Category: Retreat Security

How I Survived an Attempted Murder, by A. in Ecuador

I am an American in Ecuador, and I have a story to tell.  This happened in July and I should absolutely be dead.  A little introduction to the kind of person that I am.  Growing up in Alaska and playing in the great outdoors has always been a huge part of my life.  When I was a couple of years old, my wonderful father would strap me on his back and take my sister and I fishing.  I absolutely love him for that.  The beauty and serenity of the great outdoors has always been a stress reliever for me.  My …


Three Letters Re: “I Can See You” — A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations

Mr. Rawles: As always, thank you for your excellent blog which is required daily reading for anyone who wants to stand a chance, post-TEOTWAWKI. A quick note about Tuesday’s essay, “”I Can See You” — A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations,” by Dave X. Though the points Dave makes, regarding database files on every aspect of our lives, are valid, it is important to remember the PSYOPs of the secret police in communist East Germany, the Stasi. They tried to intimidate the citizenry into submission by implying that they had a dossier on every citizen. After the collapse of …


“I Can See You” — A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations, by Dave X.

Foreword:  I design and operate databases for a living.  The newest of these are assembled on analytic platforms structured to “draw conclusions” for clients in a wide (and formerly random) variety of scenarios.  One of my developers is an analytic tools assembly expert who also works for some “security, emergency, and enforcement” government agencies in Washington, DC – all formerly separate agencies, and because of advancements in the technologies — now “interoperating”.  I am also a prepper with a Bug Out locale that fulfills my “survival vision” and inherently has most of the natural survival essentials on site, but one …


Practical Preparedness Perceptions, by Charles S.

In the past Americans expected to be prepared.  Whether it was helping to raise a barn, saving seed for the next spring planting, or being part of the local militia, it was expected that you would be ready.  Today we have become increasingly more dependant on others to do such things for us.  Many people wonder if we need to know how to save food, cut wood or light an oil lamp. If you are reading this you are probably fully aware of the value of preparedness, but maybe someone among your friends, family or neighbors needs convincing.  And convincing …


Letter Re: Book Recommendation: “Holding Your Ground”

Mr. Rawles, I recently picked up a copy of your novel, “Survivors”. It was a great book and I flew through it in no time. When I was making the purchase on Amazon, I also saw as a recommended [nonfiction ] book titled Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it All Falls Apart. I bought a copy of that up at the same time. After reading “Survivors”, I read “Holding Your Ground”. I think readers that like your writings and site would also like “Holding Your Ground”. It presents helpful “how to” information on how to defend your home …


Letter Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

James, To follow up on a couple of recent letters about Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders: Keep in mind that pulling the [emergency] disconnect rope on a garage door just leaves it in a position where it can be rolled up by hand.   The motor for our garage door is not hardwired, but plugs into a standard receptacle box in the ceiling.  I keep a power strip plugged into that ceiling outlet, and the garage door opener plugs into the power strip. The power strip  dangles about seven feet off the …


Letter Re: Guns and Combatting Home Invasion Robbers

Hello Captain, Greetings from one of your neighbors in the American Redoubt. I couldn’t help but be bemused when I read the article about the elderly couple being beaten and robbed of their gun collection. Not because they got hurt or robbed of course. But because of a couple other points:   She yelled for her husband to "Call 911!" I guess that goes to show that wisdom doesn’t always come with age. Were that scenario to happen at my home, my wife wouldn’t answer the door. And I can’t remember the last time I answered the door without my …


Two Letters Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

Jim – I read with interest Dave in Oregon’s letter. This happened to a friend and co-worker: He had parked his pickup truck on the street, locked. Thieves broke into his truck, accessed the garage via the opener he had above the visor in the truck. Thankfully, this was in the morning when all were home, and the thieves were scared off by family members, but not before they stole his truck. I would also add that many electric openers have a rope attached as a release if the power fails. However with a larger overhead door, say a standard …


Letter Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

Hi Jim, Just a short comment: As I read the piece about preventing home invasion robberies, I thought of another thing most people don’t think too much about regarding this issue. Most people who have electric garage door openers tend to leave the remote on the visor of their vehicle. If the car is left unlocked in the yard or street, it is very simple for a ne’er-do-well to snag the controller and wait until no one is home to invade the garage, Or in some cases when you are home.  I would recommend removing the controller from the visor, …


Letter Re: A Suburban Ghillie Suit Test

I debated about writing this, but in spirit of sharing with your readers the recent usage of a Ghillie suit in a real world situation, with very surprising results. This event occurred as a what to use for the neighborhood halloween, trick or treat crowd, and it was quite a crowd.   We live in a fairly large suburban subdivision on the outskirts of Phoenix. My wife and I have as much fun as the kids who are almost always with parents or a group of adults. My problem was what to “dress up as”, the wife has her ghost outfit, and mine was …


Letter Re: A Street Gang Rapid Response Kit

I visit your blog daily and the link to a map showing gang presence in the United States caught my eye. I note that my home is within one of the “moderate” gang activity areas. That is not news to me. We are about a mile from the perimeter of the “war zone” of our city in a semi-rural part of town. We hear gunshots (within a half-mile of the house) nightly and the roofers who replaced our shingles last year remarked at the number of bullet holes in our roof. Those shots came from the street in front of …


Letter Re: Establishing a Neighborhood Watch

Recently a neighborhood watch was created by the initiative of a lawyer who had many thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his property in broad day light, while members of his family were home, with a trailer that had been stolen from across the street.  He saw he need for a greater sense of alertness and vigilance among our residents, who for the most part feel we live in a nice area and don’t have to worry about crime.  (Mostly this is true).  We don’t have gangs or violent crime, but if the picking seem easy enough for …


Letter Re: The Importance of Rural Retreat Light Discipline

Jim: I’m writing to comment on something in your nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”: On page 206 you state: “Without proper blackout precautions, your house will be a ‘come loot me’ beacon that can be seen for miles at night.”I can’t stress light discipline enough. Here’s an example: About fifteen years ago my parents went to dinner at The Cougar Inn on Lake Wenatchee [in eastern Washington]. It was a dark night and on the way back from dinner they looked across the lake and saw a faint green flashing light …


Two Letters Re: How to Defend a Retreat Against Wheeled Vehicle Threats

Mr. Rawles, Thank you for all you do in educating those of use who have been slow to see. After I read B.W.’s How to Defend a Retreat Against Wheeled Vehicle Threats I had to tell about an idea I have been playing with. Taking the anthill and flower trough concepts and combining them. To build this in imagination we will go in reverse order to what you would do in real life. First build the ant hill. They should surround your building spaced less than a cars width apart. Build another ring outside of that but put the anthills …


Two Letters Re: How to Defend a Retreat Against Wheeled Vehicle Threats

CPT Rawles: From a former Army Combat Engineer’s perspective, I would disagree with some of the information about anti-tank ditches and agree with other points raised in the article; How to Defend a Retreat Against Wheeled Vehicle Threats, by B.W. in Pennsylvania.   In the U.S. Army we would build a ditch at least 1 meter deep and typically closer to 2-3 meters deep with D7 bulldozers.  The ditch would be right around a blade width wide.  The most effective method is a dozer team with one digging it out and the other coming perpendicular to push the spoil to …