Return of the Gray Man???

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Thunder5Ranch, Jun 12, 2017.


  1. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Over the last few months I have pretty much withdrawn to the farm and gone all hermit like. In part due to some lingering health problems left over from last year near fatal Sepsis. In part due to the general population disgust me. In part because the outside world is just getting to damn crowded. I have not even been to a Farmers Market in two Months because I was getting more than a little annoyed with the average market shopper. When you have pasture and woods raised pork that is within .25 cents per pound of walmarts pale flavorless garbage....... and every other person wants to stand there and preach how over priced you are... Yeah it gets old fast. The last in part is the cost of doing business, didn't used to be horrible but by the time every town, county, the state and the feds get done taking their pounds of flesh.......... and then coming back and saying ooops we didn't take enough you owe even more. That just don't leave a lot of meat on the bone for me.

    So last Friday I decide to go back to Markets and make a post of the FB business page that I will be returning and what I will have. So around 11am, it was right after I made the Situational awarness post here. I Discovered my market trailer had a flat tire and my truck battery was dead. No big deal, I pulled the battery charger out and hooked it up and shot some air in the flat tire, a tire I should get patched because it has had a slow leak for about 3 years now :) I com back inside and am enjoying some AC when a pick up truck pulls in. No big deal and not uncommon since I have the on farm store, so I spend a few minutes putting my shoes on and fining my hat and get out the door to find two young men with catch poles trying to catch my dogs. (The dogs btw were also trying to catch them.) They got a noose around ones neck and I yelled WTF do you think your doing. Guess they didn't think anyone was here, and well there should not have been. They hauled ass to their truck, I back peddled to the door for the shotgun just inside as they were tearing out of the drive and hauling it out the back way. I had every intention of running them down in the truck and making them suffer but all I got was a grinding slow few turn overs and click click click from the battery :( I learned later dog thieves are a more than a little but of a epidemic around this region. Seems there are 3 types ones that steal dogs to use as bait dogs for the dog fighting rings. The ones that steal them to sell to two labs that buy dogs no questions asked. And Craigslist Dog Flippers. Since then I have heard over 100 stories of dogs missing from fenced back yards, dogs taken right out of folks houses and the locks just hammer out and door knobs broke off. And the same story that the cops tell them their dog just ran off and to check with the pound. I was told that my farm is a prime target because I have 2 great Pyrs and 5 pitbulls and since you are a bit of public figure around these parts your comings and goings are easy enough to track.

    Now the only way I can see that these folks could have known I was not going to be here at 11am Friday was by watching my FB business page. And it is no secret I have Pits and well giant white pyrs stand out like a sore thumb. Google Earth is easy enough to use to find the otherwise obscure back way into the farm and avoid coming down the county road with two other houses a mile up at the front of it.

    Bottom line is I put all the information out there for the wrong people to take advantage of. And my internal farm security has gotten LAX over the last few years. 2 years ago they would not have gotten out of the driveway, because a flip of a switch on the porch would have activated a hydraulic cylinder that popped a steel bar with steel spikes welded to up 10 feet from the end of the drive and shredded their tires. Sigh I didn't bother hooking it back up after moving into the new cabin. It is hooked back up now. I also did not hook up the motion sensor alarms on the field road that is the back way into the farm. Those are now active again. I did atleast keep my security cameras going and all we learned from that is the truck had a stolen plate on it from IN. I took gates and other security things out because they were a hassle for visiting customers. Customers tend to get pissed when they lean on a electrified gate :) Or turn a electricfied doorknob :)

    Now I am rethinking those things and just how much of a public figure I want to be locally or otherwise. I am actually thinking about just retiring and cutting all ties to the bulk of the outside world and just being a self sufficient farmstead with all of the old passive and active defenses in place. And dropping as far off the grid as one possibly can and still own land and vehicles. LOL Would be nice to be able to just completely cease to exist as I did for several years in my younger days but that just is not feasible for me now days. And I am going to kick myself in the back side for a long time for not hooking the driveway spike bar back up :(
     
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  2. 3M-TA3

    3M-TA3 Cold Wet Monkey

    Imagine just how much fun it will be when our economy eventually unravels. If I had the means to do as you are suggesting I would be there now. As it is my planned relocation next year will be to an area where the community is both strong and rural. There will still be a$$hats, but everybody will know who they are and where they live.
     
  3. T. Riley

    T. Riley Monkey+++

    At 67 I spend more and more time at my BOL alone, not seeing anyone for days and talking only to my wife by phone. I am sick of most people not related to me and all but a few who are. I do make occasional beer runs into town but that's about it. Learning how to be alone and not be lonely is one of the greatest accomplishments of life and it only comes when you are sure of and happy and content with who you are. A good days work, witnessed and praised by none, is still reward enough.
     
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  4. enloopious

    enloopious Rocket Surgeon

    Pirates. I'll say it again. The world is run by pirates and they are the ones who thrive.
     
  5. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    "...and all we learned from that is the truck had a stolen plate on it from IN."
    That right there says they were professionals and obviously have been doing it for a while since car thief is a felony. Pity about the gate though...but we live and learn, each and every day. I'm glad to hear that you and the pups are okay, that's what is important, so don't beat yourself up too much about it especially since it's over and done and you got a free lesson this time. What kind of a world is it that would steal a man's dog? I do wish you could have got one shot at them if for nothing more than to make them crap themselves...bastards. I cannot tolerate the thought of people making an animal fight like this. It sickens me. I would much prefer to make them go into the ring and watch them beat each other bloody and senseless - now that I would enjoy.
     
