James,
The article on perennial food sources was both timely and excellent! Kudos. We are already planning to introduce many of the species into our farm.
Next, a question. Since your book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” has caused me to re-think several things — and after I have spent 20 years being a prepper –I figured I should buy your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. Chapter 14 is of special interest to me right now as we are building a snug little adobe house on the farm we just bought. We don’t want to call it a cement bunker do we?
Chapter 14 [of the book] is a good starting point but I was wondering if you have a source of more detailed information. I’ve researched many different “housing styles” around the world and across time. But turning them into a modern grid independent house.
There is the crux of the matter: I was wondering if in addition to the books you listed there might be others. Or if you know of a good architect you have worked with to create a “green” off grid bunker?
We envision a semi-buried adobe style house that will have a full basement and a bunker off of the basement (for NBC protection) as well as a flat roof. We are in a low rainfall area. This provides a place to mount PV panels, and a flat roof with a solid wall around it gives us a good “high ground” to defend the house from.
But we are open and interested in contacting anybody who might have professional experience building such a retreat house.
JWR Replies: Three of SurvivalBlog’s advertisers could assist you:
- Safecastle specializes in combination walk-in vault/fallout shelter/storm shelter rooms, both below grade and above grade.
- Hardened Structures is an engineering and architectural firm that does “start to finish” hardened retreat home design and construction management.
- Ready Made Resources can help you specify and assemble a complete off-grid power setup. They do free consulting on alternative power systems.
I also recommend that you get a copy of the book The Secure Home