Category: Retreat Architecture

Letter Re: The Disappearing Road Quandary

Mr. Rawles: I own a pretty densely-wooded 40 [acre property] in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) [of Michigan]. The land on 2.5 sides of ours belongs to a timber company, and the land across the road belongs to the state. We live in a typical “stick built” house. It was built in the 1980s, with lots of big windows and two double-glazed sliding [glass] doors. We are four miles out of a town (about 2,000 population) but our house is only 60 feet from a somewhat heavily traveled county road. So our house is what you would probably call a tactical …


Letter Re: Building a Refrigerator Wall Adobe House

Dear Mr. Rawles: A recent article on your site mentioned using shipping containers to build an enclosed courtyard similar to those that were constructed as California Missions. The author stated he could not use adobe due to the wet climate in which he planned to construct his non-fortress-looking enclave. Here is another suggestion in lieu of adobe: While living in a rural area in Southern California in the early 1960s, I had to take trash to the dump about every third week. Over the span of just a couple of years, I watched a huge canyon fill-up with trash from …


Letter Re: Survival Architecture: Building a Retreat that is Defensible, Sustainable and Affordable

James Wesley: On March 25, we saw a post by Phil M. indicating that “At a point of 6′ below the surface of  the earth, temperatures stays constant at around 60°F.”  This may only be true for very specific locales.  For most locations, constant ground temperature reflects the average yearly air temperature for the locale, and ground temps are only constant at a depth of about 30 ft. and below.  At depths above 30 ft., ground temperatures begin to increasingly modulate up and down following seasonal air temperature.  In areas of the world with seasonal temperature changes similar to the …


Survival Architecture: Building a Retreat that is Defensible, Sustainable and Affordable, by Phil M.

Have you designed and built your own survival retreat yet?  If not, read on.  Designing and building a survival retreat that can provide protection can be affordable and also provide more than adequate shelter and warmth to not only keep its inhabitants alive, but comfortable. To understand how this is achievable we must first understand what sort of materials are available and how each of them apply to defensibility, sustainability and affordability.  Secondly, we must understand how the arrangement of these materials into form, or design, can lend themselves  to defensibility, sustainability and affordability. Materials A major problem with conventional …


Preparedness on a Tight Budget, by Mrs. R.J. in Arkansas

I have read many of the stories on survival blog but have yet to read a one from someone on a very tight budget. That leaves those of us with tiny incomes at a disadvantage and feeling vulnerable. For about two years I have had a small voice inside me telling me to fill my storehouses with food for the coming famine. As a Christian and minister I believe that voice is God and He wants His people to be ready. Although Many Christians think we are crazy and don’t believe they should have to worry about storing foods for …


Letter Re: Earthships: Sustainable Living for TEOTWAWKI

Dear James Rawles,      We have lived in a Earthship for 12 years.  It is an excellent way of life and very fulfilling to be able to build your own house.  But living in the the dry desert southwest does not provide enough [captured rain or snow-melt] water to grow enough food to survive.  We need a well to provide water.  It is run by solar panels and a jack pump.  But in the summer monsoons or with the winter clouds we have to use a generator, for both pumping water and enough power to run the house. In times …


Earthships: Sustainable Living for TEOTWAWKI, by Sgt. P.

How much did the average home owner in the United States pay for utilities last month?  Last Year?  How much will they pay for utilities by the time they pay off their mortgage?  If they averaged $250 per month in utilities, which is below the national average of “$264.33 per month” (Statistic quoted by White Fence) the answer is shocking.  With the average home loan lasting 30 years, without taking into consideration rising costs, utilities would be $90,000!  For that amount of money this homeowner could put one child through a four year-degree at a very nice university.  What if …


Increasing Preparedness Planning Through the Rules of Three by SAA Joe

After reading “Patriots” and then becoming a regular reader of SurvivalBlog I quickly realized the opportunities I had to improve my preparedness.  As someone who enjoyed the outdoors I always felt I had some of the skills and materials but realized the task to have the right preparations in the right quantities was going to be a challenge.  Where do I start?  This was especially compounded with the semi-urban apartment lifestyle I live, in the worst state west of the Mississippi, and one that is sure to be disrupted by some type of event – a major earthquake at the …


Preparedness Provisioning (Good, Better, Best), by Bill L.

In an event where supplies of food and water or your access shelter have become compromised due to natural disaster, civil unrest or an unplanned scarcity of commodities, it would be comforting to know that in spite of the unplanned event you have planned for it.  This is not a detailed itemized list of what to get. There are numerous books, internet sites and clubs that offer all kinds of advice on preparedness. By doing your own research you will see that there are ample lists and dialogs to glean from. What this is is a method to keep you …


David in Israel Re: Family Protective Measures — New Instability in Lebanon

James: The following is mostly for the benefit of SurvivalBlog readers who live in Israel, but other readers might find it of interest. Here we go again! Hizb’allah has apparently taken down the somewhat western-aligned government in Lebanon. I want to put not only Israeli readers on warning to have some extra supplies on hand but also collect bedding and blankets to be ready to accept people into your home seeking refuge from the north along the Lebanon and Syria borders. This time around it is important even for people living in the merkaz and possibly even south of Jerusalem …


Letter Re: In Defense of the Fortress Mentality–and Architecture

CPT Rawles: Rolled [woven] cattle wire and green landscaping cloth strike me as something that could be whipped up into a do-it-yourself HESCO barrier. And then there’s good old-fashioned Basket Weave from saplings. (which is still in the current US Army Engineer field manual, believe it or not) To save on wire (i.e.: Eliminating the end panels on a HESCO that but up against each other), perhaps two parallel fences can be run with posts and filled in between them with rock, dirt, etc. Also, I grew up on a farmstead in New England that was built in the 1760s. …


In Defense of the Fortress Mentality–and Architecture

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I recently got an irate letter from an outspoken Peak Oil commentator who often stresses “community agriculture” and “sustainable development.” He castigated me for “advocating a fortress mentality…” and “encouraging gun-buying…” I think that he meant those as insults, but I took them as compliments. I am indeed an advocate of the fortress mentality, and fortress architecture. The two go hand-in-hand. As I pointed out in my book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”, modern American architecture with flimsy doors and large expanses of windows is just a 70 year aberration from a global …


Letter Re: Ballistic Protection From Compressed Earth Blocks

Jim: Some folks tested .50 BMG bullets on unprotected 18″-thick earth bag (Compressed Earth Block (CEB)) walls. See; “Bullet Resistance of Compressed Earth” located at the Earth Bag Building Blog. There is a YouTube video attached though. I thought this was pretty important, as this is the type of housing structure my husband and I are using. – Sky Watcher.


Three Letters Re: Question on Burying a CONEX

Three Letters Re: Question on Burying a CONEX Jim: I have buried a CONEX for cold storage.  I put a 6″ thick reinforced concrete slab on the top to ensure the 3-4′ of dirt on top would be supported. Also the shelving inside has a support post every 4′ on both sides of the CONEX and this helps support the roof.   It takes a lot of waterproofing to ensure the metal sides and bottom won’t rust out.  The only advantage of the CONEX is the excellent doors and locks.  After finishing the project I would agree with you on simply …


Letter Re: Question on Burying a CONEX

Dear Mr. Rawles,   My husband and I live in rural North Central Florida.  We have been working on our food storage and supplies for years.  I keep everything in my house but my husband and I are frugal and we keep the air at 80 degrees in the summer and 68 – 70 in the winter.  Not ideal for long preservation.   We have been discussing a storage shelter for years and I would like your readers and your input on an ideal that I’ve been kicking around.  I was thinking of purchasing a steel freight CONEX container, coating …