Letter Re: It’s a Scary World Out There: Fearsome Attack Hens

Jim,
I recall awhile back you posted a message that offered humor and a bit of the lighter side of life since we’re inundated with intimidating subject matter. I haven’t seen too many lighter sided anecdotes of late so here’s mine. When I was 20 yrs old, I was a paratrooper and foolhardy scared of nothing. Now, after serving five years as an airborne, ranger, infantryman and 20 years in law enforcement, I’ve learned to respect dangerous situations.

Recently, my insurance agent dispatched her part time picture-taker to my residence to snap some pictures of the place to keep records current. I reside at the point of transition from suburbia and rural life not too far from Washington, DC. This photographer was approximately 20 years old. Upon arrival telephoned the home number whereupon my wife answered. He asked her to come outside to help. She asked "why"? In a semi-scared voice, he reported that he was "surrounded by birds" and was afraid that he was going to be attacked. My wife told him that they were just free ranging hens and that there was nothing to worry about. She actually had to convince him that the hens were our pets and that they wouldn’t ‘attack’ him. I suppose this is funny only if you own hens and realize how friendly they are. Besides, even if you’ve never seen a live chicken, can you imagine being scared of one? Happy New Year, – Pete.

Six Letters Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Greetings Mr. Rawles,
I read your blog everyday and am learning so much. Thanks for your dedication to helping prepare us for the future.
In reference to the recent article on home security, we lived in Argentina for three years and we could all learn from their security measures. The first house we lived in had steel shutters, as did everyone in the neighborhood, and they were all shut at night. The doors have locks that automatically lock when you leave the house. The small front yards usually have tall steel fences with the same height gates. The gates were also locked at all times. Homes that didn’t have shutters of some kind, had bars on all the windows. Big dogs were also the norm. The back yards were usually walled in by concrete block walls sometimes 10 feet tall. At our second house, one of our neighbors had concertina wire around the top of their walls.
It is a normal custom to clap your hands to alert someone you were at their front gate. It would be very rude to try to enter someone’s front yard without being invited first, and is usually not possible due to the locks and dogs.

But, as new houses were being built, we were seeing less and less of the shutters and bars, more American style houses were being built and that’s a shame.

It was very difficult at first to live with these kinds of security measures, but after awhile it became normal and comforting to know your house was secure. Gun control is very strict and very few folks have guns, so home security was very important.
Just wanted to share those observations with you. Thanks again for your hard work.
Warmest Regards, – Beverly A.

 

Hello James Wesley, Rawles:
Feed lot panels are extremely useful for hardening windows against dynamic entry.
For those who are not familiar with the product, feed lot panels are welded wire product. They are typically 16 feet long. The height varies but is typically 54″ high. The wire is very stiff (typically #4 or #6 gauge) and the wire is galvanized for long life. The panels are inexpensive and semi-rigid.

We recently replaced a 13′ x 69″ bay window with a 60″ by 60″ picture window (one pane) flanked by a couple of 60″ high by 24″ wide double hung windows. Our primary goal was to increase energy efficiency by reducing cold air infiltration during the winter and to improve our cross ventilation during the summer.

I had some fairly extensive conversation with the contractor regarding my desire to have sufficient “beef” beside each window to be able to run several 5″ x 1/2″ eye-bolts beside each window (with the eyes of the bolts aligned in the vertical direction), slide the trimmed-to-fit feedlot panel over the eye-bolts, and then drop a cane bolt through the openings in the eye bolts.

(Minor detail notes: Roof overhang requires that cane bolts be inserted from bottom, but “drop in from top” is a more natural word picture. Also desirable to use a cushioning material to hold panels away from frame of window to eliminate scarring. Rubber or vinyl garden hose is a possibility.)

He was very happy to comply. Each window is framed in with 2x4s next to the window frame, but then a 4×4 was bracketed into the top and bottom headers immediately beside the 2X4s on each side of each of the three windows. Wood is cheap.

Feed lot panels can be defeated. But defeating them requires time and tools…not something typical home invaders want to expend/lug around. Feed lot panels also help protect windows against airborne, flying trash during extreme wind storms. They may be ugly, but they are cheap, durable and relatively easy to install, given proper tools and some time and the foresight to have enough wood to bolt into. – Joe H.

 

Jim,

I’ve already made numerous changes to my home and property to thwart / limit any would be thefts and boosting the overall security. A number of ideas came from your web site. Thanks.

Other than the simple measures of installing a Radio Shack microphone/speaker and, locking the doors of my barns with snap links and walking out the front and locking that door, I am worried for my horses if someone should try to force their way inside and manage to stay very quiet. I’m very impressed with my $149 Radio Shack investment, you can hear everything and my house is 300 feet away.

Can you offer any additional advice on making barns more secure? I’m more concerned about the horses than all of the tack and saddles. But those items aren’t cheap either. Thanks, – Pete in Florida

JWR Replies: I do have one specific recommendation: Buy a MURS band Dakota Alert infrared intrusion detection system. (Available from MURS Radio, one of our advertisers). Put one Motion Alert Transmitter (MAT) out at the end of your driveway, and one “watching” the front of your barn door. We use Dakota Alerts in conjunction with matching frequency Kenwood MURS band hand-helds here at the Rawles Ranch on a daily basis. We have been very satisfied with their quality and reliability. In our experience, this combination is ideal for detecting intruders on likely avenues of approach.

