by Auz Burger
Preparing yourself for an emergency with an off-grid shelter that can keep you sustained for an extended period of time is a good idea. What if having that off-grid shelter is what ends up saving your life one day? There are too many “what if” scenarios these days that mean having a sturdy emergency shelter to get to is a good idea. If you are ready to begin putting together an emergency shelter of your own, this guide has everything you need to know to plan and put together the perfect shelter.
Planning the emergency shelter
The first thing you need to do is plan out where you want your shelter to be. If possible, try to keep it within a few hours’ drive of where you currently live so that you can pack up yourself and your family and get there in a reasonable amount of time. You will need to start off by researching where land is that you can buy to build on. This can take some time, depending on where you live, since you want to be away from a major city but be close enough to get there quickly in an emergency and still have the resources you need to live and ride out the emergency.
You also want to make sure that you do not select an area that has a history of droughts, fires, severe storms, or other weather events. It also needs to be away from seismic areas, if possible, but if you live in some areas, that can be unavoidable.
Once you determine the area where you would like to build your emergency shelter, the next thing you need to do is find out how to purchase land in that area. You cannot plan out some of the major details of the shelter itself until you know exactly where you will be building it.
Building the emergency shelter
There are a lot of options when it comes to building your emergency shelter. Many will lean toward building a cabin, tiny house, or even refitting an old shipping container, but one of the best options is a steel building. The reason that steel buildings are perfect emergency shelters is because they are so durable and customizable. Steel is the strongest building material in the world, so it has been known to handle hurricanes, tornadoes, and even earthquakes, so it is the best choice for your emergency shelter.
Find an energy source
You will need a power source for lights, food storage, and more. Solar panels are a great way to go, but you will still want a backup battery or generator if you have too many rainy or cloudy days. If you are near a water source like a river, you might be able to set up a hydropower source. Wind turbines can also be a good solution, especially if you are in an area that gets a lot of wind.
Find a water source
Water is one of the most important things you will need to survive in your emergency shelter. While water bottles will get you through a few days or even weeks if you stockpile enough, you need to be prepared for the reality that your water bottles will eventually run out. You have to have a water source near your shelter.
One way to help you collect water is to place empty barrels in the yard to collect rainwater. Cover the barrels in a mesh screen so that the water can get in, but leaves and dirt will have a harder time getting in. If you want to get more advanced, you can design the roof of the shelter to collect the water for you.
Another option is to have someone drill a well for you on the property. This can be expensive, but it is a good way to get you a reliable water source.
If your shelter is near a natural water source, you are set, and as long as you can purify the water, you do not need to worry. However, it would still be advisable to set up rainwater collection in some form in case something happens to the well or natural water source. Backups are always helpful in these kinds of scenarios.
Space to grow food
You are going to need reliable food sources in your emergency shelter. You can set up a small garden to grow food or even a greenhouse. Planting some perennial plants can also help keep you fed. You can plant fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, or even mushrooms. These can keep you fed for years.
If you are able to, getting some chickens or livestock could also help keep you fed and even give you materials for clothing.
Learn how to hunt and fish too, and research methods for the area you will be building in so you can get the right tools for the local fauna.
(Check out our free QUICKSTART Guide to home canning to learn more about what to do with the food that you grow.)
Setting up your shelter
You will need tools and furniture for your living space, and you need to make sure you utilize all of the space you can.
Tools
You need to have at least a set of screwdrivers, pliers, cutters, wrenches, and hammers. Plus, you need bolts, nails, glue, duct tape, and more.
In addition to maintenance tools, you also need tools for gardening and hunting. You will need shovels, a hoe, a water hose, a rake, shears, a wheelbarrow, and thick, sturdy work gloves.
Furniture
You will need a table, some seating, and a bed at the bare minimum. You should also include kitchen and bathroom supplies, like shelves, pots and pans, and a shower curtain. When possible, try the multipurpose space, like a murphy bed that lifts up so you can use the space for something else.
Food storage
You will need to be equipped with tools to cook, eat, and preserve food. Aside from pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, and silverware, you will also need a way to store your food. You can add a little fridge that is powered by your generator to keep food cold. You also need a dry, dark place for food storage and some airtight containers to keep food in. Make sure you have some survival guides, too, with information to help you live in your shelter and area.
Entertainment
You are going to need something to occupy your time while you are in your shelter. Books are the best low-tech form of entertainment, and if there will be multiple people in your shelter, board games or card games can help you pass the time. You can include things like movies and video games, but make sure you have something low-tech, too, just in case something happens to your power sources. Keep a radio, too, so you can listen to local news for information about the emergency you are riding out and find out when you will be able to safely return home.
