Hilltop Retreat Locations Versus Hidden Retreats

I often have SurvivalBlog readers and consulting clients ask me about the “ideal” terrain for a rural survival retreat house. I must report that there is no single “best” answer because there are significant trade-offs related to terrain. Castles were situated on hilltops for centuries, for obvious reasons: Enemies had to fight uphill Defenders were able to see approaching armies from a long distance. They were also able to exploit the potential energy of stored boulders and other heavy objects. However, in the context of a modern survival retreat, a commanding position makes hilltop structures hard to miss.

The goals of privacy and advantageous fields of fire are often mutually exclusive. Likewise, a hilltop position and a spring water supply are also mutually exclusive in all but the rarest of cases.

I did some consulting for one retreat owner in the Inland Northwest who owns a small secluded side canyon that adjoins a fairly major river. From nearly all of this 120 acre parcel there is no line of sight to neighboring ranch houses. It is a landlocked parcel–you must transit through a half mile of a neighboring ranch before reaching to the highway.  There is only one viable road approach to the property. With dense timber in the canyon, the access road is a long series of potential ambush sites for defense. The canyon is narrow enough that if the road were blocked–(by a D6 Caterpillar tractor and/or fallen trees, for instance)–there would be no way to get vehicles in there. Just one well-positioned listening post/observation post (LP/OP) would provide plenty of warning time under most circumstances. In my opinion, if a particular group of looters is stealthy enough to approach without being noticed by a 24 hour LP/OP and seismic intrusion detection sensors, then they would be a  formidable test to any retreat’s security, regardless of terrain advantages or disadvantages.

Being down in a canyon is also has an advantage for noise and light discipline.  When everyone for miles has no power, and you still do, (because you planned ahead and put in a PV, wind power, and/or microhydro power system), those lights can be a “come loot me” beacon. Sitting on high ground further magnifies the effect. (Blackout blinds and other countermeasures are mentioned in my novel Patriots.) Further, a retreat on commanding high ground is a lot more likely to be spotted by looters making a “sweep” through an area than one that is nestled down in a tree-filled canyon. The major drawback–as is often mentioned–is the inherent disadvantage of being on low ground versus high ground. In general, I agree that it is best to opt for a piece of high ground with open fields of fire. In this particular instance, however, I supported the decision on where to build the house. The owner realizes that his decision will necessitate posting more security (including a seismic intrusion detection system) to allow more warning time of anyone approaching on foot.  The worst case would be a large group approaching on foot by an unlikely route (i.e. not on the road), at night.  Under circumstances like that, it would take a very hard home, indeed, to keep the bad guys from coming in the door. OBTW, I’ll have more on the “Harder Homes and Gardens” aspects of retreat architecture in an upcoming post.

Letter Re: David in Israel’s Article on Expedient Shelter/Greenhouses

Mr. Rawles,
I am an avid gardener, motivated by a belief in producing as much of my own food as I can. There are many, many ways to devise your own greenhouse. Given a situation where you have limited supplies, this gets interesting. Being a cheap Yankee, I don’t like buying much unless I really need to. But sometimes it’s better to pay and have, than to wait for the time to make something you may never have. After researching quite a bit on the topic of greenhouses, I decided to go with a hoop house. (See: http://www.hoophouse.com/) I just wanted to get the ball rolling. A number of things I noted:
-They are located in New England, so I could reasonably compare their experience to mine (and shipping was cheaper)
-Snow-loads have not been a problem. I’ve swept off over 1.5 feet of wet, northeast snow and noticed very little structural stress.
-When I got the delivery I said something to the effect of “that’s it?” the materials included are very small, so buying a kit, or taking one down with the anticipation of putting it in a truck and heading are both very realistic
-Once you get the kit, and look at the components: you will also probably say “that’s it?!” because most or all of the items (except for the UV [resistant] plastic) are readily found at a hardware store (you’d need a tubing bender to get some stuff right). My point is that once you saw it maybe you’d be industrious enough to make your own kits to sell or trade.
-Having wooden sides, adding a small wood stove is a simple task. For fun, I have enjoyed February days out there, burning just a little wood. I am confident that I could live in this shelter with that small wood stove.
-As of late November, I am still picking greens and carrots. Spring and fall months I plant cold hardy crops you cannot plant in the garden. Summer I plant stuff that doesn’t usually have a chance here in northern Vermont. This past summer I harvested 30 pounds of sweet red peppers from just two 3’x6′ beds. The mantra is ‘plant in season.’ I also get my seedlings started out here before they head outdoors.