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Dear Mr. Rawles,
First, as always, I am compelled to thank you for your service to all those who would learn from your knowledge and efforts. My 2009 10 Cent Challenge contribution is forthcoming, but it is only a small token of my appreciation in light of all that I have learned from your excellent blog.

I wanted to add a note of my reality to your recent excellent comments on the sorry state of home architecture in our country today. I live in a typical recent-construction, middle class, Metro Atlanta home with a brick front facade, and Hardiplank (a concrete-like product molded to look like wood siding) on the remaining three sides. It is essentially three stories, with a “daylight basement” comprising the first story. Many of the “weak links” that you pointed out exist in my home, but we did install a fairly comprehensive alarm system.

Last February, while my wife was at work and I was taking my son to daycare (it was 11:15 a.m.), thugs broke into our house by kicking through the basement wall! Evidently, the crooks suspected, or noticed, our alarm system, and tried to bypass it by going through the wall. It would have worked if the dummies hadn’t opened the basement door preparing to depart with their loot. Of course, opening the door set the alarm off, and they fled never having made it out of the basement. They did steal an old rifle that I had recently bought, and had left in a storage closet awaiting a good cleaning. All in all, we were very fortunate.

I write not to simply share my story (which is, unfortunately, not very uncommon), but to point out what I learned:

1. Though Hardiplank, and similar products, have many virtues, resistance to invasion is not one of them.The concrete feel and appearance gives a false sense of security. I was shocked to learn that the only thing between my “inner sanctum” and the bad guys was the Hardiplank, fiberboard sheathing, and drywall! Even if your 1st story sheathing were 5/8″ plywood it would present a much more formidable barrier!

2. If I had heeded my instincts, the burglary could have been avoided. I try to live in “condition yellow”, though I slip into white more than I would like. That morning, while buckling my toddler into the car, I noticed a rough-looking young man walking slowly up the sidewalk. By the time I had buckled my seatbelt, he was ambling back down the street in the opposite direction. All of the alarms in my head went off, but I didn’t call the police to investigate (something that they encouraged me to do in the future while discussing the event). I did, however, step back inside and turn on the alarm, which I didn’t usually do for such short trips (things are different now). If I hadn’t turned on the alarm, I would have probably walked right into a home invasion in progress (stupidly in condition white!) after dropping my son off. As it was, as soon as I got the call from the monitoring service, I knew exactly what had happened, and who had done it! During the frantic 3 mile drive home, my main concern was, “what will I do if I arrive before the police?” At the time, I had no firearm with me, which leads me to my final point.

3. Any time you walk into your home [after an absence] in condition white, with no way to defend yourself, you invite disaster. Yes, I know it can be terribly stressful to admit to yourself that our society has “come to this”, and some people would rather just play the odds and hope it doesn’t happen to them. I feel that God was watching over me that day (by the way, the police were on site when I got home – it had only been 20 minutes since I left the house) and gave me a second chance. I guess I could remain in condition white, and hope it doesn’t happen again, but I have responsibilities. God gave me a second chance, and I am committed to learning from this experience. You’d better believe that I will arrive home in condition yellow to orange, looking for any hint that something is awry – especially if my family is in tow! Oh yeah, and my next house is going to be as solid as I can afford, and then some!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a terrific new year. Best Wishes, – SH in Georgia

 

James;
I have been an advocate for survivors of violent crimes. I would like to point out some things that I have been tracking for almost a year now. (I have ‘home invasions” as a google search alert and get messages on this topic many times a day). First, I have noticed that most of these invaders are not so much interested in carting away ill-gotten booty from the residence that they have invaded as much as the first object is to terrorize and torture those in the dwelling. This is a major change in the high level of deprived violence of these burglars who are now being reported as “home invaders”. The attacks are sadistic, whereas, twenty years ago true sadistic attacks were more rare as the goal seemed to be to steal and leave. Second, these sadistic home invasions are world wide. I have not yet figured out why this is so. It is, however, concerning that no place seems safe from this bizarre rise in sadistic violence. Perhaps it can be linked to violent video games? I am not sure what else could link these acts world wide. Third, unlike violent home crimes in years past, the home invaders are attacking during the hours when it is more likely that the residents are home. (Most of these invasions seem to take place between 11 PM and 5 AM). Clearly, unlike in early times when the criminal element wanted to avoid the residents, this new class of thugs want that violent encounter.

