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Servant of Jesus Christ, Steven (Grizzly)

SURVIVALISM
Disaster planning and preparations for families
From a British Viewpoint
Information, constructive comment and other useful articles
for the family seeking to become better prepared

Introduction

I hope the reason you are reading this book is to help you choose what plans and preparations you wish
to make to protect your family before, during and after a disaster.

I do not want you to see this as a “How To” book, Its prime objective it to make you think more about
taking care of yourselves during times of crisis. If you find you agree with everything I have written then I
have failed, Why ?, Because my needs differ from yours and those of your friends, the objective is to
make you more aware of your own options and how to adapt your lifestyle best to meet the trials and
tribulations that life will throw at you.

Disasters can be roughly defined as natural, political, ecological, or social in origin. They can be triggered
by geological events, astral events, military and police activity, political and social upheavals are another
common cause. Though you can do little or nothing to prevent these disasters happening you can to a
certain degree try to minimise the effects of an event upon your family. The prime objectives are to survive
the initial event and to continue to flourish and prosper after the event. In general it is everyone's will to
survive, However the view from mainstream society is to put their faith in the government to provide
protection and support during and after a crisis. ( Even though very often it is the government that is the
cause of the crisis in the first place). Survivalists are just ordinary folk who choose to take extra
precautionary steps at individual and family level to protect their property and loved ones. Roughly
speaking they take out extra insurance in the form of survival plans and preparations to ensure their
family’s well-being. After this survivalists tend to adapt their lifestyles to take into consideration their
survival plans.

People who turn to survivalism are usually by their very nature strong willed individuals with a strong
desire to be as self-reliant and independant as possible. Survivalists for the most part are far more aware
of global current affairs than Mr Joe Q Public, They foresee possible hazards and threats to their family’s
integrity and well being, and choose to plan and prevent or minimise the effects of any unwelcome event.
The object of this little book is not to tell you how to survive this or that but to make you think a bit more
about everyday lifestyle choices. House buying, Holidays, Work, Food supplies, Energy supplies, Health
issues, Education etc are some of the things you make decisions about every day, What I want to do is to
make you consider the survival aspect of your decisions and perhaps modify your choice accordingly.
I actually believe that survivalism as part of your way of life improves and enhances the quality of your
view of the world and the environment around you. I hope you find this briefing of some benefit to you.
Steve Day
SURVIVALIST

A definition
One who provides for possible future events, be they natural disaster or social / political events so that
they may have the food and tools necessary for continued survival.

Index
Survivalism in the Millennium
Survivalism in the UK & across the world
Survivalism and the Internet
Survivalist Comparison
Readiness Levels
Retreat logic 1
Retreat logic 2
Lifestyle adjustments 1
Lifestyle adjustments 2
Your Retreat
Real Estate
Flood protection
Setting up your home as a retreat
Risk analysis
Risk
Threats from extremist government
Terrorism
Intelligence gathering
Earth changes
Aspects of support
Allies for survival
What do we teach our children?
Group security and defence
Transport considerations
Vehicle selection
My Bug out vehicle
Mapping & Route Planning
Resource Mapping
Bug out checklist
Handy kit list
Bug out Bags and Bug out Vests
Lightweight Bug out Vest ( Everyday wear vest kit)
Feel, Fit, and Familiarity (Getting to know your kit)
Stockpiling suggestions
Increased stock levels
Simple methods of caching
Food shelf life recommendations
Hygiene
Basic medical kit
Short term heat and light
Caravans for Survival
Campervans as Bug out vehicles
Winter Preparation Check List

SURVIVALISM IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

As we move into the 21st century I firmly believe that there is more reason now to being prepared for
trouble than there was in the 70's and 80's. Nuclear holocaust may not be a mainstream threat anymore
but its still possible. Since the horrors on the 11Th September 2001 many people feel the threat from an
Islamic nuclear or biological bomb is very high. However today I feel the threat is now more likely to be
environmental / ecological in cause and the survivalist of the millennium has to be even more prepared
and to have a broader skills base than ever was foreseen in the past. We must also consider the insidious
threat from within, by that I mean tyrannical government or global terrorism action.

What has prompted this belief? , Well in the first place I watch news from around the globe from many
various sources cross referencing where possible, I also monitor global weather events ( not as boring as
it sounds) I also keep an eye open for items about unusual events and occurrences as well as what the
worlds politicians are currently trying to screw up.

I will list a few and you can read from it what you may!
The severe weather aspect of El Nino is reported to be occurring more frequently and more severely,
though the changes were well noted over the years it appears that the effects of El Nino are getting more
extreme. Is it being enhanced by Global warming?

The recent discovery of super volcanoes, and as an example of such an item is the severe lifting of a lake
in Yellowstone national park, Geologists believe that if this volcano decides to empty its magma chamber
(which is overdue now**) it will screw up the worlds weather for five or more decades.

The last super volcano to erupt was Toba 74,000 years ago in Sumatra. Ten thousand times bigger than
Mt St Helens, it created a global catastrophe dramatically affecting life on Earth. Scientists know that
another one is due - they just don't know when... or where.

**It is little known that lying underneath one of America's areas of outstanding natural beauty -
Yellowstone Park - is one of the largest super volcanoes in the world. Scientists have revealed that it has
been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago... so the next
is overdue.
(And the sleeping giant is breathing, vulcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under
the park and have calculated that in parts of Yellowstone the ground has risen over seventy centimetres
this century. Is this just the harmless movement of lava, flowing from one part of the reservoir to another?
Or does it presage something much more sinister, a pressurised build-up of molten lava?) Source BBC
Horizon science program Feb 2000

Remember what the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa did in the 1800's and magnify it many times. As of late
2004 interest in Super Calderas is once again on the increase as Yellowstone is once again showing
signs of activity.

Even the ocean currents that help regulate Europe’s weather is under siege, the direction and flow of the
gulf stream is reported to be changing beyond normal parameters and may be interrupted, This would
cause Northern Europe and the UK to get the same type of weather that they get in Newfoundland as
possibly as severe as Alaska.

Again in November 2003 the media is once more producing articles and science programs about the
problems facing us if the Gulf Stream Conveyor Belt stops.
( This is covered in some depth once again on the BBC science program Horizon , Nov 2003)

Global warming is causing millions of tons of ice melt water from the poles pouring into the oceans which
is reducing the salinity, which will eventually stop the gulf stream from flowing back south along the ocean
bottom, this mass of melt water is also being supplemented by even more fresh water from Siberian rivers
whose outflow has increased because of the huge increase in rainfall feeding the rivers because of global
warming.

The underground aquifer which provides the water for the bulk of the great plains and its associated
wheat growing areas ( the bread basket of the free world) is becoming so depleted through over
extraction that where boreholes were originally dug to 60 feet are now being dug to 360 feet and the
amount of water available for extraction and use is reducing annually, Fears are now being expressed
that brackish salt water may find its way into the aquifer from coastal areas .
( This has been challenged by some of the more enlightened parties on the Misc Survivalism internet
newsgroup who believe the fears about the water table becoming depleted are unfounded, but accept the
risk from brackish water intrusion is genuine)

Earthquakes are occurring in places where they do not usually happen, or at least in areas where its been
so long since the last one no record is available. In areas that do have earthquakes the severity of them
and the frequency of them is increasing. ( Or is it as some people suggest, that its simply a case of better
monitoring of fault zones and the increased reporting of shocks that drives the increased fears?)
Tornados are starting to occur in places like Utah and Maine and British Columbia where they never really
occurred before.
European weather patterns are becoming unstable and more severe in there extremity.
The icecaps are starting to break up and huge ice masses are drifting into open waters, and the currents
affected by the massive amounts of extra fresh water into the oceans are changing the flow pattern of the
Gulf Stream.
To compound this we are still pouring ever increasing amounts of crap into the atmosphere, the ozone
holes are getting bigger, fresh water is now becoming a valuable commodity (If you don't believe me ask
the folks in the mid west of the US of A, The folks in the southern part of Britain, The Palestinians and
Israeli's, parts of east Africa and southern Australia) Add to this the increasing world population and the
trend of mass migration, 4 million Mexicans are trying to get across the Rio Grande per year and the EC
believes that up to 7 million North Africans per year wish to relocate northwards. Currently the UK is
receiving over 500,000 asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants a year all looking for a better
life, it is estimated that those 500,000 have at least 750,000 dependants waiting to follow them to the UK
if their application to stay is accepted.

Oil and coal is becoming harder and more expensive to extract, Current trends suggest a 30% shortfall in
world needs within 25 years whilst demand is increasing at 22 % every 10 years. The UK is forecast to
become a net importer of gas and oil in ten years time. Gas prices have recently tripled in the UK
( Autumn 2003). In the very near future the UK’s gas supplies will have to be piped over 3000 miles from
Kazakhstan through some of the most geological and politically unstable parts of the world, I have no idea
how they intend to protect the full length of the pipeline from terrorist attack.( Daily Mail July 2. 2003)

Power outages / brownouts, fuel shortages, interruption of logistics to keep the towns and cities going are
increasing more in the developed world than in the third world.
( I wrote the comments above long before the big black outs that affected the north eastern US, London
and Scandinavia in 2003, or the brown outs and power shortages that humiliated the people of California,
outages will get worse and more frequent the more we have to rely entirely on vulnerable power systems.

Like it or not the world is getting a bit crowded and in the western world we are following the trend set by
most of the great civilisations of the past in which the following equation came to be. The trend is of
increased taxes and declining services, less cops, doctors, teachers, soldiers everything except
bureaucrats. Declining services and quality of life, food, and our environment as more and more people
place greater and greater demand on the social infrastructure.
The more civilised a society gets the higher the demands it places on its wealth, the more decadent the
society becomes the more immoral and corrupt it becomes, the more tolerant a society became the lower
the accepted values became, it always ends the same, escalating crime, collapse of society and family
values, then the total disintegration of the society and in come the barbarians!

When a society collapses it is a gradual event to begin with then , at first localised problems gradually
spilling out and increasing in severity until the chaos and violence simply overwhelms the society
involved.
Most survivalists are aware of a moral and social problems locally in their area and the increased
frequency of major events / issues which are for the most part bad. Those people are now taking the
necessary steps to ensure the security & safety of their families and groups. What you also need to be
doing is to prepare for a major social collapse of society in general. It usually begins with disharmony in
one or two cities (shortages, strikes, riots, power outages,etc that the police, fire and medical services can
not or will not attend, Cops start to look, dress and act more like soldiers, civil rights become suspended,
freedom of travel becomes restricted etc)
This trend will then spread out to the suburbs and to neighbouring towns until it becomes a national crisis.
The government will enact its emergency powers and promise to restore normality soon, but chances are
it won’t happen.
Since 9/11/01 just how many more “emergency measures“ have been forced upon us in the name of
national security? Do you believe any of them will be repealed if the crisis ends? How will a national
identity card system and data recording system for the decent law abiding people prevent even one
terrorist atrocity?.

Because of the size and complexity of the global market, once one nations finances become unstable or
devalued and people in other countries get laid off en masse the rot will quickly spread until anarchy
reigns and it becomes every person for themselves. What if say saltwater corruption of a nations
freshwater aquifers occurs because of over extraction, or because of some tin pot dictator nuking or
cutting off the oil to the free world, or perhaps America as the worlds greatest consumer of petroleum
products deciding that it wants all of the available oil to sustain its people, They have the military might,
no one else can hope to match them, If someone does have a go at them either way its going to cause a
massive global depression.

Another cause for concern in western societies in the current trend for our own corporations to move
much of their production to Asia and Eastern Europe to reduce costs. This is causing much dissent in the
workforces of Europe and America as they see constant large influxes of economic migrants coming into
their homelands who will work for less money than the indigenous people, and this is compounded by so
many jobs such as banking and call centres moving away from the west to Asia at the same time.

Its just one of the not so pleasant aspects of the free market economy that has served us so well , Until
Now ??????

