If you could build however you wanted...

[Jessica Ann]

I am curious to see what everyone thinks would be an ideal setting to live at for doomsday.So if you could build a house/shelter anything you wanted what would it be?What size property?Security features?etc...

I would definitely live in the country,have a couple hundred acres w/ponds,a creek and well.Pasture land and wooded with the house in the center.Greenhouse and a shelter/bunker.I wouldn't want to live underground but a hidden retreat for storms or whatever else would be great.Plus it gets kinda hot in Texas so having a space big enough for family and food.Fireplaces in the house.Maybe hidden passages.

Not real sure about security though?i guess minimal windows,maybe some tree stands for lookout places.I guess you could have some sort of trip wire warning systems but that could cause some problems with wildlife living in the country.

What did I leave out or would you do differently?My husband says an alligator moat,Not happening!

 

[Joseph]

I'd suggest making your home not viewable from the road. That's a big plus. Or place an old run down trailer as a decoy very big plus. Makes if look like an abandon homestead.

 

[Jessica Ann]

A fence?I suppose a tree line would be the best disguise providing you have the time for them to grow.

 

[Joseph]

Evergreen trees is the best plus they grow very fast. My boss planted 20 of them 4 years ago and they are massive. Not quite sure the name, but I'd google fast growing evergreen trees.

 

[Jessica Ann]

I'm thinking maybe horse apple trees would be a good idea.They grow fast & have thorns plus attract squirrels and are a natural bug repellant.And you could get as many seeds as you wanted for free.

 

[bill harrell]

always have a backup plan or 2 and an escape route.

 

[cj3006]

make the place look as junky as it can so no one want to come up to it !

 

[Simple but effective]

Always thought if money wasn't an object I'd build a plexiglass house underwater. Of course someone might try and fish with dynamite and rain on my parade. But still would be 007 kinda cool

 

[Simple but effective]

Always thought if money wasn't an object I'd build a plexiglass house underwater. Of course someone might try and fish with dynamite and rain on my parade. But still would be 007 kinda cool

 

[Simple but effective]

My latest endeavor is beekeeping. A few well placed hives are good for honey and wax for candles but as a defense. Who wants to mess with a lot of angry bees.

 

[Simple but effective]

I am curious to see what everyone thinks would be an ideal setting to live at for doomsday.So if you could build a house/shelter anything you wanted what would it be?What size property?Security features?etc...

I would definitely live in the country,have a couple hundred acres w/ponds,a creek and well.Pasture land and wooded with the house in the center.Greenhouse and a shelter/bunker.I wouldn't want to live underground but a hidden retreat for storms or whatever else would be great.Plus it gets kinda hot in Texas so having a space big enough for family and food.Fireplaces in the house.Maybe hidden passages.

Not real sure about security though?i guess minimal windows,maybe some tree stands for lookout places.I guess you could have some sort of trip wire warning systems but that could cause some problems with wildlife living in the country.

What did I leave out or would you do differently?My husband says an alligator moat,Not happening!

On the moat subject. Was watching river monsters yesterday. There are these little flesh eating catfish in the amazon that will actually eat anything that gets in the water. These things are horrible. They kill hundreds of people and animals a year down there. But at least they stay in the water unlike alligators.

 

[bubbadreier]

If I could build anything and money wasn't an option? haha.... I would build this.

 

[bubbadreier]

With something like this under it

Both of these I did for this exact question. If I could build whatever I wanted, no matter the cost. *Come on lottery numbers!*

P.S.- If you cant tell, I like to play around in paint.

 

[Kenny Lee]

I'd ring the outer walls with anti-MRAP ditches, and have an indirect fire pit in the compound, plus some LP/OPs outside. Then again I am a military dork. Also maybe an escape tunnel.

 

[bubbadreier]

Okay I love the input, only I don't know what they mean!
haha
Anti-MRAP?
Indirect Fire Pit?
LP/OPs?

I do know what you mean by escape tunnel which I will add!

