need to remember to have fun when you can. As a younger person, 31, I am preparing but I still want to live my life and enjoy it.
Wow. Shocked at all of the nasty, “holier than thou”, passive aggressive comments towards the writer. I strongly suspect jealousy and envy as the diving factor in these comments. Because he is a man of considerable means, so many here have made horrible assumptions about him. Truthfully, you should be ashamed of yourselves. He’s rich, and that’s good! Didn’t realize there were so many Bernie Sanders fans around here….
Agree with you! Who ever said you can’t have survival skills just because you have done well in life and earned nice stuff?
Jason,
To quote that celebrated American bard and balladeer, Paul Simon, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest…Lie-la-lie.”
In looking over the comments to find “all the nasty, ‘holier than thou,’ passive aggressive comments towards the writer,” you refer to, while there may be a little envy creeping in with some commenters’ responses, I’m not seeing much for you to complain about.
Humor sometimes doesn’t come through on web sites and emails. Beyond that, merely pointing out existing deficiencies in what comes close to being a 24 karat gold survival plan from someone who has clearly invited comment by posting the article on this blog is expected. I am quite certain that Mr. and Mrs. WWW didn’t reveal the nature and extent of their preps in the expectation of simply waiting for the adulation of the readership and an ovation from the preparedness crowd.
In case you view my own comment as being the type of which you complain, I will say that my comments about where Mr. and Mrs. WWW are coming up short can be viewed from the perspective of “it takes one to know one,” and I wish them well.
@Jason
“didn’t realize there were so many Bernie Sanders fans around here”
???? The WWWs appear to be middle class, albeit with the advantage of a career in high cost California. Bernie hunts MUCH bigger game — e.g, pushing Jeff Bezos to share some that $165 BILLION in wealth with minimum wage Amazon warehouse workers.
Although Bernie would probably concede that Mackenzie Bezos’ divorce lawyers beat Bernie when it comes to doing the Lord’s work.
Linking Bernie to comments about the WWWs is like saying African big game hunter Frederick Selous was good at hunting rabbits.
Well I have to completely disagree with you. One, based on what I read, these folks are well above middle class, and that’s awesome. Secondly, while people like Bernie may cry about the likes of Bezos, Buffett, Gates, etc., he is really coming for people in the range of the WWWs. I know this because Obama cried about the taxes paid by Buffett but his plan included singles making $250,000 and couples making $400,000 per year. You can’t possibly think that Bernie’s free college and free Medicare for all can be paid for by a handful of billionaires. The free for all socialist plans currently making the rounds will ultimately sink the middle class. You should really look up what it takes to be in the top 1% of wage earners, usually around $400,000 secures your spot nicely. 1% can’t pay for 99% and Buffett’s wealth doesn’t come from a paycheck every week.
Oh, claptrap. In the Redoubt it takes $900 to $2 million to make the 1% — in California or New York it is $2 to $2.5 million.
https://howmuch.net/articles/income-inequality-by-state
Your idea that Obama was an enemy of the Rich is hilarious — who do you think got that $10 Trillion in debt he ran up? The Little People?
Do you think Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan dumped $1 million each into his 2008 campaign because they are socialists? Was it socialism that drove Goldman Sachs stock from $69 to $180 in Obama’s first year — or was it Obama paying off GS’s gambling debts?
Is $2 BILLION dumped into the Democratic Party in every election to protect Free Enterprise , provide charity to the Poor and promote fair competition in the Free Market — or does it buy lucrative favors?
You’re very wrong. Perhaps you are reading “the average income” of people in the 1%. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/27/how-much-you-have-to-earn-to-be-in-the-top-1percent-in-every-us-state.html. Just over $421,000 qualifies overall in the U.S. You’re also misreading my comment. I don’t think Obama was an enemy to the ultra rich or top 0.1%. I think he used figures and statements concerning the ultra rich to fleece the upper middle class and lower end upper class. I also think he couldn’t have cared less about the poor. But if you are defending socialism and Sanders then you’re just wasting my time with this discussion.
As a side note, you were definitely reading the average income of the top 1% of wage earners, I clearly stated what it took to qualify for the category. There is a difference.
Let’s all be kind and learn from each other. The more other folks are prepared, the less strife we will have that doesn’t cost us anything and might help us in a pinch. I’d love to have WWW as neighbors mostly because my husband and I value folks who are willing to embrace change and try new things. I think JL’s comments are quite valuable in terms of gauging “social change” as well. Stay well to all.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. WWW,
Congrats on your hard earned preps that are a work in progress, just like the rest of us.
To most of those that repied w/comments, I just want to say I’m not feeling the love or
support I would wish for from men leaders in our likeminded community. Come on.
We need each of you now more than ever to learn how to be positive, inspiring leaders, without smugness, pride, and negative put downs of those of us who have lesser skills
than you, or are not doing things “the right way,” according to you. Pick your hero that you would follow to the death & emulate him. Teach us through truth, tough love and kindness. I escaped from an abusive
marriage, so I have so much respect for each of you men on this blog who are protectors of others. Also, if you are on this blog, then you are going to be a leader. My question for you is:
What kind of leader will you be?
