From here on out I will be changing the format slightly so
you get more information on specific areas of Survival skills.
I think today we will discuss ways to start a survivalist group,
things that every group should know as well as how to best structure the group,
how to make the group self sufficient, choosing of a survival retreat location, as
well fortifications of a Survival retreat.
Things to remember when starting a Survivalist group is that
the people who join your group become extended family. You will have to depend on one another unlike any other
time in your life, these people you group
up with, will mean the difference between life and death.
Your group should take an oath to one another, to always
provide assistance no matter the circumstance, to always be vigilant as well as look out for
one another.
Starting a group is a struggle, I would first mention you
should get with family and friends who feel the same way you do. You can put an
ad out on craigslist, but I do not think that will turn out quite the way you
would want. Be careful of who you choose to join your group as we all know
there are some sick people out there. Attempting to start a group is a challenge
but if you succeed you will all be better off together than you would be alone.
Every group should know that you have the potential to be a
target, security should always be at the forefront of any decision your group
makes. Time and time again groups fall apart for one reason or another, it is
vital that everyone in your group works together to keep this from happening.
Trust one another and be loyal because that’s all you will have. Get a dog. I prefer
Karelian Bear Dogs and the reason for this is simple, these dogs are loyal
beyond belief if they perceive someone as a threat they will attack anyone
meaning to do harm to their pack. A simple rule for having a dog at your
retreat should be this, the dog is a member and has a job to do so don’t treat
as a pet , pat it on the head every now and again but leave your dog alone to
do its job. Give your canine a place of its own outside. I will post more on
dog training tips at another time or I will ask one of my readers who has skills
to post a training tutorial.
A good rounded group could consist of up to 20 people and vary
in skills. Look for people that have skills in medicine even if it’s as simple
as a nurse or a combat medic, you will need people who can provide care for
sick and or wounded. Look for people who have mechanical skills these people
are a great asset to have around and usually can figure out how to rig
something and make it work, such as a wind generator using an alternator from a
car. People who know canning is also important and can really help the group
with storing of food, also it is important to learn how to brew beer, see wheat
and barley are crops that don’t hold up well to storage and beer is liquid
bread. Find yourself someone who is security savvy, someone preferably with a
military background or Law enforcement. Just
as importantly you should seek out people with electrical skills, you just
might want to keep your refrigerator running and you will need the skills of a
good electrician to fall back on. Do not discount children these guys are a
great resource for a group once they are trained to understand the risks
involved, and children have a better time at adapting to situations and can
help with chores. Learn to grow food as well as hunt.
Structuring your survival group will help to keep things in
order. Choose a leader for the group pick someone who can make fast decisions in
difficult situations but shows the aptitude to make correct ones, every leader
needs a second in command. The second in command should also have the same
ability as the elected leader, put people in charge of all the happenings at
your retreat someone will need to be
able to take inventory of consumables and brief the group on the situations of
stock, another for making sure that planting and gardening is done (Note:
gardening can be tricky especially for women, touching the leafs of a plant
when a woman is menstruating can kill the plant, this does not happen with all
women.) Set up a watch commander usually
this person would be the second in command, his scope of responsibility should
be scheduling watches, setting up tactical exorcises / drills, picking
positions for Observation Posts (OP),
setting up and manning the Command Center (C&C). put someone in
charge of morale, keeping spirits high
in bad situations can mean the difference to the physical and emotional health
of your group. Put someone in charge of physical training, exorcise not only helps keep the body healthy but it also
helps with emotional health. Give everyone in your group a voice, listen to
them put things to a vote it is
important that people in your group feel they have a say.
Pooling resources is a great way to increase your chances of
survival in a bad time. Your group should think seriously about chipping in to
buy land or groupings of land all located in the same area with property lines
backing up to one another. Small 5 acre plots grouped together is helpful, but chipping
in to buy one 20 acre plot is better usually you can get raw land cheaper than
buying 4, 5 acre plots with homes already built on them.
The initial choice for a survival retreat should be made
with security in mind, higher ground will offer the best security but could
cost more in useful land as well as the cost for a well. Try to keep your
property away from communities as this is an easy way to be targeted by looters
and such. Smaller towns will eventually
start to form similar structure to your Survivalist group, and become an ally. Attempt
to buy land this has trees for cover and concealment, fence off your land as
well as put out early warning alarms in the form of cans and such.
To continue on with setting up your land I will start at the
retreat building itself, I like brick or
stone buildings they are stout and offer a castle like defense, after all this
will be your castle. I suggest you make black out curtains, as well as going to
the scrap yard to buy enough ¾ inch thick steel plates a couple big enough to reinforce
your doors, doing this will mean you will need to buy heavy duty hinges to take
the weight. You can custom cut a good hardwood to disguise you’re up armored
doors, doing the same thing for the windows you can make them look like
shutters, I suggest if you do this that you cut a cross section out of them to
make it easier to shoot from, hang them the same way you would have hung the
door. Do not forget to make re-enforcement bars for the doors that to keep them
from being bashed in by Looters ect. You can just put in cross bars for the
windows as a way to secure them. Invest in a tin roof this will help to keep
the risk of fire down from people who think they can just burn you out.
Your castle defend it, dig a moat. This will keep vehicles
from being able to ram straight through. As far as the inside of your
fortification goes you will want enough space to comfortably house all of the
people in your group, store some of your supply’s as well as have access to get
out of your fortification if the need arises.
If your group can afford to make tunnels with concrete, shipping
containers, or just a simple dug tunnel. Make more than one and disguise the entrances,
if you build side rooms off of the tunnels you can store more supplies in them.
Make sure if you have a dirt tunnel you build it so that water washes away from
your retreat as well as lay pallets down to protect anything you may store in
there.
