Category: Retreat Architecture

Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire

Sir, I wish to inquire about hardening a home .I n a firefight, when in a “normal” home, shots would traverse the walls. Being a simple farmer here in southeastern Idaho I am a little concerned about the current turmoil and possible Golden Horde. I know that when I was in Rhodesia, we built earthen berms around the home like big flower boxes along with 2″x4″ mesh wire to stop RPGs. We also had built two perimeter fences and placed crushed white stone inside the two fences ([each] nine feet high). Also I am interested in how to pump water …


Letter Re: Finding Like-Minded Folks

Hello, I’ve read your novel “Patriots” and I feel compelled to mention that it was the first book I ever defaced. I’ve always loved reading, but I read (and in some cases even re-read multiple times) books but never highlight or mark up the books. I don’t know why, I just don’t. It was almost immediate, like a lightning strike… that I needed to change what I was doing when I started reading Patriots. It even occurred to me that I needed a couple different colors to distinguish separate types of information. I absolutely loved the story line, not because …


Letter Re: An Inexpensive Alternative to HESCO Bastions

Jim Hello! Some time ago, I read a post on SurvivalBlog about the HESCO bastions. Very interesting. I follow another blog here [in Brazil] , and one of the bloggers tell me about the huge fertilizer bags that he uses at his farm. (It is a [large scale] soy bean farm). Each bag is of one of one ton capacity. And he tells me that this bags are thrown away after use. Well, I think it´s a good source of almost free HESCO bastion equivalents. – The Werewolf (SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Brazil)


Letter Re: Victorian Era Farm Skills in the UK

James, Thanks for your continued efforts in continuing to bring the right thinking to a troubled world. I have one heads up and one question that you might be able to help with. 1. Heads up : For UK-based readers (and those who have access to UK IP address) you might like to point out to them a series currently running on BBC 2 : Victorian Farm To quote from the BBC site: “Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year. Wearing period clothes and using only the materials that would …


Letter Re: Colonial New England Community Blockhouses as a Historic Precedent

Hello Jim, Mosby’s description of defense tactics was common all along the frontier in the 18th Century including western Pennsylvania. As defense against indian raids, a small blockhouse was built on a farm in a central location. A spring [or shallow well] for water was a necessity. When news of local raids spread, people would gather as many possessions as possible and head to the blockhouse for the common defense. This is an instance where much can be learned from history. While these small forts where rarely overrun, the abandoned farms were wide open to burning and pillage. Destruction of …


Letter Re: Choosing Between Roughly Comparable Retreat Locations

Jim. To follow up on your response E.G. in the southeast who has such good neighbors. This reminds me of the small town in Maine where I grew up. Back in the day[s of early pioneer settlement]. this community, like so many agricultural ones in the region, hosted homesteads that were spread out much like E.G.’s friends in the southeast. At the time, raids by indian parties were the norm as relations fluctuated between harmonious and deadly. As it was more than obvious that a homestead family alone could never hope to hold out against a band of forty warriors …


Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Hi Mr. Rawles – I’ve been reading, and enjoying, your survival blog for some time now. There has been a recent thread on home invasions, which has gotten me to upgrade my home door security. While surfing the web reviewing door frame reinforcing products, I came across a link to an interesting article on the techniques used by firemen to breach your doors and gates. While the steps I am now taking would defeat most “kick in” assaults, stopping a determined crook with a [police or] fireman’s “Hallagan” tool seems unlikely. Thanks for your Blog, and Happy New Year. – …


Letter Re: Choosing Between Roughly Comparable Retreat Locations

Dear Jim, Thank you for the web site, it has been a great source of info. I first read your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”] in the 4th quarter of 1999. It was very helpful for preparedness for Y2K. I read it again 1st quarter 2008 and am now re-reading with the high lighter and pen. For the folks who have not read your book, they are missing one of the best preparedness manuals out there. I have never been a Boy Scout, but my personal creed has always been to be prepared. If you have any skills at …


Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Jim, After reading the recent letters about home invasion robberies, I’ve gotten a little paranoid about the idea of someone kicking in my front door in the middle of the night. It would be incredibly easy to do and it’s unlikely I could retrieve a firearm quickly enough to defend (I have a toddler so all guns are locked up except a pistol, which my wife doesn’t know is in Condition 3 in a drawer too tall for my daughter to reach). The Strikemaster II is out of budget (I need three of them) so I looked into having similar …


Two Letters Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Jim, I have not yet seen mention of “air locks” as a security layer for entry doors. Many years ago I managed a software project that included doing installs at armored car companies. The visitor entrance had you go in one set of doors to a small holding room. Here a security receptionist behind thick glass and gun ports could identify you and hold you until they were ready. Only then could you enter a second set of doors into the main facility, which would be analogous to an inner courtyard in a residential estate (i.e., an open area surrounded …


Letter Re: Bureaucratic Restrictions on Defensive Wire and Obstacles

Sir [Regarding your recent mention of the ban on barbed wire in the city of Newark, New Jersey,] they aren’t the only ones. I am currently in Kabul [, Afghanistan] doing contract security work and we wanted to improve the security of the compound we live in. We are doing so by adding HESCO bastions made into fighting positions on the outside of our perimeter wall. As our workers were finishing the last of them, the police came by to tell us that we could not put up HESCOs on the street. When I got out there I asked the …


Letter Re: Feed Sacks as Sandbag Substitutes

Mr. Rawles; We came across a small discovery here on our ranch. We feed many animals and four dogs. So we go through a good deal of dog food in bags. I noticed the similarity in dog food bags to the construction of sandbags. So, I have been using , dog food bags as low cost/no cost sandbags. They work well and if you keep the weight close to the amount that came in the bag. They don’t rip. We have been using them for a year and they hold up well in our tests thus far. They have been …


Five Letters Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Dear Jim, Just one caution amid all the excellent advice on hardening a house against intruders–be sure it’s possible to get out from the inside easily in event of a fire or other disaster. Shutters, or latchable bars are better for this than those mounted solidly into the structure. Alternately, consider paying for ballistic glass. – Michael Z. Williamson Mr. Rawles, Thanks for your time and efforts – SurvivalBlog has been a great help to me and I am planning to mail a 10 Cent Challenge contribution to support your work. In the meantime, I thought I would comment on …


Six Letters Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Greetings Mr. Rawles, I read your blog everyday and am learning so much. Thanks for your dedication to helping prepare us for the future. In reference to the recent article on home security, we lived in Argentina for three years and we could all learn from their security measures. The first house we lived in had steel shutters, as did everyone in the neighborhood, and they were all shut at night. The doors have locks that automatically lock when you leave the house. The small front yards usually have tall steel fences with the same height gates. The gates were …


Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Dear Mr. Rawles: First and foremost thank you for your novel “Patriots” which I am currently reading. I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. As of late there seems to be a rise in the number of “home invasion” type of crimes in this area. Every morning that I go to work I hear about a new incident in the metroplex. This has led me to put inside locks on my bedroom doors and purchase my first gun. I consider myself one of those “know enough to be dangerous” people, but am planning on taking a handgun safety course . …