TOTM October 2016- Make this the perfect Bugout Location

One of my thoughts involving security is that you can't defend much on your own, so unless you can fly completely under the radar and are good with little or no human interaction you need to include others in your plan. I've been thinking lately that it would be a good idea to provision space and resources to support other like minded people you can fully trust. If SHTF happens and they need to bug out they know where to go. It's important that anyone you include this way is smart enough to not talk about it to others and to keep numbers small enough that it doesn't get too complicated.

If the land has good outdoor recreation potential (which it should) - hunting, fishing, etc., set up some RV spots with hookups for water, power, and sewer. Your select friends and family could visit during the summer and can help you with improvements when they aren't fishing, etc., so its not all work and no play. I know a few combat veterans from middle aged on up I trust with my life who would fit nicely and am planning along these lines when I make my next move.

 

I'm actually really digging the OP's first Home site! That place has just about every thing needed for a really good spot! Nice and secure with really only the road for access, lots of usable land for growing, good coverage, and a awesome view! Site security is very good, and can be improved even more. The Bolder fields are actually a bonus, and the terraced area behind the cabin would be the area to use for gardening with a little Cat work. Add in a nice barn and outbuildings for food and supply storage, a few free range head of Beef and you have the makings of a really awesome site! The cabin needs lots of work, but has many upsides to it as well. All in all, II see a lot of really good potential with this site and I think with the OP budget, could be a really awesome set up for a very long time post SHTF! 3M points out some good points, an area this remote would need more then one or three people to "manage" and adding in some trusted family/friends would make things that much better! I see a lot of room for this, and I also see a lot of room for growth just downsloap from the home site! Me thinks the OP should buy this site and make it awesome!!!

 

I am intrigued by this site also. It is not perfect but it has potential. I was hoping with this "exercise" more information would be shared. When looking for the perfect BOL or place to put down roots and say this is my homestead, my place where I will ride out the collapse etc.. one needs to really look and examine. When looking for a house/place to serve as a secure place, it requires IMO more thought then buying a normal house in suburbia. One has to look at what the area provides for food production, harvesting plus water, energy then security. The list is huge. I have read so often move away from people, out of urban areas or out of the path where people will migrate when cities start collapsing but those areas out of the path of the masses, are work to get them livable.

I have learned a few extra things just from the conversation above of what to look for, actually how to look at a place when considering it for the perfect BOL. I take the chore of looking for my forever home very seriously and do not want to miss an essential need.

 

Something I want to share that is very pertinent here. Know thy Neighbors!!! With a BOL/Perm residence, Who you know in your AO will pay off bigtime down the road! Make friends with your Local Sheriff and Deputies, your Local Fire/Ems, your local Counsel members, hell, even the dog catcher! Every one you can get on your side, and get involved in your "Plan" is an asset when things go south, Which We all know WILL! By investing IN your Community, and Investing them IN YOU, It's a win/win for all! In this, You have resources available that you might have to fight for otherwise, And you establish your self as a positive member of your comunity that folks will respect and know they can turn to! Have a positive attitude in your new AO, and try not to sound like one of them "preppers" that people roll there eyes at and mentally mark you as a threat! Looney gets you noticed in a bad way! Seriously, I'm getting excited about this "project" and Know ONE ( or a few) member's here that this site might be perfect for! Hint, Hint!!!

 

@Ura-Ki good point. This weekend they have a meet and greet with the local sheriff's department. Since the killing of the police down South some local ladies have been bringing food and notes to the local department, letting them know our appreciation. The sheriff's have suggested an open house so we can talk about area issues and just shake hands. I wasn't going to go but after reading your post I thought, why not.

 

Being a rabbit owner I know they can amend your soil issues if you can get them enough chow; they are fertilizer machines. You can use the pellets immediately. For your greenhouse I'd consider a wallipini type unit rather than a traditional greenhouse and attach it to the house for better fuel efficiency in the winter. That pine though....doesn't make good firewood.

 

Echoing yard dart on the metal roof. We installed corrugated metal roof on our family home in Indiana, and has stood up to the elements (tornado) , sounds cool when it rains too!

 

I would replace the roof with metal and a rain collecting system, put in as much solar as possible both heat and electric, put in composting toilets, get a good well with a wind mill, greenhouse and set up high tunnels with Mittleider gardening supplies for a few years, and make as good of contacts with the people in the area as I could. The whole limit in that environment is water, if you have it the place is usable, if you don't, you will survive as long as your stored good last. With excellent stoves, or Russian stoves, you can heat with soft woods and the ability to super insulate, develop solar, etc, both heating and cooking are possible. Small animals are possible, but the land area required and the security needed to protect them would make large animals a challenge and would make some irrigation, using pumped or streams for water, necessary for winter feed. Moving them to a lower elevation for the winter would be difficult at best.

 

The listing on the Wickenburg property doesn't do much for me. It's located too close to town, scrub desert no natural shade, and Wickenburg gets bloody hot in the summer.