I think this does require that decent folks to have a change in understanding what is taking place. These criminals are not just getting the pleasure of taking your property but they want to cause you and your family extreme fear, terror, and pain. Passive conduct by the victims that might have allowed these thugs to rob your home and leave you alone might have worked twenty years ago, but I think today’s home invaders first literally will want a pound of your flesh. On a positive note, I have also read of numerous residents who have successfully fended off the invaders by being properly protected within their homes. I am ‘surprised” that the media doesn’t seem to do much coverage of these heroic deeds of the victim defending himself or family members from these sadistic invasion. – Advocate for Survivors of Violent Crimes

 

Dear Mr. Rawles.
Regarding your post on Tuesday December 30, titled “Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures”. I would like to see you elaborate on the “Countermeasures” portion of the title. Specifically, could you show some real examples that people could use as “force multipliers” similar to this . Maybe you can do a post on with and without grid power in SHTF scenarios.

For example I live in a suburb of a city of about 80,000 people. I live on a corner lot and have a fenced in back yard. What low-tech methods could I deploy to allow full coverage around the perimeter of my property to signal of coming trouble. It would help if the ideas were designed to not create an abundance of false alarms and not alert the surrounding neighborhoods like a trip alarm.

I don’t have a retreat location but I’m getting my finances in order to allow a property purchase soon. If TSHTF tomorrow, I would need some simple ideas to keep my family safe as long as possible.

BTW, I read your “Patriots” novel and it was awesome! I am about half way thorough your “Rawles Gets You Ready” course and it too is great. Thanks, – Steve F. in Louisiana

JWR Replies: A corner lot is problematic. Depending on the landscaping that is prevalent in your neighborhood, if it would not look too out of the ordinary then you might consider planting a “decorative” thorny hedge around as much of your perimeter as possible, and install a gate across the front of your driveway. Make both the maximum height that you can get away with, without being branded as the Neighborhood Paranoid Poster Boy. The gate should have a spiked top of some sort, to discourage gate jumpers. Just inside the gate, position a passive infrared Motion Alert Transmitter (MAT) for a Dakota Alert. You should also plant thorny bushes below each of your windows.

Motion-activated floodlights are inexpensive and very easy to install.(They are available at home improvement and hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s.) If the power grid goes down, you really should bug out ASAP, but if you are forced to stay, then solar-powered floodlights might suffice. (But note that their reviews mention that they have a short service life. So it is best to just test them but not mount them outdoors until needed.) Under those circumstances, a pair of night vision goggles would be a must. (And if you have those, you might want to retrofit your floodlights to use infrared bulbs. Being battery powered, your Dakota Alert system will continue to operate without grid power. But of course keep plenty of spare batteries on had for all of your flashlights and other home security and communications electronics.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric sent us this: Car Market Total Collapse

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Mike McD. found two Australian article of interest: Return of the 1950s housewife?, and Jobless heading for 1 million as rate cuts won’t avert pain

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The essay Foundations of Crisis, by Doug Casey was recommended by reader “Hiker LT”

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Eric L. sent this link: Box O’Truth Tests Elmer Keith-Sytle DumDum Bullets

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The latest, from Cheryl: World Markets Suffer Worst Year Ever — Bankruptcies to Hit Record in 2009 — Dr. Doom: Short Treasuries, Buy Hard Assets — Faith in Markets Cracks Under Losses — Muni Bond Sales Drying Up as States Face $42 Billion Shortfall

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." – Harry S. Truman, August 8, 1950

Note from JWR:

It’s your last day! More than 675 SurvivalBlog readers have bought Foodsaver vacuum packing/sealing systems at the special December $59.99 sale price. We get a little “piece of the action” for each order. So this a is a great way to save money and to support SurvivalBlog in the new year. Don’t miss out on this sale! You can buy a FoodSaver v2830 for $59.99 (originally $169.99) with free Standard Shipping for orders over $100, directly FoodSaver.com.Use code L8FAV28 at checkout. This sale ends at midnight Eastern Time, tonight. By buying foods in bulk and re-packaging them in more handy (single meal size) vacuum bags, you can save a lot of money on your grocery bill. You can also vacuum pack Mason jars! (These come with a wide mouth Mason jar adapter as an included accessory.) But be sure to get an additional regular mouth Mason jar adapter, for an extra $8.99.) Buy a FoodSaver. You’ll be glad that you did!

Two Letters Re: The Best College Degrees for the Next Depression?

Sir,
College is alarmingly pricey. As a child of the 1970s, I grew up understanding that you either got a useful degree or paid your own way.

I contend that the most useful education currently is learning a trade. Welding, auto repair or electrician’s certification will pay the bills through the rough times as people choose to repair instead of purchase. As times get better, some of those trade school credits may transfer to a college and you are on your way. What is that architecture degree, but about a year of drafting plus three tortuous years of art…the discovery of use of light and space…with a dash of engineering. One of the coolest people I know, was a blacksmith who got his doctorate in physical chemistry. You never know where your trade may take you.

Art comes in many mediums that must be learned such as welding for those grand sculptures that grace the lawns of universities and corporations. Get the “practicals” under your belt first, while you make a few bucks or barter for your dinner.

Don’t forget that the library is free. You should know your reference librarian as she hold the key to all knowledge or can borrow it from another library for you. Read. Read everything you can get your hands on.