I’ll wrap this up with a couple of other points to consider:
-It is very important to remember this: during winter months you are not so much ‘growing’ as you are extending the harvest. Elliot Coleman’s book goes into great length of this alternate mindset.  See: http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/main/harvest/harvest.html Expecting to grow tomatoes in January is fine if you have a powerful heat source and supplemental light. That is not for what we are planning for.
-See: http://www.radiantcompany.com/ These guys are not just selling catalogue items here. They are living the life. A simple incorporation of solar and
radiant (perhaps you already have solar? or burn wood and would like to capture some of that heat for other means?) into a greenhouse would make a
world of difference. We should all be planning on sustainable heat sources rather than trying to power a 60,000 BTU propane heater in the greenhouse. (It defeats the purpose.) In conclusion, I think that a hoop house could be a perfect shelter to get someone started. Like a mini-Earthship, you can live and grow food with it. – Z.H. in Vermont

Letter Re: On Brass Recycling

The note from “Christian Souljer” in the Pacific Northwest today (Monday) points out the elevated price available when recycling brass. I was talking to
Nikki at River Valley Ordnance (http://www.rvow.com) the other day. [She told me that] brass is high now because China is paying top dollar for brass, including the once-fired brass that RVOW would normally buy from the government to remanufacture for us non- government types. Not so long ago, RVOW was able to buy .223 [U.S. military 5.56mm NATO M16 brass] in 5,000 pound lots; Nikki says it looks like the minimums are going up, possibly to 100,000 pound lots, because Chinese are buying so much surplus brass. I wonder why… Do you remember reading about how much scrap iron the Japanese were buying from us in the 1930s? – Dave in Omaha

JWR Replies:  It isn’t just brass, Dave. According to Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (http://www.scrap.org), the mainland Chinese have also driven up the prices of scrap steel, stainless steel, nickel (to make stainless steel), copper, bronze, and lead.  In many cases they are buying everything that they can lay there hands on. Note that the following observation may just be evidence of that “free floating  anxiety” that I was once accused of in a televised debate, but methinks that the extent of the Chinese scrap metal buying frenzy cannot be attributed solely to China’s economic renaissance.

Odds ‘n Sods:

For those of you that read German, consider this interesting web site:  http://www.survival.4u.org  (A lot of the links are to English sites. I hadn’t seen some of these links aggregated anywhere else–for example the ones on meteor strikes )

…

If you are looking for some military surplus bargains, see:  http://www.drms.com  (Here is your chance to attend a DRMO auction and pick up, for example, some bales of concertina wire at scrap metal prices.)

…

There are some interesting surplus dealer links at: http://www.jackwalters.com/links/surplusgoods.html  Some of these guys should be advertising on SurvivalBlog!

In Search of More Correspondents and Profiles

We are seeking additional overseas correspondents and/or Profiles for SurvivalBlog, particularly in dangerous locales, countries with religious persecution, and/or countries with recent insurgencies or economic troubles such as: Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Haiti, India (preferably someone living in or near the Kashmir), Indonesia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Pakistan, The Philippines, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Our readers would benefit from your “lessons learned” and even just hearing about your day-to-day experiences. (How you survived hyperinflation, how you avoided kidnapping, your countermeasures for street crime, et cetera.) I’d also appreciate hearing from anyone that has recently lived in a high crime inner-city area in the United States.

The pay for your writing: zero.  (Well, perhaps the occasional free book or sample merchandise.) The rewards: tremendous.  You’ll know that you are helping many thousands of people gain valuable knowledge and motivation to be able to survive, if and when the First World starts to resemble the Third World. Don’t worry about your spelling or grammar. We’d like your input, even if English is not your first language.  I’ll handle the editing.