Final thoughts
We hope this guide can help prepare you for building an emergency shelter of your own. These are some of the most important things to include in the shelter. While living in the shelter may not be the easiest thing while riding out an emergency, with these tips, you can at least be comfortable and safe.
Do you have any additional tips about creating off-grid shelters? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments.
About the Author
Auz Burger is a freelance writer and an expert in steel buildings. She has a BA from Washington State University and has been writing and editing professionally for over a decade.
This could have been a helpful article if it were written by someone that actually knew anything at all about the topic and wasn’t just regurgitating what they picked up by reading a couple of articles someone else wrote .
Hope you didn’t pay much for this effort
Wow, you seem pleasant. I hope your day improves.
AMEN Nell! I’m sorry but this reads like a mildly researched book report. And not by an “A” student. Please, nice basic outline but…..so much obvious “I have no life experience in this” comes through.
Agreed. Among MANY things not mentioned is how to make it break-in resistant; all those unguarded goodies will give local kids a place to party, burglars some stuff to steal, and arsonists something to burn.
Other considerations worth mentioning
Do you have a way to make a living from such a remote area — that you have already practiced successfully? Does it require dependable electric power at home — that you might need to generate via some solar panels to charge a bank of batteries? Or is a reasonable commute distance even feasible — in this era of sky-rocketing fuel prices?
Do you know anything about non-electric ways to preserve foods (to at least minimize your needs for electric power)? There’s a video on YouTube about 3 ways the Amish use to do exactly that.
Do you know anything about solar cooking methods and the many different kinds of gadgetry to make that possible? Some is available via retail and some via DIY efforts.
If commuting is needed, do you have any security plans for keeping burglar wannabees away? Rural properties are notorious for being targets of such criminals if they appear to be unoccupied even just part of the day on a predictable basis.
Have you checked the local water supply for quality, quantity and any forecasts of a dropping water table? There is all kinds of contamination today that was not a problem a couple of generations back. Fertilizer seepage over recent decades can make water toxic for young children, can cause the “blue baby” syndrome and if bad enough can be a cancer cause. If there is such a problem in your area of interest, do you have a way to clean it economically, whether by distillation or reverse osmosis?
There are other such water contamination issues. Other industrial chemicals and discarded pharmaceuticals can be a problem. Does the area you’re considering have such issues severe enough to suggest that you look elsewhere? There is also a story from Missouri where the county water inspectors would pour some kerosene down the hole in rural outhouses. If the homeowner soon complained of a kerosene taste in his well water, the water inspector knew that household had a problem.
Do you know how, or are willing to learn, to take 3rd world style bucket (aka sponge) baths? That takes up a lot less space and uses a lot less clean water.
Is the sociology of your prospective neighbors compatible with long term friendships? I grew up in a rural part of Tornado Alley where the locally dominant religion was hostile towards everyone else, whether in the school system or in local commerce. I “got out of Dodge” as quickly as possible.
Another issue might be the local bureaucrats and their sometimes idiotic rules. Do they prohibit collecting rain water? Do they prohibit cutting firebreak areas where dead vegetation facilitates horrendous and fast-spreading fires? Even Indians some centuries ago in some parts of this country were not that stupid.
Are there sufficient medical resources within a reasonable distance to your prospective location? This is a growing problem in many rural communities where their hospitals have shut down.
Would you be better off to try the nomad approach first — so that if you then discover that your first prospective tiny house location turned out to be a really bad problem — that you had the gypsy freedom to look elsewhere quickly and without the financial chains a fixed location sometimes imposes?
–Lewis
I was taught IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT SOMEONE, THEN DON’T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL !!! In other words, keep your mouth shut !!! I am sure that whoever the Guest Contributor was that he or she submitted it with good intentions. It was interesting, so thank you…
Wandakate, Amen. I’ve been reading the articles here just for a couple of months, but already I’m learning whose comments to skip because they’re so acidic. I don’t have to name them, anyone reading my comment has probably already knows who I mean.
@WandaK
That is bad policy. It leaves poor advice out with no criticism to warn the unaware.
You are perhaps pleased about this so long as this anonymous authors feelings aren’t hurt?
Telling ppl to shut up because they disagree sounds familiar…..
Without negative feedback all systems decline to continuously lower levels. I’m certain Daisy doesn’t want to go the way of the site where she originated….she needs to know when articles hurt her site. Clearly the author had good intentions and provided a nice “summary of ideas” to be kind.