  6. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    I hate thieves.... Yea, that is hate speech!! :mad:
     
  7. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    Glad you saved the pups. We had some thieves a while back, persistant ones. I made some really big firecrackers out of flash-powder and some electric matches, made a switch out of plastic clothes pins with aluminum tape around the jaws, a slip of plastic with a trip wire to separate the circuit. Put the firecrackers in boxes of blue chalk dust. Day or two later, got a call from the alarm company that one of my motion detectors had gone off and wanted to know if they should call the police. I was off-shore and couldn't get in so I told them to call the cops then I thought about giving a whole new meaning to "Boys in Blue" and the probable ramifications of that and sent a posse from my office to head off the constabulary and prevent some serious misunderstandings.
     
  8. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    We are in the middle of a drug epidemic here in New Hampshire and if your place is broken into, it is probably the young people next door, or the children or grandchildren of your family, friends or fellow church members. Really hard to catch them as they aren't strangers in the neighborhood and putting them in jail for years really creates hard feelings. I now lock everything, have motion detectors, and have some people that are not allowed on the place. They argue against long prison terms for drug users, but if they use they have to steal several hundred dollars per day and since they get 30 or 40 cents on the dollar, they have to steal a lot of things and sell something to raise the money. I have no idea what will happen if things get bad, but it doesn't look good.
     
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  9. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    And here I thought I was smarter than the average bear;)
    You are the only person I've seen mention having such a device. I got the idea from some embassy projects years back. The spike plate is spring loaded and released by an electric solenoid instead of your hydraulic type. They are made as a part of a cattle guard so it looks "normal" until a switch is thrown. I have also toyed with a steel post that is spring loaded, but its not finalized.
    Like you we find ourselves staying home more and more. We just don't want to deal with F-tards any more than is required. We have the place which keeps me busy and my gun building so I don't need or want anything else. Surrounded by family and that is good for the most part.
    Keep your eyes open for a AN/PSR1 Seismic detector. They are harder to find nowadays but well worth it. Once you get used to it you can tell a deer from a man pretty easily. Like Bandit99 said, don't beat yerself up too much. Just be thankful you have the pups and got the gut check free of charge.
    Good luck with the upgrades.
     
  10. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    Working cameras work wonders.
     
  11. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Oh, I like the idea of a SpikeStrip built in to what looks like a Cattle Guard, out at the Front Gate, of the Driveway... Fleeing BadGuys tear A$$ out the driveway, and you flip the switch, and "WHAP" four Flat Tires, that happened while still on your Property, but they end up out on the County Road, for the Sheriff to come collect... Impressive...
     
  12. BlueDuck

    BlueDuck Monkey+++

    Or maybe just a rifle and a backhoe....
     
  13. Merkun

    Merkun furious dreamer

    BT you are old enough to remember those saw tooth gizmos that EVERY drive-in had at the exit gate. No problem going out, but big trouble if you tried to drive in that way. IIRC they had retractors in them, so if needed the exit could be opened for emergency access. Might be commercially available, dunno, but in winter they may not be so useful.
     
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  14. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    They are.
    Tire Barrier, Tire Barrier Suppliers and Manufacturers at Alibaba.com
     
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  15. Seepalaces

    Seepalaces Monkey+++

    That's my vote. Is it illegal for me to offer to pay people to shoot these idiots? Even the idea of stealing someone's dog makes me so angry I'm shaking. That's kidnapping in my book.
     
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  16. 3M-TA3

    3M-TA3 Cold Wet Monkey

    The spring loaded tire barrier is intriguing. My first thought was rotational, so you could use garage door springs and a ratchet mechanism to reset, but an effective barrier may not be able to clear the guard rails. A vertical system would be harder to guide and easier to jam, and likely difficult to reset - maybe use a tire jack to compress. I'm curious about the system @Tully Mars uses.

    Most of the places Mrs. 3M and I are looking at would have cattle guards or be places where you would expect to see them.
     
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  17. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    Kidnapping pets for ransom down in Trinidad, is quite popular.
     
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  18. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    The plate that the teeth are welded to is 1/2" thick and runs the length of the cattle guard. The spacing of the bars of the guard is slightly wider where the teeth come through. The base plate has 3 sections equally spaced of 2" square tubing that run inside 2 1/2" square tubing for guides. Springs were the over load springs from the outside of some old Monroematic truck shocks. I think that was the brand. Base plate is retracted using a small hand crank boat winch. Once cranked down (retracted) the lever is set then the winch is released. Tripping the lever by solenoid releases the base plate which then slams into the bottom of the cattle guard locking into notches and the teeth stick up enough to trash any car/truck tire.
     
  19. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    My spike strip is activated by a actuator off of a trashed New Holland baler I picked up for parts. It goes up fast flipping the switch up, retracts slower flipping the switch all the way down and disengages in center position. The actuator Cylinder is electric hydraulic. And will work on straight 12V or watered down 120. It is fully functional again :)

    Have a dozen Nam era seismic sensors on the obvious trails through the woods and other easy entry points to the property ;) They work great for detecting escaped hogs, trespassers and knowing which trails are most used by the deer.

    Steal my dogs and you steal my family, I take that rather seriously.
     
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