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Per 1admin's post, we'll start a section by section breakdown of each "prepper" covered. This is NOT a "bashfest" but rather a way to look at what they have done, what could have been done differently and some suggestions for them. Just like several of the Gracie brothers do a breakdown of what happened in all the major UFC fights, we will look at each individual section of the show separately and see if we can all REALLY learn something from each one.
First show first couple shown were the couple in Texas with the container fort IIRC- we'll refer back to these folks as Version 1.1 (first show first ones shown) for easy reference.
They are in Texas, preparing for a "polar shift" that will cause "massive earthquakes" and a realigning of temperate areas (part of their response to why they are preparing).
Breakdown-
They looked decent overall on food storage. Biggest things were the "no brainers" like they claim to be concerned about massive earthquakes yet a good portion of their food is in GLASS containers on shelves that have no strapping, lips or otherwise anything to stop them sliding off and crashing to the floor.
Water- I don't know if I missed it, but WHERE did their water come from? Did they have multiple sources? I'm not uber familiar with all of Texas but the places I've been in TX are relatively DRY. I would NOT relay solely on rain catchment from the containers either.
Standing water on the land? Might be worth developing a couple of ponds.
Food- Overall a B+ on this IMO. More thought needs to be given to long term packaging instead of glass containers. Obviously if one was concerned about "polar shifts" that cause "massive earthquakes" one would rule out glass- or so you'd think.
Security- since aesthetics of the retreat seem to not be a concern, more should be put into beefing up the security of the site. Hardening the containers should come first. Sealand containers might stop a .22 shot at the toughest part of the metal- corners, but they won't do much more than that. Again, speaking from experience not something I read on the net from some clown that hasn't done anything... Due to the size limitations of the containers - 8 foot wide- I would advise some outside hardening to conserve space inside the container. Pouring a footer around the perimeter of the container kabooblelation and laying block up to a height of 4 feet then filling the cells with rebar and grout mix would add a considerable amount of ballistic protection to the bottom 4'. Why not higher? They could, but they might as well build a conventional structure if they are going to go that far. This would be a reasonable compromise and would allow movement within the containers under fire. The main couple weren't spring chickens and 4 feet of height would allow some movement that was just bent over versus a crawl on hands and knees approach. This 4 foot wall could be stucco'ed on the outside and made to look like something decorative. It should be placed just outside the outer edge of the container kabooblelation- this would lessen the chance of someone else using it as cover to sneak in and/or attack the retreat.
Some further weapons training would be advisable. The two mil looking guys featured as part of their group seemed a little more up on "modern technique" type shooting but the main couple did not. The elevated viewing locations should be reinforced with sandbags as a minimum. Directly underneath the roof of the container below would need to be reinforced with 4x4's and possibly a 2X10 header under that area.
The container flooring would lend itself easily to a removable floor section to a tunnel out. 3 foot culvert could be used for tunneling.
Housing/living-
If you think Texas is going to end up being like the Arctic after TSHTF, I would certainly put more into insulation the container kabobble. The methane to heat with will probably only go so far. Yes, wood has issues but PROPERLY SEASONED- i.e, at least a full year under cover it will give off almost no smoke. I would definitely have multiple ways to warm the kabobblelation including passive solar. A Solarsheet style passive solar heater would be a good option since they are concerned about wood smoke.
As an aside- PROPERLY SEASONED firewood produces almost no smoke and little smell. I would advise them to lay in a few years worth of wood. As a compromise to the "woodsmoke will draw in people" thing, understand that their would likely be a large die off in that scenario within a year or so. Thus, after a while, the security issue re: the woodsmoke would be much less of an issue.
Kudos on making the containers work. I'm familiar with containers, just have never used one for HOUSING.
Aesethetics obviously aren't a concern, however the place stands out like a very sore homemade thumb. Anyone coming by or remotely near knows of this place if for no other reason than it's odd and people REMEMBER ODDITY. Course being on TV doesn't help either :)
I would have liked to see more on the methane digester, how much does it actually produce, etc. Kudos for that.
Transport/bug out-
When buses do fail, they seem to fail HARD. No ballistic protection in them at all, yet 4 or 5 dozen sandbags kept in the buses to reinforce key areas would be helpful. Some subterfuge/psy ops might prove worthwhile- make the buses look like prison buses, black out the windows, vinyl decals that state prison bus, etc. Think about it, would the average looter jump a PRISON BUS? This whole ruse played out fully could possibly help them through checkpoints, etc. Course they would have to have the bulk of their supplies hidden or more importantly pre-positioned.
