Category: Retreat Security

Letter Re: Dealing With Mentally Unbalanced Trespassers

James, Regarding the recent post “Dealing With Mentally Unbalanced Trespasser, I’d like to begin with a relevant Bible passage, Matthew 25:31-45, King James Version (KJV): When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his …


Thoughts on Dogs at Survival Retreats, by D.K., DVM

Should you shelter-in-place or move to a retreat?  Lots of pros and cons about this, and most of it depends upon strength in numbers.  Obviously, the more remote and inaccessible your castle is, the harder it will be for intruders to discover or invade.  But I’m 65, and I don’t own any remote property.  My house sits on a very defendable cul-de-sac, essentially surrounded on three sides by water – my “moat.”  I could pull stakes and move to a national park or wildlife preserve, but it would be a simple campsite with tent and no walls, and I would …


Letter Re: Advice on Home Security Webcams

Dear Mr Rawles, We are looking for a good security system for our land. Animals and IR alerts aside, we are now in the market for a good multiple camera system. As the area is heavily wooded and vast, cables are out of the question. We would like purchase something that requires little maintenance, in order to prevent continuous activity in the area; blackout technology is a must. We were wondering if you or other SurvivalBlog readers have any recommendations? Thank you for your time, and May God Bless you and yours. – Mary B. JWR Replies: These days, wireless …


Letter Re: Dealing With Mentally Unbalanced Trespassers

James, In Hearthkeeper’s account of the man arrested for trespassing while attacking a chicken run, she mentions that they had decided to “press charges” as it seemed the cops were aware of the guy, but nobody else had wanted to press charges.  Her rationale was that now he would get some kind of evaluation in jail.   Well, he probably won’t.   I don’t work in a jail environment anymore, but when I did it wasn’t that long ago.   What they did was well-intentioned and the right thing to do, but let’s point something out…   Under every state law …


Dealing With Mentally Unbalanced Trespassers, by Hearthkeeper

The biggest weakness in preparedness planning is not a forgotten survival item, or too few cartridges.  The invisible weakness is lack of real time experience   It’s one thing to say your going to raise your own food, and maybe you have all the seeds and tools to do it stored away.  But if you have never actually planted a huge garden and tried to live off it your first year is going to be full of failures (see: learning opportunities) that could be potentially deadly in real survival time.  The same goes for every aspect of survival and emergency situation response.  Personally I have always …


Three Letters Re: Out of Options — Get a Guard Dog

Dear Editor: Congratulations to TJ and family for getting connected with a great dog. I love German Shepherds! Allow me to offer a couple of additions to the concept of survivalists utilizing guard dogs. Food; When you ask people my grandparents age how they fed dogs “back in the day” you are likely to get the answer “the dogs ate table scraps” or the dogs ran around and found their own food. In a survival scenario there aren’t going to be any scraps nor is there going to be much to “forage.” Therefore if bringing a dog on to the …


Out of Options — Get a Guard Dog, by T.J.

We came late to the prepping party.  We didn’t own any guns.  We lived paycheck to paycheck in a suburban area.  We couldn’t afford to buy property in Idaho, while it’s still a dream.  We have slowly stocked up on short term and long term food and water, bought heirloom seeds and learned to garden, loaded up on firewood for two huge fireplaces for cooking and warmth, but that’s about it.  Recently our son, honorably discharged from the Armed Services, came home to start his life as a civilian.  He owned a 9mm and promptly proceeded to purchase a .22 …


Pre-TEOTWAWKI OPSEC, by P.J.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Isaiah 39:5-7 God’s word to Hezekiah, king of Judah, through the prophet Isaiah immediately followed a dramatic sequence of events …


OPSEC and the Dangers of People You Thought Were Like-Minded, by R.S.O. in Arizona

Operational Security (OPSEC) has been around since the first Stone Age battles were fought. In an effort to provide the element of surprise and in order to keep what one had only those that need to know where told. I have always considered my friends and/or people I associate with and of what I considered similar moral fortitude worthy of my trust when it came to discussion of prepping. However I have recently discovered that not everyone is of the same mindset. First a little back ground on me. I moved out at 18 and went on to higher education …


The Watchmen, by Derek C.

When was the last time you pulled an all-nighter? I’m not talking about coming home at 2am on New Years. I’m talking about staying awake and alert, for an entire evening, before sundown to after sun up. Has it been a few years, or maybe never? With all this excitement about “bugging out” and prepping, there’s a lot of talk about security and self defense, but I have yet to read an in depth article about the practical application of watches. Kind of boring maybe, but in a TEOTWAWKI, scenario keeping a watch is essential, so let’s dissect it in …


Letter Re: Helicopter and Fixed Wing Drones for Retreat Security

James, I am not an RC aircraft enthusiast, but I am a pilot and an engineer, and have a few comments regarding the article “Helicopter and Fixed Wing Drones for Retreat Security”, but Long Jim. I suggest folks consider fixed wing aircraft rather than helicopters for this mission for a number of reasons: 1. Helicopters have more moving parts, and therefore more places for a critical failure to occur that would take the aircraft out of action. This makes them less reliable (or requires higher maintenance for same level of reliability.) 2. The main advantage of a helicopter – the …


Helicopter and Fixed Wing Drones for Retreat Security, by Long Jim

I recently stopped by our local farmers market, and while ambling along with a fresh home-made fig newton, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what one vendor offered. There amongst the crafts, and farm produce, was an enterprising fellow standing behind a table with a large three rotor drone helicopter. Marketed as the “Draganflyer” it has 3 dual sets of rotors stacked in pairs atop each other. It was equipped with a gyroscope-stabilized digital video, and still camera, set-up. He was contracting with folks to fly his drone over their property and take very detailed pictures of …


Letter Re: Advice on Dakota Alerts

Hi Jim and Readers, My Dakota Alert works great, as long as I can keep the batteries fresh, I find that they really use the current up fast. I did paint the outside of my "bird nest" box with paint that looks like bark and green leaf color that I purchased in the paint department at Wal-Mart. It really helps camouflage the box, and when hanging it on a tree, most people never notice it. As for protecting the antenna, I covered it with 1/2 inch black adhesive-lined shrink tubing available from Mouser Electronics. By shrinking it on the antenna is …


Letter Re: Advice on Dakota Alerts

Dear Mr. Rawles,  Greetings! I have enjoyed your blog site.  I noticed you have mentioned several times your use of Dakota Alert systems for your ranch.   This is why I am writing. I would like you input and thoughts.   I was viewing some customer comments on Amazon from those who had purchased the units.  Some complained about rust-out due to moisture (rain) after a few months.    I then followed this up with an e-mail to Dakota Alert manufacturer.    Bryon Pedersen of Dakota Alert responded by stating that most of the moisture issues have been resolved-except for moisture …


Letter Re: The Heavy Equipment Threat

Captain Rawles: I’ve been enjoying and learning valuable information from your books and your blog, and thought I’d share some of my expertise in hope of helping others to prepare.   If, like me, you’ve been slowly adding more security to your bug-in location or retreat, you’ve been adding perimeter defenses such as fencing, detectors, etc. in order to prevent people and/or vehicles from easily gaining access to your property.  If you have more funds than I do, then you’ve probably installed harder defenses, such as bollards, ditches, and maybe even concertina wire.  These measures will stop most vehicular threats, …