If a collapse occurs (and judging by the extreme events of the first four years of the 21st Century the
chances are that it is more likely now than ever ) you as survivalists need to be ready go it alone as self
contained self-sufficient independent groups / communities for at least 18 months to 36 months, or until
everyone has finished fighting, looting or has died through starvation, disease or conflict. Diseases such
as BSE / CJD/ SARS /Avian flu have all caused great problems to man in only the first 3 years since the
millenium, and of course AIDS / HIV has continued its trail of devastation across the globe. In the UK an
untreatable variant of TB has caused London to become the TB capital of the western world.

Working together for our common objective is the most sensible way ahead, if anyone is going to survive
it will be those of us who make sacrifices now to ensure the future for our children.

SURVIVALISM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM & ACROSS THE WORLD

In all the four corners of the world you will find survivalism flourishing, more people than ever before are
trying to retake control over their own destinies and lifestyles. The United Kingdom is no different in that
respect but it does have its own set of unusual circumstances for the modern survivalist to overcome.

Apart from the very obvious problems of the right to own firearms and the right to protect yourselves from
criminals there is a strong public objection to people who are not mainstream in their lifestyles, If you don't
socialise in the accepted manner like enjoying soccer, going to the pub etc you are seen as an oddball.
You compound this with the British survivalists natural conservatism and an inbred fear of others with
whom they are not familiar you end up with a difficult environment in which to develop your skills and
plans without being ridiculed by your neighbours or workmates.

Survivalism is a serious undertaking that is usually a very private matter for you and your family and not
one you would choose to broadcast in any way, this in itself causes problems to overcome.

How do you gain the expertise you need in so many subjects without contacting others, how do you
source the logistics and kit you require in the larger than normal quantities than Joe Public would buy,
how do you gather the intelligence about current affairs, possible hazards, retreat locations etc without
giving away your reasons, how do you overcome your natural curiosity as to what other survivalists are up
to and are they doing something better than you are?

Some survivalists form "GROUPS" sharing costs, bulk buying, developing a communal retreat, having
group "STANDARDS", setting criteria for "MEMBERSHIP" etc these "GROUPS" tend to have a very
strong willed "LEADER" controlling things and persuading the others to follow his way of doing things,
sometimes this becomes elitist and at other times it becomes a "CULT" with the ruling elite controlling the
ordinary members by intimidation, fear etc this is not a path that I would advocate that anyone follows for
good reason.

The only things that survivalists should have to standardise upon are a set of communication frequencies
and protocols for getting in touch with each other as and when THEY CHOOSE. Survivalists by their very
natures are very intelligent, free thinking, broadminded individuals each with their own agendas to follow.
This is why they became survivalists in the first place because the wish to be in control over their own
lives and destinies without outside forces controlling their freedom of personal choice.

Yes it would be nice and easy if we all had the same equipment, fuel and ammunition calibres but for the
reasons shown above individual people have their own preferences and reasons for choosing their kit etc.
Insisting that everyone uses petrol power cookers or generators or vehicles as part of being a "MEMBER"
of the group is stupid if one of the group lives on a farm that is totally diesel powered and has 10.000
gallons of the stuff stored on site. Its the same principle if everyone has to have weapons available only in
7.62 rimless NATO calibre and one of the guys lives in a very heavily forested area that would be better
served by a 12 gauge pump action shotgun. Individuality must be encouraged not stifled by diktat from
government or the leaders of your local group. Communism and a single plan of development has been
proven not to work where as freedom of choice and flexibility has been shown to flourish, this is especially
true for survivalists.

It has been said "No man is an Island" this also holds true for survivalists and a way to share our skills,
etc and to find others of a similar outlook to ourselves is part of human nature, we must balance the
survivalists need for privacy and security against the need to gather information and contacts with other
people like ourselves.

The way ahead for us I feel is something I saw when in the US of A where like minded people came
together twice a year for what they called a RENDEZVOUS, At these events people got to meet each
other on neutral ground to socialise, barter, cross train, get the latest gossip, share ideas, find out what's
new etc. These events have been very successful at bridging the gap amongst people of similar beliefs
without putting any restrictions upon them, what was not acceptable there was anyone trying to force
upon the others their ideals and beliefs.

SURVIVALISM AND THE INTERNET

In recent years the internet has provide priceless access to information about survivalism, people, places,
plans, equipment, finding people with similar politics to yourself etc. The Survivalist and Self-reliance
communities have made huge steps forward in sharing information by accessing the Internet. One
particular problem people when using the internet is accessing and recovering information, contacts and
intelligence etc that are of interest to you that is free from unwanted / unsolicited / abusive or obscene
material.
On public news groups such as Misc Survivalism, Alt Survival etc one can find very enlightened and
useful material, but one can also become exposed to Trolls, Flamers, Virus attacks, Spam, and people
with questionable morals and intentions.
This is sadly an all to common an experience for people new to the world of survival and it has caused
many of them to withdraw from trying to make useful contacts or to access the information they so rightly
need. Fortunately for us a few valiant souls have taken on the role of setting up and running superb top
notch moderated news groups and survival archives.
For example The Rocky Mountain Survival Group, Frugal Squirrel, and similar organised groups have
created public archives of huge libraries of survivalist / self reliance information. But even better than
these useful archives there has evolved the Miscellaneous Survivalism Moderated news group ran by the
popular Canadian Survivalist called BAX which is hosted by Yahoo Groups. It currently has nearly 1600
members many of whom post to the discussion board frequently.
Bax and his team of skilled moderators have created a well balanced up to date well informed news group
that does away with the unpleasant or unsolicited parts of the world wide web that most of us wish to
avoid. Using his teams selective judgement they have set up MSM so that they the moderators can trawl
the survivalist and self reliance news groups that have proliferated recently looking for intelligent posters
who can be invited to join MSM . The advantage of this selective membership ensures that in general only
contributors and users of the highest calibre are allowed to join the membership of MSM . The group is
ran fairly but firmly with all posts being vetted before being posted. On MSM there is a a very busy bullitin
board, file archives, real time chat room and other highly useful sources of information.So if you wish to
participate in useful constructive and reasoned debate, or need access to quality archive material then
you must apply to Bax for probationary membership or make enough constructive posts on survival
oriented news groups for Bax and his team to identify and approach you.Jan 2004
Bax / MSM can be contacted via [email protected]
Interested in: Survival, Food storage, firearms, canning, gardening, self-sustaining communities, back to
basics, water purification, alternative power, conservation, homesteading, first aid and more??
Come join us in this group MSM

SURVIVALISTS COMPARED

It is difficult to define what makes a survivalist different from any one else in the populous, Why are we so
different and what makes us tick?

Well to start with we don't like to rely on governments to dictate how we live our lives and by what values
we find socially acceptable. We tend to be a tad traditional in our outlook on the world.
We don't ask for anything more from the state than we can contribute, we prefer to stand up for ourselves,
and in return we simply wish to be left alone to live our lives by our own values.

We have a different perspective on how to live our lives in comparison to Mr & Mrs Joe Public, After work
we tend to spend our free time on trying to better our life skills and improve our knowledge of our
environment to better prepare us for any given crisis and we make time to live life to its fullest without
harming anyone else or the environment where possible. We make contingency plans whilst Joe Public
expects the Govt to provide for him when things go wrong.

If there is a huge electrical storm and the main power substations get toasted Joe Public will pick up the
phone and call the utilities and his councillor and sometimes even the police demanding that action be
taken to put the power back on because "A" its not his fault, he pays his bills and demands the service
paid for "B" Its the governments fault for not preventing it.

Meanwhile down the street the family of "weirdo's" who are survivalists use their flashlights to get out the
stored camping lanterns and candles, turn on their battery powered radio to find out more about what's
happening, Then go round their close neighbours providing hot drinks, spare candles and news reports.

Its the same with our kids and our free time, Joe Public will happily give his kids £10 and tell them to get
out to play and get home before 11pm whist he and his partner head of to the Pub / Club/ Soccer match.
Whilst the kids are tormenting the residents of some distant neighbourhood and getting into all sorts of
bother (drunk, stoned, arrested, pregnant etc) the Public's have gotten a skin full of beer and a takeaway
meal and are screaming and swearing at each other in the taxi or on the walk home, ruining the peace
and quiet of the late evening (Mrs Smith at number 37 will once again wake up and find a discarded
Chinese meal in her garden and old Tom at number 43 will find vomit all over his car). When the Public's
get home they find a message from the police dept on the answer phone saying young Wayne has been
arrested for being drunk and stealing a car, whilst discovering 15 year old Tracy is in bed with her
boyfriend.
After the hassle with the police and social services you will find the Public's in the pub again the next day /
week! telling their associates that the government should do something to stop kids from getting into
trouble and "don't you think those stupid survivalists would have anything better to do than go round
banging on peoples doors asking folk if they would like some candles and a hot drink".

In the meantime what are the survivalists doing, First they are ensuring that should the gas / electricity /
water go off they can get by comfortably with their reserve kit, Dad is taking the lads out to go camping
and abseiling and Mum is going to help the girls at the white water canoeing event before she orders
those books on helping educate your kids at home.
Tomorrow she will help the girls with their preparations for their exams and if they do alright she will let
them off with their garden chores and let them have some free time providing they are in by 10pm and let
her know where they are.

Last year when Mr Public and Mr Survivalist were laid off at the same time Mr Survivalist spent his time
doing odd jobs for people to get a few bucks earned and to maintain his dignity whilst going to night
school to improve his education.
Mr public told his mates in the club were he spends his enforced free time that he went down the social
security office and told them straight " I demand some benefits because I've paid my taxes" and then
evicted his kids saying "Get down the council and tell them you must be given a flat rent free plus some
dole because the bloody government wont help people like us when its their responsibility".

Mr Survivalist at the supermarket asks his wife " Cant we find something better than this for our main
meal because the packet says it pre-processed, full of E's and additives and preservatives, surely this
cant be doing the kids any good"

Mr Public at the supermarket says to his wife " Don't go wasting any money on fancy crap because I need
to get my cigarettes yet and we need some cash to go out with tonight".

Mr Survivalist asks his wife at the travel agents store " I reckon that a holiday near that outdoor pursuits
centre would be good for us and the kids, you know the one I mean near that leather crafts and pottery
centre, bags of fresh air and fresh grub and loads of exercise for the kids"

Mr Public says to his long suffering partner at the travel agents " We are going back to that place last we
went to last year, you know the one, its the place with the dirt cheap booze and an all night disco, The
kids can go and play in the arcade again.

Mrs public got mugged last week her assailant ran up to her and demanded her purse, he got it, Soon
after the same thug came across Mrs Survivalist and tried the same on her, he got it, a broken nose and
fractured elbow from her telescopic baton. Of course it was the police and governments fault for allowing
Mrs Public to get attacked.

Mrs Survivalist went home with a confident smile on her face, she did not bother to report the attack
because she knew that she would be the one who got prosecuted.

There is a distinct difference between the mental attitude of the general public and survivalists in planning
for and dealing with adversity, The attitude of Joe Public has been and is getting more biased towards
relying on the nanny / social state to tell them how to live work and play and to not make major decisions
or take actions of their own. The politicians leap at every opportunity to react to knee jerk public outcry
over some tragic event and to introduce more and more draconian / orwellian legislation.