As you head off to college: Find out all the required courses for your degree. Does your college allow “testing out” of any subjects? The last I checked it cost about $75 average to test completely out of 3 or 4 credit courses. Testing out may not be an option for “required for major” courses.

If you are still in high school, go for every advanced placement (AP) for college credit course you dare.
So as you plod away learning your trade that is only vaguely related to you dream degree, remember: we do what we have to do so that eventually we can do what we want to do.
Now, who is gonna come fabricate some new tines for my tiller? – The Accidental Survivalist

 

Sir:
For more than 20 years I have volunteered my time with unemployed US scientists, engineers, and computer professionals. Based upon my experiences, I suggest that young people 1) attempt to have a trade under their belt before they get a four year college degree; 2) preferably pick a college major that will allow one to work for oneself and not as a mere employee; 3) consider mixing two majors such as getting a teaching certificate and forensic accounting as this might give one two options for a career. If the student is not committed to college or unsure what to major in, consider attending a community college first as it is less expensive. Learning something either in college or via the trade pre-college that is hands-on work such as plumbing, construction, roofing, carpentry, welding, aquaculture (fish farming) , farm management, get commercial driver’s license, learn to drive farm equipment, learn to repair things — electronics, washers/dryers, etc. Some high schools have working relationships with community colleges where a high school student can take college courses while still in high school thus saving lots of money while living at home. Some schools will allow students to attend high school part time and learn a trade at the local community college at the same time. Many high tech professionals in the USA have been told by college career counselors after the student graduated with his degree in chemistry, physics, engineering, or computer science that he should consider that degree as nothing more than a ‘hobby’. Kind of a fun mental exercise but it was foolish of the student to expect to have dreamed of a career in that field. What you are looking for is a skill (or skills) that allow you to be self-employed. If the young person is in college, they should focus on skills that will make them more marketable — oral communication skills, writing, bookkeeping (useful for one’s own business), marketing, solid basic math and computer skills. Having a degree in the medical profession may or may not make one employable — I have read of dentists and physicians who were unemployed during the Great Depression. It is possible that cosmetic surgeons might be in high demand if there are wars as the victims (military/civilian) may need reconstructive surgery. Health care professions are still probably a good bet but it doesn’t guarantee a career or stable income. Case in point: I have a friend whose brother-in-law in California is an allergist and is now closing his practice because he can’t making a living in this specialty. He is dropping down to become a Physician’s Assistant (PA) and will work for his wife who is also a physician. He, however, cannot afford to maintain the cost of his license as an allergist with fewer people willing to see an allergist in an economic recession.

Princeton University economist, Alan Blinder (do an Internet search to read his international presentations) has stated that young Americans should not waste their time and money (paraphrasing) on a four year college degree. Instead, American youth should be learning trades that cannot be off-shored. (Unfortunately, he doesn’t raise concerns about the importation of cheap labor.)

One should strive to have a college education that is debt free. No one knows what the future holds and graduating with an educational debt for a degree that may or may not provide a job (no longer a career) is a tremendous burden for a young person to enter the adult world with. When looking for a summer job or working during college — try to pass on the burger flipping jobs and look for work in something where one can enhance a skill such a learning how to pump out septic systems, car parts shop, working on a dairy farm, landscaping, etc. I do think that having a college degree is valuable to one’s personal understanding of the world but it is not necessarily essential these days to earn a living. I would urge young people, if possible, to complete a four year degree but not having one is not a sign of failure.

Finally, I also urge parents to help their children to learn basic life skills — how to manage the home budget, cooking skills, gardening, car repairs; as well as learning to be happy and enjoy life. Learn to sing, dance, play some musical instrument, juggle, something to bring happiness to oneself and to others. This might sound like it is off topic, but when one is unemployed if you have these inner resources to pull upon it can literally be life saving.- Cynthia W. (An informed American on jobs and education)

Two Letters Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear

Sir,
In a recent post you mentioned unbuckling your ALICE belt when going prone. I learned a little trick in ROTC using a carabiner and two pieces of 550 [parachute] cord. First, adjust belt the way you want it. Second, tie the two pieces of 550 cord onto the end of the ALICE belt and hook them together with the carabiner. Adjust the length of the 550 cord to get the slack needed when going prone. This allows you to keep your belt buckled but when you need additional slack, just release the buckle and the 550 cord keeps the belt from flopping around too much. Don’t tie the 550 cord together, as the carabiner allows you to unhook the belt quickly if you fall into a creek or river and need to dump your LBE – Bill N.

Dear Jim:
Thank you for referring readers to us for advice on web gear. At BulletProofME Body Armor we are authorized dealers for Blackhawk and SpecOps tactical nylon gear, but really our focus is body armor. Normally we only do quantity orders for tactical nylon, outside of specific armor-related items we stock. But we can give some good advice on the questions to ask to help avoid major mistakes.
There is such a huge selection to choose from these days, and so many different situations, it is hard to give universal advice. Some basic questions are in order – and probably mandatory to remind “gear freaks” to keep it practical! 😉 . There is no one right solution, and all solutions have tradeoffs:

1. What are the possible situations / circumstances ? Under contract for a year of security duty in “the Sandbox”, or trying to keep the neighborhood secure during a power outage… As Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind”.