I am a work in progress, and when I get my
place in N. Idaho, I would love having
likeminded neighbors like Mr. & Mrs. WWW.
They are not the golden horde; not the problem. They are part of the solution.
God bless each of you, Krissy
We can look at objective data and project probabilities regarding the future, but truthfully, none of us know what the future holds. While the Good Lord admonishes us to be wise and prepare, He certainly doesn’t give us any guarantee about the future. We only have today. Any additional time on this crazy pineapple-upside-down-cake-world is up to God. To me, it sounds like this couple have been able to strike a balance between having a lovely lifestyle now yet also being prepared for unknown future events. They have used their resources wisely. Lots of folks of similar means would simply buy a yacht or a glamorous house down in the Caribbean, with no consideration for preparedness. Now, being in their 60s, they may have sufficient time away from busy careers to finally focus on developing other fun and rewarding skills like gardening and caring for animals, something their previous lifestyle may not have allowed while living in SoCal. My only suggestion would be to join local organizations who share your values (political, church, animal rescue groups,
etc) and begin to build friendships and a sense of community. Perhaps consider setting aside additional food preparations to support others who you may need to join you during a time of crisis, or to give as charity should that meet with your particular set of values. (In my experience, conservatives are very giving and generous, so I assume that significant charity may already be a part of their plan.) Finally, get some fishing poles and invite me to sit by the river with you in a shady spot to fish and pick your brain about the financial markets!! LOL! Seriously, I wager a bet that Mr WWW has forgotten more than I will ever know about smart investing. Glad we have folks like this who are moving to the Redoubt. We may one day need to rebuild our economy, and those with an understanding of the current (failed/failing) system, who also possess integrity and conservative values, will be hugely helpful in rebuilding a more ethical and robust new system, devoid of Ponzi scheme derivatives and debt based structures. Welcome to the Redoubt! I am sure it has been a long road to get here and I wish you all the best!
Couldn’t agree more Grits!
The most telling statement in this entire story is this:
“Substantial long term puts on US Markets”
This is nothing more than a hobby for Mr. WWW and one that Mrs. WWW is most likely happy to indulge because it keeps him out of her hair.
I once saw a gentleman lose $175,000 on one spin of the roulette wheel while visiting the Grand Casino in Monaco. Obviously fantastically wealthy, his expression was no more than if he had dropped a quarter on the floor. Point is, my hobby money and someone else’s hobby money are two different things.
Congratulations to the WWW’s for their past success and hope they have happiness for the rest of their days.
Amen!
I would suggest now, settled, find a local church. Attend and get to know the congregation. Start first aid training and as stated by other reader: sell the Porsche. A used F 250 4x 4 is more practical. Start learning how to garden and ask for help on learning how to run a chain saw. ( I prefer Stihl).
With your income and depth of supplies, I would procure a second property within a days hiking distance as a fall back BOL and someplace to stash a portion of your supplies offsite. Might not ever need it, but priceless if you ever do. You have read “Patriots”, right?
One of the few insightful comments. A 2nd location for a person of means is brilliant. It becomes the ‘last stand,’ where the current home is ‘stage 1.’
Consider setting up the 2nd location as a rustic, primitive operation, designed to be easy to maintain, and survive in. If it was me, consider running electric, but never connecting to outside power. Set it up to run on a simple solar/wind system, test it, then remove all outward signs of electric power. That stuff gets erected AFTER you made the decision to bolt stage 1 for the last stand.
Split that ammunition up into a dozen stockpiles, spread between the two sites, some inside, much outside, all carefully selected and memorized. Hide a map to it in case the boy shows up with five friends, only to find you didn’t make it. Design a system for communicating the plan to your son that doesn’t involve sharing any useful information with ‘outsiders.’ Make him come up for a week, and introduce him to the local community so even if he’s an outsider, they at least know he’s “old man WWW’s boy.”
Wannabee, that’s an excellent idea. You are thinking ‘outside Plan A’. And like BobW suggested, make it appear ‘rustic and primitive’. The cost could be a small fraction of the cost of their main retreat. Like the saying goes, ‘Two is one. One is none’.
Do you need a minion? LOL
If they need someone with a strong back and a weak mind, I’m available!
My thoughts
I’d have a lot more night vision and flir, hand held and scoped. I’d have more friends, and make accomidations to cover for them food wise. I’d invest heavily in emergency room medical supplies. You have the financial resources to do this quite adequately, under $50G for everything mentioned, though one could spend that on food, and might be wise to do just that. How’s your library.
I’d then get out and do a lot of meet and greet and build relationships starting with the closest neighbors, church, etc…… I’d also consider looking at your present friends list and perhaps put out a feeler. Strength in numbers, economy of scale.
You have what we dream of, the financial resources to do it right. So do it right.
This custom home will draw a lot of interest, and gossip will abound. Might do as suggested and have a fall back location and a bug out plan for it….more remote, less need for the niceties. With what you can afford, I’d like to see eight or more men, and their wives and families together. Think large my friend, and good luck. With the right minded neighbors you might consider buying in with them, so to speak…. You might be the answer to their prayers and fill in a lot of the voids.