David in Israel Re: Tzedaka (Charity) and the Tehillim (Psalms)

Tzedaka
The highest level of tzedaka (charity–the same word root for righteousness) is where you never find out who receives and the receiver never finds out who has
given. In the holy Temple there was a large box where people would drop off money and the poor would withdraw it was impossible to tell the donors form the
receivers. In modern Jewish religious communities a Gamel Chesed (carrier of kindness) will deliver food packages on a regular basis as a family in hard times
needs, these families will likely find envelopes of cash appear in coat pockets or under doors (rent the family friendly movie Ushpizin http://www.ushpizin.com/ to get a better idea of how it works). It is considered evil speech to finger out a person who is known for giving tzedaka directly as he might be mobbed by the poor and depleted. This delivery also keeps the poor from feeling beholden to their known donors.
In a survival scenario the ancient wisdom of an anonymous surprise gift of supplies distributed by a designated messenger (like The Postman) will reduce the danger of you becoming known as the house with supplies to be constantly begged or raided. Always remember as I have said before your responsibility bulls eye starts with you in center-then wife and kids, other family, neighbors, more distant victims, and so forth.

Tehillim (Psalms)
The writers of the Tehillim were holy men who inspired by the Almighty wrote poems which were meant to among other things invoke the trait of mercy from the
Creator. It has been a constant that in times of trouble we have resorted to prayer, fasting, and charity to overturn a harsh decree against us. Tehillim falls in the core of our appeals to the King of the Universe. When expressed in Hebrew they are at their most potent and beautiful. I (with no financial or other interest) personally recommend one of my favorite artists singing these as I would imagine David the king or the Levim in the Temple would have.   See: http://www.israel-music.com/yosef_karduner/ or do a web search for Tehillim for other artists. BTW, I always carry either my larger prayer book which contains all of Tehillim or a small pocket size compendium that measures about 2″ x 3″.

David in Israel Replies to Recent Posts

On Expedient Shelter/Greenhouses:  You are right the human waste was to be baked and re-cultured before being introduced into the system guess most of us don’t have a small reactor to provide the unlimited heat/radiation as a Mars  expedition would have. I think there are enough collective brains amongst SurvivalBlog readers to design a concept pop-up settlement for vehicular bugout or being forced from your primary retreat.

On Mobile Ham Gear: The ADSP2 is a good unit (only DSP unit I have used please suggest better) if you can find them at a radio shop, on sale they go as low as $70 they have the ADSP2 board inside for less then the board itself is sold. You can solder in a switch for the filters and add a headset jack, or just pull the board and install it inside your radio, instructions are on the Internet. It really makes extended monitoring less exhausting. 

Letter Re: Expedient Field Telephones and Lightweight HF Transceivers

Mr. Rawles, I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I noticed that many references are made using the surplus TA-1 telephone. A household telephone can be used for a point-to point two-way communications by using 4 wire cable, a 9 volt battery (better 12 volts) a 300 ohm resistor, two momentary switches and two signal devices such as a piezzo device or buzzer. A 9 volt battery will furnish telephone comm. for several miles but have never used one over two miles.
 I am also a Amateur Radio Operator, (57 years) and if you must go backpack with HF there’s nothing lighter than a HF CW rig such as a Elcraft K1 I built 3 or 4 years ago. CW [manual morse code] still has it’s place in emergency communications. However the Yaesu FT-817 is another but heavier choice that works very well. With a small homemade 50 watt linear amplifier you should not have too much difficulty communicating by SSB anywhere in the US and beyond depending on band conditions of course. It also works with my K1. Just my two cents worth. – M.C., Sr.