2. What do you really need to carry? More weight and bulk = less mobility. versus “two is one, and one is none”.

3. How discreet do you need to be? A basic kit on a belt might be preferred to avoid the martial image that a full chest and drop leg rig gives off. On the other hand, if you were doing a ‘Neighborhood Watch on Steroids” in a post-Hurricane Katrina type situation, you might want to be more overtly armed and armored to deter looters.

4. In a similar vein, does the setup identify you as one of the good guys? In a chaotic active shooter incident you don’t want to be the recipient of “friendly fire”.

5. Used with, or without a backpack, or day pack?

6. Can you access your most time-critical items standing, kneeling, sitting, prone – or in a vehicle? (By the way, the practice of putting lots of equipment on the belly area is a really bad idea when you really need to get low and prone…)

7. Can you get in a vehicle and drive reasonably comfortably with the rig on?

8. Can you keep your pistol and spare mag in the same place whether it is concealed carry, open carry, or on a tactical rig? This is so that your pistol draw (and spare magazine draw) are always the same in your muscle memory. You probably don’t have the time to do the amount of draw practice you really should right now – why add another draw to practice? Keep it simple for your muscle memory with less chance of a slow or fumbled reaction under life-threatening stress.
A similar line of reasoning applies to rifle magazine pouch placement – keep it simple and consistent.
For example, assuming you are not a full-time SWAT officer, holsters on drop legs are probably not such good idea, unless you can really make the time to practice a different draw stroke until it becomes instinctive under high stress. (We do recommend drop legs for additional ballistic protection and secondary pouches.)
A belt attached to armor is a great idea to keep it consistent, and all one piece.

9. How fast can you put the gear on? Waking up to the sound of breaking glass at 3 a.m., or a patrol officer pulling up to a bad scene – then it had better be fast to throw on. Keeping it to just a belt is faster, or all web gear on one piece of armor with MOLLE [attachment points].

Some options for speed:

Spare ammo already on the rifle
A “Grab and Go-bag”
Bandoleers (Note that these can flop around, but they are very fast to throw on.

Yours truly, – Nick at BulletProofME.com

Odds ‘n Sods:

 Reader N.L. spotted this useful article at the Backwoods Home magazine web site: Bury a gun and ammo for 15 years. (BTW, I consider a subscription to Backwoods Home magazine for families that are seeking genuine self-sufficiency.)

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Eric flagged this Wall Street Journal piece: Bumpy Crop: Farming’s Sudden Feasts and Famines, As Grain Prices Rise and Fall and Perhaps Rise Again, Growers Struggle to Navigate a New Age of Volatility and High Costs

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The Werewolf (SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Brazil) must have been thinking about the snow-bound Great White North when he spotted this snow bike and sent us the link.

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The Economatrix sent all these: Wall Street Makes Gains as GMAC Gets $5 Billion Lifeline — US Confidence Sinks to Record Lows — Home Prices in 20 Cities Drop 18% in October Alone — Holiday Sales Drop to Force Bankruptcies, Closings — Japan Banks May Get $110 Billion Bailout — New Thai PM Warns of Shattered Economy — UK Workers to Face Layoffs and Pay Cuts in 2009 — Crackdown on Hedge Funds After Madoff — Celente: Top Trends 2009 — People Pulling Up to Pawn Shops Today are Driving BMWs and Cadillacs — Annus Horribilis 2009

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“While 2008 will probably be best known as the year that global stock markets had their values cut in half, it was really much, much more. It was a year in which every major asset class – stocks, real estate, commodities, even high-yield bonds – suffered significant double-digit percentage losses, resulting in the destruction of over $30 trillion of paper wealth. To blame this on subprime mortgages alone would be to dismiss an era of leveraging that encompassed derivative structures of all types, embodying a belief that economic growth was always and everywhere a certainty and that asset prices never go down.” – Bill Gross

Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Dear Mr. Rawles:
First and foremost thank you for your novel “Patriots” which I am currently reading.

I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. As of late there seems to be a rise in the number of “home invasion” type of crimes in this area. Every morning that I go to work I hear about a new incident in the metroplex. This has led me to put inside locks on my bedroom doors and purchase my first gun. I consider myself one of those “know enough to be dangerous” people, but am planning on taking a handgun safety course . I’d like to know your thought on preparedness for these “home invasion” crimes which are on the rise. Once again thank you for your novel which has opened my eyes to just how unprepared I am. Sincerely, – Geoffrey T.

JWR Replies: You’ve surely heard the phrase “caught off guard.” In my opinion, almost the entire American citizenry has been systemically “off guard” since the end of the US Civil War. There are two fundamental weaknesses that make American homes vulnerable to home invasions: a condition white mindset, and appalling architectural weakness. I’ll discuss each.

