Welcome Preppers and Survivalists,
Update
I had a chance to see one of my brothers, face to face, recently. I missed another brother by a few hours because he had a pressing engagement; that I wasn’t invited to ; – (
My family and I are doing fine. One of our sons recently graduated from a technical school. he received training as a Pharmacist’s Tech and will be starting an internship in a few days.
A friend from work recently had an interview for a supervisory position within the company we work for. I wish him luck.
Journal
My brothers and I have been talking about a post-collapse society and housing.
Spartan believes that a ‘plantation’ style of living, like “World made by Hand,” will insure that he and his family have enough to eat and security from bandits. he thinks that folks will be willing to voluntarily work and live on a ‘plantation’ to insure their survival. plus, he feels that most folks are willing to let others make decisions for them if they are relatively secure and well-fed.
He liked Mark Turner’s boss’ compound mentioned in “Lights Out” by Halffast. (Chapters 1-10, 11-20, complete?) he thinks individual cabins with security patrols and checkpoints will be enough security during a collapse.
Note: A similar example would be monasteries
Jumper believes that there will be no collapse, just ordinary disaster such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. he feels that housing should be built to withstand local disasters, such as concrete houses in hurricane and tornado country and properly built stick-frame houses in earthquake zones.
Scout and his family plan to move around using their travel trailer to move out of disaster areas, just like the ‘Okies’ during the great Depression. he already travels with the family, so they have potential primary, secondary, and tertiary camping sites already identified and scouted. the locations of these campgrounds are marked on a map with primary, secondary, and tertiary routes identified.
Me. I am a pessimist. I believe a variation of the western frontier stockade or small medieval castle will be needed to survive.
The walls of the stronghold will need to be over fifteen feet tall because three guys can climb a ten feet tall wall with a little teamwork. (two guys cup their hands the third guy puts his feet into their hands and the two guys lift the third guy to the top of the 10 feet tall wall) if you can’t get fifteen feet tall walls, ten feet tall would be the minimum, so folks will be able to walk around without bending over and worrying about being hit by a stray bullet.
The walls should be thick enough to stop a .50 caliber bullet. You can do this by building an inner and outer wall then fill in between the two walls with concrete, rocks or soil. You and your family can also use a variation of Hasco Bastions. Take some chain-link fence, form a square, put some cloth or cardboard (will degrade pretty fast) then fill with rocks. if you use big enough rocks, you won’t need any cloth to hold the rocks in.
Another, expensive solution, is to use concrete blast walls seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just like above, make an inner and outer wall then fill with dirt/broken concrete.
Another possibility would be using wooden logs as the two retaining walls for the fill of broken concrete, rocks, or soil. the logs will burn, so this is a temporary solution.
I believe, a typical family will be unable to afford or build this type of compound, so they will have to work together with other family members to build a ‘clan’ stronghold. I don’t mean the KKK clan; I mean a Scottish or Afghan clan.
I believe working within an extended family is important because family has a common bond.
Some folks would say that I have gone crazy suggesting the need to build a family ‘fort,’ but it has happened. look at South Africa and the experiences of their farmers.
More later.
Link:
Wikipedia – - Hesco Bastion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesco_bastion
Wikipedia – Bremer Wall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremer_wall
Subtopia - In the Business of Blast Walls
http://subtopia.blogspot.com/2008/04/in-business-of-blast-walls.html
Fortress Study Group – Three centuries of fortifications in South Africa 1652 to 1958.
http://www.fsgfort.com/DB/F034/04/Text.htm
Note: Scroll down to “The Fortified Farmhouses” about halfway
Atlas of Mutual Heritage – Ground plan of the Duynhoop Redoubt
http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/AMH/detail.aspx?page=dafb&lang=en&id=137
Note: Notice the shape of the ‘fort.’ Angled walls allow defenders to shoot along the wall.
Vatican Enterprises – Fortified Medieval Farmhouse
http://www.wargamescenics.com/Fortified_Medieval_Farm_House.html
Note: Even though this is a plastic model, it will give you an idea of a fortified farmhouse.
Related posts:
- Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness: Friday: 1 October 2010 (Update & Journal)
- Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness: Friday: 1 October 2010 (Update & Journal)
- Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness: Friday: 1 October 2010 (Update & Journal)
- Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness: Friday – Glenn Beck
- Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness: Building Shelves, Part 3
