Category: Retreat Security

Letter Re: Some Technologies for Retreat Security

Jim I’ve put together a few ideas on retreat security that I haven’t seen on your great site. I may have missed them but I think they would bear repeating. I presently live near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but will soon be moving to my 280 acre ranch in central Nevada. What got me to write this was a realization during my semiannual chore of servicing the emergency generator. Changing out the gas (It is also set up to run it on propane) changing the oil, and testing the circuitry, I realized that what I thought was a good setup was actually …


Letter Re: Finding Abandoned Properties, Post-TEOTWAWKI?

Dear Mr. Rawles, This letter is in reference to the reader who had the idea of squatting in abandoned homes. I would advise he seriously rethink that idea. If law has broken down enough that he could acquire someone else’s dwelling without raising any eyebrows then there is enough of a breakdown for the owners to show up and use lethal force whether warranted or not. In that type of TEOTWAWKI, we may see a return to the days of: Horse theft = shot or hung, accosting a lady in the street = shot or hung, Claim (Homestead) jumping = …


Letter Re: Peakniks Need Better OPSEC

James, Regarding those who gave their street addresses in the Peak Oil article that was recently mentioned: Indeed, it boggles the mind when people appear to have absolutely no concept of OPSEC. It betrays a mind that apparently has little or knowledge of the human animal, which the substitute for which must necessarily be a fantasy of some sort. If giving your address isn’t enough, how about these folks providing a full set of downloadable tactical maps for your retreat? Understandably they’re running an operation that provides for open visitation, for which the cartoon of the hippie village layout would …


Three Letters Re: Advice on Sources for Sandbags and Sandbag Filler

Jim: Here is a very low cost supplier of new-manufacture “poly” sandbags: eSandbags.com. Regards, – TinCan   Mr. Rawles, Here in Ohio, (and other places, I suspect), the feed stores formerly bought back used feed bags for 50 cents a piece. They no longer do. (If a used bag got bugs while on the farm, the bugs ended up going back to the mill.) All those good, heavy, plastic weave bags are now being thrown away. For those of us wanting cheap or free sand bags, just ask farms and stables on your area to save them for you. – …


Letter Re: Advice on Sources for Sandbags and Sandbag Filler

Mr. Rawles, You mention about mass and the wisdom in buying sand bags stating ‘they are cheap’. I guess that is relative to ‘something’. I can not find them for less then $2.50 each and that is empty. Have you priced sand lately? Where we live (midwest) it is not cheap. You would need a huge pile of it to fill enough sandbags to do much good for any purpose. So, am I missing something here? Maybe I do not understand the ‘sandbag theory’. Please advise. Thanks, – Polly JWR Replies: In the U.S. there are several good sources for …


Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner

Jim, I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance. After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare for a short (several days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase permit but never bought a weapon. Working …


Home Security Lessons Learned: An: Unwelcome Intruder, by R. in Utah

The following is from Jennifer’s (my wife’s) perspective… My Journal Entry of Jan. 30th, 2005. I do not intend to put just dramatic experiences in my journal, in fact, I intend to put mostly my feelings on higher things as well as normal everyday experiences in here, but this one is deserves to be remembered for posterity. We started out the new year with a 100 year flood. We were evacuated from our home, but we were able to move back in a day later. Luckily had 72-hour kit available and ready, but if it would have been longer, we …


Two Letters Re: Adapt to Survive, by Elizabeth B.

Mr. Rawles, I can understand Mrs. B’s reasoning from a long term standpoint. But, what I believe she is missing is that most of what is trying to be conveyed to people on this site is to stock up on articles such as food stuffs, hygiene supplies, bartering goods and such for the period of time that will exist from the point that the realization of a SHTF time and the time when all the skills and knowledge will be needed to sustain life. For an example, lets say that it’s October or November and everything has just fallen apart. …


Five Letters Re: Prisons and Other Institutions Amidst a Societal Collapse?

Mr. Rawles- I just finished reading the letter sent in by the correctional officer regarding his prison’s security infrastructure and keeping the prisoners in during a SHTF scenario. I think he’s missing an important element regarding keeping prisoners in the prison: He assumes the prisoners will be attempting to get over or under the fences unaided. Prisoners have families and social connections on the outside. During a true SHTF breakdown, some of those outsiders will take risks on behalf of their incarcerated loved ones. The fences that should be an obstacle could be breached with a vehicle from the outside …


Letter Re: Prisons and Other Institutions Amidst a Societal Collapse?

James: I live in a rural area in Wyoming. My husband, our children and I are lucky to have been raised in the area. We have access to thousands of family owned acreage to hunt, fish and garden on. Because we live in a rural area (at lease ninety miles in any direction from any large community) we are among the few that still have skills handed down to us that will allow us to be self sufficient. I have only recently found your blog and have enjoyed all of what I have read here. I agree wholeheartedly that our …


Two Letters Re: Mr. Romeo’s Retreat Owner Profile

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read Mr. Romeo’s retreat plans, and I would like to add a couple of things to his preparations list. The one glaring omission I see in his list is a lack of HF communications gear. VHF radios are line of sight communications, which is great if you’re planning on staying within range of the coast. If he plans on heading out to deeper waters though, HF gear becomes a lifeline to Pacific maritime nets, weather information, and other useful resources. Even if he doesn’t plan on transmitting, an HF receiver would allow him to listen to …


Three Letters Re: Advice on Driveway Alarms for Retreat Security

Mr. Rawles, We’ve been using the Dakota Alert driveway alarm for years. We use the model with the underground sensor that will only go off when a metal object comes near it such as a large (or even small) vehicle. The advantage of this is it has absolutely no false alarms. When the receiver says a car is coming down our (long) driveway, then a car is coming. There is nothing worse than an alarm that gives false alarm all the time and you no longer can trust it. The infrared driveway alarms that I’ve tried do this especially if …


Letter Re: Recreational Vehicles and Investing in Tangibles

Jim, Thank you for the blog and all the great info you put out. I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask you, but first a little info about myself. I am a 40 year old male with a wife and two kids. I live in Kansas, I work at a large manufacturing plant and my wife works for a insurance company. We have a mortgage and other dept. I would like to buy some land out of town and build a retreat for my family and myself for when TSHTF but can not afford it …


Two Letters Re: Preparing for Survival Retreat Perimeter Defense

Sir; I noticed the comments about using 1960s vintage flash bulbs as tripwire warning devices for a perimeter. Something that I improvised and used successfully on active duty in the Army in the 70s was also based on flash bulbs. Remember the flash cubes from the 1970s? The four-sided flash bulbs that rotated and flashed on the mass market cameras of the era can be turned into effective and non-lethal warning devices. If they are still available, get a flash cube and look at the underside of it. You will notice a tiny ‘hammer’ that when released strikes a [“primer”-like]device …


Letter Re: Advice on Concealing Storage Food

Hi Jim, I’ve researched the net in vain trying to find a solution to this problem, which I suspect I share with a great many people now prepping. I’m hoping you can help. The challenge: Where to hide my food stores? My situation: I live 10 miles from a city of 80,000 in a residential neighborhood. I live at the foot of a small mountain—the area behind my house is woods. I don’t own all of this wooded property, but I’ve never seen the owner. I have significant stores of canned goods, dried oats and beans, flour, sugar, etc. I …