Some thoughts about defending your retreat

Sadly those require more paperwork. However something chambered in .50BMG could not only remove the wheel house but the water line as well

 

When I built our place, I had defense in mind...however my wife didn't so much, so it took a little imagination. Location on high ground with good fields of fire, stone planters around the house to the bottom of the windows and an accessible crawl space with access to underground storage and an escape route to the riverbank are a few of the features I was able to slide into the plan. The years it was our vacation house and the first 3 years we lived there, my wife wasn't even aware of the underground storage.

That said, we also have 3 different emergency locations accessible by ground or river in case we must temporarily unass the house.

 

If this were pre-1970 I would agree with what you said. However this is 2015 and today we have DHS and FEMA camps and a population that is really going to expect that the government will take care of them. The vast majority of the population is going to stick to their cities unless/until a really massive die off happens.

By that time much of the population will be too weak and starving to go too far. The only way you'll see people ranging out will be if LEOs create their own sort of feifdom in which case they'll start moving out and demanding taxes or something else for "protection" and demanding that you live under their law.

However that's going to take a bit of time before organization on that scale really occurs.

 

I once knew of a group and that was their basic plan. PSHTF they were planning to offer their protection "services" in exchange for room and board.

 

Resupply is the real variable isn't it? I would not be able to waste my 30 cal or even shotgun shells on trying to scare anyone. My plan is pretty simple. We run patrols out away from the house. Keep invaders back as far as we can. use fall back ambush points to cut their numbers down while not getting hit ourselves. I would hope once they get stung enough times they back away and look for easier pickings. The closer they get to our house the more force multipliers they run into. I have cleared killing fields but have left things that look like cover but are really traps like nail boards and things I can shoot through. W e will use ruger 10-22 rifles for suppression fire with 30 round mags while we snipe with 30-06 bolt action rifles. Tubes full of lead split shot and Black powder act like 8 gauge shotguns or directional mines if you will. My plan is to let NO ONE get close enough to see the house.

 

I worked for the phone co 50 years ago and they allowed 5 people and 1 foreman to man one position 24-7-365, although the foreman was mostly there for a strike breaker in case we went out. That said we often had to work overtime due to illness or vacations. That also ignores any supply or support functions to provide those 5 people. I think that in this day and age there are a few problems with retreat defense that did not even exist 20 years ago. I can go to Radio Shack and buy a drone and a night vision camera for about $100. In Nam the US Army did not have that capability and all three services, with airbases and aircraft carriers could only do limited coverage of an area. One man on patrol is about useless as a sniper will always get him. Several on patrol can at least cover an area, although the first warning may well be the loss of one of the team. That said, you now have the ability to patrol with drones, use game cameras, have motion detectors and remote cameras for area security that did not even exist 30 years ago. Now EMP and electronic security are whole new problems. I think that the new attack mode will be the use of remote devices and the long range rifle. The attacker has the ability to choose when he wishes to act and if he knows where you are and how you operate, has the ability to use long range or IED weapons to whittle you down. Think the wars we are now losing and how they differ from those of 50 years ago. If you are to survive, I think it will have to be some larger community, just to keep the perimeter far enough out as to be controlled and that brings up another new set of problems. In my community in Southern New Hampshire we are now going through a religious war on a natural gas pipeline. It is us against them and no prisoners taken. The "greens" do not want cheap power as it will destroy the world. They stop wind, natural gas, large solar, water power, coal, nuclear, any power at all as it is Gods will. The pipeline will blow up, leak, ruin the wells, be noisy and make money for a large corporation. They make up about half of the population and most seem to former residents of Mass. This same mentality and political force is trying to limit our firearms rights, shoot a woodchuck in your garden and they call the cops, keep your dog on a leash or we call the cops, spread manure on your fields and we call the EPA and it stinks and is bad, keep animals and they are noisy, stink, and you are being cruel if you fence them in a pen or butcher them, call the SPCA. This same mind process thinks that having over 7 days food or fuel is hoarding and that of course they have the right to take it and it should go to those in need in case of a crisis and they and the police will be there to distribute it to all the other grasshoppers. I am 77 and I think the only defense is to hope to die before the bastards take total control. There is no political answer here as both parties have caved in to the sheep. It may well be that only as the bible said hiding on the hills will work. I just try to keep a low profile and be as self sufficient as I can be and enjoy life as much as I can for now. This area was survivable 30 years ago when I had 2 neighbors and they were both relatives and most of the rest of the town were residents with family that had been here for generations but now I have 16 neighbors, 12 that moved in over the last 10 years and have nothing in common with my mind set.

 

I am starting see more of that crap about animals here in Michigan. We keep them quiet and smells down. Our neighbors are good folks I am lucky in that respect. However we do have some real problems brewing in Michigan. Not here in my neck of the woods but other areas are not allowing gardens or chickens. Zoning laws. The laws here are all good as we are out away from the city but that wont stop someone from complaining if they don't like our house or the way we live.