This leads us down a narrow path to a point of divergence, Society willingly gives away its given right to
freedom every time a politician promises to make things right with new laws, (Quote, If you are happy and
you know it clank your chains) The shooting incidents at Hungerford and Dunblain are perfect examples
of vote grabbing, knee jerk politics used to disarm and to pacify a population of willing serfs in exchange
for hollow promises of a safer society. If this was not truly the case then dear reader why have the British
Police with Home Office support, year after year since 1918 but en masse since 1966 demanded and
received more restrictive firearms legislation on the assurance that when such laws were introduced
armed crime rates would be dramatically reduced. Of course the opposite has been the effect, armed
crime has risen year on year but the public no longer has the means to protect its self, The other evil side
effect of this society of tolerance and understanding is that the criminals get off leniently or scot free to re-
offend at will and the public get prosecuted to the fullest effect of the "LAW!" if they try to protect
themselves or their property. From 1996 to 2002 crimes of violence involving firearms have risen over
51% in the UK according to the international crime survey. ( Since 1997 to 2004 Gun Crime and Violent
crime in the UK have risen by over 100% while detection and arrest rates have fallen to an all time low,
this has led directly to an increase in the migration of decent families from the cities to more rural
pastures)

The Survivalist is taking the other route to taking responsibility for their own lives and destiny, Work hard,
help others, ask for nothing, be intolerant of all crime, make decisions and accept the responsibility for
their actions. For us there is hope that when society destroys itself we will be able to live our lives in a
manner we choose, For the public I say to them " don’t forget to kiss the hand that feeds you.

READINESS LEVELS

This is a suggested guide to prepare for any future crisis; it is not a hard and fast plan and should be
adapted to your own needs.
Readiness level

1 What kit you carry about you at any given time (knife, multi-tool, lighter, etc).
2 What's in your car, house, office, workplace at any given time.
3 What you pull out from storage during a time of increased awareness and keep about your person.
4 As per 3 but stored in car, house, office, workplace at time of increased awareness.
5 What you take with you when "away" from home should be increased to maximum level.
6 Extra stuff you obtain because of increased concerns (kit, food, fuel etc).
7 Extra stuff you obtain and distribute to home, car, cache, and retreat when you become aware that all
may not be well.
8 When you stock the larder to 3 months level, keep the car and fuel cans topped up, check the cache
and retreat stock levels, you start buying those urgent extra's, move your books and reference materials
to the retreat.
9 when you establish daily communications s with others in your support group and increase monitoring
of news sources.
10 Where you insist on knowing where you family is at any given time and restrict how far they can travel
from home.
11 Update and increase stock levels in cache, retreat and bug out bags to long term levels, relocate extra
kit and clothes to the retreat, restrict families movements away from home, spend free time readying the
retreat, monitor news hourly.
12 Put bug out bags by front door, keep family at home, put support group onto 4 hours notice, all fuel
levels topped off.
13 Activate retreat, check all escape routes from home, relocate as many of family as can be spared to
retreat ASAP if possible.
14 Monitor all sources of news, shut down home, put support group on 1 hours notice to go, anyone who
can ""afford"" to go to the retreat doe's so.
15 Bug out or batten down "BEFORE" crisis gets out of hand, ALL family and support groups to go to
retreat locations immediately.
16 Full defence/security precautions to be put into operation, low profile/concealment protocols to be
maintained, no lights to be shown after dusk/before dawn, no smoke to be visible during daylight, all
vehicles hidden and fuel preservatives to be added to petrol, diesel etc.
17 Be ready for late arrival of members who may be ill, diseased, wounded or who are being forced to
show hostile strangers the location of retreat.
18 Start patrolling area.
19 All external forays to be treated as patrols, no one goes outside on their own.
20 Pray!

RETREAT LOGIC

"Stay or go"
When is the right time to head for your retreat or safe haven is a question I am frequently asked, This
brings into question the entire concept of retreating because everyone has their own views on "when to
go (or stay) and Why ?"

My view is that most of us are not financially independent enough to afford a full scale total living retreat,
Yes most of us have somewhere to go if the **** hits the fan and I am sure that you could survive for
months on your own, but what about your dependants?
Can they and would they wish to rough it for months in a strange environment, They may have the
physical strength but what about the mental and emotional strength?

What about you, how long can you exist, what will you do if you become incapacitated for any reason, I
think you will need support from others in time no matter how good your survival skills and plans are.

When are you going to go? What will be the trigger for you to uproot your family and resources to your
designated retreat? What will you do if someone else who outnumbers and out guns you has taken
possession of your site? What if you can not get to your site in time before events overtake you?
All of these questions must be addressed and answers found NOW.

Food for thought.

Yes I know you have important commitments, work, schooling, housing and finances etc but all of your
efforts will be wasted if some political or natural event causes your premature demise because you were
not ready or able to react in time. So when is the right time to go to a location that will maximise your
chances of survival without creating the added burden of severe emotional trauma?
The answer is now folks, you need to make your home your first level of safety and security. You must
appraise your local environment for risks, hazards, resources and assets especially if you are in very high
areas of population density, or areas of political instability or are in strategic target areas so on and so
forth. Are you close enough to receive support from other survivalists with whom you have mutual support
agreements?

If you are unhappy with your results then its time to move house as soon as possible.
If you have wondered why many survivalist families move to Montana, Wyoming and Idaho or Yorkshire,
Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland, Its not just that the areas are more rural and have lower levels of
population density. The cost of living is less and properties are cheaper and there is more choice than in
the more affluent south. I agree that salaries are lower in the north but so are your living costs. What
some of you are now doing is to work from home, some of you can transfer within your companies, some
of you have sufficient skills to enable you to diversify in your choice of work, and some of you can live off
the profits from the sale of your current properties. A certain percentage of you will not be able to do any
of the above so you must develop contacts in more depth in the area you intend to retreat to (perhaps you
can rent holiday cottages to build up a familiarity with area of your choice).
You will still need a hidey hole to bug out to if everything goes to hell and back but it wont need to be as
highly equipped as a full scale retreat, you may even be able to get away with a set of caches near your
new home if it is well chosen and well sited.
SUMMARY
You need the will and the commitment to take this route but it will work out cheaper than developing a full
size retreat and will not be as traumatic to increase your level of readiness during a crisis as it would to
watch the world fall apart around you and have to leave the security and stability of your home.
This will not be the answer to everyone's needs and wishes but does give a valid alternative to the
purchase and running of two homes and it could if planned properly put you closer to other survivalists
who can and will support each other when needed.
 RETREAT LOGIC 2

Sometimes for various reasons the survivalist can not establish a permanent retreat location, It could be
work commitments, family pressure or financial constraints etc, and of course the commonest reason for
not doing anything is the lack of will to make a commitment to what is after all an ideology.

So we must try to provide some other options for these good people to at least give them a choice on the
matter of surviving the coming troubles.

What I want to do is suggest that you consider obtaining one of the following options.

A mobile home in a secure location that could be deemed as a main retreat, It will need auxiliary power
and water supplies, IE solar/wind power system, composting toilet, bottled gas systems, cached kit
nearby etc.

A towed caravan trailer with the same kit as for the mobile home placed on a small-secluded site away
from major cities and developments.

A folding caravan, the type that is all alloy or glass fibre construction, A six berth model when folded down
for transport or storage measures as little as 1.5 metre wide 2.4 metre long and 1.2 metre high. They can
be stored on their sides to decrease the amount of storage space required. The same auxiliary kit will be
required.

A motor camper perhaps with a towed trailer with your kit in it or a motor camper with your kit stored away
from home, perhaps en-route to your retreat location.

If you are up to it perhaps a full scale overland expedition vehicle??? ( Unimog/ Bremach/ Pinzgaur )

OPTIONS
It may be feasible if you go for any of the three towing options to simply adapt your current vehicle with a
tow bar and electrics.

It may be worth your while to change your family car by making a motor camper your prime method of
transport.

Some people have already purchased a 4WD vehicle for their survival plans and do not have enough
resources left to establish a prime retreat, those folk could fit a tow bar etc and haul one of the options
listed above.

Some people have suggested abandoning or not relying on their own private retreats, but finding suitable
communal sites throughout the UK where upon they could team up with other members of a support
network and spend their own limited resources on a mobile retreat / survival vehicle type system. This
obviously means being prepared to bug out that bit earlier if necessary which may be a small
disadvantage. (Which can be reduced if your vehicle is stored away from the cities) On the other hand it
can combine your days off / holidays with your survival plans, reducing costs and duplication. Another
point in the favour of investing in mobile equipment is that if your spouse or partner is a reluctant
survivalist you can simply explain that the van / trailer / motor home is your new leisure hobby.

These options at least give you more food for thought and also give you the option of being able to remain
independent and fully equipped when away from home for work or leisure.
You can get a decent used caravan from £1500 a folder from £2500 a good mobile home should be in the
region of £6000 and up whilst a basic but usable motor home can be gotten for £3000.

A last option which is ok for one or two reasonably hardy people is to buy a good quality midi or standard
panel van (such as a Ford Transit / Econoline or similar) and fit it out yourself as a camper with a towed
trailer carrying your support equipment.

For those of a maritime persuasion you could consider a cabin cruiser or convert an old lifeboat / fishing
boat.

LIFESTYLE ADJUSTMENTS 1

As a survivalist you will need at some point in time to assess your personal level of readiness, You will
become acutely aware of your local environment and begin to realise that you must make some
adjustments to your lifestyle to give you the best chance of surviving.

To achieve this is not as traumatic as you think it simply means adding another consideration to your day
to day living decisions, A few examples are listed below.

If you are moving house as well as the normal considerations such as price and room sizes / local
amenities / schools etc add to your list has it got a cellar for your stockpile? Is the garden large enough to
provide space to grow food? Is the water supply gravity fed or pumped? Does it present to you a
sustainable position? Is it unobtrusive? Can you bug out from it quickly without having to fight your way
through heavy traffic or refugee columns?

Career decisions are also important and financial reward is usually paramount in your decision making,
but at some point if you take survivalism seriously you may have to trade off a big juicy salary against a
more modest one but be in a position where upon you are not going to be stuck in the middle of a large
city when trouble strikes.

Independence from the system and the ability to have alternatives available for you to choose from must
be realised, Yes you may be making a huge salary in the city but if crap happens (as it does) your money
is going to be worthless if you are stuck in Westminster or your local city centre and your kids (who are
worth more than any job) are across town 10 miles away on their own, stuck in a school with no support
from you, while your partner is 8 miles in the other direction wondering why the lights and elevators are
not working and why are all those people ransacking the shops down in the street.

You always have a choice and most of us will make some wrong ones when it comes to living our lives,
You say for example "I have to work in the city" for any amount of reasons I respect your decision as its
yours to make but it is you that has to live ( or die) with that decision not me. Try asking yourselves why
has MR A moved to the outskirts of town or why MR B has moved out to the countryside, what prompted
Colin from admin to buy a 4 WD RV and spends all his free time at his chalet /caravan/camping lodge.
You here comments like "I wonder what got into Claire from planning to fit solar panels to her house roof
and her friend Sandy has just fitted a composting toilet system / waste water recycle system to her
bungalow ". It’s your choice but money is a poor substitute for wisdom.

Can you come to some agreement with your boss allowing you to become a home office worker ("why the
hell does everyone else seem to be doing that ?" you ask yourself ) Can you relocate to one of the
smaller regional offices / stores / departments. Every bit helps swing the pendulum in your favour.
Who can I contact to get help and support if I want to improve my odds in a crisis? Is there a place my
family can escape to if we have to? Is there anyone else out there who feels the same as me? Where can
I learn more about self-reliance? What do I do NOW?

This is why you need to set up or join a MUTUAL SUPPORT NETWORK so that like minded people can
get together for their own benefit, Without anyone forcing their opinions, values and beliefs upon you, NO
religion No politics, without you soliciting those opinions first. That's what you could do, it wont be perfect
but what is, all that matters is there are people out there who don't like the way society is going or trust
the system to protect them.
 LIFESTYLE ADJUSTMENTS 2

Logic decrees that your everyday life and your survival plans will coexist in harmony after a while, the
route to this can be smoothed over by trying to make things multi functional / dual purposed such as
making enlightened choices when buying things. A few possible examples are listed below.

