Category: Retreat Architecture

Letter Re: Rolled-Up Sleeves Work

Jim, Do you think the subject of work gets underplayed in the survivalist movement? It seems that most of survivalist conversation is about firearms, bug-out tanks, and quasi-military offensive and defensive [tactics and] strategies. What about work, hard manual labor? Yes, work is a ugly four letter word. It is a “hard” word that implies sore muscles, sweating, fatigue, things that it is “hard” (pun intended) to put a happy face on. Firearms are fun, fun to talk about, shop for, practice with, and debate my choice is better than the other guy’s choice. If the SHTF there may be …


Sources for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet, by K.L. in Alaska

Recent comments in SurvivalBlog provided excellent advice on using the public library. You can gain lots of knowledge with no expense, then purchase only those books you want to keep on hand for personal reference. Also, many colleges and universities loan to local residents, so you can use them too, even if you aren’t a student. If your local libraries participate, a great resource is Worldcat. It lets you search for books from home, then go check them out, or get them through interlibrary loan. What will happen to the Internet when the SHTF? There’s no guarantee it will survive. …


Letter Re: Hunkering Down in an Urban Apartment in a Worst Case Societal Collapse

Hello, In the event of a disaster (I live in New York City) I intend to shelter in place until all the riotous mobs destroy each other or are starved out. I am preparing for up to six months. I have one liter of water stored for each day (180 liters) and about 50 pounds of rice to eat as well as various canned goods. I have not seen on your site anything about heat sources for urban dwellers who intend to shelter in place. I’m assuming that electricity would go first soon followed by [natural] gas and running water. …


Letter Re: Retreat Security–Lessons Learned from the Rhodesian Experience

Jim: After giving it some thought [to post-TEOTWAWKI retreat security], I think we need to study many of the homestead/farmstead fortifications used during the [late 1970s] Rhodesian Bush War and to a certain extend in rural South Africa in the present day. Of course, one would need to adjust for legalities so one would not be breaking any laws. – Lame Wolf [JWR Adds: Lame Wolf also sent us a great quote from a letter by “Rhodesian” that was first posted at the Small Wars Journal (SWJ) web site. BTW I recommend the SWJ site–in particular their Reference Library pages–as …


Three Letters Re: More on Retrofitting CONEX Containers for Habitation

Jim: In Viet-Nam we used CONEXes as underground electronic shelters. A hole was excavated that allowed space between the side of the hole and the container. The hole was deep enough to allow the top of the container to be below ground. If needed the walls of the hole were sandbagged to prevent collapse. The container and hole were roofed over with support structure and then sandbags where laid over the top. If we were in an area that was subject to indirect fire, two ramps were dug down to the level of the floor with a dogleg in the …


Letter Re: More on Retrofitting CONEX Containers for Habitation

Hello, I am a big fan of SurvivalBlog, and read it almost every day. I am sending a two year 10 Cent Challenge subscription to you in rolls of nickels. I am doing some research in preparation to doing a buildout with [CONEX] containers next to the site of my future home. I found an interesting guide by Bob Vila. I am including a few more links I found interesting that other readers may find useful. News Stories about building out of containers: MSNBC SFGate Treehugger.com There are also some excellent books on the subject available from Amazon.com. There are …


Letter Re: Storing Nails–Important for Preparedness

I was watching a show last night about the Lewis and Clark expedition and something really opened my eyes, Did you know that when the group left a fort or shelter they built they would burn it down when they left do salvage the nails they used. Apparently nails were worth their weight in gold since they were hand made one at a time. This got me to thinking that in the event of TEOTWAWKI or even a couple year collapse that people will still have to build things and repair their homes. So I wondered how many people thought …


Letter Re: New Bump-Resistant Door Locks from Kwikset

Mr. Rawles, Kwikset lock company makes a “bump-pick” resistant lock [called the SmartKey]. The new locks appear to have a bar that attaches to each of the pins that interact with the key, so if one pin moves then they all have to move. Therefore all the pins have to be in the correct place at the exact same time and there is no “slop” that allows the pins to be “bumped” into place. If you get a chance next time you are around a Home Depot store they with have a display model for these new locks as they …