Same analogy: So if you don’t have anything nice to SAY ABOUT PUTIN, then DON’T say or DO anything at all! By that logic, half of Ukraine would be dead now! Don’t say anything negative and…NOTHING WILL BE IMPROVED!
Putin is Americas boogie man to divert attention away from what is important here in this country. Cases to point, supply line disruptions,happening before Putin, gas and oil production, disrupted by Biden and his henchmen and not Putin, fertilizer shortages, note Biden’s disruption of oil and gas and subsequent lack of fertilizers, extreme inflation..Well let’s guess and yep that was happening before the Putin and Russia boogie man, shall I go on?
A rather important factor was overlooked. Depending on location, what about heating/cooling? Steel buildings might be all well and good. Without proper insulation, I imagine it could be very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Another item to consider is how will you cook? Ties in with heating/cooling, as most preppers like twofers and redundancy ( ie the woodstove with a cooking top and/or oven can double as heat source).
(See, Nell, one CAN critique and still be nice about it!) 😉
And steel building still need to be anchored well else it will blow away like structures built with any other material. I’ll never live in a structure without a basement.
Yes, I agree about insulation – will make a world of difference.
OTOH basements have downsides; they significantly add to construction costs, are not handicap friendly and can be an ongoing source of water leakage issues. We built our rural WI home on a slab with 4’ frost footings due to soil conditions (sand, high water table), and are happy with the result. What’s missing? Additional storage (we expanded the main floor to accommodate), storm shelter (those summer storms get pretty exciting with nowhere to hide), little else.
If you’re building a bug out shelter, focus on priorities. Keep it simple, keep the budget low and the appearance uninteresting. Don’t make an attractive nuisance, a nice place that gets commandeered by squatters and thieves before you can move in. Our old on-site cabin was burgled at least once before we moved here full time, and 911 is at least a half hour away so don’t count on the law to help. Meet the neighbors and make friends, they can become your lifeline in time of need.
If you find yourself in a situation where you have to flee your primary residence water, heat, food, and shelter are the only necessities and in that order. A source of electricity is a luxury. And, in my estimation a generator or windmill screams, “HEY!! I’m over here!!”. Isn’t the point of an “off-grid shelter” to be inconspicuous, at least initially.
Stocking an “off-grid shelter” with anything for use later seems foolish to me. You will probably find that “off-grid shelter” empty of everything you put in it when you arrive, except for maybe that ratty couch your wife doesn’t like. On the other hand, you may find, that well stocked “off-grid shelter” was on somebody’s grid because they’ve already occupied your emergency home. You better have a plan when they’re armed and ready defend their new home. I wouldn’t expect the county sheriff or state cops to have time to deal with your personal problem while society in general is struggling to survive.
If you feel the need to have an emergency shelter (and I’m not saying you shouldn’t), it seems to me it would be wiser to arrive to an empty structure with all the supplies you’ll need to get established. I suggest you pack thoughtfully and carefully for your specific needs.
Thanks Auz Burger for sharing this. It does along with other’s positive comments help one to think things through as we go forth.
I’m staying put where I am but doesn’t mean I don’t consider other options if they would be available and I’m in a place to make such a move.
It’s not impossible to pick up and move but does definitely take some planning and things thought out.
Some brainstorming thoughts to keep the conversation going? Sure!
The biggest oversight I’ve seen on all of these prepping and survival articles is they fail to describe the SCENARIO you should be preparing for. So you begin with research: Historical cycles of weather, economics, politics, finance, religion, culture, food, communication, government, health, and so on. Not to mention the context of your research that needs to include well known cycles.
A 10 year lookback at the above topics will be much different than a 1,000 year look. I would suggest a minimum of a 400 year lookback, to include the Grand Solar Minimum – which the evidence suggests we are 2 years into a 55 year cycle now. (See Professor Valentina Zharkova’s excellent research on solar cycles.)
Once you’ve properly characterized the prepping/survival scenario and context, then your efforts will be much more on target and you won’t find yourself as likely to have prepared for the wrong solution.
Having done as I suggested, I’ve found that there is only one scenario that we need to prepare for. Which is simply a weather cycle that will lead to the collapse of everything I listed above. Label it whatever you want, such as the WEF’s Great Reset, A Grand Solar Minimum, Corrupt Governments Collapsing, Tribulation, Galactic Noon, Kill Shot, Pole Shift, Solar Micro-Nova, or your personal dial-a-disaster with converging cycles and cascading levels of failure.