I too hope you have the Lord in your heart (and not relying on a thing called luck), ask him to fill your mind with the next priority and get on it…..yesterday. It’s looking like it’s gonna get going fairly soon, with all the pressure being put on the deep state by Trump and the fact the leftist progressive socialist communists are revealing their plans as they foment this invasion. Somethings gonna break, whether it’s real or a false flag, they have to change the narrative in a big way…….
It’s always easy to pick apart someone else’s plans and preps, isn’t it? From personal experience I know how easy it is to go off down a rabbit hole on certain supplies. Nobody’s plan is perfect. Mr. Murphy has a way of pointing out the weak points in every plan, so having looked at what the WWWs disclose it’s easier for me to see where I can personally do better in some areas – and I think that is the whole point of these Retreat Profiles that JWR so kindly provides for us, a little dose of perspective.
First, I’m relatively new to this venue. Let’s congratulate your new residents for escaping California, taking all of this time and effort to get started and appreciate their appetite for continual improvement. When we started our own notes with fellow planners in Florida, folks tried to be really courteous and make suggestions that start with “For your consideration, I’ve seen the following X,Y and Z”.
Taking heed of my own suggestion, here’s a thought. You put quite a bit of good thought and planning into this venue but might benefit from saddling up with another grouping of folks who would rotate into your staffing plan – either neighbors or colleagues who are bugging out would likely be needed in any sort of watch bill if things get dicey.
Good luck and great job.
My only comments are, why 400,000 rds. of ammo if your planning to exit if a nationwide civil war takes place, and if such a thing should take place how do you go about exiting to a foreign residence. You surely won’t be able to drive your Porsche out of the country. Interesting article but sounds like a fantasy to me, I could be wrong, have been before. I know a man in Wyoming that owns more military equipment than many third world countries. Trekker Out
I noticed that too. Imagine having the equipment, knowledge and supplies to reload all that brass a few times each.
Since every other country has less freedom and much more restrictive gun rights, I find it hard to justify running away from the US if there is ever an open civil war or some other WROL event, at my age (close to theirs).
As other commenters noted, they are well-stocked on firearms and ammo – but there are a lot of other things just as necessary – seeds are cheap and take little space, building relationships with LE or the community costs almost nothing. Looking like a wealthy, aloof, out-of-stater, though, can carry a high price.
No offense to the author, but to me and many here it is roughly as relatable as an article on the preps at Buckingham Palace. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but different circles for sure. There seems to be quite a lot of the investment banker types here, so perhaps they can compare notes.
The author states dual residency with an English-speaking nation, probably New Zealand given his concerns. Again, not saying that’s bad, but definitely not open to most of us.
There is an old parable about the Oak splintering trying to resist the storm, while the blade of grass bends and abides.
I think this was a spoof posting by the WWW’s to see the range of responses …It’s illogical…why talk about your income and the Porsches and not about your team of friends and like thinkers? The focus was ultimately not on preparedness but on affluence.
Why horde this level of armament and then bail to a foreign country?…Why not save $100,000 in expenditures and just leave asap when things go strange (stranger than they are now). Why not be a patriot and stay here in the USA and fight for what’s right?
I have to admit, jima, that you may well be on to something. The background for Mr. and Mrs. WWW was simply a little too much “too, too.” The thought also passed through my mind that there was more than a little fantasy involved.
I had the same thought when I read “Doomsday Marauders” on Amazon.com. The author claimed to be a former CIA operative and went into some detail about his alleged background and activities in the field. The main thrust of the book, however, was to lay out how easy it would be to overwhelm homesteads and prepper compounds post-apocalypse and to simply “live off the land” that way–which explains the “marauder” part in the title.
The thing is, the author did actually provide food for thought about defensive measures that might be taken in a Mad Max World in order to deal with the psychopaths out there (which, if he’s genuine, would include the author). Yet, the book was very unsettling. In the back of my mind while I read it, I kept thinking, “Is this guy for real? If so, if there are very many people like him, people like me are probably screwed.” (Note that I have excluded myself from the psychopath class. Justifiably?)
I have to think that anyone who went to the extent of gathering the equipment and hard assets that Mr. & Mrs. WWW claimed were likely to have considered other issues and made additional preparations, yet, there was no mention of them. The voids in their planning and preps were considerable.
While no one singled me out, my comments probably fell in the much too critical category for some people. I was simply taking the profile as it was presented, and was trying to point out where holes existed in the plan. It was, nevertheless, the sort of plan most of us dream of because, were we in Mr. and Mrs. WWW’s place, we would know where the gaps were.
I am reminded of the much maligned (and often, appropriately maligned) “Doomsday Preppers” series. At the end of each episode, the participants who often believed that they could ride out any disaster or social upheaval, were given a score and told how long they could probably expect to survive. In my opinion, many times the evaluation was very subjective, and way off base. The analysis of shortcomings often had considerable merit.
If someone posts a profile like this on this web site, it’s somewhat similar to agreeing to appear on “Doomsday Preppers.” I am sure that Mr. and Mrs. WWW did not expect to receive universal accolades, with no comments about what they might do better. If so, they are living in a dream world, and it is not in their best interest to continue to do so.