It appeared to have an asphalt shingle roof. Lots of Arizona houses have them, and lots of Arizona houses need roof replacement every ten or fifteen years because the sun eats asphalt shingles for breakfast. Metal roof, it's the only answer.

Rainwater harvesting is a good idea in places where it rains. For the lower elevations in Arizona - waste of money.

The yield of the well would be an interesting side note that should have been included in the listing, instead of all those dreamy descriptions of sunsets and nature coming to you. But I guess they're really selling to city people. The solar power is overkill if it's even stated correctly.

The construction looks like stucco over wood frame. THat's prevalent these days, and everyone I know who owns houses so constructed has had problems with the stucco cracking off.

If I inherited it, I'd sell it and use the money to move in to the property right next to @BTPost . (Let's see if that gets a rise out of him)

 

Metal roof for sure, and that kitchen will need a lot more cabinet and countertop area to make it a viable food preservation area, plus a huge pantry.

I'd bore into the southern facing hillside behind the existing house for more living quarters and a greenhouse, then use the house as a work area and storage.

Too high in elevation for me, and I'm through struggling with poor soil, so, no interest from me on settling there unless it was a logistical necessity.

 

To the left of the property there are many rocks and a natural drainage area. Since it is South facing, the snow will melt fast. I really do not know much about building ponds or catchment areas but there has to be something you could build that would gather the snow as it melts. I know people have suggested that the best BOL or BIL is near a river or lake but with rivers, I always wonder what is up-stream. I would be concerned if I lived next to a river that the people up-stream maybe dumping waste and stuff in the water. If you catch your own, at least you know what is in it.

I do like @Dunerunner's suggestion of the underground greenhouse. I think that makes the most sense because the greenhouse part would keep the moisture in and at that elevation it is a hard thing to do. I have learned that a couple inches of mulch is the only way plants really thrive in Colorado.

 

I think I would sell the property to a "prepper family" because its indefensible. Too many windows and made out of wood making it easy to burn down. I would use the funds from the sale to create a semi-underground secure home hidden on the other side of the hill. Rather than a greenhouse, I would practice stealth gardening to avoid attracting crop thieves.

As long as there's a road people will find you and that's what makes this place a target. Yes, its idyllic and very attractive...just not practical. As far as trusting your neighbors...yeah, that works in peace time, but let one of them be threatened or compromised and they will quickly remember the "guy in the beautiful house with all the preps and the great greenhouse." and flip on you to save their own skin or that of their family.

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."
– Sun Tzu, the Art of War

 

Let's say your heart is dead set on obtaining that piece of property but it has no well..
Here's a slick video that shows a DIY Mud Pump Water Well Drilling Setup utilizing a Portable Mud pit. A typical mud pump will put out 100 gallons per minute whereas two hoses are only good for about 12 to 15 gallons per minute. A mud pump allows you to employ a re-circulating system so you can use bentonite or other gelling material that will solidify the sandy, crumbly walls of your borehole long enough you can drill without worrying about your hole collapsing on your drill pipe



Every State has a version of "Well Logs". The logs are actual applications and results for private wells dug throughout the State. Here is a link to the Missouri DNR and is broken down by county. Clicking on a county link brings up a map showing wells within the county and clicking further gives the information such as well depth, stratum encountered and gpm produced. This may help in deciding if digging a well is worthwhile.
http://dnr.mo.gov/geology/wrc/logmain/?/env/wrc/logmain/

 

Seems to me that 8,000' ASL is a major concern. What will the weather be like there most of the year? Every thousand feet above sea level is a 4.4 degree F decrease in temperature; if it's 90 degrees during the summer at sea level it will be 58 degrees at this altitude. If it's 30 degrees at sea level it will be below 0 F. That is COLD. IMO the colder temps are a disqualified for a permanent bug-out location.

 

Since is is Colorado, what would be 90 a mile high, would be about 75 but sunny and dry.

I was at an Estate sale this weekend. I took a good look at the stuff for sale then looked at the home. I picked up a book on Animal scat & track identification and the Special Forces survival guide. Some of the other stuff made me think the former owners were "prepared". I then really looked at the property. The house was on natural gas with a fire place but I also saw a 500 gallon propane tank. The south facing part of the house was two stories of windows, great for growing. There were two different barns, one had a few small solar panels on the roof and both barns had fenced in areas with 5-6 foot fence. Really nice animal/fowl areas. I spoke to the realtor found out the house had a well and septic though location, it should have been on city services. It was a great house, would make a perfect homestead but really close to a major interstate. Close enough that it would not be secure if SHTF.

 

How close is "really close"? If SHTF, most major metro area interstates will become parking lots...and people still using them to get home or migrate don't tend to fan out from the interstates, they tend to follow them. If the place is a mile or more away you might be fine...depending on the specific location and all the unknown variables of course.

 

It is a couple of miles off of I-70 but it is directly on a frontage road that is used when I-70 gets tangled. Your comment on the interstate becoming a parking lot makes me thing even more that this place, though amazing would see high traffic.