Present home: Recently moved to new residence in luxury community in South Texas because of a job loss in the Northwest. we sold our our 40 acre retreat because prices were top of the market and it could help in Texas to have no mortgage and to continue preparations. Many acquisitions will occur within the next year including another retreat property (prices are about same as when we bought our first retreat and inventory up in the Northwest.)
Ages: 46 and 51
SOs: One adult child that lives out of state
Annual income: $61,000+.
Profession: Technology (him) and Homemaker (her).
Investments: Law Enforcement Degree for child (once graduated soon and in a job should come in handy), A mix of local real estate, conventional securities in retirement accounts, stocks/options, valuable collections and junk silver including coins in 1000’s face value.(currently turning the collections into cash)
Vehicles: Honda CRV 4WD. (I just sold my gas powered full size pickup in preparation for a full size 4WD diesel and a smaller alternate fuel vehicle)
Firearms Battery: Smith and Wesson 586 .357,Winchester 30-30 nickel plated, Winchester Model 1300 – 12 gauge Parkerized 30 inch barrel and 21″ rifled slug barrel, Rem 11-87 -12 gauge 30″ and short also parkerized, Remington Model 870 20 gauge, old smooth bore side by side scatter gun, pre-war Winchester Model 62 (.22 Short and 22 LR), Mossberg Bolt action 12 ga. adjustable choke,1896 .30-40 Krag (sporterized), various BB and Pellet Guns as well as hunting slingshots and worth noting for the small game and birds that can be actually hunted using cheap ammo also current plus is living in Texas and working with fervent gun owners so I am stocking up as I sell off of valuable collection turning it into cash. (I am thinking of trading some of the antiques in at a gun show for a real rifle with spare parts and some hand guns as most were inherited from father but keeping, the .357 because it was my wife’s gun and she shoots it, the .30-30 because it’s plated [for humid weather resistance] and ammo is cheap. I’m also familiar with it having shot it as a kid, maybe the .22 if I can’t get enough value because I have tons of ammo in both short and LR and all the Parkerized 12 gauges, the bolt action shotgun because of the adjustable choke and I’m having a larger magazine made by a gunsmith friend and the 20 gauge )
Stored ammunition: Roughly 15,000 rounds packaged with silica gel and about 10,000 in powder, bullets, shot and casings. Most in 12 Gauge, .22, .22 LR and 38 Special, and .357 Magnum . This will significantly increase after completing the move and the decision of caliber and reloading supplies. (I’ve got all the 12 and 20 gauge equipment.)
Fuel Storage: Regular utilities now but will be solar and underground storage tank with asphalt coating. (We had a 1,000 gallon diesel tank that we left for the new owners)
Improvements: TBD
Annual Property Tax: TBD but significantly more than in the northwest (definitely a con here)
Livestock: Will get back into raising rabbits, chickens and goat(s). (All our breeding stock and equip has been housed with friends in exchange for the contingency that if the SHTF and our retreat isn’t ready we can stay with them.)
Communications Gear: Off-brand AM/FM hand crank receiver SW, AM /FM and other public bands, six FRS walkie-talkies with solar re-chargers, CB and base station with modified ham frequencies. We have numerous old laptops, wireless routers and devices and web cams for private solar based network/perimeter security. I already have the skills to implement this.)
Food storage: 1-1/2 years for two adults and equipment supplies for putting up and charity for many more. More to come later when we have more cool dry space. (The humidity is too high here)
Hobbies: Shooting, re-loading (both), gunsmithing/re-loading (him), sewing, herbal and nutritional cooking (her), reading, learning canning and dehydration (both), solar and computer technology (him), Internet surfing and storing information (both).
Background: Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot originally lived in California, but moved to the northwest to avoid high income taxes, high property taxes, excessive property prices, excessive government regulation on gun ownership, and an undesirable political / moral climate. We are relatively new to the preparedness life. (For the last five years.)
JWR: Why did you choose your location?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: Conservative/Constitutionalist libertarian politics, Christian community, Lots of contacts, Great outdoors.
JWR: What are the drawbacks to the region?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: A little close to the Golden Horde
JWR: Who will be joining you at your retreat if the balloon goes up?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: Two or possibly three adult family members maybe more depending on a neighboring state’s situation
JWR: How long do you expect that it will be before order is restored?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: No idea but hopefully ready for the long term (we tried a little self test one winter)
JWR: What is your worst case scenario?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: Needing to defend the retreat from adjoining state (Golden Horde).
JWR: What personal circumstances have shaped your preparations, and how?
Mr. Foxtrot: Seems like even though I grew up in the “Nanny State”, I’ve been preparing my whole life for this (my resume looks like five different people), and even though I was living in Tech City I always felt like I was destined to be a homesteader. My wife shared the same belief system when we met and we’ve been trying to establish our retreat ever since. It was so painful to leave our old retreat, but at the same time it showed us that we were willing to do whatever it takes to survive and once we get it back it will take an awful lot to give it up again, if at all.
JWR: What shortcomings does your retreat have that you would like to improve if you had the opportunity?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: Not purchased yet hopefully done before TSHTF and Band-aids although we have a lot of kits we need to learn how to use them appropriately
JWR: What are your long term goals?
Mr. and Mrs. Foxtrot: Be prepared, be good and charitable Christians, accept that it is inevitable that we die and not up to us, but how we choose to live, is!