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Realities of Planning for a Long term survival situation
copyright Robert Henry
"You think your tough, for eating beans everyday? There's a half million scarecrows in Denver that would give anything for one mouthful of what you have."
Lack of planning can really ruin a good time. You have tickets for a good show, this is the last time it's playing this year. You've waited a long time for the show. You are wearing the best clothes you have, your wife also. The kids are at Grandma's house for the night. It only takes you an hour to get there but you left 2 hours early just so you wouldn't miss the opening. Traveling down the freeway, your tire blows. Not a problem, this is why you left early. You get the bad tire off and the tire iron breaks (it's one of those cheap aftermarket one your wife bought when she couldn't find the other one). O.K. you got that covered also, you put the original back in the trunk when you found it. The tire is changed, your a wee bit dirty but that's o.k. you can clean up before the show. Two miles down the road your spare blows. What? Oh that's right, you bought the car used and you didn't inspect the spare. Seems the dirtbag that sold you the car left you with a dry rotted mess. You forgot your cell phone, so you can't call for a tow. You and your wife hitchhike 3 miles to a C-store and call a tow truck. Too bad, could have been a fun night out.
Wouldn't it be easy to say that in a survival situation. "Too bad, could have been a fun LIFE." That's right, your LIFE and the LIVES of your FAMILY rest upon your planning and decisions you make in your planning for future disasters. Just making a wrong choice in the purchase of a firearm that ends up jamming on you at the wrong moment could cause the death of all your family members. Can you start to see why planning is so important?
There comes a time when survival stops being looked at only as "fun" or a "hobby." Wake up call folks, your Family's lives are at stake! Your life and your freedom are at stake! Is it still a "hobby" now? Is it "play?" I hope not for your sake. Why play around with your Family's future?
It's time for some deep, introspective type thinking. Go lock yourself in a quiet room for half a day or so. Bring a fresh notepad and a couple of pens. Listen to some cl***ical music if you'd like (they say it stimulates creative thought).
Starting with the common "check lists" every survival author since time immemorial has put out, let's build on that and cover logistics at this juncture. Try to learn to think through the entire logistics "train."
For an example let's take something simple. Wood.
You need wood to keep warm in the winter, cook with and possibly heat water for showers, etc. What to you need to get wood?
Trees to start with. 10-15 acres of woods should produce 3-5 cords of firewood on an ongoing basis with proper management. How about chainsaws? The $69.95 Poulan from StuffMart is not going to last you too long. I'd recommend a Huskie or a Stihl. Then buy at least one more of the same model. Spare parts for the chainsaws- plugs, air filters, spindle thingees, brake, etc. 10 new chains per saw and 20 files of the correct size for each saw would be a good start. Fuel mix. Oil, I've used just about all types of oil for bar oil without any noticeable problems. Couple of bars. Gas. We figured on 5 gallons per year needed, but we were pretty liberal since we use less than a cord per year. That brings up a good point, better to have too much than too little. How are you going to split the wood? Axes, mauls, extra handles for each. Files for same. Bow saws. Log splitter (these rock)- fuel, oil, hydraulic fluid, fuel and air filter. I figure the gas I have in storage won't last more than 7 years at best, so after 7 years the axes and bowsaws will come into use more and we will probably seek out smaller trees to cut for firewood to accommodate the use of the bowsaws versus chainsaws. After 3-4 years the propane will run out and we will be cooking on the woodstove and outside more. I expect that the security concerns with cooking outside will be much less at the 4 year mark due to a marked decrease in the amount of population.
How are you going to get the wood from the forest to your retreat? Vehicle or ATV? Fuel and spare parts needed. Horse? Food, meds, shelter, etc. needed. Slaves? Food, shelter, medical, security needed.
Where are you going to store it? Close to the house? Good and bad there- the good is that you are exposed for less time going to get it. The bad is that wood burns and I personally would rather have combustibles away from the house. Basement? Possibility. Re-stocking at night? Possibility.
What are you going to burn it in? Wood stove? Fireplace? Cookstove? Outside? Spare parts for the woodstove, extra sections of fireplace pipe, the rope that seals the door, misc. spare parts for the stove. Cooking outside? Cast iron cookware, pot holders, dutch ovens (I would say at least 4. You are going to need 1 or 2 to make soap and candles in that you will not be able to use for cooking), BBQ grill type scrapers, lid lifters, cooking grates. A friend in Vermont has an awesome outside cooking setup complete with swing around grills, the works. If you plan to cook outside this would be a good investment. I would recommend Lodge as the company to get your cast iron cookware from. If you are ever in the Chatanooga, TN area they have an outlet store north of Chatanooga on I 24 where you can get "seconds" for very cheap (or at least they USED to be pretty much, worth the stop in though.)
