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1. My brain is wired a bit different. I inherited it, so is not my fault. My grandpa called it ‘backwards thinking’, a phase that describes what now recognized as dyslexia. He was also a self taught engineer, and involved with early radio, and began building and selling Crystal radio sets on the streets of New York at the age of 14. I also tend to take to engineering. A big part of engineering something necessarily requires one to make a series of compromises. The result will hopefully will be a good balance of desirable characteristics. Unfortunately we can’t have it all, or the ideal retreat. The ‘ideal’ is perfection, and as they say, “Perfection is the enemy of good”. I believe “good” in this instance refers to a set of well balanced attributes.

   We should have water and food, and way to defend it. The two are the easy part, the a ‘no brainer’. The third is not a ‘no brainer’ for most. In sad fact is, is that most folks have little concept of how to defend their retreat. They may have guns, and it goes ‘pew, pew’ and that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy to have a piles of the stuff. Yet is it only security blanket, and means little in the real world. You got it, but can you keep it? At the end of the day, it is not what you got, but what you can keep. For example, I may not be fabulously wealthy, yet what little I own will be well defended. Therefore the odds that I get to keep what I got are much higher that someone who has it all, their ideal retreat, and all the firepower one could dream of. All of that long term survival potential, farm and fire power is pointless if one does know how to use it, and are located in an area where is it is more vulnerable. I cannot help others with tactics, and all that Rambo stuff here, but I can point out one of the more important aspects often overlooked that can give the novice defender a decisive advantage.

   It is all about location, location, location. First find a community of like minded people. Yet also look at where is it is situated. It should have less than a population of 1000, so that it may have a sense of community, lots of water, and farm land to sustain itself. It should also be remote and isolated, at least 10 miles from another community. There should be one county road in and out of the valley, and protected by terrain such as mountains, on it’s flanks. I would choose a location that also has an enclave of like minded neighbors, a smaller community, that is on side road, and then locate a retreat off that side road. It would all be located at a higher elevation than the county road, with terrain that gives one the easier to defend high ground. I would prefer defensible space, and an opportunity to use height and long range fire to defend the main avenue of approach that will controlled in way. It should also have plenty of trees on either side of the road leading in that can be cut and dropped across the road for a distance of 100 or more yards to prevent travel of any kind. This is a last resort tactic.

   There is much more to be said about this topic. This is only to introduce the idea. As preppers, we are not infantry, and will not have the skills of infantrymen, so we must find a location that helps compensate for our lack of skills.
   Where a retreat is located should weigh heavy in our basket of desirable attributes that would define a suitable retreat. Again, if we cannot defend it, it will not be ours for very long. It does not matter how nice the retreat is, if it cannot be defended. The first rule of real estate also applies here, location, location, location. I would rather over pay for a property that is situated in the most defensible location I can find, that also has the other essentials such as water, and land that could support a 1/4 acre garden or more. My priorities are different than the average prepper. I think backwards about stuff. I have other ‘goofy’ ideas as well, as I would also be prepared to feed my neighbors, so that potential threats would become assets. This Christian thing about giving to those in need, is actually wise indeed. I might live in one room a pioneer style log cabin that requires little wood to heat, but there is less chance that what little I got, will be taken.

2. What’s “OSB”? Oriented Strand Board, like that particle board with really big particles?

   1. Si!

3. That is one way of viewing it. Or you could view it that I Have so much, if some is taken who cares!

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