Condition White Mindset

First and foremost is an almost universal Condition White mindset. This refers to the Cooper situational awareness color code for “unaware and unprepared”. The vast majority of the urban and suburban population spends 90% of their daytime hours in Condition White. They do a lot of idiotic things, like failing to keep their doors locked at all times, and failing to keep loaded guns handy. Most folks lock their doors only just before retiring each evening. So most daytime and early evening home invasion robbers simply stroll in to unlocked houses and catch the occupants flat-footed. By adopting condition yellow as your norm, and by taking the appropriate security measures, you will tremendously lessen you vulnerability to violent crime, including home invasions.

Architectural Weakness

Secondly, 150 years of relative peace, stability, low crime rates, and cheap energy have worked together to push American residential architecture toward very vulnerable designs. Modern American homes are essentially defensive disasters. They have huge expanses of glass, they lack barred windows or european-style security/storm shutters, they lack defensible space, and they often have no barriers for the approach of vehicles. Another ill-conceived innovation is the prevalence of floor plans that situate the master bedroom at the opposite end of the house from the children’s bedrooms.

For the past 25 years, one of the hallmarks of “bad neighborhoods” in the US has been the prevalence of barred windows and beefed-up doors. These are neighborhoods where the prevailing crime rates have pushed the majority of the population into Condition Yellow as a full time baseline mindset. Given the upswing in crime rates that will undoubtedly accompany the coming depression, I wish that everyone in the ostensibly “good neighborhoods” had this same outlook. I don’t find it all surprising that criminal gangs now specifically target wealthy suburbs for home invasions, for two reasons: A.) That is where the good stuff is, and B.) These residents are sheep for the slaughter (given the prevailing condition white mindset.)

One of the most chronic defensive lapses is American suburban architecture is exterior door design. Typically, entrance doors either have widows immediately adjacent, or set into the doors themselves. Even worse is the ubiquitous sliding glass door. Nothing more than a brick or a paving stone tossed through the glass and bingo, instant access for home invaders, with the fringe benefit of instant fright and surprise for the occupants just inside, who will likely be startled by the crashing noise and flying glass. SWAT and MOUT trainers call this a form of “dynamic entry”. There are umpteen variations. You may recall the use of a piece of patio furniture in Robert DeNiro’s dynamic entry of Van Zant’s house in in the movie Heat. Another is the vigorous application of a 5- or 6-foot length of steel pipe or a more specialized tool, in (the proven “break and rake” technique preferred by the British SAS and SFOD-D (commonly called “Delta Team”) to quickly clear any protruding shards of glass).

America in the Near Future = Welcome to South Africa

In South Africa, the crime rate has been so high for so long that it has changed the way that people live in a day-to-day basis. Every stranger is viewed with extreme suspicion. Automobile drivers regularly refuse to pull over if they are involved in a minor traffic collision, for fear that it is a pretext for a car jacking.

Threat Escalation and Proactive Countermeasures

Modern military planners often talk in terms of threat spirals. In essence, a given threat escalates and it inspires a defensive countermeasure. The ideal situation is “getting inside your opponents threat spiral”–meaning that your anticipate your opponent’s next escalation, and proactively take countermeasures, insulating yourself from the future threat.With that in mind, here are some thoughts on potential home invasion threat escalation and countermeasures (perhaps some SurvivalBlog readers would care to add to this list):

1.) More frequent home invasions. The worse the economy gets, the more crime we can expect. Home invasions and kidnappings are likely “growth” areas.

2.) Use of dynamic entry tools by home invaders. We can expect them to use commercial or improvised door entry battering rams and Hallagan tools–like those use by police. This means that just standard solid core doors by themselves will be insufficient. Switching to steel doors and.or adding sturdy cross bars will become common practice.

3.) Possible use of vehicle-mounted battering rams.

4.) More frequent and elaborate police impersonation by home invasion gangs.

5.) Larger, better equipped, and better organized home invasion gangs. Larger gangs will be able to invade a home–conceivably even when there is a party in progress.

6.) The potential use of cell phone jammers.

7.) More elaborate ruses as pretexts to get homeowners to open their doors. For example, not only will the “point man” be dressed as UPS driver, but there will be a very convincing looking UPS truck parked at the curb.)

8.) More home invasions at any time of the day or night.

9.) More use of pepper spray and other irritants by home invaders.

10.) Use of large diversion such as explosives to draw law enforcement to “the other side of town.”

11.) More elaborate intelligence gathering by home invasion gangs–researching exactly who has cash, fine art, gemstones, precious metals, or jewelry in their homes. (BTW, this is just another reason to practice good OPSEC.)

Given these possible threat spiral escalations, you might consider building a dedicated “safe room”. I can think of no better way to get inside the bad guys’ threat spiral. Such a room could serve multiple purposes, including “panic room”, gun and valuables vault, storm shelter, and fallout shelter. (And hence, provide you family with solutions for multiple scenarios. The folks at Safecastle (and other specialty contractors) can build these both aboveground or underground, with special order inward-opening vault doors.

