I had a slow day at work today with lots of time to set and day ponder and was working on a collage campus. What I thought of was between the federal laws that now prohibit guns on school property (and include collages) and kids concerns of seeming 'weird' to their friends and limited space in dorms, how would a kid in collage be able to be prepared in case they had to get home say 200-2000 miles away if SHTF when they were at school? Well like I say it was a long slow day with loads of down time so what I came up with could be done by them or by parents if there were concerns of the kid using the stuff and not replacing it. Rent a storage space as close as possible to the campus (or if kid lives off campus then half way between their place and campus) and if the parents have to do this for them give them a key with a warning not to open it unless its an emergency and put the gear there. The type of goods I cam up with was something like this depending on budget. Ideally a dirt bike and 20-30 gallons of stabilized fuel but could be just a mountain bike A tow behind cart around the size of a large wheel barrow or a bit larger 5-10 gallons of water Bug out pack with water filter, 5-10 days food, good first aid kit, mess kit, supplemental food gathering tools (snares, nets whatever), pup tent, sleeping bag, good hunting knife, bolt cutters, camp ax, Zippy with extra fuel and flints, pack of disposable lighters, good survival guide book and first aid guide, maps from there to home (or BO location) possibly with 3 or 4 good BO routes highlighted in advance, etc $200-$300 cash in 1's 5's and 10's shotgun with adequate ammo (including slugs) for defense as well as shooting food handgun and holster with ammo I was thinking putting this stuff and maybe a few add ons in a storage space might be a good kind of insurance for the kids to have a better chance of making it home if things went bad while they were there. Like I said, it was a boring day at work. lol Just figured I would toss this up and see if anyone else had thought about this aspect of things and what they had come up with, especially since I know some of the folks here have, have had or soon will have kids at collage.
I bet Melbo has thought about this with his oldest in college. When my oldest goes, my wife and I are contemplating actually buying a house for her to live in, and charge rent to a couple of other girls (that we will know well). Being a daughter of mine she will be armed, at least at home. It might be something as simple as a Mossy 500 and a case of extra shells, plus a few cases of MRE's, water and other assorted supplies that is stored in the attic or another place she could lock and keep away from the other renters. Usually with a kid in college a SHTF situation means grades...
Good point. My son is only an hour away. But, he is across a pretty good size river with only 2 bridges in the area. For someone further away, I'd suggest a full BOB with some off site storage and maybe a few test runs on GOOD fast. EL, I had the same thoughts myself. Buy an apartment building. Maybe one of the old homes that have been converted into 4 to 6 units. Close to campus but away from it's no gun rules. You could have her manage the place. Learn to budget the rents, make mortgage payment, keep a reserve for maintenence etc. Pretty good learning experience and if you played it right, could pay for itself and you start to gain equity in some desireable, Campus real estate. You could Deed it over to her later as a Graduation present and she could continue to manage it. Good life lesson I think. Plus you'd save 8 to $10K on Board at the same time over 5 years. Only problem is that most University properties like that are pretty high dollar to begin with. I may look into it again. Thanks for reminding me.
Well an hour or so away wouldnt be as bad as if it was off a couple of states away but still an hour in normal conditions could be several days to a couple of weeks on foot and I know at least around here all the collages are in mid size towns to large cities. Like I say, its just something that had occured to me sitting on campus and thinking about that they would actualy bitch if my truck was on their property with a single shot shoti behind the seat.
For apartment buildings yes, but I bet you could find a three or four bedroom house a little further from campus for a bargain. We have looked at them off and on at College Station.
Then again it's all relative. Rents will be higher on a 500K place close to Yale then a 70K place close to PoDunk... I'd rather manage a place that had a more upscale tenent base myself. Less mess
I've had a client for the past 10 yrs who has many rental properties situated between two universities. The grad students and TA's are pretty good but groups of younger students are a definite problem. It helps to have the parents sign the lease. Rents in this area run around $800 to $900/mo for a 3-1/2 to 4 room appt with utilites. Houses go for $1,500 - $1,800/mo. Out of the 96 rental units my client has (all former large single family homes converted to appts) occupancy is usually at 100% August thru June with waiting lists. It's a full time job maintaining properties, dealing with tenants, grass and snow removal, letting kids into their units after they lose their keys, etc. Knowing what I know about being a landlord, I wouldn't put my college aged kid in charge. It's a lot of work and responsibility to undertake in addition to the full time job of their education. JMHO
Concur wholeheartedly. That said, I've seen the ungody messes that Harvard students leave in Cambridge apartments. Maybe upscale, but "slob" does not tell the true tale.
Concur. I am currently a student finishing up his degree (a bit late, took some time off to join the service). If California laws ain't bad enough for you, try California laws, on a campus. It's enough to make your head explode. Suffice to say, there's a law, regulation, or policy to legally stifle anything you wish to do. Hell, where I live, you aren't allowed to have a knife (of any length blade) unless it's a "kitchen" knife. I'm sure if they saw the water, they'd forbid it as a flooding hazard; if they saw the food, they'd say I was attracting vermin. (Nevermind the fact that I like to keep my water, and keep my food, two facts that obviate their concerns.) In sum, it's hard. If you have a kid in school, and the resources, a house is always better than on-campus housing. And teach them to keep a low profile, or they will quickly become the "weirdo" on campus.
Dan, you need to get out of there first chance you have, and move to a state where you actually have rights.