In your kit selection plans you will inevitably have need for some flashlights and perhaps a baton or night
stick, Why not combine both together, Instead of getting a couple of Eveready torches or similar generic
junk why not get something like a maglite 6 x C cell flashlight, it will provide you illumination and also be
of use as a baton.( The Current trend is for ultra powerful military tactical flashlights and long battery life
LED head equipped flashlights)

Daft things like key rings are useful, people are always buying novelty key rings that answer to whistles or
have games in them, why not get a kubotan from your local martial arts store and fix it to your keys, this
way you have your keys close to hand and when combined with the kubotan you have a good defensive
weapon and a flail combined, its legal as well.

Buying a new stereo? Make sure its got short-wave on it and marine and air bands, this helps provide
Intel from sources outside your area and are not influenced by government pressure, also at times you
can monitor amateur radio broadcasts and inter-group transmissions from the US of A

Transport is another consideration, if you are buying a new vehicle think about it as a useful survival
vehicle, Consider how much kit you can get in it, Can it go off road, (not necessarily a 4 wd but good
ground clearance helps), Can you fold the seats down or is the load bed long enough to sleep in (without
having to empty everything out), Can you obtain spares for it easily without having to order parts from
Japan or Europe, Can you fit long range fuel tanks with enough fuel to get to your retreat by the longest
possible route.

Holidays, If you choose not to vacation in the countryside at your chosen retreat location then at least go
somewhere that you can recon as you rest and play with one eye on spotting useful resources and
escape routes should you become trapped there.

Perhaps you are doing some home improvements? At the very least do not end up with only one source
of heat/light etc, if you can afford it get a multi-fuel AGA or Rayburn type stove, if you can't then get a multi
fuel barbeque type stove that will burn wood /coal/charcoal and bottled gas.

Nearly everything that you get that is electrically powered should be capable of running of batteries as
well and you need to get plenty of rechargeable Ni cads and a solar powered recharging unit to go with
them, IE hair dryers, flashlights, radios, soldering irons, water pumps, etc.

Try where possible to make everything serve two or more roles and this will help your adjustment to a
higher state of readiness that bit easier.

YOUR RETREAT

You are probably well aware of what you need at your retreat, things like independent water supplies
(preferably artesian or deep well) independent power (solar panels, hydrogen cells, wind turbines, open
cast coal, peat bogs, sustainable woodland, methane generators etc) Thermally efficient south facing
structures for domestic and work use, low maintenance structures etc.

The other concerns have also been equally well addressed in other articles by some very enlightened
people, concealed approach roads, space for agricultural use, defendable territory, low profile aspects,
expandable etc .
So now you have your retreat, you have either moved in to it and made it your permanent residence or
perhaps you use it for your days off and holidays, or you share it with other members of your group on an
ad hoc basis. Now what you need to consider is how you keep it secure and out of the public eye until you
need it, Its no use just trying to hide it with camouflage or hoping your neighbours wont be curious about
your plot, sooner or later someone is going to come calling, be it a nosy neighbour, the vicar, someone
from the council or water board, the local cop, some poachers, it could be anyone that blows your cover.

So what can you do to maintain a low profile? I suggest a system of twists upon the truth when
approached about your retreat or the activities going on there. If someone asks about the amount of gun
noise coming from the place try something along the lines of " We have a plague of barn rats and once a
month me and my friends get together to cull them".

Perhaps it becomes noticed that you have been getting huge deliveries of food to your base, Try telling
them that you run a catering business out of town but you keep your stocks at home, as you can see the
objective is to remain mainstream respectable to the rest of the public.

As to the retreat itself with its waterwheels, turbines, 28 tons of coal, loads of animals in the public eye
your best bet may be to play the role of a bunch of environmentalist hippies who are into ecology,
pollution control, healthy living etc, just keep the 50 cal machine guns and the ground sonar sensors out
of sight, another trick is to pretend you are some sort of govt sponsored research base or an outward
bound centre or a retreat for the victims of emotional trauma.

It is difficult to be inconspicuous but its a better bet than just relying on concealment, other points you
could consider is doing your weapons and marksmanship practise out of the area, having a barbeque
every now and then with the locals ( after hiding the anti social stuff) to help maintain a sense of normality,
perhaps during the summer months you could allow the local scouts and guides to use your field at no
charge for their annual camp or hold the village fair or an antique car show anything that lets folk think
you have nothing to hide. Perhaps you could flog off your spare eggs and fresh vegetables to the local
pensioners at cost or even better FREE, all of this will help endear you to the locals thereby helping you
lose yourselves in the community.

A wise sage once said the best place to hide a tree is in a forest.

REAL ESTATE

Most survivalists at some point will choose to move home for one reason or another this gives them a
golden opportunity to make some of those lifestyle adjustments, You do not need to go looking for a 5 bed
detached farmhouse next to a river to improve your chances as some people believe.

Most people involved in survivalism can not afford to go for the " Ideal" place, its always a compromise of
costs, work, schools, transport etc that have to be a balancing factor in your choice, but if you consider a
few of the following tips and perhaps achieve even one of them then you will improve your survival odds
as well as improving your lifestyle.

Don't go for a property that is on a main road or is likely to be used as a shortcut to a main road, avoid
where possible the large dormitory estates that are springing up all over the country. You certainly don’t
want to be along the chosen route that the panicked hoards of refugees use to flee the cities.

Don't buy property near substations, telephone exchanges, TA centres, motorway junctions, railway
facilities, hospitals, industrial or retail units or shopping malls, (the local shops are OK). Basically avoid
things that will attract refugees or police / military attention during a crisis.

Try to find property that is nondescript, out of view from the main thoroughfares, shielded from prying
eyes by hedges or walls. Make sure it’s not prone to flooding.
Try to find property in low population centres if at all possible, is this the time to ask the boss if you can
work from home or transfer to the smaller regional office?, American thinking on this point suggests living
in a community that is small enough to not be affected by the problems in the cities but big enough to
have a full skills base and be able to go self sufficient.

Older properties have more useful facilities than newer ones such as cellars, out houses, workshops, old
but still useable wells, larger gardens, established fruit trees, places that could be used to keep food
animals. Can the property take a wood/coal Range or AGA type cooker in the kitchen, does it have proper
chimneys so a wood / coal fireplace can be fitted if necessary?

Consider the aspect of the property, take a compass with you, the best properties have south facing
gardens to get the most sunlight, can you add solar panels and/or a wind turbine discreetly, is it windy
enough for a turbine?

Does the property have sufficient storage space for an office / storeroom/ shelter / workshop / bunkroom?
If you need any of them.

Is the property in a low crime area? Does it have easy access to the schools and your works if you have
to grab the kids / spouse etc to bug out in a crisis, Is there a choice of bug out routes, foot /bike / car /
water/ etc that are separate from the main public routes. Are there fields pastures etc close by that
provide the kids room to learn and play safely whilst also being suitable for growing food on, Is there an
independent source of fuel available such as trees, opencast coal/sea coal/peat etc in the vicinity?

Can you get your vehicles off the road and out of sight at the new property, are the vehicles going to be
secure when not in use, can you load / unload bug out kit / food etc without your neighbours seeing what
your up to?

Can you get good radio reception (SW/FM) in the area so you can communicate with others in your
group?

ARE YOU WILLING TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIVES THERE IF YOU HAVE TO?

If failing all else and you end up with a three bed semi that relies on mains gas and electric power you
need to ensure that its fully insulated and you get at least 2 large Calor gas type bottles* a camping
cooker / heater and gas powered light source, A portable camping toilet, you should also consider
investing in a portable generator and a large quantity of preserved fuel for it.

*An absolute minimum of two 13 KG bottles for short term emergencies.

My experience has led me to believe that older properties are best for space, the newer developments of
the last 40 years are the worst unless purpose built for independent living, I like bungalows in particular
especially ones built between 50 and 70 years ago, they tend to be very spacious inside with lots of
storage room and the grounds are usually quite large. They also tend to be built away from the main
areas of development in our towns.

If you must choose only one thing then let it be that you move out of town as far as possible.

FLOOD PROTECTION

Not all of us can afford to move home to locations that are the most beneficial to survivalists, many of us
have to compromise over one or more preferred attributes.

Whilst in many cases we can move within a given area to places a that are more rural, more secure, more
remote, more defendable, more sustainable etc, very often because of work or family or other
commitments we are unable to move more than a set distance. One problem that can occur is that
because of these restrictions you are unable to move to ground high enough to avoid the risk from
flooding.

**Of course if you are planning on moving to a property on higher ground it is generally accepted that you
buy a property at least 30 feet above the maximum recorded flood height for that area. This is because if
higher water levels become the norm the first ten feet of the 30 may be the new normal high tide mark,
the next ten feet in the frequently flooded area, followed by another 5 feet of land that could be unusable
because of the new higher water table, leaving only 5 feet of dry land for agricultural use.**

So if you are stuck in a position where the risk from occasional flooding is unavoidable you need to try to
reduce the risks to your home or retreat.

Starting from your boundary line consider these options

Can you raise a levi or earth berm around the perimeter of your home or house.
Can you build a brick / stone or concrete garden wall that is strong enough to hold back at least two feet
of floodwater ( you would need to be able seal off the gate during a period of high risk.
Can you make your water proofed gates outward opening so that the more the water pushes against
them the tighter the seal is made.
Can you create a run off gully or soak away to help the water to rapidly drain away.
( not into your neighbours garden)
Can your car be moved to higher ground but still close enough if you have to bug out.

Moving in from your boundary can you fit one way flap valves to your waste water and toilet outflow pipes
to prevent water and waste backing up into your home.
Can your construct or obtain covers to seal off the air bricks in your walls and to seal off any gaps
surrounding utility pipes and cables where they enter your home.
Can you obtain or make a shuttering board to seal off your front and back doors ( and French or patio
doors)
Can you have your gas and electrical distribution boards moved to a much higher position in the wall.
Can you arrange for the upstairs section of your home to be able to be isolated from the downstairs ( If
you can and your D/Board is not immersed in the flood you may be able to keep the power on upstairs
during the flood)
Can you apply a water proof rendering to the outside of your home ( only worthwhile in places where flood
risks are high and frequent.

Ensure the gap around all windows in well sealed with a quality silicone sealant.

Moving now to the contents.

It is wise to pre plan where exactly you are going to move your possessions when a flood warning is
issued.
For example can the design of your furniture allow for you to simply be able to lift the TV/ VCR, Sat
system/ PC / music centre onto higher shelving in the same room.

In my house the PC can be lifted straight up onto the top shelf of my desk to a height of 4ft 6 inches, my
TV / VCR can be lifted straight up to a height of 6 FT. My book collection is in a portable bookcase that
can easily be carried upstairs.
( My precious books now live upstairs in my office)

In the kitchen you need to allow space on the work surfaces ( that’s 3 feet up at least) to move your white
goods ( Fridge/ freezer/ washer/ Drier/ Dishwasher etc) up onto if you get enough warning.

The only thing I can not easily move is the carpets, suite and an aquarium.
Do keep all your personal documents including your insurance policies in a water and fireproof box
upstairs.

Keep your BOB bags etc close at hand but off the ground ( at least three feet) and preferably stored in
waterproof bags

Keep a good selection of waterproof zip lock bags to store your valuables in.

Be ready to get out quick at all times , never get into a position where as the water becomes so high or so
fast moving you can not safely escape without endangering your lives.

If you are wealthy enough to be able to afford a boat/dinghy/ inflatable of some sort, ensure that you have
the skill and competence to use it in a flood, it is nothing at all like a jaunt around the local lake, boats in
the hands of inexperienced folk can be more of a health hazard than a life saver.
Another prudent step is to keep a role of heavy duty water proof plastic garden refuse bags , these can be
used to pack belongings into if you decide you must move everything out of the house.( if for example
there may be a risk of the house collapsing.)
Another use of course is if the flood water is going to stay for a long time it may be wise to pack away
clothing and other belongings to prevent them from getting damp or mildewed.
Don’t forget to make sure everyone in the houses has decent knee high waterproof Wellingtons available
and the head of the house may decide to keep a pair of waders as well.