I'm unable to watch this show again due to the lack of cable/regular TV and since it's not out on the net yet, this will be all I can comment on at this juncture. If I remember more, I'll update the post.
Chime in folks.
Lowdown3
Robert Henry
First show first couple shown were the couple in Texas with the container fort IIRC- we'll refer back to these folks as Version 1.1 (first show first ones shown) for easy reference.
They are in Texas, preparing for a "polar shift" that will cause "massive earthquakes" and a realigning of temperate areas (part of their response to why they are preparing).
Breakdown-
They looked decent overall on food storage. Biggest things were the "no brainers" like they claim to be concerned about massive earthquakes yet a good portion of their food is in GLASS containers on shelves that have no strapping, lips or otherwise anything to stop them sliding off and crashing to the floor.
Water- I don't know if I missed it, but WHERE did their water come from? Did they have multiple sources? I'm not uber familiar with all of Texas but the places I've been in TX are relatively DRY. I would NOT relay solely on rain catchment from the containers either.
Standing water on the land? Might be worth developing a couple of ponds.
Food- Overall a B+ on this IMO. More thought needs to be given to long term packaging instead of glass containers. Obviously if one was concerned about "polar shifts" that cause "massive earthquakes" one would rule out glass- or so you'd think.
Security- since aesthetics of the retreat seem to not be a concern, more should be put into beefing up the security of the site. Hardening the containers should come first. Sealand containers might stop a .22 shot at the toughest part of the metal- corners, but they won't do much more than that. Again, speaking from experience not something I read on the net from some clown that hasn't done anything... Due to the size limitations of the containers - 8 foot wide- I would advise some outside hardening to conserve space inside the container. Pouring a footer around the perimeter of the container kabooblelation and laying block up to a height of 4 feet then filling the cells with rebar and grout mix would add a considerable amount of ballistic protection to the bottom 4'. Why not higher? They could, but they might as well build a conventional structure if they are going to go that far. This would be a reasonable compromise and would allow movement within the containers under fire. The main couple weren't spring chickens and 4 feet of height would allow some movement that was just bent over versus a crawl on hands and knees approach. This 4 foot wall could be stucco'ed on the outside and made to look like something decorative. It should be placed just outside the outer edge of the container kabooblelation- this would lessen the chance of someone else using it as cover to sneak in and/or attack the retreat.
Some further weapons training would be advisable. The two mil looking guys featured as part of their group seemed a little more up on "modern technique" type shooting but the main couple did not. The elevated viewing locations should be reinforced with sandbags as a minimum. Directly underneath the roof of the container below would need to be reinforced with 4x4's and possibly a 2X10 header under that area.
The container flooring would lend itself easily to a removable floor section to a tunnel out. 3 foot culvert could be used for tunneling.
Housing/living-
If you think Texas is going to end up being like the Arctic after TSHTF, I would certainly put more into insulation the container kabobble. The methane to heat with will probably only go so far. Yes, wood has issues but PROPERLY SEASONED- i.e, at least a full year under cover it will give off almost no smoke. I would definitely have multiple ways to warm the kabobblelation including passive solar. A Solarsheet style passive solar heater would be a good option since they are concerned about wood smoke.
As an aside- PROPERLY SEASONED firewood produces almost no smoke and little smell. I would advise them to lay in a few years worth of wood. As a compromise to the "woodsmoke will draw in people" thing, understand that their would likely be a large die off in that scenario within a year or so. Thus, after a while, the security issue re: the woodsmoke would be much less of an issue.
Kudos on making the containers work. I'm familiar with containers, just have never used one for HOUSING.
Aesethetics obviously aren't a concern, however the place stands out like a very sore homemade thumb. Anyone coming by or remotely near knows of this place if for no other reason than it's odd and people REMEMBER ODDITY. Course being on TV doesn't help either :)
I would have liked to see more on the methane digester, how much does it actually produce, etc. Kudos for that.
Transport/bug out-
When buses do fail, they seem to fail HARD. No ballistic protection in them at all, yet 4 or 5 dozen sandbags kept in the buses to reinforce key areas would be helpful. Some subterfuge/psy ops might prove worthwhile- make the buses look like prison buses, black out the windows, vinyl decals that state prison bus, etc. Think about it, would the average looter jump a PRISON BUS? This whole ruse played out fully could possibly help them through checkpoints, etc. Course they would have to have the bulk of their supplies hidden or more importantly pre-positioned.
I'm unable to watch this show again due to the lack of cable/regular TV and since it's not out on the net yet, this will be all I can comment on at this juncture. If I remember more, I'll update the post.
Chime in folks.
Lowdown3
Robert Henry
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