 

[Kenny Lee]

MRAP, Mine-resistant, ambush protected vehicles, basically the 2,700 armored personnel carriers DHS has purchased. We used them in Iraq to ignore IEDs. Indirect fire pit is like a mortar pit, mini-artillery. LP/OP, listening post, observation post. Little hidden bunkers two people can sit in and watch for intruders and report back to the house, think Vietnam and the Viet Cong ambushes. You don't have to ambush people or shoot anyone, just nice to know if you have guests coming so you can bake a cake.

Most of the things I mentioned are a non-serious because if they have MRAPs coming at you it is won't be long before the breach. However in a end of the world scenario and you get ambushed by marauders, the indirect fire pit will mess them up seriously! Especially if you pre-spotted areas they will most likely use for cover.

 

[bubbadreier]

Oh I see, I like it! Seeing as I know where I would build this, they would have a hard time getting those MRAPs to three of the walls. 6 to 10 feet rock cliffs on three sides. The front would be the only place they could get to easily. The LP/OPs would be great! The square areas on the corners of the outer walls are guard towers, and the little round ones inside the compound are the same. I like the idea of putting LP/OPs outside the walls around the compound. I would also plant evergreen trees about 20 feet out from the outer wall.

What would the Indirect Fire Pit be used for actually? I am still a little confused on that one!

 

[Kenny Lee]

It is a little unrealistic considering I don't know how you can safely manufacture a mortar round. I heard some Drug cartels use propane tanks or something as indirect fire bombs launched from tubes. Needless to say, regular marauders should run at the effect of having bombs dropped on them from above.

 

[bubbadreier]

That is awesome! Now to figure out how to build one. Seeing as this will never happen (the compound that is) I could still use one at my BOL haha

 

[jimLE]

i have the blue prints of the home my folks had built when we were kids.i'd take them to a person that know what thier doing.and have um double it in leanth.of course the amount of bed rooms woulld go from 4 to 8 right off.the width of the kitchen would double as well.basement for extra food weapons tools rods n reels fishing tackle. solar lanterns and what ever else id come up with.extra solar panals just in case we were hit with emp.

 

[gman89]

before shtf id be at my grandpas cabin in the middle of nowhere id wait a week or two (depending on the event) id go to the now abandoned lowes, home depot, menards. id than procced to build in the lumber yard they have. seeing how its already has prison type walls with barb wire on top. plus whats nice is there would be enough wood, blocks, mortar and insulation to build me my own city. where from there id slowly gather people to help re start civilization.
or i would just stay out in the woods do my usual raids on the abandoned stores and houses and leave hints to cabins that i would build and stock pile and i would swing by those cabins to check up on them and make a bond/ friend ship so we could make a civilization in the boonies

 

[gman89]

If I could build anything and money wasn't an option? haha.... I would build this.

gave me a great idea for making blue prints for land managment lol

 

[Gazrok]

I'm pretty cool with where we're at. We do have a few neighbors, but we're off the beaten path enough to where it should be a while before any raiders show up if the SHTF.
There are some added defenses I'd make after such an event (and I'm stocking up the materials to have them onhand to do so). Right now though, we're a business, so don't want to LOOK like an armed compound.
Our treeline gives some good defense, along with a LOT of fencing, and layers of it.

For water, we have a well, and are building up some water storage tanks as well. For food, we've got bunnies to breed, and will be adding a garden next month. We'll also be stockpiling foodstuffs, and eventually home-canning our harvests from the garden.
There are other fresh water supplies not too far from us. We are also looking to store some fuel, and have horses for both transport and labor if needed. It will all take time, but we're working with a timeline of things to have when (and as we can afford it).
Post SHTF, we'd add tobacco to our crop list also. We'd also devote more yard space to expanding the garden, if something happened. We'll be putting in some fruit trees next year, and adding chickens next spring.

Backup generators are to be added, as well as converting the well pump to solar.

Here's the place. I know, I know...but seriously, how many people will even remember these posts by the time a SHTF event happens.