WARNING
********************** The moment problems occur with flood water leaving the normal boundaries of the
local water ways, you MUST assume that the water supply is tainted and boil or chemically treat all
drinking and cooking water.******

SETTING UP YOUR HOME AS A RETREAT

For financial reasons most modern houses were not built with survivalists in mind, few houses have
chimneys that can be easily opened out so that a wood/coal fire be installed in a crisis, this would be
needed to provide sufficient space for cooking as well as providing heat, many older houses that had coal
fired back boilers have had theses fittings ripped out, those that do / did have such structures usually had
them in one of the living rooms. The ideal location for a large chimney fireplace structure would be in the
kitchen. It would not be easy to build or alter the structure of a modern house to accept a chimney and fire
place, even more problems are caused by the small size of most modern kitchens and the weakness in
the properties flooring making it difficult to fit in an AGA or Rayburn type stove, and we have not even yet
considered the costs involved.(1)

Most modern houses now have direct feed water supplies to supply a combination boiler, shower etc with
little or no facility to store any reasonable amounts of water. (2)

Electricity supplies are supplied by the national grid to 99 % of properties and its been that way for over
fifty years, local suppliers / generators of electricity are extinct in the UK. (3)

Gardens in properties have been reducing in size on new developments since the late 1950s; it would be
almost impossible to use a modern garden to provide sufficient food to feed a family. (4)

Most modern properties have very limited storage space in them, next to none but the most expensive
have more than 4 bedrooms, or a loft or cellar. (5)

Options available
If you have decided that you must stay in a town or city and that your home is going to be your retreat
then your options are limited and on a sliding scale of viability/sustainability. Remember the higher the
population density the higher the risk is of epidemic and pestilence, Can you at least move out of the
city/town centre to the suburbs?

Your first choice would be to buy an old Victorian / Edwardian house that has a cellar, large enclosed rear
garden with a kitchen that can be returned to its original format, these buildings usually have a large
cellar that can be used for storing food, water and equipment in large amounts it can also be used for a
shelter/ hidey hole if the doorway is concealed, (During a crisis its still best to disappear by living low key
in the cellar until it quietens down).A lot of Victorian gardens were designed with self sufficiency in mind,
outhouses for keeping fowl and rabbits in, grain / coal stores, big useful green houses fed by the heat
from decaying compost in a pit alongside. The high wall provided shelter to the plants and provided a
security screen to prying eyes, a lot of the gardens had quite a reasonable selection of fruit trees in them
as well.

Don't forget to buy property that's well above the flood plain but near enough to water that it can be
pumped / transported to your house, gravity fed supplies are best. Treat all water for purity, Coastal towns
of which most were developed during Victorian times offer some excellent potential with access to good
property plus salt and fresh water products (and life giving salt itself)

After that its a sliding scale of size / type of house up to the early sixties types that had lofts and attics that
were convertible, had big enough gardens to supply basic nutritional support supplemented from other
sources like allotments.

Post sixties unless you could afford to invest in properties with large gardens / grounds most would
require extensive investment and effort to be made usable and sustainable.

One other option that may fit your criteria would be to buy a large property and grounds in partnership
with someone else ( another family) with whom you can work with and live alongside.

Apartment dwellers need to be on the top floor of south facing property with a flat roof so they can set up
a roof top garden, build wind turbines and solar systems, and collect all the rainwater by diverting the
down pipes into water tanks in a secure location.

(1) If you have a chimney that can be opened up you could in quite a few types of house fit a cast iron
stove of the type that can be found at your local machine mart, No chimney? Another possibility would be
to get the same stove plus a vent kit, in a crisis replace a window near to a good spot to site your stove
with a heat proof insulation board and fit the flue kit through it to the stove, at least you will have heat and
a source to cook off. Lastly fit a stove in your garage or outbuilding and do your cooking there.
Cooking outside is not really feasible in the UK for climatic as well as security reasons.

(2) If you are in the predicament listed above with your water supply then you need to find a place like an
out house, loft or cellar and reinforce the floor, after that you need to tie in a take off pipe to your cold
water feed pipe and run it to some large covered insulated water tanks via a ball cock cut off valve. The
tanks need to be as big as you can afford to get, This is going to be your drinking water source so you
need lots of it, If the tanks are kept full from the day of installation they will need to be drained off every
three months and the system flushed and sterilised before refilling.
Outside the house every roof and gully (garage, shed, greenhouse etc) needs to have its guttering feed
the rainwater into storage butts, this is your supply for washing your clothes and watering your crops and
flushing the toilet if its still in use and you have not gone onto cesspit waste disposal. (Don’t forget to turn
off the water supply feed to your house during a crisis in case the supply has become tainted.)

(3) You need to consider installing solar panels where you can with deep cycle storage batteries and the
associated paraphernalia to power 12v DC equipment (available from caravan outfitters), wind and water
power need to be looked into along with storing very large amounts of wood /coal/peat etc for cooking and
heating, You will also need to get some paraffin lanterns, wicks, spare glasses and as much paraffin as
you can afford to buy and store, (a paraffin greenhouse heater would be nice as well )

(4) You need to look at getting a secure allotment or access to some secure land for growing extra food
stuffs, Green houses are a must as are cloches etc for growing food stuffs, your garage can be converted
into a secure rabbit and chicken coop, don't forget they need food as well. (Grow your crops in informal
clusters so not as to attract attention to your house being habited, make the planting look as though its
just natural plant growth spreading about an abandoned garden)

(5) You may need to allot a room in the house for storing your supplies and equipment that no one outside
the family ever gets to see, consider having an outbuilding built or an existing structure adapted to keep
food / water/ kit/ fuel /grain etc in, It must be very secure to be of any use. (An underground-concealed
store would be perfect)

The object of the exercise is to first survive the original crisis, then to stay clean, warm, well fed and
healthy for as long as possible (min 6 months) then be in a position to team up with other healthy
survivors and rebuild your lives and hopefully your communities. Never ever get yourself evacuated for
political or policing reasons, Environmental and military reasons are another ball game altogether. Don't
become a refugee relying on the good will and charity of other already overwhelmed communities or govt
handouts. Your safest place is usually your home on familiar territory it gives you the advantage being on
home ground. Never give up the option to bug out safely if all goes to hell and back.

RISK ANALYSIS

Oh boy, what should we be prepared for as survivalists is the question most frequently asked and the
common answer of "everything" will not satisfy the enquirer.

Well not trying to sound like a Billy Joel record is going to be difficult but here we go.
(We didn't start the fire, though the world was burning as the world was turning.)

Spatial bombardment (meteors, comets, asteroids but not haemorrhoids.)

Solar flare radiation bursts (like the ones that crippled Ontario Canada in 1988)
Crop / food destruction caused by the holes in the ozone layer.
GM crops spreading uncontrolled and becoming dominant then going sterile.
Over fishing causing a species extinction cascade.
Deforestation and its myriad of local, regional and global problems.
Pollution poisoning,
Global earth changes that are man made, CO2 ,Nox etc etc
Earthquake/Seaquake/volcanic activity/ seismic activity/Tsunamis.
Flooding.
Over extraction of ground water from aquifers causing saltwater encroachment of water supplies.
Exhaustion / shortages of coal / oil / electricity etc
Food shortages / crop failure / blight
Over population / overcrowding
Political unrest / war / terrorism / civil unrest / industrial action / mass protest
Crime
Poverty
Disease epidemics
Mass hygiene failure
Mass hysteria
Prolonged extreme weather events
Government extremism / Tyranny (banning guns, certain books, certain groups, unauthorised meetings
etc)
Major power failures
Economic collapse / mass recession.

That's enough to worry about for now, but remember if you prepare today, tomorrow wont come up and
bite your ass. The only thing I'm certain of is that it takes a much braver man than me to live in a city.( I
honestly can not understand anyone who puts career ahead of kids !!)

RISK
Survivalism is the art of risk management

Every day of your life you take risks, calculated ones mainly but many are simply risks, crossing a road,
driving after dark etc.

Survivalism simply makes you become more aware of the risks involved and how best to handle them.
During a crisis be it natural, manmade or an act of God you will need to make many decisions and take
many risks, its how you handle these choices that defines you as a survivalist.

Joe Public will put his blind faith in the government to make the decisions for him, he will put his life and
that of his family in the hands of complete strangers who have tens of thousands of other families to care
for as well. So to start with he has made a poor choice and taken a possibly lethal risk with his families
safety.

There are various types of risk, but its the one we can consider and alter that affect the outcome to our
families safety, Lets look at some of the commonest risks that affect us as survivalists

Food, Do we rely on the govt and supermarkets to ensure a continuous supply of good health foodstuffs
in quantities that can sustain us, or do we keep a stockpile of food to see us through some unforeseen
crisis, farmers and many rural folk keeps months of food at home in case they get cut off by bad weather.
Can you buy your grub off the local market gardener whose quality of food you know?, or do you just
accept what you get at Wall-mart /Asda , perhaps you could grow some of your own food therefore
reducing your reliance on the food chain.

Water , do we rely on legislation and the good will of some water utility to ensure we get a continuous
clean supply of potable water that has not been polluted by accident or as an act of terrorism., Or do we
get ourselves a filtered secure supply of water independent of the system. At the very least we should
have our own water filter systems at home and in our retreats ( no water reaches my kids mouths unless
its been filtered through our Big Berky)).

Shelter do we rely on the state and the social services/police/council/govt to ensure will live in warm clean
housing in an area that is free from crime / poor health / overcrowding / terror risks, or do we try our best
to locate our families in the best environment we can afford. This does not mean access to shops, discos,
schools, hospitals etc ,this means a clean low crime rural environment where we can try to be as self
sufficient as possible, a place where terrorists or govt interference is going to be minimal, somewhere
where we can go unnoticed, an area that is conducive to good health and low risk from authorities who
may wish to ship you out as refugees in a crisis.

Environment Do we live in built up urban conurbations that are highly populated therefore at risk from
epidemics, shortages, crime waves, overcrowded schools, under funded hospitals, choice terror targets
mainly because of the financial rewards for making such sacrifice. A well paid job in the city is VERY
tempting but in the long term is it worth your health, your security , your environment, Is it not perhaps
wiser and a better risk to take a bit less money and live in a better environment.

Travel Do you commute to work each day or work locally to save on fuel but also to be closer to hand if
you are needed at home? Do you travel to the big city for appointments when perhaps the people you
need to see can visit you or have another more local office they could meet you in? Can you do you
business by phone or PC rather than travel into high risk areas? At the very least can you postpone or
alter the dates of your visit to avoid peak commuter times or times of high risk? If you have to go to town
do you have to use the same route every time or can you use alternative routes thereby gaining more
knowledge of you area should you need to bug out?

Security Do you rely on the local two policemen to protect you and the other ten thousand families in
your area or do you take active as well as passive security measures of your own, Its no bloody good
having food, shelter, water, medicines etc all nicely stored at your home or your retreat if the local low
life's or starving hoards from the city can take it from you with ease.

In most case the public will surrender there right to self determination for the temporary security of
government promises and benefits, Where as the survivalists will try their best to leave nothing to chance
and to reduce unnecessary risk where possible by developing survivalist skills and practises.

THREATS FROM EXTREMIST GOVERNMENT

More and more of the survivalist /self reliance/ communities and groups are considering a threat to their
personal privacy and security is now likely to be at the hands of their own governments or global
governmental organisations.( UN / WHO / NATO / EU etc)
>
People are starting to question the intentions of these bodies as they introduce ever more intrusive laws
involving monitoring of the population as it goes about its lawful daily business. Monitoring is the first step
in controlling a populations freedom to move about openly.
>
The usual excuses are to help detect and prevent crime, or to improve the flow of traffic.
>
Its the definition of the phrase " criminal " that is worrying, no one is to worried if it helps track down shop
lifters, or car hijackers, but what if its the state deciding it is people who are simply outspoken against the
govt in question. Perhaps it could even be something like your government not wanting people to flee /
evacuate / or bug out from the town in case it interferes
with military or other traffic movements.
>
CCTV systems on roads, freeways, motorways etc are now in theory being becoming capable of tracking
the individual movements of single vehicles from start to finish of the vehicles journey. Shopping malls
and other public places have surveillance systems that use computer programs that can identify and
name people from CCTV camera stills if their details are stored on a database.