As for defenses we have enough people here and well thought out plan . A lone gunman could penetrate our defenses at night but he would be carrying food and water. If he was bold he could get within shooting distance of a patrol in one day from say 5 miles out. He would have to know we were there . You see everything is variable and no one can predict how it would go down.. We just keep sentries at two major choke points where an intruder has to go to get within a mile. Those choke points are bridges with swamp on each side. They have to come down the road to get here or sink up to their neck in silt. The Terrain was one of the top reasons we bought here. Sure they could try and swim the lake and again find themselves bogged down in muck . They could carry boats from many miles away. all of that stuff is highly unlikely as they have to have prior knowledge that we are here and have something they want. Defending those choke points is a 4 man shift rotated out every 4 to 6 hours. We have 13 men 8 women and several children. The fall back pits are already dug and grown in with grass. The cover already there. Looking down on this little valley with the swamp on both sides we can see everything even at night with any moon at all. During the winter the snow will make them stand out like sore thumbs. W e do have trail cameras 6 to be exact but they are old and need to be upgraded to the ones that use wireless send to a lap top. 4 of those new cams would increase our survailence
capability 100 times. They cost money we dont have right now. So if it goes down tomorrow we are back to the old way. Sentries.

 

I remember reading an article about a Frenchman who survived the hell of being a French soldier in WW I where you basically served on the front in the trenches until you were disabled or died. He survived and prospered and by the mid 1930's could see the hand writing on the wall and that it was time to get out. He made his plans and picked his perfect retreat to ride out the coming war. He knew that all of Europe would become involved so that was out. The US and England would be involved, so they were out. He wanted to continue to enjoy the French language and culture so he picked the most remote,least important place he could find that spoke French and had a French culture. He picked the island of Guadacanal, but with the rise of air power it was the first place the US drew the line at as have to have in the Pacific and he was killed in the first or second day of the invasion . I wonder how many factors we are missing in our retreat planning?

 

I have a..."primitive resupply plan" I think most would call it. I find the primitive part a bit insulting, but the old ways of doing things have stood the test of time.

 

Michigan winter isn't that bad, you just have to know how to get through it

 

Good post! I like the way you think!

 

We had nights at 15 below zero last winter. This one is pretty mild so far. But take the plows away and no one is moving very far. Add in no power or gas and it all foot traffic. Survivng the first year is the tough part. When people have gas , trucks, ammo and food. I thrive in the winter which is why I moved north not south. The weak will run for warm weather. I will cut wood and can the garden , whack some rabbits and do some fishing.

 

I remember the Natives and the Trappers hard a hard time in your neck, KF. Now, we have come a long way in the food production arena in that neck since then, don't misunderstand me. I seem to remember trading in rations being illegal to the point of execution at times in the general local.

 

That snow storm on Tuesday would've gotten a few if it was shtf. I find that once you've got a good routine going for winter though all the other ones seem like an easier task to get through..

I'm guessing that most of the northern states will be near empty within the month of something happening, it would be easier to make a settlement north because the cold and sperattic weather would turn looters away. Plus some of the people up here won't think twice about a trigger pull if you mess with em. Like you've said the more experienced survivors will probably find a home up further.

 

All northern states will have huge loss of population if there is a real game changer. Im talking emp pulse , solar flare or worse. Even people who live here " today" are pussies compared to even 20 years ago. Most cant start a fire, grow anything and are completely reliant on the store for food and clothing. Most dont even have a good pair of boots. The migration to warmer states would be massive. The cities will quickly become killing zones with gangs taking everything of value only to find that the money isnt worth a thing. Many of those types will die in gun fights with national guard and police forces. After the initial chaos things will quiet down some and lone wolves will be the norm. Single scavengers and or small groups will be plundering vacant homes looking for food and water. The colder the weather the better in my opinion. My ao is in the middle of thousands of acres of federal land. Firewood is my strength and water is as well as I am on a small private lake. My firewood plan should get a big like from anyone on this forum. We dont cut the wood on our 10 acres today. W e cut 3 to 5 miles away today. We save all the wood that is within walking distance for shtf. Dont deplete your local wood supply take from the federal forests today , cut your own after shtf. I learned quickly how to store gasoline long term. I have enough gas stored to cut 10 years worth of firewood before I have to use an axe or hand saw. I have enough saws and parts to keep them running for 10 to 15 years. I have generator fuel for 20 years. I have three lifetimes supply of ammo for hunting and enough defensive ammo for about 100 firefights before I'm down to .22 lr and crossbow. If I get my second propane tank before the shtf Ill have my jeep running on propane for about 5 years. I still have lots to learn mostly in the garden and breeding my own egg laying chickens. Those are important things to me.

 

Tully said something important to me a few posts back about people offering protection for room and board. I made a couple close friends in the Michigan Militia who are bugging out to my house if shtf. We have radios and code words set up. They have bed rolls and food stuff here already. They bring two more AR-15 rifles and another 2000 rounds of ammo. Both carry sidearms as well. I trained with these guys . Both are single younger men. I also have a couple of family members coming here as well. They are not as well supplied but we are working on that.

 

It sure makes me tempted to part with some of my shekels to get one of those danged newfangled HF Marconi comminicat'n devices that I keep on hearin' about in these here forums.