Some thoughts about defending your retreat

I'm starting to put gabions around the cabin at my retreat. Plenty of rock available on site, so I usually invite a group of female friends, hand out the gloves and wine, and set them to collecting rock and filling the gabions. They love it.

 

Continuous rock like that around the footings might work well as a french drain if you have a low spot you can run a drain to.

 

I’ve asked some questions, but the overall point is the fact no location (save our imaginary island in the middle of the ocean) is completely out of the way and can be discovered despite our best efforts. So the myth of a particular location being safer than others is not necessarily true.

Do you really believe this or did you misspeak? You honestly believe one location cant be safer than another? Thats what your last sentence says there. Just because someone can find your location doesnt make it less safe. Many wars have been fought over the years where one party knew where the other party was and yet still lost because the place the second party was at was safe. Think castles, caves, entire countries, etc. Just because you know where someone is doesnt make them less safe.

 

A neighbor says his brother and a group of neighbors blocked their neighborhood off when Antifa was out/about. Used their trucks as road blocks and if you couldn't prove you lived in the neighborhood, you didn't get in. Everyone was visibly armed and they had no issues. Other neighborhoods didn't do that and had trouble.

Where I live is near a major metropolitan area. The thugs there did $1B dollars of damage last summer when George Floyd was killed. Unfortunately, some of those same citizens occasionally show up in my small town, to rob the stores and gas stations that have easy freeway access. One young thug carjacked a car at 9am on a Monday at a local hardware store. Unfortunately, the highway patrol lost the guy as it was snowing at the time.

 

Even in wine country, our mailboxes (central pod) get routinely robed destroyed, or yanked out of the ground concrete pad and all.
Nowhere is immune?
I have to be vigilant here, from time to time we get people snooping through the yard late at night even the odor of cigarette smoke comes through an open window. motion sensor lights and cameras don't seem to bother these people.

 

We had a pretty good snow in Texas a while back. The few prowlers about left nice little trails to and from their houses.
Now I know who the main trouble makers are, and one was a big surprise to me. He tried to enter the old ladies house next door, and then tried to get into one of my trucks then went straight home. I am glad they were so stupid about it.

Learned a lot of good Info on this thread.

 

Cameras and automatic flood lights can sometimes make them just walk away....

 

the Midnite Raiders are having a shit fit about all the Ring cameras popping up in those $$$ lucrative subdivisions >> if you can find a home without one - the other nearby homes have one and there's video up the ying yang ...

lights do help - twilight to dawn and motion detecting - mix them up - cover the whole fricking property >> dark is THEIR friend

 

I have Ring and other cams around the house, but no motion lights, mine are manual. The deer would keep them on most of the night.

jim

 

As my uncle says, "A gun for every direction". He also fortified his home with well placed boulders. The reality is if you guard something, someone will eventually come and try to take it. Let's just hope it's only your kids.

 

While it is true that taking precautions to protect your personal data and online accounts is important, it is also important to note that taking extreme measures, such as fortifying your home with boulders or carrying a gun in every direction, may not always be practical or necessary.

It is possible to take reasonable and effective steps to safeguard your online presence without resorting to extreme measures. For example, as I mentioned earlier, using strong and unique passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and being cautious of suspicious messages or links can go a long way in preventing unauthorized access to your accounts.

Additionally, keeping your software and apps up-to-date with the latest security patches can help address any known vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers or malicious actors. Practicing good digital hygiene, such as avoiding public Wi-Fi networks and regularly reviewing your account activity and permissions, can also help mitigate the risk of online attacks.

Ultimately, the key is to strike a balance between protecting your personal data and online accounts while also maintaining a reasonable level of convenience and accessibility.

 

Sgt E5 or higher in combat arms, preferably recon, infantry, cav, or spec ops if available. Combat experience would be nice.
Lotsa phonies out there so beware.
Jim

 

I once accepted the lore that said far away and off the grid, I even tried it, on 100 acres tucked up behind 5 other properties, you could hardly see the track in. But the locals knew about the property, and it was the deadhead locals that came on to it time and time again to steal cut fence posts, solar panels, anything that took their fancy. And this in the good times! That's the thing, you move into 'their' area, you, an outsider, someone they don't know or trust. There are just as many criminals out there as in the city I recon. I wish I had been a member here when I had that property, I could have documented it all.

I sold and moved to a small town of 1000, but in a food producing region. I bought a nice house in a nice dead-end street where lots of other city folk had come to live. No crime here, everyone is watching everyone, all the neighbors are on good terms, regular chat sessions across the fence and on the street. Plus a police station 3 minutes away, a small supermarket, hardware, even a small hospital. I feel a lot more secure here than before and have no concerns even if the hypothetical 'collapse into mad max' was to occur. And it is hypothetical and highly unlikely given the massive government control over everything today. But those who wish to bog their lives down in the fear of what may never come will continue to bury themselves 100 miles up in the hills regardless. Big fat targets for any unscrupulous local band. Been there, done that.

 

Been there, I purchased a 60-acre farm from my Grandfather's estate. It was 25 miles from my house, but like you said, "you move into their area, you, an outsider, someone they don't know or trust" and yes, "there are just as many criminals out there as in the city"! You will never be a part of the community, since these people are related or have grown up together and have a history. They went to the same churches and schools, played on the same sports teams, hunted and fished together, and you didn't. The only way that I could leave a piece of farm equipment down there was to park it at a neighbor's house. I finally sold it and used the money to purchase 3.5 acres of land adjacent to me that included a large metal barn, large equipment shed, and house trailer. In the 20 years that I have had the property I have been able to rent the equipment shed and house trailer for added income. One of my better deals!

 

Still legal here

 

So you lived the typical 'dream' too. I've heard of whole sheds being stolen off the pad before they could be erected, A/C units pulled out of walls and carted off lol. But this business of defending your retreat is really a case of WWII in the Pacific. We invade their territory and then have to set up defensive perimeters to maintain control. It's all dependent on the size of properties, the region, how many, etc etc. I worked out how to buy into a decent rural town (most are not), that equation wasn't too difficult, but a remote property? Too many hidden variables in that one I would think. I suppose I'd begin with a search on the demographics of the region, then a search on crime activity through police websites and census websites. Then I'd go out to the nearest town and wander around on various days, seeing who came and went, the supermarket would be a good start. You can tell a lot just by looking. Seeing what sort of people frequent the liquor stores and hotels would be another thing I'd probably check. These are the people who will be living out beside you in no-man's land.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as they say.

 

Dad was a part of a troop taking back the Aleutian Islands (battle of Atto and Kiska), the Japanese had dug tunnels deep in the ground and the Army simply burned them out.
I have thought about it for years how I might use the idea of tunneling, it is simple but more expensive than I can afford.

 

Yeah, it was going to be my BOL or doomstead, but I decided to Bug-in at my present location rather than Bug-out.

 

Imagine living you're dad's life, bloody hell! It would certainly change you're outlook on life wouldn't it. Imagine spending a year incinerating people with gasoline then coming home to a nasty neighbor, I can only imagine what would be going through his head lol.