You mentioned putting a lock on your bedroom door. This is usually insufficient, since most interior doors are hollow core, they typically use lightweight hinges, and they have insubstantial strike plates. Most of these doors can either be knocked down or knocked though, in very short order. I recommend replacing your bedroom doors with heavy duty exterior type doors (preferably steel) with heavy duty hinges and one or more deadbolt locks. If your house has all the bedrooms isolated on one hallway, then I recommend adding a heavy duty door at the end of that hall, and keeping it locked at night. (Basically a “safe wing” for your house) Then, inside of that safe wing, you should have a far more secure dedicated safe room that your entire family can retreat to, before the outer layers of defense succumb to physical attack.

Redundant communications are important, so you can solicit outside help. Both the master bedroom and the safe room should have hard wire (“POTS“) telephones that are serviced by underground lines with no visible junction boxes. Be sure to test using a cell phone, as a backup, from every room. Having a CB radio in your safe room also makes sense. OBTW, one of my consulting clients in New Mexico intentionally installed a vertical 3”-diameter air exhaust vent from the ceiling of his safe room/fallout shelter to his roof. Using a broomstick, he can pop the slip-fit flapper valve loose, and then use the pipe as a conduit for flares from his HK P2A1 flare 26.5mm flare pistol! He reported that he has tested shooting meteor flares “up the spout”, and it worked fine. Very clever.

The Ultimate Solution: Designing for Security from the Ground Up

I most strongly recommend that the next time that you move, that you buy a brick or other masonry house and upgrade its security, or better yet, start with a bare lot, and custom build a stout house with and integral safe room, from scratch. As previously discussed in SurvivalBlog, two good starting points for house designs are Mexican walled courtyards and building with square bastions (also known as Cooper Corners). These projecting corners eliminate the “blind spots” that are common to typical square or rectangular houses.

For greater detail on this subject, I recommend Joel Skousen’s book “The Secure Home.” My novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” also has some detailed design description for ballistically armored window shutters and doors, as well details on constructing neo-medieval door bars.

If you are serious about custom building or retrofitting an existing house for increased security and/or adding a safe room, then I recommend the architectural consulting services of both Safecastle and Hardened Structures.

Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear

I love the questions on web gear. Best advice I can give, having gone through multiple iterations of trying this and that, is to divide up your load. What do I mean by this?

In the military they have a “combat load” and an “approach load” concept. Your “combat load” is the web gear that you see troops with all the time – their “battle rattle.” On the other hand the “approach load” is similar to what we would refer to as a survival load (roughly).

The major problem with web gear is that it does not work with any backpack that has a waist belt unless you set it up to not carry anything on the pistol belt unless it is carried with a drop leg (thigh) type of setup. Oops, no ammo pouches or canteens on the pistol belt. That means that forget the cheap ALICE gear etc. unless you plan on walking only for a day and not even spending the night in bad weather. You have to go with a vest type setup right out of the gate if you want to use a large backpack.

Personally, I have used an Enhanced Load Bearing Vest (ELBV) and H-harness that can carry eight M16 magazines in chest mounted pouches, or a no-name (custom made) survival vest that carries magazine pouches on the belly with some success. I prefer the ELBV as it can take all the cheap ALICE gear in a pinch. It also does not dig into me when I go prone like the other vest (which I only use when I am out hunting any more as it makes the perfect day pack with minimal survival gear – which is what it was designed for). I then have my pistol in a drop leg holster so that it rides below both the pistol belt and the backpack waist belt. On the other side I have a knife in a drop sheath and pistol magazine pouches in a drop leg configuration (holster and magazine pouches from Black hawk).

Water is in a hydration bladder inside the backpack as well as two one quart canteens (you can’t beat the old canteen cup and canteen cup stove with any modern gear) and two two quart canteens in or on the backpack. I would recommend people look at the Kifaru line of backpacks – they are rock solid (mine has survived three trips to the Middle East and one swing through Afghanistan) and built by the guy that started Mountain Smith. They are pricey but they don’t fail in the field and wear like a dream.

I also carry on the outside of the backpack a Camelbak hydration pack with 100 ounces of water. It has just enough carrying capacity to make up for the butt pack that I used to carry on my pistol belt (poncho, some food, and SERE gear). In a fight I can ditch the backpack in under a minute, get the Camelbak on, get one of the two one quart canteens clipped on, and shove the Russian Spetsnaz shovel into the loops on the Camelbak (designed to carry ice axes) after I take it off of the larger backpack. So, while not perfect it is the best thing I have found to date.

A couple of tips no matter what brand/setup you go with. First, go prone and roll around on the ground. Your magazine pouches should not dig (try to land on one if it digs into your diaphragm …) and at least some of them should be accessible regardless of the position you are in. Second, you should be able to roll over and over and low crawl with the rig. I saw one kid with a ton of gear not be able to get low enough behind a street curb one time and he ended up a casualty. [JWR Adds: One reason that I prefer traditional pistol belts and suspenders is that by simply unbuckling the pistol belt latch, any pouches in the front can be pushed to the sides (putting all the weight on the suspenders), allowing the wearer to low crawl effectively.] Remember that hard objects in your backpack become shrapnel when hit by bullets. Third, when you jump up and down you should not make any noise.

When you are done with your web gear buying and backpack buying and you start to load up, keep this in mind. On your web gear you only want those things that you will need in a fight.