Letter Re: Underground Storm/Fallout/Vault Shelters

Jim, You know we respect you. You’re at the top of the survivalist food chain because of your relevant knowledge and for your impeccable integrity. Those qualities draw respectful, serious readers to SurvivalBlog, and their contributions, in turn, to the cause of preparedness and your blog’s content are first rate as well. Needless to say, we’re very pleased that Safecastle is associated with you and can help sponsor the work you’re doing for the folks of this nation. You know that Safecastle is all about crisis preparedness. For most folks, they know us by our Buyers Club (that club ad …


Letter Re: Underground Storm/Fallout/Vault Shelters

Mr. Rawles: Utah Shelter Systems sells pre-fab shelters built inside culvert pipe. At $38,000 for a 10×25 pipe based shelter, it’s not cheap but it is a complete solution including two entrance/exit ways with blast doors, ventilation, bunks, shelving, lighting, and so on. The bunks, flooring system, and other furnishings all seem designed to maximize storage space. – BR JWR Replies: There are a number of approaches for hard shelters that work well. Buried galvanized culvert pipe shelters are just one of them. Other folks say that they like underground poly or steel tanks, while others insist on reinforced concrete. …


Nine Letters Re: Questions on Underground CONEXes

Dear Jim And Readers, As Jim said, [CONtinental Express] CONEX containers are not designed to be buried. They will stress out and leak. (I know of an [illicit] drug lab that was in a buried Conex container, it did not do well.) Having said that, a better choice is a buried culvert pipe. You can use 8 foot or 10 foot diameter. Remember the Roman Arch. “Earth Arching” will make it strong. There are a lot of buried culvert pipes in the world that have survived decades of heavy traffic. Weld end caps on the ends of the culvert pipe …


Letter Re: Questions on Underground CONEXes

Hello Mr. Rawles I’m a fairly new reader of your site and have been meandering through your archives and checking back periodically. It’s a wonderful site you have here, and I’ve found your articles to be quite interesting and informative. My personal concerns for the future are more focused on nuclear events than fiscal ones, but in either case I’m likely screwed as I am living on the east coast in close proximity to dense population centers and terrorist/military targets. As of late however I have been considering buying a few acres in one of the rural areas a few …


Letter Re: Information Security Considerations When Selling a House with “Special Features”

Mr. Rawles- I truly enjoy and appreciate your site and hope to soon be able to express that with a [10 Cent Challenge] commitment. Perhaps one solution to the marketing of property with “special features” would be a multi-layered approach to advertising and responding. First present the property with a limited description such as general location and non-specific amenities using descriptions such as “special”, “hardened”, if appropriate and perhaps a philosophy statement and pricing that would lend a sense for the property without risking over-exposure. Interested parties could pursue a phone interview or email exchange to determine actual depth of …


Letter Re: Information Security Considerations When Selling a House with “Special Features”

James May I give an anecdote about being very careful about the hidden value/risk of shelters and other preparations when selling a property. In Portland, Oregon a person I know purchased a property which after closing was revealed to have a medium sized manhole entry type fallout shelter in the back yard. This person was quite annoyed to have what he considered a dangerous hole and had it filled in by a cement pumper and the doors and frame broken away and sodded over, after documenting the total costs he filed a lawsuit against the seller for reducing his property …


Letter Re: Information Security Considerations When Selling a House with “Special Features”

James, Thank you for the SurvivalReality.com web site. I check the listings regularly, hoping for my own retreat purchase in the future. The Bunker Home Retreat caught my eye since I’ve been to Pueblo Colorado many times. The bunker sounds very well designed and built. But the aerial views show exactly where the home is located, including street names. I don’t see how anyone can consider the bunker as secret, or “stealth” any more. Also, the seller includes a picture of the hidden entrance plainly open in broad daylight right in the middle of his front yard. I can only …