This is how you have to think through your logistics planning for long term survival. Early on, it's easy. "I need a year supply of food." Later, you realize you need a lot more than that and you need the knowledge, ability and land to produce food as well.
Skills and experience level comes into play in your planning also. So much of your logistics planning almost cannot take place until you are at your retreat.
We moved to our retreat in November of 1999. I had spent the last two years prior to the move and a considerable amount of time trying to think through every thing that would be needed to put the retreat into use. Well, suffice to say, it's a good thing the world didn't end the day we got there, or we would have had almost $30,000. in alternate energy devices that would have been unable to be put in use for lack of something. It's like the "for the want of a nail" story where the whole kingdom falls because ONE horse loses ONE nail. I pity the people that think they will just move to their retreat at the last moment and have not spent any time there learning the retreat systems. They will have the type of wake up call I had in November of 1999. Luckily, their was still Lowe's, Advance auto parts and StuffMart then to cover my shortcomings in planning. If you wait till the last minute to occupy your retreat, you will probably not have that luxury.
I consult for a few survival groups around the country. One of the most important things I advocate they do at least once yearly is to have a "bug out weekend." During this weekend, all members of the group and their families will convene at the group retreat for the weekend and put the retreat in to play, or "activate the retreat" as I like to say. Meals are prepared out of food storage, alternate power is produced, security measures are put in place to include guard duty and patrols out, comm is monitored, noise, light and trash discipline is enforced, etc. After the weekend is over, a debriefing is held to include all dependents and family members. "What was learned?" "What did you lack?" "What did we have problems with?" "What could we have done better?" are some of the questions that should be answered and improved upon if need be.
Now that we've answered the wood question, go through and answer the multitude of other questions relating long term logistics- weapons, ammo, food storage, food production, maintenance of retreat structures, alternate energy systems, vehicles or transportation, medical, comm, security. All of these (and more) have to have ALL the logistics questions answered NOW and PLANNED FOR NOW.
Did I stimulate some thought? I hope so. See you again soon.
Robert
copyright Robert Henry
"You think your tough, for eating beans everyday? There's a half million scarecrows in Denver that would give anything for one mouthful of what you have."
Lack of planning can really ruin a good time. You have tickets for a good show, this is the last time it's playing this year. You've waited a long time for the show. You are wearing the best clothes you have, your wife also. The kids are at Grandma's house for the night. It only takes you an hour to get there but you left 2 hours early just so you wouldn't miss the opening. Traveling down the freeway, your tire blows. Not a problem, this is why you left early. You get the bad tire off and the tire iron breaks (it's one of those cheap aftermarket one your wife bought when she couldn't find the other one). O.K. you got that covered also, you put the original back in the trunk when you found it. The tire is changed, your a wee bit dirty but that's o.k. you can clean up before the show. Two miles down the road your spare blows. What? Oh that's right, you bought the car used and you didn't inspect the spare. Seems the dirtbag that sold you the car left you with a dry rotted mess. You forgot your cell phone, so you can't call for a tow. You and your wife hitchhike 3 miles to a C-store and call a tow truck. Too bad, could have been a fun night out.
Wouldn't it be easy to say that in a survival situation. "Too bad, could have been a fun LIFE." That's right, your LIFE and the LIVES of your FAMILY rest upon your planning and decisions you make in your planning for future disasters. Just making a wrong choice in the purchase of a firearm that ends up jamming on you at the wrong moment could cause the death of all your family members. Can you start to see why planning is so important?
There comes a time when survival stops being looked at only as "fun" or a "hobby." Wake up call folks, your Family's lives are at stake! Your life and your freedom are at stake! Is it still a "hobby" now? Is it "play?" I hope not for your sake. Why play around with your Family's future?
It's time for some deep, introspective type thinking. Go lock yourself in a quiet room for half a day or so. Bring a fresh notepad and a couple of pens. Listen to some cl***ical music if you'd like (they say it stimulates creative thought).
Starting with the common "check lists" every survival author since time immemorial has put out, let's build on that and cover logistics at this juncture. Try to learn to think through the entire logistics "train."
For an example let's take something simple. Wood.
You need wood to keep warm in the winter, cook with and possibly heat water for showers, etc. What to you need to get wood?