The point is we really are at a long term historical convergence, and if you are not ready for a full spectrum failure of “civilization,” then the ride will soon be over for you. And it won’t be a happy ending.
Now that you know what’s coming (total failure), it is easy to noodle how things will devolve and come up with a single answer that will work for every level of the cascade.
Note: Regardless of the solution(s) you choose, absolutely the most certain way to crash & burn is to try and go solo. Rambo, or the Rambo household that tries to go it alone will be among the first to perish. Study history, and you’ll find the only solution that has worked in 1400+ nation/state level collapses is the “neighbor helping neighbor” strategy. So your first order of business is to build a Community. The ideal size is 60-100 people to provide all of the security and skill sets you’ll need as the cascading failures manifest.
Likewise, it is highly unlikely that a “Bugout Location” will be your best choice for anything except a Hollywood Movie. Build a Community and Bug In wherever you might be, urban or rural.
Early on in the cascade, food scarcity, government corruption, and lack of (formerly) government services are a big problem. Later in the cycle, weather and geophysical events are your greatest threats to survival.
Thinking through all of this, the logical answer is that you cannot and will not survive above ground. Some sort of storm shelter is imperative, and the sooner you can get some of your Community members engaged with those type of projects, the more likely you are to survive – and thrive. NOBODY is going to make it through the entire cycle living above ground. Not even in a Steel Barn!
Any kind of basement or storm shelter is a good start. If you want to go “all-in” and have the greatest solution and chance for success, then a monolithic dome covered with 12 feet of dirt is far and away your best answer. For EVERYTHING in the cascade!
Bunkers are for billionaires, and will become their tomb. Monolithic Domes are surprisingly easy to build, and surprisingly inexpensive. They “float” in earth liquification events (subsidence, sinkholes, earthquakes, etc), and provide the best structural integrity throughout the cascade.
Experience says 4 construction workers can build a 4,000 sq foot (living space) monolithic dome in 4 months. At between 1/3rd to 1/2 the cost of a home. So it really becomes a matter of economic priority, not cost. The commercial shelter building services indicate a facility of that size will easily support (house) 40 people. In round numbers, about $3,000-$5,000 per person for a robust shelter. How much did you spend on your car? Did I mention Economic Priority…
Most people think water is the limiting factor in a prepping scenario. Absolutely not! In a longer term cascade, it will be all about air. Indoor air quality (IAQ) as the sun goes through its solar flaring/CME cycle, and the volcanoes erupt and fill the skies with ash & hydrocarbons (nuclear war too), you won’t be able to breath unless you have a robust ability to filter and purify the air, and restore the oxygen content. That is your biggest hurdle by far, and needs some serious research. The ability to seal your storm shelter (dome) and have a CBRN filter and air scrubber (CO2) is essential, and there are not very many commercial solutions available right now. None that I’ve found so far.
Want to be a billionaire? Develop and market an IAQ solution!
The answer for hundreds of events and thousands of failures coming at us with 100% certainty is to build a Community of like minded people. It is NOT easy! That takes months and years to accomplish, and is a never ending task to add or evict people from your group. Then a strategy to develop and equip underground shelters of various sizes comes next. Along with an effort to stock with food & supplies, and equip with power, water, air & water purification, health care, and whatever other features you want to sustain human life (security, entertainment etc). Right where you live & work now.
It really is easy to understand if you study history, and think through the cascade. A problem well defined is a problem half solved. And if you study the problem with a multi-discipline approach, you’ll know exactly how long the cycle will last, and exactly what to expect throughout the cascade.
If you dive deep on history, you’ll come up with answers such as:
– COVID was the “preamble” for the government crash, and the man-made events (banking failures, wars, pandemics,) and orchestrated collapse are mostly complete by Sept 2023;
– the earth’s weather continues to devolve for another 1-2 years with earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, extreme storms & hurricanes. And a serious effort by TPTB to create and install a Global Government – for total control.
– the solar weather explodes approaching the Solar Maximum around the end of 2024 through 2026 with X-Class Solar Flares, EMP events (Lights Out), and events that require living underground (with filtered air);
– the cataclysmic phase of events for a year or two after that, to include asteroids, meteor strikes, tsunamis, and other flyby events that will probably include a pole shift and major continent “restructuring.”
But it should all be over by the end of the decade (Oct 2030), and those COMMUNITIES that have smartly prepared will emerge mostly unscathed and ready to restart civilization. The remaining majority of the population? RIP.
