Fortitude Ranch Survive a Collapse | Survival Community | Fortitude Ranch They're a resort / SHTF group, actually more like a business whose themes are providing a resort type of experience for their members. Once SHTF presents itself, they morph into survival camp. The CEO says he likes to have a minimum of 50 people in order to provide an effective defense against marauders. They began in West Virginia, but are expanding via franchises. They now have locations in Colorado, Wisconsin and Nevada, maybe a few others as well. Anyway, I saw an interview with the CEO on Laura Ingram's show last week, so I looked them up. Emailed and explained that I had remote property, but maybe wanted to look into them as a "Plan B" place to go if my "Plan A" isn't viable for some reason. They e-mailed back and asked if I wanted to become their newest franchise, since they had no locations in my state. Suffice it to say I have reservations, and I don't want to list those here until after I get some Monkey input. What do you think?
If your Plan A becomes their latest franchise, you won't necessarily have a Plan A anymore. You'll be other people's Plan A, or Plan B. The idea of SHTF Plan A is to avoid the S. Not to allegedly make money until things do HTF, and then what good is that money you made as a franchisee?
Depends on what they plan on building if it’s sound it may be worth it because when it comes it’s going to come fast and the people that plan on being there may not make it and you will have it all to yourself
Further, more detailed information: Part1 Fortitude Ranch to Franchise End-of-the-World Survival Compounds Part2 A Visit to Fortitude Ranch, First Franchise for End-of-the-World Survival Seems like a Doomsday (Theme) Park where folks can vacation, (for an annual fee) and can retreat to (by paying an annual insurance premium quarterly) in the event of a societal collapse to be eligible to claim on their zombie apocalypse insurance. I'd be looking carefully at the legals before buying into that franchise. It makes me think of the E. G. Ballard's novel 'High Rise', though set in what is essentially a middle class rural survival retreat trailer park. I have a feeling that things might get a little sporty for the Franchise owner when SHTF and a whole bunch of people descend upon the refuge. Will it work like a HOA ? Or will the Franchise owner just lift the draw bridge and exclude the formerly fee payers whom he/she/they don't think will be a good 'fit' in their survival group? It also reminds me of a scene in the Niven / Pournelle novel, 'Lucifer's Hammer'. Book Review: Lucifer's Hammer , by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
It a good plan for people with like tech support skills (not actually taking apart shit and fixing it), HR department background, English degrees, master of business and management, forklift drivers, typical single moms, show biz types, artists, musicians, bar tenders. The work distribution will look like something like this if you have a useful skill and go to one of these places: You're the horse.
Suffers from the normalcy bias and under normal conditions, it is effective. A safe place to hide out for a few weeks or months is an effective plan if it is a semi SHTF event. Ice storm, hurricane, flood, snow storm, forest fire, etc. It assumes that outside help and resources will be available after some period of time and if you can just hold out, in comfort in possible, ever thing will return to normal. Until the real SHTF occurs, it is a good system and perhaps even a good insurance plan. If however, everything falls apart and the 10 % who survive are living in at best a 1820's lifestyle, think Sturbridge Village in Ma., then it is a total failure. Old Sturbridge Village It does not seem to supply the needed long term materials to transition to a simpler life, nor to supply the needed serfs to furnish the desired lifestyle if they wish to continue their life of comfort.
I read their information, it looks promising from a business perspective if you are going to be a franchise owner. As a member, you would have to take the bad with the good and weigh the pros and cons, I guess. There's no vetting system, so any average, run of the mill sociopath can buy in. Apart from some of the obvious detractors like members not really having any useful skills to possible Fed infiltration and so on, it's still got a lot going for it, at least from a franchise business point of view. I personally like it, despite the downsides. Factor in the real risks associated with not having a survival community at all and being alone versus a chance at surviving within a community. If all else fails, have a real plan 'B' and just sell your membership or as a franchise owner, maintain it as a healthy business where you earn money using it as a resort.
there was a guy just recently trying to sell his membership on another prepper site - I didn't even think the biz had survived - came busting out with alllll kind of advertising about 5 years ago - haven't seen anything in years before this latest little bout of mentioning .....
Life is not fair and not without sacrifice. Get used to it. It's like working for some company for which you are under paid and under appreciated, and you can't leave due to being the family business, and entertaining the idea working some where else will be better.
Read through it, kinda makes my spidey sense tingle. $1k per year per person is awfully cheap to maintain such a facility without a huge number of members which in a SHTF situation would quickly overwhelm the resources. The math just isn't adding up for me.
My problems with using my remote property as the franchise are a few.... 1. Water is limited. It's in the mountains on the edge of the Mohave desert. I have two wells that together can produce 1.5 gal / minute, and only one has a pump right now. There are properties nearby that have much higher flow wells, up to 60 gal / minute, but they're 2-3 miles away and they're not mine. More wells could be drilled, but the local well driller says there's just not that much water in my neck of the woods. Limited flow wells are plenty for just me and my two cats. 2. Sewage - I have a septic designed for a 3 BR 2 BA house. Fifty people flushing toilets into that, assuming adequate water, would be a disaster. If alternates are used, where will all that sewage go? Composting toilets? Well...maybe. 3. The CEO states that in the event of SHTF, they're poaching, shooting every scrap of game they can for food. I happen to know the local rancher who raises cattle in the area. I could not assume they wouldn't take advantage of that situation as well. If that happened, and I couldn't stop it, I'd be responsible for bringing that down on his head. 4. Other people live within a couple of miles. They're my friends some for almost 20 years. Should supplies run low, maybe because the business was trying to save money, what would stop them from raiding? Same thing if some of the people are unhappy with their living accommodations. Would they be ousting or doing worse to them in order to take their living quarters? 5. As @cpaspr has noted, and I thought of this too, Plan A is up in smoke unless I get another remote property and develop it. These days a lot of people are scrambling for remote property and all for the same reasons. 6. @oil pan 4 has a good point as well as @Tempstar. 7. The CEO states that in the event of SHTF, people are going to be busy for about the first month building barricades. After that there won't be too much of a work load, other than guard duty. Fifty people minimum, bored...then trouble...Might have to shoot a couple to maintain order. So, I don't think the franchise is for me, and it takes something of a business head, which I don't have.. But, would others here, who do not have my limited resources and business acumen be interested? (And no, I'm not working for those guys trying to sell franchises for them. Just asking.)
You know what maybe I should start one of these places. I got land, a well that will pump 100gpm. Pour some pads put campers or RVs on them, charge really cheap rent and the catch is when the S hits the F you have so long to show up or some how make contact with me or I assume you're dead and your stuff gets reallocated, which means I keep it. There will be plenty of farming, ranching to do if you want food. I wouldn't bet on hunting and fishing unless you're way off the beaten path.
I think almost everyone out there grossly underestimates the level of work required to create new garden areas and to work those garden areas. Rich garden soil doesn't appear overnight. It takes years of soil improvement just to turn untreated pasture to good production. Well, unless you have the dough to ship it in. I don't.