Britain is becoming notorious for its erosion of its citizens rights, from the failed attempts to reduce gun
and violent crime by stripping law abiding citizens of the right to own guns, to some of the blanket
coverage anti terrorism laws that can just as easily be used to subjugate the population as well as it fights
terrorists. A few current example are the suggestion that all roads and highways right across the nation
become toll roads charging vehicles automatically ever time they venture down any given route. They talk
about black boxes compulsorily fitted to all vehicles that sent an ID code and pin number to these black
boxes sited on every junction along the road network.

Another option being actively considered is using similar back boxes linked to satellites to monitor the
movements of every vehicle and charging them a toll automatically at the end of each journey. If you think
those two systems in themselves are bad enough but before they are even off the drawing boards the
Police are saying they would like the systems linked together to the DVLC ( vehicle registration agency)
the police computer network and the motorway camera system. In Britain at this very time if an ordinary
cop on duty at an airport takes a dislike to you all he has to do is say he believes you MAY be a soccer
hooligan preparing to travel abroad to cause trouble, if he does that he can seize your passport there and
then
stopping you from going overseas.
>
( On a side note , It is very amusing to me that many Americans still think of Britain as a freedom loving
democracy, So long as the US govt continues to support extremist governments then freedom will
continue to die out in the UK)
>
The paranoia coming from the aviation industry in response to the horrors of 9 /11 and Bali is understood,
but some of the intrusive actions taken against legitimate and law abiding citizens is at the very least
draconian.
>
So where does this leave the survivalist in his plans to use his retreat / holiday home / camping trailer etc,
At the moment it is still fairly easily to drive from A to B without attracting undue attention or to be followed
/ monitored but it is getting harder.
Again using Britain as an example the City of London has so many CCTV cameras now that they
authorities can follow any vehicle from one side of town to the other without a break in camera coverage,
add this to the armed police checkpoints set up in response to IRA / Al Quaeda terrorism you can see how
its becoming harder for city dwellers to move about or bug out in secret, This gets worse because the
underground is heaving with CCTV cameras and transport cops, The airports are almost no go areas for
outdoors folk travelling with their kit.

The M25 orbital motorway ( Like Washington's Beltway) that surrounds London is very well covered on all
on and off ramps with cameras, the road is heavily patrolled, and their is usually lots of air cover as well.
Many cities, towns and main highways in Britain and the US are covered completely by CCTV cameras
and aviation monitors this in my mind is simply creating a high risk of being detected or captured by who
ever wishes to spoil your day. Also do remember that the authorities are becoming very expert at quickly
closing off all roads to and from the larger towns and cities.
>
So where does this ever increasing level of surveillance leave the survivalist, At the moment you can
travel safely to and from your retreat or bug out location without duress, but how long will it be before the
authorities can simply enter your personal or vehicle details into their database and get a record of your
movements for the last month ( don’t say it wont happen, governments introduce laws like this all the time
under the fighting terrorism guise), Imagine the joy on their faces when the database shows your vehicle
repeatedly stopping in some remote location for up to six hours before returning home, BINGO they know
at least the vicinity of your retreat, you may vary your route but your destination is always your retreat,
Then along comes the state and seizes your stuff.
>
What are your options ? who knows, I am certain that if the socialists in Europe ( and the democrats in
the US) got their collective ways they would microchip every citizen ( excluding themselves of course) but
so far it has not got that bad .( Nov 2003 the UK Home Secretary has announced plans for compulsory ID
cards containing personal details and biometric data) But it does leave the question of getting to your
place of safety or your caches without detection, I personally believe in spreading my resources about so
that if the bad guys raid my home then at least my caches or my retreat kit is still secure, but even though
I use my rural home as my prime safe place I may need to get the hell out and move to one of my
alternatives. Motor vehicles so far are still fairly secure but as each day goes by the monitoring systems
get better and the governments get more intrusive, So I plan my caches and hideaways along reasonably
reachable footpath or bridle routes and waterways, I leave open the option of doing without mechanised
or motorised transport, Maybe you folks may wish to consider using bicycles, horses, small boats,
microlights as auxiliary methods of bugging out they are going to be far harder for big brother to track. It is
easy enough to cover 25 miles a day using bikes or horses and its easier to avoid detection or attract
unwanted attention. You can make thinks easier for yourself by pre-dispersing your survival assets in
secure locations outside your town / city limits ( Caching). Please consider options for reaching safety
without resorting to your vehicles or public transport, especially if its your own government you are trying
to avoid.

TERRORISM

In the later half of the twentieth century and gaining momentum in the first part of the twenty first century
global terrorism is becoming an issue we all must address in one form or another.
When Police / Terrorist actions were fairly localised in individual or neighbouring countries the trend
among the terrorists themselves was to strike at governmental targets first, then foreign owned economic
targets, then domestic and economic targets, lastly attacking the general population of the target nation.

Soviet sponsored terrorism such as Mao Mao Terrorists, the Vietmin, the MPLA etc tended to try to
topple governments in the hope of replacing them with ones more friendly towards the soviet block. Other
terrorists fought for Republicanism / Marxism / Religion/ Regional independence etc etc. The American
supported PIRA and its clones murdered over 3000 Police officers, British troops and very many innocent
people in its later years from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, With weapons coming from places like Libya and
Russia and funds coming from Bank robberies protection rackets and a fair sized amount of supporters in
the USA ( Noraid raised millions of dollars to support the republican Marxist cause in Eire). The Conflict in
Northern Ireland only subsided when the Nu Labour Government of Tony Blair surrendered to the IRA and
freed most of the convicted killers and bombers.
It is often large powerful governments who support or keep foreign dictators in power that provoke the
formation of terrorist groups. Terrorism does pay if you have a weak government that is more interested
in sound bites than justice. It also depends on whose side you support that also decides if your group is
titled as terrorists or freedom fighters. At some point nations can be called“ Good Friends and allies” and
at other times the same nation is part of the “ Axis of evil” depending of course on the political trend in
favour at that time.
In recent years Iraq was a friend to the USA when the US was in conflict with Iran, Its reward was to be
bombed back to the stone age as the US lashed out blindly in any direction after the attack on its
homeland on 9/11. General Manuel Noriega in Panama was a friend to the US at one point but when he
fell from favour he was turned into the bad guy and deposed by his former allies. In Zimbabwe the
fighters that formed the government which came to power after a long protracted war of terror against the
white dominated government of Ian Smith have turned out to be far worse than the original colonial
power, Zimbabwe has gone from being the breadbasket of South Africa to being on the point of total
economic collapse and mass starvation.

The facts are now plain for all to see that no matter where you live, no matter how peaceable you are,
how benign your nation at some point you are going to become targeted by hostile groups or nations in
acts of terrorism against unguarded civilians.

A huge bomb detonating in a school, mall or market place filled with innocent civilians has the same effect
no matter if it was a car bomb, suicide bomber or dropped by an aircraft from 30,000 feet, innocent
victims of violent attack are still innocent victims even if they are called “Collateral damage” A pile of
dead children is still a pile of dead children no matter if it was a Palestinian religious zealot blowing them
up or a 120 MM Israeli tank round being fired into their classroom.

So what can you do to reduce the threat to your family?

Once again it’s a case of looking closely at your lifestyle, IE Where you live, Where you work, How you
spent your free time, How you shop, How you communicate, How you prepare for trouble and the choices
you make.

Simple steps such as shopping mail order when possible, getting your groceries delivered or shopping in
smaller towns that are less appealing to terrorists as potential targets. Refuelling your vehicle at rural gas
stations, not using public transport, avoiding air transport like the plague, working from home, tele
conferencing, putting the kids in non denominational schools, avoiding major cities etc can all go towards
reducing the risk of you being in the same place at the same time as a terrorist bomb going off. Similar
considerations should be made on other things like for example where you go on vacation, currently its
not very wise for American or British passport holders to go on holiday to very many Islamic states.
Choose your make of car wisely when driving abroad, When possible drive a locally produced vehicle or
one that is not produced by a nation that is out of favour with the people of the country you are visiting,
Often protestors and terrorists alike will attack symbols of the nation they are in conflict with, so driving a
Buick through Baghdad , Bombay, or Beirut is simply painting yourself up as a target. You may live in a
large town or city and for reasons best known to yourself you are unable to move out, but you can still
take sensible steps to reduce the risk to yourself. If for example you hear on the news that country A has
just killed a large group of people in country B and you have a large local immigrant population from
country B living in part of your town, then it makes sense to stay away from that area for a while in case
the expatriots from country B decide to riot in protest.

INTELIGENCE GATHERING

"Intel", sourcing and finding information that may be relevant to your position, being well informed, gaining
an advantage, knowledge is power, knowledge is wisdom, getting the edge over others, That's what it’s
about for you as survivalists, you use whatever sources of information that are available to you at the time
collecting, collating, sorting, absorbing and utilising as best you can. Using information wisely should
ensure you and your group survives while Joe Public believe without doubt what snippets of propaganda
the govt decides they need to know.

You watch the TV news, listen to the radio, monitor the web, subscribe to publications that provide info
you want, You join groups of like minded individuals to share information, its all good stuff but what is
useful and what is not?

Its difficult for one person to absorb and digest all of the Intel that comes their way and all to often they
may miss something important. You may as an individual see the relevance of a news article that is
released from source (A), and another member of the group may have missed article (A) but seen article
(B) in a magazine, but if one of them had shared this snippet with the other they would have been
forewarned of a flood, storm, kit sale, free booze up, cheap holiday, police clampdown etc.

To give yourself the advantage over the rest of society in a crisis firstly you must obtain the Intel, then
understand it, then put it to use, You need to have a radio tuned to a station that provides good current
affairs news turned on about the house, office etc all day, You need to read you paper mail, you need to
check your E, mail, You need to get the world news from differing sources so you can get an unbiased
overall view, you need to subscribe to magazines and E groups, (A good recent article Jan 01 from the
misc survival news group gives details of a massive power crisis in Southern California, Worst case
scenario will be a massive global recession).

What use is getting half the facts or information if you can not be bothered to cross reference it with
others in your group, It then causes you to be caught out in a big way, You should open your snail mail in
the morning and check your Email as well, If you have some news you think may be important then get it
out straight away don't wait till the weekend.

It is for everyone’s benefit to keep up to date so we can prepare accordingly. Here is a hypothetical
scenario to chew over, Neil hears in January of an outbreak of some fungal disease that effects wheat
grain, In April Debbie finds that her favourite grain seed is unavailable from her suppliers, during June
Dave finds no one can guarantee to deliver his bulk grain before the winter for his stockpile, Steve during
this time hears of unspecified problems with the grain crop in the US, Canada and Russia and as time
goes by can no longer get in touch with his contacts in Kansas. September comes and the cost of bread
quadruples, the govt say there is no problem its just the grain ships are delayed by storms in the Atlantic,
October arrives and tales of mass starvation creep out of Russia, November comes and the US declares
it wishes to return to a state of isolationism for nationalist reasons and is no longer prepared to sell grain
abroad. In December the Arab states say that because America has cut off the grain they are going to cut
of the oil to the west in protest. January arrives with the worst winter storm for 60 years. Escalation is
followed by deterioration followed by chaos followed by collapse. THE GROUP SHOULD HAVE BEEN
RESPONDING AND REACTING BY JUNE, making enquiries, discussing possible consequences of grain
blight, making plans to ensure you are prepared.
If you do not cooperate on a regular basis, if you don't communicate frequently, if you do not continue to
stay informed you will not be any better off than the masses and will throw away your main advantage
over the rest of society. We all have other commitments and responsibilities to consider every day which
must be addressed in a responsible way. Work problems, health issues, family commitments, business
needs etc all which put a strain on the amount of time you can devote to survival preparations, so the best
route left to you is to be as well informed as possible, and to compensate for your preparation shortfalls,
All of your "other commitments" are of no use to you if your dead.