Two Letters Re: M14 Clones

You gotta love a well put together MIA. Too bad that Springfield Armory doesn’t seem to be up to the task.
The M1A, my favorite battle rifle, but is probably the worst as far as scoping goes. Scopes of conventional eye relief have to mount very high for the ocular to clear the rear sight assembly, this makes for funky stock welds and other problems. As well the side position on the receiver of the scope mount generally has the ocular too far back and close to the eye, causing grief when shooting from all positions even when cantilevered rings are used to move the scope forward. This problem is compounded by the short mounting “pads” of the ARMS #18. Which also happens to be one of the best scope bases otherwise IMO. The Brooks style mounts have a solid rail to mount on but are heavy and bulky and start you down the path to a M21 clone.
There’s no doubt in my mind that an optic makes it easier to get good hits fast in the 300-500 yard slot that we seek to control with rack grade weapons and ball ammo. It becomes painfully clear (or not so clear, a funny ) as the ranges get 300 yards and out and the targets are of realistic color and pattern, such as those shot during our Wyoming Rifleman Challenge. Throw in a blowing dust cloud, 100 degree temps boiling a thick mirage and then have the shooters “watch and shoot” for a series three second exposure.
So far in my experience the most practical of the scoping options for the M1A is the forward mounted Intermediate Eye Relief (IER) scope. Springfield Armory sells a satisfactory mount and Leupold and Burris make decent scopes. The scope mounts low with the ocular just even with the ejection port and with the right rings about 1/8″ above the upper hand guard. This leaves the receiver open for quick cleanings or stripper clip top offs as well as trouble free ejection. The eye relief is fine with a full field of view from all positions.
I had my doubts about the Springfield Armory forward scope mount at first, it’s clam shell design clamps around a standard contour barrel and that just doesn‘t seen to be the road the accuracy IMO. While a concern it wasn’t enough to keep me from mounting one up when it came my way. I prepped the mount by chasing the screw holes, degreasing them and a drop of red Lok-Tite in each. I also cleaning the surfaces coming into contact with the barrel to degrease them and put a few drops of red Lok-Tite on both parts. Placed the mount in rough position and snugged the screws.
Getting the scope mount square to the receiver was a concern, what I ended up doing was using my scope reticule leveling tool, that is held in place by a rubber band and indexing off the top of the rear sight ears. I got it were I wanted and tightened everything in typical alternate fashion. I added the proper size hex head wrench key to my butt stock cleaning gear and also check the screws at every cleaning on the bench . The mount has never shifted as far as I can tell after several thousand rounds. This can probably be attributed to the generous girth and the length of the mounting screws. Something I did notice after a few hundred rounds was that the back edge of the mount had the finish worn off by the motion of the operating rod. No metal just the finish, so I beveled it back a bit. And hit it with some marking die to see what was going to happen next, nothing happened. I still check the mount at every cleaning but no longer expect to find it falling off.
I have IER scopes mounted on M1A’s in both Warne and Leupold QD rings and have found that both work fine. Something I did with both is lap the rings before I mounted up the scopes. I lap all my scope rings just to take any bind out of the mounting process and to help with repeatability should the scope have to come off and be remounted.
The downside to the forward IER scope is that it’s limited to 2-3/4 power magnification with no provisions, as issued, for come-ups past battle sight zero. Of course this is a real drag for the rifleman wanting to control that 300-500 yard slot.
Compensating for range is handled to my satisfaction by adding a Butler Creek elevation knob, about $25 from Brownell’s. In my experience the knob provides repeatable, precise elevation control. The laser engraved index marks are a bit over 1 MOA in value and definitely close enough to be used with ball ammo rule of thumb come-up’s for good work to 500 yards. You will be on at 600 with the rule of thumb come-up but high and you will shoot over at 700. No big deal just don’t come up the whole rule of thumb come-up. It’s easy to simply computer print the come-ups on a large mailing label stick it to the stock and cover with clear packing tape. The 2-3/4X magnification and NATO spec ball cone of fire start making 600 plus shots an iffy thing anyway when you factor in holding off for the wind. We goof around with this 500 yard plus shooting and I have tuned the data but I really consider the rig to be a solid 500 yard rifle in practical terms. With match ammo and some more magnification the IER scoped M1A could very well be stretched to 700 yards if the wind wasn’t too awful wild.
So far all I’ve done about wind compensation is holding off, using the size of the target, reticule sub tension values and rule of thumb NATO ball hold-off values . It works good enough, but gets twitchy past 500 yards.
When the IER scoped M1A is used 500 yards and in, the rifle/scope combo has proven to be a solid performer in my experience and I’m pleased with it so far. I have to say, I don’t really believe we have the right scope yet. The right scope would [be an IER with] a straight, mil-spec 30mm tube, luminated reticule, MK4 M3 style knobs and mil dots. – Dennis Ross, President, Wyoming Rifleman Association

