Category: Profile

Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. and Mrs. Dulce in Chile

70+ acre Chilean Retreat, plus a 1,500 acre cattle grazing permit. Ages: 43 and 41, and one child age 3 Background: Family is from upstate New York, dairy farmers. I grew up in NC, history major who went into the Army as an aviator. Spent time living, travelling, and working in over 50 countries. Separated from the army as a Major and went into investments. Retired to Chile in the 2000s. Why Chile? – Chile is the best kept secret in the world. A strong democratic country with five major political parties, Chile is very stable. Chile has lived thru …


Retreat Owner Profile–Mr. & Mrs. Tico in Costa Rica

Present home : Farm in Northern Costa Rica Ages : 54 & 57 Two sons 30 & 32, who are living in North Carolina. Income $50,000 USD/year secure (many diverse overseas investments) and a tourism business currently at $120,000 or so per year ( I own a botanical garden) . Additional income from fruit groves and tilapia ponds $15,000/year. Profession : Gunsmith, nursery grower, waterscaper, fish farmer . Vehicles : Two 1970s Toyota Land Cruiser BJ40’s with 2.4 diesel engines, kept in top-notch condition and a 2 cycle Ez-Go golf cart set up [with tires and suspension] for all terrain. …


After 10 Years–Some Observations and Lessons Learned by a Y2K-Era Prepper

It was June, 1998. Y2K was a salient topic of conversation. It got my attention. When the electricity went off and there would be no water to drink, and no fuel to move food to the JIT grocery stores, I could see things getting very ugly. I had been willing to fight for this nation as a member of the US Army. Now it was time to fight for my household. I bought a Springfield Armory M1A. I bought a safe to store it in. I bought another M1A (for the spousal unit of course!) I bought ammo. Lots of …


Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot

Present home: Recently moved to new residence in luxury community in South Texas because of a job loss in the Northwest. we sold our our 40 acre retreat because prices were top of the market and it could help in Texas to have no mortgage and to continue preparations. Many acquisitions will occur within the next year including another retreat property (prices are about same as when we bought our first retreat and inventory up in the Northwest.) Ages: 46 and 51 SOs: One adult child that lives out of state Annual income: $61,000+. Profession: Technology (him) and Homemaker (her). …


Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. Uniform

Present Home: 63 year old brick veneer over weather board farmhouse (1,300 square feet) built by my father. 25 acres, consisting of 3.5 acres of pine, 9 acres of old growth hardwoods, 1.5 acres of apple, pear, pecan, grape, muscudine, and scuppernong orchard/grove/vineyard. Additional 900 square foot house, 100 year barn (30’x30′ with loft and sheds), outdoor privy, detached 24’x24′ garage building, 140 square foot storage building, dog house/lot, hog house lot (not used at present). Approximately three acres in farmstead buildings, drives, and gardens. Balance of land in open arable land presently used by neighbor as native grass hay …


Reader Poll Results: Your TEOTWAWKI Resume — 100 Words and 100 Pounds

Some of these stretched the 100 word limit. (I skipped posting one that rambled on far beyond the limit.) The poll’s premise in a nutshell: “If someday you went to the gates of a survival community post-TEOTWAWKI and pleaded the case for why you should be let past the barricades and armed guards to become a valuable working member of the group, would you get voted in? Taken objectively, would you vote yourself in?”   I am a shoe maker (not just a repairman) can repair saddles tan leather have done ranch work mechanics weld gardening skills set a broken …


Retreat Owner Profile: Mr & Mrs. “FerFAL” in Buenos Aires, Argentina

AGE: 28 SOs: Wife 30, 4 year old son Currently living in the southern Buenos Aires suburbs in a 2 story masonry house with independent reinforced concrete structure. The houses share walls to the left and right, all around the block, completely enclosing the back yards which are divided by walls or fences covered with libustrina plants. You lose some privacy (noises, loud parties) but you ensure a rather safe garden and back yard for the children to play in since the streets haven’t been safe for a while now, and no responsible adult lets his children play on the …


Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. and Mrs. Oscar

Home/property: Located in eastern Wisconsin. 160 acres of mixed pine and oak forest. 32,000 trees planted in the last two years. Entered in tree management program. House 2,800 square feet. Principally heated by a soapstone stove with propane hot water backup. Built in 1981. Outbuilding shed/library/reloading room. A 40×30 pole barn. Shed has cast iron “cooking/heating” stove, wood fired…propane backup. 1,000 gallon propane tank. Inverter in place for addition of 6,500 watt diesel generator to be installed spring ’07. 200 gallons gasoline stabilized and in place. 70 gallons kerosene. 500 gallon diesel tank to be in place at addition of …


Three Letter Re: Internet and Search Engine Privacy

Jim: I’ve done a lot of experimenting on this and offer my take: Rule Number One: The U.S. Government is monitoring domestic internet traffic. Anybody visiting Survivalblog is already suspect by the government because of it’s very subject matter. Assume that you are being monitored. Let’s not be naive here please. Anonymizer is obviously monitored by the Government because it maintains logs of in/out IP Addresses. Tor…the Onion Router is the best way to go if you have DSL or Cable high-speed internet connection because there is no central logging. I use it. CCleaner [Cache Cleaner] at http://www.ccleaner.com/ is the …