The Colonel that was portrayed in the movie “Blackhawk Down” now has an infantry battalion in Iraq. Because of his experience with the [Mogadishu] “Blackhawk Down” affair he now never leaves his compound without having at least 30 loaded magazines on him. Plus he carries a combat lifesaver kit. This outfit has the best ones on the market today. – Hugh D.

Odds ‘n Sods:

In the wake of the real estate collapse comes inevitably: Squatters: The latest real-estate menace. (A hat tip to Hoffmama.)

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Several readers sent this: As if Things Weren’t Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S. (Of course, consider the reliability of the source.)

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David D. mentioned that Farm Show magazine has lots of articles with energy saving ideas, including: “Wood Gas Generator Produces “Free” Power”, a Coal-Fired Grain Dryer, Biodiesel Generator Powers Up On Veggie Oil (or Almost Any Oil) , and Manure Furnace Burns All Kinds of Waste.

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Florida Guy mentioned another Nanny State scheme: Oregon attempts mandatory GPS car tracking of all new autos

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The latest Glut-‘o-Gloom from Cheryl: Kerkorian Sells Off Remaining Ford Shares — Oil Surges on Concerns Mideast Violence will Disrupt Supplies — Fallout Begins After Dismal Holiday Season — Ruble in Trouble — 10 Things that Won’t Survive the Recession — Crisis Batters American Small Businesses — In a Recession, Execs Make a Quick Getaway — Stocks Pull Back Amid Mid-East Tensions — Dollar Rocked by Mid-East Violence — Wall Street Faces Record Losses in Last Week of 2008 — Shoppers Even More Finicky

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." – Edmund Burke, 1770

Notes from JWR:

Just three days left! More than 625 SurvivalBlog readers have bought Foodsaver vacuum packers at the special December sale price. I consider a home vacuum packer & sealer a key item to own for family preparedness. These greatly increase the storage life of foods. They also allow you to inexpensively buy foods in bulk and then pack them in single meal sizes. This capability alone will make the Foodsaver pay for itself in less than a year. And if you get the optional regular mouth Mason jar vacuum sealer attachment for an extra $8.99 your Foodsaver will be even more versatile. (They all come with a wide mouth Mason Jar attachment as a standard accessory.) We get a little “piece of the action” for each Foodsaver that is sold using our link. So this a is a great way to save money and to support SurvivalBlog! Don’t miss out on this sale! You can buy a FoodSaver v2830 for $59.99 (originally $169.99) with free Standard Shipping for orders over $100, directly FoodSaver.com. Be sure to use code L8FAV28 at checkout. This offer is valid during the month of December, or while supplies last. We’ve had one here at the Rawles Ranch for many years and it gets a lot of use. Buy a FoodSaver. You’ll be glad that you did!

Today’s first post was inspired by the recent drop in both crude oil and refined oil prices, following their huge bull market for the past three+ years. (Short term deflation is now upon us, but I predict that inflation will be back in the long run, with a vengeance!) It is a piece from the SurvivalBlog Archives, circa October, 2005. In retrospect, I can see that I was right about my predictions on fuel and grain prices.

Note that there are now nearly 5,800 archived SurvivalBlog articles, letters, and quotes, all available free of charge!

From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Inflation–Past, Present, and Future

It has been said that nothing is inevitable except death and taxes. But personally, I add inflation to that list. Inflation is an insidious hidden form of taxation

We’ve been robbed! According to The Inflation Calculator, what cost $100 in 1905 would cost $2052.36 in 2005. The U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its value in that time. (If you were to buy exactly the same products in 2005 and 1905, they would cost you $100 and $4.87 respectively.) The inflation rate jumped considerably in the 1960s and 1970s. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Treasury stopped minting real silver coins in 1964.

Even it this current era of supposedly”low” inflation, the depredations of inflation are inexorable– but just slower. It is like watching a 50 pound ice block sitting in the sun. The real rate of inflation is presently about 6.5%. Thus, you need to make at least 6.5% a year on your money just to keep pace with inflation. In the long term the concept of “saving” for retirement is almost fallacious, especially when you consider the bouts of inflation that are likely to occur in the next 20 years. The twin deficits–budget and trade–will inevitably lead to much higher rates of inflation in the years to come. Perhaps we’ll even experience a full-blown hyperinflationary currency crisis that will wipe out the value of all of our dollar-denominated investments in just a few months. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: If you want to protect yourself from inflation, then buy tangibles. My late father used to be fond of saying: “There are three kinds of people in the world: People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and [the majority of people,] the people who wonder, ‘What the heck happened?'” Inflation is a process that is so subtle that the majority of people do not recognize it for what it is.

It is safe to assume that inflation will continue, and will only get worse, especially with commodities. Oil will likely double in the next 18 months. So that means corresponding increases in gas, diesel, and home heating oil. Wheat, rice, and other commodities will also jump up in price. They too, may double soon. Protect yourself from inflation. Stock up on tangibles. Not only is it wise to be prepared physically, but you can also consider these tangibles a prudent investment.