One scenario. One solution. One strategy. One chance to succeed or spectacularly fail and leave the planet. Choose wisely, Grasshopper!
Interesting idea.
But if I am going to go to the lengths to build a emergency shelter (and IF I had the money) I think I would go big.
I would build under ground. Or on three sides at least.
Would not be a under ground McMansion, but maybe 900-1200sqft.
Combined kitchen, dinning and living space. Small bedroom. Small bathroom with a deep sink for cleaning small game or livestock. Pantry with a spring room/closet. Small room for working indoor projects, tools, etc. Debate on heating. Go off grid electric? Or commit to a no kidding real wood burning stove/oven? A simple wood stove as back up, located on the other side of the home? Would have to pipe in air from the outside (most stoves have a fixture for this, as cooler air is more dense and would burn more efficiently).
An interesting mental exercise.
A friend had a nice “tool Shed” bug out cabin on some property he owned.
A few years ago, he called me to visit it as it had been ransacked by tweekers. Happily, the little fire they started inside (like a out door fire inside) didn’t do much damage.
Windows destroyed door missing all items inside gone.
When we rebuilt the tool shed I had him place under the shed the doors, windows and a small root cellar structure that you accessed by unscrewing the flooring of the floor to access the rest of his survival stuff. Even his sand point well was done under his shed. Yes, we had to move the shed and he needed a backhoe. Took about 4 days, including putting the shed back in place.
We have visited that derelict looking (with that fire damage still evident inside) tool shed now and then since then. Sometimes we find evidence that someone drank some beer in it but without windows and doors nobody tried to live in there.
In a few hours assuming he brings a screwdriver with him he can have the doors and windows installed, the well pump screwed back on and working and supplies for his defense, and a small box stove going.
Yes a small place but room for his family to sleep on the floor safely.
Also he is a KNOWN person in the area. Belongs to the church, has been involved in helping others in trouble there. Country folks don’t always like having NEW Folks show up when things get weird.
Just a thought.
Yeah, authors shouldn’t say “this guide includes everything you need to…” They need to start using better words so as not to mislead, hence injure, someone. Most authors are only good at breaking the ice, presenting a forum/platform to build up. It’s the READERS who have the knowledge and even experience to set others on a proven path. That is, if they aren’t so bust commenting on certain subscribers…or people who just post derogatory comments about others. You know who you are. If words were weapons…yeah, you know. I can appreciate the humor most times, some topics can be quite serious and scary. The author brings up a great topic, one I have been contemplating and preparing for years. And now with things so grim in other countries, it could be imperative to get this in your head and take some action. I think we are all here because all of us don’t want to sit back and let things happen(or expecting Jesus to do all that work and protect us..just kidding, don’t get sore). I love you all and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to ANY of you, our paths may cross someday, keep that in mind.
I took from this a general outline and using it to think about what I would do and how to do it. Bottom line here is..you will need everything PV possible to be on your own,period. The generator ideas are ok but me personally.I do not like to advertise my presence with a generator happening away and sooner or later that beastly will need refueling. For power, chunk the idea of a home away from home,this is a minimal need for electricity issue and one of the solar inverter battery pack combos with the panels needed will do. Heat, a wood burning camp or tent type should do the trick.
Just some basic thoughts here.
Well now … I take it we all think a little differently and that is good because it gets each of us to think outside our normal thought patterns. That said – here are my thoughts:
The type of crisis will be major factors in determining the retreat location, what kind of shelter, what supplies, what skill sets and what tools/equipment may be needed.
• weather [earthly & space],
• human created [war, terrorism, CBRN, civil unrest, etc]
• or natural [floods, collapses of structural items {dams, buildings, bridges, etc} and/or institutional collapses {supply chain, economic and the like}],
• the range of influence (population and land mass affected) of the particular crisis
• and the projected duration of the crisis
For instance if you live where flooding may be a crisis, then an underground shelter may not be the way to go unless it is built into a hill above the expected flood line. While if severe windstorms and or blizzards and avalanches are the crisis, then underground or earth sheltered may be a good idea.
If you are worried about some type of natural (CME) or human (EMP) electromagnetic pulse type crisis, I can see where a well-grounded metal building is a good thing as it will protect any electric devices you may have store in it. (Remember that aluminum is NOT good enough for the high electro and ferromagnetic electricity ranges of a direct CME or EMP. Think along the lines of when aluminum wiring was used in homes and created major house fires because it couldn’t handle the electrical load of copper wire. That faraday cage may stop the radio signal but not the high electricity ranges of a CME or EMP.)