 

Hello James,
I’ve noted some discussions regarding the Springfield Armory products. Before buying [an M14 clone], folks should take a serious look at what the guys at Smith Enterprise have to offer. I’ve had several Garands rebarreled there, as well as some scope mounts installed on an M1A. Good folks doing good work!  See: http://www.smithenterprise.com/products02.html  – Dutch in Wyoming

JWR Adds: In addition to Smith Enterprise, there are also high quality M14 clones and receivers built by Fulton Armory (http://www.fulton-armory.com/), LRB (http://www.lrbarms.com/pages/1/index.htm), and several other vendors. OBTW, Smith Enterprise also make the excellent Vortex series flash hiders that I’ve had installed nearly all of my bolt action rifles by Holland’s of Oregon.

Letter Re: On Brass Recycling

Hello James,
I thought this information might be useful for the blog readers: Metal Recyclers (in the Pacific Northwest) are paying $0.97 per pound for “yellow brass” (used cartridge brass with or without a fired primer). I reload some of my own ammunition, but I had been saving non-reloadable cartridge cases, .22 brass etc. for recycle, and I took in over 100 pounds and I was able to get nearly a dollar per pound. Handy extra cash for those who have extra un-needed brass. The cash from the sale can go towards other preparedness items. Note: To give the readers an idea of the volume I am talking about – one 5-gallon pail nearly full of used cartridge brass is approximately equal to 60 pounds or more (depending on the type and size of brass cases). My pail was mostly rifle brass. God’s Blessings to You & Your Family, – Christian Souljer

Odds ‘n Sods:

We recently heard that there are several RWVA Appleseed Shoots scheduled for early 2006: in North Carolina February 25/26; in Kentucky March 25/26; and in Indiana is the last part of April. (They are still working out the date for the latter)  The cost is $45 for one day; $70 for the weekend. Shooters age 20 and under shoot free. Pre-registration is most appreciated. See: http://www.rwva.org for details.

And for those of you in the Pacific Northwest, don’t miss the annual dynamite shoot (“The Boomershoot”) in north-central Idaho. It is scheduled for April 30, 2006. It will be preceded by a Precision Rifle Clinic on April 28th and 29th.  (Highly recommended.) The Boomershootis a blast (literally) and surprisingly instructive on practical long range shooting–with a bit more excitement than a typical paper-punching high power match. (“That blowed up, real good!”) If it isn’t pouring rain, I suggest that you shoot prone rather than from a bench, to give the event more practical applicability. So bring a shooting mat or tarp. See: http://www.boomershoot.org/2006/blast.htm

Note from JWR:

We just surpassed four million page hits!   Many thanks for helping SurvivalBlog be such as success.  Keep spreading the word. If you could include SurvivalBlog’s URL in your e-mail (“sig”) footer, it would be greatly appreciated.  Perhaps something like this: 
      https://survivalblog.com — Bookmark it. It May Save Your Life!

Letter Re: Canned Butter Versus Butter Powder

Hello James,
The Blog just keeps getting better and better. Kudos!

I’m in the “luxury” stage of my pantry building and recently calculated the cost/benefit of storing butter. I figure butter would not only provide a psychological boost during bleak times, but would make a great barter item as well.

I looked at three different methods:

1, Canned Butter Powder – Storage life of 6 to 8 years. Requires reconstituting. Cost per pound of table ready product – $8.45

2. Canned Butter – Storage life of 3 to 5 years. Requires no reconstitution. Cost per pound of table ready product – $5.26

3. Can your own. (www.endtimesreport.com/canning_butter.html) Storage life of 3 to 5 years. Cost per pound (buying butter at a shoppers club) – $1.69, plus cost of jars.

So… if I’m willing to provide the labor, I can stock up on real butter for less than half the cost of the butter powder, even factoring in a 50 percent shorter shelf life with the home-processed product. I’ve found that’s a pretty typical spread between rolling your own or paying for someone else to spice and dice. – Dutch in Wyoming