EARTH CHANGES

Well, I've listened to all the arguments for and against earth changes and global warming and its time for
you to make your minds up about the possible short term and long term effects.

Since my early days as a survivalist I have paid a bit more attention to the possibilities of global warming
than perhaps Joe Public has and it affected some of my lifestyle choices then, and even more so now.

Whatever the arguments are you as a survivalist need to consider your immediate prospects as to your
choice of home and retreat locations?

A play safe common sense approach is all that is needed here, you need to have a good look at your
maps and charts for where you live and where your retreat is sited, you also need to look at your bug out /
escape routes and look for the following.

How far above sea level are you based, 30 ft or less and you are at risk.

Are you located in a flood plain / drainage area?

Has heavy building development and / or deforestation occurred upstream of you?

Have any unusual local occurrences of flooding / landslips been recorded in the last 30 years ?

Are you in an area that has had major water protection programs developed like the Thames barrier or
sea wall height increases?

Are you living in an area that has to be drained by man made channels / ditches / canals etc like the north
Somerset plains?

Are you living in an area that is sinking / settling like the chalk beds of London?

As a fail-safe question, again do you live more than 30 ft above the high tide mark for your area?

If the answer was no to any of the above questions then its time to look at moving to another area.

The risk to you is more real than you think, the likelihood of being overwhelmed by a mega tidal wave /
tsunami is quite low, Though Dr Simon Day * may disagree with me on that but the chance of having
everything you own being submerged or washed away is 50% higher than it was only 35 years ago. Its
not just the weather that's changing the risks to you, having all the hills stripped of trees and having huge
housing / shopping / building developments put up on areas that were laid aside for water drainage are
just as much of a hazard, The risk of being drowned by a bloody big wave is real just as is getting
squashed by a B& Q warehouse floating down your street.

In trendy terminology there is a current clear and present danger from flooding so have a look around you
and if there is a risk then take steps to deal with it NOW.
*Dr Day has found a huge geological fault splitting a volcanic island in the Canaries, it shows a history of
previous collapse in ancient times. If this fault fails which it appears it must do, the following tsunami will
cause the inundation of the East Coast of America and most of lowland Europe.

ASPECTS OF SUPPORT

As survivalists we try to become as independent of society as we can and to this aim some of us attempt
to become more self reliant by working from home or turning their retreat into a source of income, I think
that survivalists who are trying this route to independence should be supported where possible by the rest
of us.

If for example an associate decides to buy a small holding and starts producing home made produce it
would be beneficial to all for more than one reason.

To start with if you all went to the farm and helped to get it sorted by doing a bit of work on it FOC you
would be able to socialise, cross train, build trust and relationships. You would become familiar with the
area and see if that route is suitable for your own needs. If you went at harvesting time it could also be
turned into a RENDEZVOUS where you could barter, learn new skills, get in some practise as well as
help a colleague, and of course it would be good for our associate to have that support when they need it
most.

Of course it would have to be a two way trust gaining exercise because the last thing a new farmer needs
is loads of strangers running riot on his / her land and eating her limited food stocks and playing silly
buggers around the farm. Equally it could become the start of a low cost break in the country through
working the farm in return for cross training and a change of scenery and building trust up with the retreat
owner.

Another aspect are survivalists who work from home and retailers who support survivalists with discounts
etc, These people to require your support as and when you can, If there is one member of your group
who deals in military surplus equipment it makes sense to try him out first because he's just at the end of
your keyboard. Another associate may make soap in various forms and it would be a sign of solidarity if
we at least tried her products out, who knows you may prefer her stuff to the chemical crap that you get at
Safeway.

Between us there are a hell of a lot of useful skills, crafts and hobbies and the sensible thing to do would
be to start to create our own market place for goods and services.

ALLIES FOR SURVIVAL

We try to the best of our beliefs to gain all of the necessary skills, knowledge, logistics and kit to ensure
our survival long term and enable us to rebuild a healthy sustainable community. We build relationships
and friendships with other survivalists to improve our chances of making it through and beyond the
collapse to come but in all honesty we will be hard pushed to achieve all of our goals on our own.

Perhaps the way ahead for some if not all of us (excepting the forcemen survivalists) is to develop
working links with other groups who have the skills, crafts and knowledge we seek.

There are groups in society who are into developing Eco-villages, these are totally environmentally
friendly low impact back to nature types of residential developments that utilise all of the latest "green"
techniques in the building of residential communities and villages. There is a very good example at
Findhorn in northern Scotland that has been featured in a TV series on the discovery channel, then there
is the “green” co-ops who are trying to develop low cost alternative energy sources, You could consider
making approaches to leather workers, blacksmiths etc as well.
Then there are some charitable organisations looking into low cost self build property developments that
have a strong green self reliance perspective to them.

If you made low key approaches to these folk you could find some good sources of skills and crafts that
could become allied to you during and after a disaster. They also tend to be better supported by
government and EU grants to buy land and cover R & D costs, they can get funds to form co-ops and
small businesses, I have heard of one guy who has made some superb contacts via the VOLUNTARY
SERVICE OVERSEAS organisation. We as "survivalists" have no chance of getting access to funds for
building retreats for our own use but if we were seen to be part of the green movement for a better
environment we could find support from other groups.

If we want to Survive we can achieve this by ourselves as survivalists BUT if we want to SURVIVE and
FLOURISH we need to adapt and expand our sphere of influence by developing contacts with others of
similar objectives to ourselves.

WHAT DO WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN ?

My wife has brought up the subject of my son’s education, so like a good hubby I went and spoke to the
local school to see what exactly he will be taught.

When I came home I was shell shocked by the standards of education available to Mr Joe Public in
Britain today.

“We don't encourage competitive sports its unfair",

“We don't allow anyone to teach disgusting things like boxing / martial arts, archery or shooting.”
“We don't allow children to go and visit the countryside or working farms in case the children have
accidents or contract E- Coli".

“The history lessons no longer emphasise the achievements made in Western Europe during the
industrial revolution because it’s imperialist and may offend ethnic
minorities” ???????????????????????????

Need I go on, anyway it's got me agitated enough to consider home schooling for my son or at the very
least I will arrange extra tuition for him. Political correctness and anti racist policies (which are right so
long as they do not become unbalanced) have made the long term plans for our children even more
difficult to establish.

We need to ensure that education of our kids is a high priority subject that will guarantee that they
develop the necessary life skills required for their own best interests. They obviously need to know all of
the basics and these can be drawn from the education system, but they will need to be supplemented by
program developed by their parents.

They must learn to read between the lines and not to accept carte blanche that what teacher says is
absolutely right. They must learn to question for themselves. They do need to learn how to protect
themselves and to be competitive. They do need to know about the lessons history has taught us. They
do need to become totally at home in the countryside from an early age. They do need to learn how to
make and repair things.
They need to be able to survive and flourish in whatever tomorrow brings, be it in the city or in the towns.
All of our efforts of today are for our children's future and I for one am not going to raise a narrow minded,
blinkered child that turns into a worker drone that accepts gratefully what the politicians think he should
have, nor is he going to be a victim of political trends or be unable to make decisions for himself. We have
to fight for our rights to be free thinking, free speaking individuals. We as survivalists do not accept that
we are unable to be governors of our own destinies, we demand the right to choose how we live our lives
and we must expect the same for our children.
 GROUP SECURITY AND DEFENCE

In the UK the problems of defence and security for survival groups are enhanced by the nanny state
mentality and the political structure of our government. Politicians have reacted to criminal events with a
media attention / vote grabbing, knee jerk type of response. The successive governments of the last thirty
years have repeatedly introduced undemocratic, freedom restrictive legislation outlawing firearms held by
the public.
Be assured that these laws were not introduced for the benefit of the community, they were introduced to
allow big brother to gain more control over the population.
So we in UK have to be able to improvise even more than ever.
We can not legally own firearms so we have to look towards other tools to provide for our needs and if
necessary use these expedient weapons to obtain self defence weapons from other sources after a
collapse and complete failure of law and order. No responsible survivalist would take any form of action
against the legal government agencies of the day such as police and military units. We can only react to
situations as they develop and we must not disobey the democratically elected governmental agencies
until they cease to function.
When it becomes Every man for himself that is when you should seek to obtain weapons for hunting
and defence. These tools should be such things as 12 gauge and .410 shotguns and ammo for game
hunting/ vermin control and close quarters defence, I suggest that you look for these tools from
unmanned or abandoned police stations/ TA centres/ sporting shops/ army camps/ gun clubs and rural
properties such as farms and manor houses.
It is also worthwhile trying to obtain .22 lr calibre rim fire rifles from the same sources.
Large calibre weapons in 5.56 NATO /. 223 Remington or 7.62 NATO /. 308 Winchester are usually only
available to the police and military and are kept well secured by the owners,
Unless you are looking for a gun battle with someone you don't need these weapons, The best way for all
survivalists to exist is not to get into fire fights in the first place, because most aggressors will probably
outgun you. Stay out of fights if you can.

USEFUL ALTERNATIVES
Obtain the following and they will go along way to helping you survive.
A modern cross bow (Barnett commando type) with 5 spare strings and a spare prod, get at least 30 bolts
absolute minimum, and a quick detachable 4X scope that does not interfere with the iron sights, use for
defence and large game
A modern pistol bow (Barnet trident type) same extras, use for close quarters defence.
A modern .22 cal high-powered air rifle with a gas strut conversion (replaces the spring) try and get one
with a synthetic stock, minimum 1000 pellets and a 4X scope. A laser sight is another good option, the
system can be used for small game/ vermin control and intimidation factor (from a distance)
Large and compact field glasses, see them before they see you.
Snares for trapping game, and a book on how to prepare and use them.
Night vision equipment and perimeter portable defence alarms

Large boot knife like Gerber guardian or Cold Steel tanto or a top quality large locking folder like a Cold
Steel voyager XL make very good general purpose tools as well as self defence weapons.

TRANSPORT CONSIDERATIONS

In theory this bit is easy, Ideally you need to get fit enough to be able to walk long distances whilst
carrying a full pack on your back containing everything you need to sustain you and your family on its
journey to your place of safety.. BUT in the real world we are not all fit enough, nor can we carry all we
need about our persons, add to this equation a wife, two kids, a baby and an elderly in law. So you need
to consider vehicles, think about fuel types and availability after a disaster, think about type and style of
vehicle that suits you best, think about power to weight ratios when you have the entire family aboard plus
food and other outdoor survival kit, think about having to sleep out using you vehicle as a bedroom, think
about storing your full bug out kit aboard and the family. Think about maintenance, Think about having to
go "off road", think about fuel tank range, and think about suitability for your survival needs.

You need to discuss your requirements in depth with other survivalists to get the best advice though most
favour large bodied large diesel powered 4 wheel drive utility vehicles.

Learn new skills, If you get the chance to learn to ride a horse, grab it. Same with a motorcycle,
motorboat, sailboat, quad bike etc, if the opportunity arises get on a course on how to use a 4WD properly
off road then take it.

The more operator skills you gain with differing modes of transport the better your chances are in bugging
out or getting home safe after a disaster.

If more of your family or group are capable of using the methods of transport chosen by you then get
them trained up as well?

VEHICLE SELECTION

What do you need to consider when choosing a vehicle that must double up as a survival vehicle?

To begin with it needs to be able to take you and your family plus your bug out kits, your group tools and
kit, your food, water and cooking kit, extra fuel for the vehicle, vehicle maintenance tools and
components, sleeping bags, tents and camping kit.