To me the best “planning tool” in general, is to think in terms of Necessity to Human Life things over the duration of the crisis and center your planning there, then span out as time and finances permit – and yes this includes a bug-out, off-the-grid retreat.
Necessity to Human Life Needs (a modified Rule of 3’s)
• Air: Depends on overall health and activity but it is generaly about 3 minutes
• Water: Depends; Under extreme conditions, like strenuous exercise under the hot sun, we can sweat out 1.5 litres of water in an hour. We can dehydrate to the point of death in about a few hours.
• Protection from the Elements (shelter & clothing):
High environmental temperatures can be dangerous to our body. In the range of 90˚ and 105˚F (32˚ and 40˚C), you can experience heat cramps and exhaustion. Between 105˚ and 130˚F (40˚ and 54˚C), heat exhaustion is more likely. You should limit your activities at this range. An environmental temperature over 130˚F (54˚C) often leads to heatstroke.
Death by cold is harder to delimit. As with high temperatures, don’t rely solely on the thermometer reading of environmental air for gauging cold temperatures. Most humans will suffer hyperthermia after 10 minutes in extremely humid, 140-degree-Fahrenheit (60-degrees-Celsius) heat. The speed of the wind and external body moisture can cause a chill that dramatically changes your body’s rate of cooling and how you feel. In extremely cold weather, especially with a high wind chill factor, you can quickly experience the onset of hypothermia. Falling into cold water can also result in immersion hypothermia.
A person usually expires when their body temperature drops to 70 degrees F (21 degrees C), but how long this takes to happen depends on how “used to the cold” a person is, and whether a mysterious, latent form of hibernation sets in, which has been known to happen.
The boundaries of survival are better established for long-term comfort. According to a 1958 NASA report, people can live indefinitely in environments that range between roughly 40 degrees F and 95 degrees F (4 and 35 degrees C), if the latter temperature occurs at no more than 50 percent relative humidity. The maximum temperature pushes upward when it’s less humid, because lower water content in the air makes it easier to sweat, and thus, keep cool. [Infographic: Human Comfort Zones https://www.livescience.com/34131-infographic-limits-of-human-survival.html%5D
We pass out when the air pressure drops below 57 percent of atmospheric pressure — equivalent to that at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). Climbers can push higher because they gradually acclimate their bodies to the drop in oxygen, but no one survives long without an oxygen tank above 26,000 feet (7925 m).
• Food (nutritional): depending on health, age and physical activity about 2 months and Yes you can still starve to death while eating and feeling full. Contrary to popular belief the shelf life of food items is mostly determined by its nutritional value at time of use. This depletes over time even under the best storage conditions. Then comes the taste, texture, color and contaminats.
• Medication: Any medication that is a necessity to life, this will vary depending on the ailment/illness. Think along the lines of insulin for diabetics.
For me no matter the type of crisis, its scope of involvement or its duration – the fewer people who know where I am and what I have the better. I have a close knit group of like-minded and preparing people that I share supplies, knowledge and skills with.
We are not all thinking along the lines of the same type of crisis, nor are we all male or female of in a specific age range. But we have more or less, formed our own “survival group” and have coordinated plans to get to a particular “bug-out” area if the crisis calls for it.
Most of us have lived in very remote wilderness type areas for several years at some point in our lives, so we know about how wildlife can get into a cabin and destroy it. Some have hand their hunting or personal space cabins broken into. We share those experiences and the hard lessons we have learned from them with each other.
Good luck to everyone and keep on preppin’
Hello TNT,
If your group is in the same area but living separately but wish to have communications without radio/walkie-talkie consider rigging up a MESH network, lots of info on how to set one up and it’s is strictly text but Encrypted. That’s the best part, cannot be listened in to by people not on your mesh. Someone cannot track where you are unless they have the gear to do so I I highly doubt that.
Just some thoughts
Thanks Mick … right now our emergency communications are pigeons …. we all raise, train and use them regularly … that along with our own “coded” vocabulary and I think we are good, secure and safe in this area … May not be as instantaneous as other forms of communication, but it is also much harder to track or hack. We do have HAM radios too ;-}
Bamboo. I am planning to use the least amount of metal possible. If I have to retreat from a hostile govt I have to assume metal might give my location away if scanned from the sky. If I have the time, bamboo with ropes/twine holding it together, slanted roof, water catchment. Possibly dig into the ground also as a last resort hideout. Also…I have been saving metal such as soup cans, burying those all over can help throw my enemies off my track.
Bamboo grows very fast and is free.