Trees to start with. 10-15 acres of woods should produce 3-5 cords of firewood on an ongoing basis with proper management. How about chainsaws? The $69.95 Poulan from StuffMart is not going to last you too long. I'd recommend a Huskie or a Stihl. Then buy at least one more of the same model. Spare parts for the chainsaws- plugs, air filters, spindle thingees, brake, etc. 10 new chains per saw and 20 files of the correct size for each saw would be a good start. Fuel mix. Oil, I've used just about all types of oil for bar oil without any noticeable problems. Couple of bars. Gas. We figured on 5 gallons per year needed, but we were pretty liberal since we use less than a cord per year. That brings up a good point, better to have too much than too little. How are you going to split the wood? Axes, mauls, extra handles for each. Files for same. Bow saws. Log splitter (these rock)- fuel, oil, hydraulic fluid, fuel and air filter. I figure the gas I have in storage won't last more than 7 years at best, so after 7 years the axes and bowsaws will come into use more and we will probably seek out smaller trees to cut for firewood to accommodate the use of the bowsaws versus chainsaws. After 3-4 years the propane will run out and we will be cooking on the woodstove and outside more. I expect that the security concerns with cooking outside will be much less at the 4 year mark due to a marked decrease in the amount of population.
How are you going to get the wood from the forest to your retreat? Vehicle or ATV? Fuel and spare parts needed. Horse? Food, meds, shelter, etc. needed. Slaves? Food, shelter, medical, security needed.
Where are you going to store it? Close to the house? Good and bad there- the good is that you are exposed for less time going to get it. The bad is that wood burns and I personally would rather have combustibles away from the house. Basement? Possibility. Re-stocking at night? Possibility.
What are you going to burn it in? Wood stove? Fireplace? Cookstove? Outside? Spare parts for the woodstove, extra sections of fireplace pipe, the rope that seals the door, misc. spare parts for the stove. Cooking outside? Cast iron cookware, pot holders, dutch ovens (I would say at least 4. You are going to need 1 or 2 to make soap and candles in that you will not be able to use for cooking), BBQ grill type scrapers, lid lifters, cooking grates. A friend in Vermont has an awesome outside cooking setup complete with swing around grills, the works. If you plan to cook outside this would be a good investment. I would recommend Lodge as the company to get your cast iron cookware from. If you are ever in the Chatanooga, TN area they have an outlet store north of Chatanooga on I 24 where you can get "seconds" for very cheap (or at least they USED to be pretty much, worth the stop in though.)
This is how you have to think through your logistics planning for long term survival. Early on, it's easy. "I need a year supply of food." Later, you realize you need a lot more than that and you need the knowledge, ability and land to produce food as well.
Skills and experience level comes into play in your planning also. So much of your logistics planning almost cannot take place until you are at your retreat.
We moved to our retreat in November of 1999. I had spent the last two years prior to the move and a considerable amount of time trying to think through every thing that would be needed to put the retreat into use. Well, suffice to say, it's a good thing the world didn't end the day we got there, or we would have had almost $30,000. in alternate energy devices that would have been unable to be put in use for lack of something. It's like the "for the want of a nail" story where the whole kingdom falls because ONE horse loses ONE nail. I pity the people that think they will just move to their retreat at the last moment and have not spent any time there learning the retreat systems. They will have the type of wake up call I had in November of 1999. Luckily, their was still Lowe's, Advance auto parts and StuffMart then to cover my shortcomings in planning. If you wait till the last minute to occupy your retreat, you will probably not have that luxury.
I consult for a few survival groups around the country. One of the most important things I advocate they do at least once yearly is to have a "bug out weekend." During this weekend, all members of the group and their families will convene at the group retreat for the weekend and put the retreat in to play, or "activate the retreat" as I like to say. Meals are prepared out of food storage, alternate power is produced, security measures are put in place to include guard duty and patrols out, comm is monitored, noise, light and trash discipline is enforced, etc. After the weekend is over, a debriefing is held to include all dependents and family members. "What was learned?" "What did you lack?" "What did we have problems with?" "What could we have done better?" are some of the questions that should be answered and improved upon if need be.
Now that we've answered the wood question, go through and answer the multitude of other questions relating long term logistics- weapons, ammo, food storage, food production, maintenance of retreat structures, alternate energy systems, vehicles or transportation, medical, comm, security. All of these (and more) have to have ALL the logistics questions answered NOW and PLANNED FOR NOW.
Did I stimulate some thought? I hope so. See you again soon.
Robert
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