 

[Hockie]

everybody in your area knows about your place, or will hear about it. Enough of them will come to "visit", too. your area is just full of good places for a sniper to set up and pick off you and yours. if shtf, better figure on a short "bugout" , to a dugout shelter, near where you have cached a year's supply of food. The townfolk outtnumber farmers and ranchers by 50 to 1. So you can't defend such a place, and a helluva lot of "townies" will be headed your way, if shtf. they will have no chioice, since they will run out of water in 2-3days,and the cities will burn.

 

[jimLE]

If I could build anything and money wasn't an option? haha.... I would build this.

another idea occured to me when it comes to that..buield a home around a pond/small lake where it's in a centered court yard..that way it'll be there for easy access for fresh water n all..

 

[zombiesrreal]

Best place ever http://all-that-is-interesting.com/post/4956385434/the-first-zombie-proof-house

 

[Gazrok]

Always loved the zombie house, hehe...

everybody in your area knows about your place, or will hear about it. Enough of them will come to "visit", too. your area is just full of good places for a sniper to set up and pick off you and yours. if shtf, better figure on a short "bugout" , to a dugout shelter, near where you have cached a year's supply of food. The townfolk outtnumber farmers and ranchers by 50 to 1. So you can't defend such a place, and a helluva lot of "townies" will be headed your way, if shtf. they will have no chioice, since they will run out of water in 2-3days,and the cities will burn.

Hear about it how? I don't advertise my preps to anyone but anonymously on the Internet to a small group of folks who are like-minded (and usually spread all over the globe) or close friends who are the ones invited if the SHTF.
Exactly, they'll be out of water, fuel, etc. Not exactly ideal conditions for traveling around a lot to find scattered rural holdups that may or may not have something, and if they are, are likely well-defended. The "townies" as you put it, will be at each other's throats long before they venture out of the city.

Just because I'm bugging in doesn't mean there aren't other, backup plans to not only bug out, but also take back in the event of loss.

 

[Deadly dave]

My bug out shelter

 

[Roninsensei]

lol if your a smurf..

 

[Gazrok]

There are a few defensive things I do want to build though...

1) A Hidden Bunker - at first, I was pretty resigned to die if we are nuked, but really, it's quite survivable where we are. Same with a nuclear incident, and fallout or even an impact event that doesn't kill us all outright. Seems the first 48 hours are the most dangerous for radiation, and then the rest of a two-week period if your area actually gets a big dose of it. In addition, this could serve as a redoubt area if we are overrun, to take back the place. Basically, the plan would be to dig down, build the bunker with poured concrete, cinder blocks, and rebar, and hide the area that does stick above ground (I've got a good idea on this one...basically, something that most will never go near). It won't be built for comfort, but will be livable for 48 hours to two weeks if the worst happens (concrete and earth are great for blocking radiation). - this project will probably be a while, as I'm still working on the final design, and it will be expensive, and with almost ZERO immediate benefit, which knocks it down on the priority list. I'll likely barter for the materials though, so it may just be a project of opportunity. Something I discovered while designing, you only need beds for 1/3 of the occupants, as if you use shifts, only a third will be sleeping at one time. Greatly reduces needed space.

2) Pillbox Planters - basically, these are cinder block pillboxes (painted decoratively) at strategic points with good fields of fire and observation for sentries. However, prior to a SHTF event, they'd be filled up with dirt, and plants. Come a SHTF event, the plants are dug out, and a roof panel bolted on top, but until then, they are just landscaping. - this project will be done middle of next year, I'm constantly collecting cinder blocks, and already have the rebar and concrete for it. Another pillbox will be the grill area, though it will just look like an area for the grill, vs. defense.

3) Vehicle Stoppers - about 3' in front of the perimeter fencing, I want to sink 6" diameter posts (4' long, so 2' below ground and with concrete, 2' above ground) every 3' to prevent vehicles from rolling through the fencing. Has a practical use now, just in case someone careens off the road, etc., like convenience stores use. Most of the property already has trees that fulfill this role, but there are open spots where this would be good. - this project will be done end of next year hopefully (and we have to have a locator company come out just to be sure we don't disrupt any roadside utilities.)