In many cases because we survivalists are simply just switched on ordinary folks with limited budgets and
our BOVs are also our families only form of transport so whilst something like a 7.5 litre all terrain truck is
great for driving across the Pennines in winter its not much use on the school run , not to mention
attracting unwanted attention from undesirables.

Once this lot is loaded aboard the vehicle still needs to offer reasonable performance characteristics on
and off road, if bugging out off the road system is planned then go 4 wheel drive route, alternatively if you
are planning on using the highways, byways and trails to reach your retreat in some cases fuel tank range
will offer more practical use than off road ability.In many cases as proven by travellers through sub
Saharan Africa and eastern Russia rugged build quality and decent ground clearance are more than
enough to meet the needs of the travellers. In either case when it comes to engine size the trend tends to
be over 2000 cubic centimetres (2 litres) and 100 horsepower. The safest fuel to handle and the easiest to
store is diesel.

If you live in an open and rural area ideally your BOV will have 4-wheel drive, good ground clearance,
reasonable off road capability, and be of rugged construction, However in many cases a monster four
wheeled drive truck will not only offer limited benefits but may also increase the risk of unwanted attention
for you as you try to reach your place of safety, in some cases a panel vanel with good tyres, uprated
suspension, reasonable ground clearance and a huge fuel tank will offer more practical usability than a 4
x 4 truck has.

Tow bars and hitches, heavy duty roof rails / racks are other worthwhile considerations if you have a large
amount of kit to move in one go

Fuel options usually are unleaded gasoline, diesel oil, and liquid petroleum gas; the commonest choice is
diesel in Europe, and gasolene in North America.

Diesel has better storage and safety properties whilst petroleum offers more power,
Availability is near enough equal in the UK

Extras such has high level exhausts, long range fuel tanks, power winches etc are also desirable but not
always necessary.

Swivelable auxiliary lighting fore and aft are almost mandatory.

Two way radios, CB radios, GPS systems are other considerations.

It really needs to be long enough for some or all or your party to be able to stretch out in the back to gain
some sleep.

It should be well insulated floor, walls and ceiling for use in extreme weather, it should have decent
heating preferably from easily obtainable fuels such as LPG ( bottled gas) or run off your vehicles fuel
supply ( ideally low volatile diesel)

You will need a second ( leasure ) battery and split charger system fitting and this can be topped off with a
solar panel unit mounted on the roof.

Extra insulated water tanks can be sited either within the vehicle or mounted underneath betwen the
chasis rails

Town and country tyres are a must, steel road wheels are ideal as they can be bashed back into shape if
partially damaged, and alloy wheels are simply far to delicate to delicate for survivalist use. one spare
wheel is a must but two spares are better.

The vehicle should in an ideal world be one that is manufactured in your home country; this improves the
chances of obtaining spare parts after a disaster. In general commercially built recreation vehicles /
camper vans are simply not rugged enough for BOV useage, so that leaves you with buying an
expensively prepared overland expedition vehicle or doing as most of us mere mortals choose and elect
to build one yourself based on upgrading a panel van or pickup truck.

Have a look at WWW.sbmcc.co.uk for some inspiration.

MY BUG OUT VEHICLE

My families criteria for a BOV have been dictated by various considerations, they are

Cost
Where we live
Where we would bug out to
Local geography
British politics
Size of family
What I want to take with us
What logistics I have cached
What logistics I have access to at my retreat locations.

Firstly in my neck of the woods a 4 x 4 SUV would not be of much real gain for the extra cost involved in
purchasing and running such a vehicle. Access to what open terrain we have is very limited which puts all
wheel drive lower down the list of priorities than fuel tank range and the vehicle being inconspicuous. But
to my advantage is the fact that in this area there is literally thousands of miles of roads and trails that a
rugged vehicle could travel along or hide along. There are old railway track beds, old roads now used as
public footpaths, old bridle ways, B and C grade roads and unsealed lanes, footpaths that are actually
wide enough to get a vehicle down etc.

So I must admit that I have had to trade off some capability for crossing rough ground for being able to
carry more equipment and supplies within my BOV, I am to a certain extent relying on my being able to
read between the lines as a crisis develops allowing me at the very least to place the BOV outside the city
limits giving me time to get ahead of any possible road closures by the authorities.

Part of my considerations in my planning is the fact I need to plan to feed , care for, protect and shelter
not only myself but my beloved wife and son as well, so where as I could happily get by with a rucksack
and tent I know my wife and child could not.
Add to this the limited funds available to me I have chose the following option.

For day to day use for my wife who is a district nurse we have chosen a small diesel powered 4x4 which
gives her a better chance of getting to a rendezvous point should she get our pre arranged "bug out"
message from me. The prime vehicle which we now will rely on for the foreseeable future will be a much
modified Ford panel van.

I have started on converting a 4 year old Ford Transit van of medium roof height and a short wheel base
body, it has a 2.5 litre naturally aspirated diesel engine driving the rear wheels via a five speed MT75
gearbox .The oil is 100% synthetic and the coolant runs at a 50% mix which is more than enough for
current British winters.If necessary a fuel system pre heater can be installed. All hoses and filters have
been changed, the brakes have been up rated to sintered pads and shoes pushing against ventilated
discs at the front and drums at the rear, a 95 AH alternator charges the batteries shortly to be
supplemented by a PV panel on the roof. The headlights have had their bulbs replaced and upgraded to
ultra bright H4 aftermarket bulbs that are 50% brighter than normal, all drive belts such as Cam, Power
steering and Alternator have been replaced with upgraded new belts.
The tyres have all been changed for new 12 ply, 195 / 80 14C commercial vehicle tyres mounted on 5
stud steel wheels.

Inside the vehicle extra storage has been built above the driver / passenger compartment that will take
clothing, bedding etc. A 6 ft seat alongside the offside wall has been installed over a large storage
compartment, the seat easily converts into a 6 ft x 4 ft bed , a toilet compartment has been built in the
remaining space at the rear of the vehicle. On the nearside of the vehicle storage has been built that also
includes a cooker, sink, water pump, gas bottle locker and water tanks, a hammock can be slung
diagonally across the rear of the van providing an extra berth. A certain amount of overhead storage has
been built but I really want to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible. Tinted side windows will be
installed in the side of the vehicle when funds allow. The rear doors have been bolted shut and the door
release mechanisms disconnected in an effort to reduce break ins. Hopefully we will soon install either a
diesel powered or butane powered cab heater to keep us snug on those cold nights.

Food, Fuel, Cloths, Medical kit, Tools and spares, radios, batteries, and all the assorted bug out
paraphernalia are stored within the now insulated van body, So far I have not mounted anything outside
the body of the vehicle though in time I can see the need to add external fittings for jerry cans, spare
wheel carriers, roof racks etc.

Currently I am skint so increasing the fuel carrying capability of the vehicle rests on carrying extra jerry
cans within the vehicle which is highly undesirable and smelly to boot.
The vans own fuel tank carries 68 litres which gives a range of 450 miles and even in the small British
isles is totally useless, so I also carry four 20 litres jerry cans of diesel which more than doubles the
range of the vehicle without refuelling.

I have two friend who thanks to them fitting huge long range fuel tanks to their works vehicles have
managed to insulate themselves against fuel price fluctuations and shortages, The first guy drives a 1 ton
Dodge ram pick up truck in south west Kansas, across the load bed of his pick up he has had installed a
huge U shaped auxillary fuel tank right up against the cab rear window, he bought it to allow him be be
more selective on which " gas station" he has to frequent because he always shops for the cheapest fuel,
this also serves him very well as a survivalist because when all his tanks are full he has a range over over
1500 miles. The second chap drive a haulage wagon from the UK to Greece and back and he has also
fitted twin fuel tanks of some immense size that allow him to drive on cheap Greek fuel all the way to the
UK and back to Greece again without him having to buy very expensive British diesel, once again he has
insulated himself against the threat from fuel shortages with the added bonus both he and his wife can
live fairly comfortably in the large sleeper cab on his wagon.

Water carrying capacity in the BOV is still also unsatisfactory at 30 litres of fresh water but finding fresh
running water in the UK is not currently an issue unless you are very unlucky, plans are afoot to fit a 200
litre insulated freshwater tank between the chassis rails.( If I lived in the great plains of the US I would
store at least 400 litres of fresh water)

If push came to shove my family could comfortably live in the vehicle for weeks at a time requiring only
occasional replenishment from outside sources such as caches.

MAPPING & ROUTE PLANNING

When preparing to move to a RETREAT or even on EXPEDITION TRAINING you must make
careful notes of certain important factors in planning your journey, Also when in location at your
base or retreat you need to record for future use some vital information.
Listed below are some of the most important items that should be included on your maps.
1 Main routes to and from your base.
2 Secondary routes to your base.
3 Escape paths and alternate routes along your route to avoid
hazards/ambushes/checkpoints/bad weather etc. etc.
4 Water and possible food supplies /and pre arranged caches along your routes.
5 Water supplies around your retreat, are they likely to remain that way are they pure ? (Potable).
6 Escape routes from the retreat in case of bad weather or overwhelming opposition.
7 Natural hazards, bogs, rivers, marshland, large forests, old mine workings, rock faces etc.
8 Manmade hazards, bomb sites, fallout zones, mine fields, militarised zones, refugee camps,
check points, known patrol routes, comms sites, ( COMMS SITES =communication sites=ergo
radio masts, communications/radio / microwave relay towers and broadcasting masts,
telecommunications facilities, military network communications masts, broadcasting stations both
civil/military and commercial etc. etc.)
Towns with populations exceeding available resources for self-reliance, etc.
9 Strategic targets, Bridges, factories, refineries, garrisons, police stations, airports, chemical and
steel plants, reservoirs, road and rail junctions, marshalling yards, power stations, etc.
10 climatic hazards depending on time of year.
11 Opposition, police, military both foreign and domestic, paramilitaries, refugees, renegades,
looters.
12 Allies, Red cross, civil defence groups, other survival groups that are friendly.
Resources, Food stores, supermarkets, fuel dumps, grain stores, petrol stations and POL dumps,
(Pol dumps = Petrol Oil and Lubricating dumps = fuel storage and distribution facilities, civil and
military, petrol stations, oil storage facilities, refineries and crackers, wagon depots, rail refuelling
depots, gas storage and distribution facilities, methane generator facilities (pig farms and ground
fill sites), camping gas suppliers (butane / propane/map gas-calor-gaz-coleman-taymar etc)
Water supplies, tool stores, gun and sports shops, armouries, builders merchants, isolated
shelters, farms, caves, tunnels, underpasses, fish farms, rivers and streams, colonies of cattle /
small and large game etc.

A warning about Supplies.

Do ensure that when you approach sources of supplies that they are not already under someone
else’s control, do not take unnecessary risks, go elsewhere or try again another day.
Avoid confrontation and unnecessary contact until things get as normal as possible, be prepared
to barter for supplies.
 RESOURCE MAPPING

Identify and keep records of any useful resources that may be useful to your group post collapse.

Some materials like coal or building materials can frequently be left in situ and they are unlikely to come
to any harm, unless of course such materials are going to be in short supply.

Identify the following.

Recoverable sources of Firewood, Coal & Coke, Peat, Heating and fuel oil, Bottled Gas ( butane and
propane). Check coal yards, railway sidings, gas bottled refilling centres etc.
Petroleum Products, Petrol, Diesel, Avgas, Paraffin ( Kerosene), Hypoid, Lubricants etc
( Most petroleum products will need treating with preservatives) Petrol stations, refineries, transport
depots etc
Building materials, Lumber, Bricks, Cement, Aggregates etc . builders yards, DIY centres, quarries,
building sites etc

Water Supplies, Tanks, ponds, reservoirs, streams, wells ( including capped ones) artesian and aquifer
supplies,
Water filtration and purification equipment and stockists.
Identify locations of fast flowing or fast falling water that could be used to turn generators , mills, etc.

Food stores, supermarkets, distribution centres, regional warehouses, grain stores, etc
Free range herds of cattle, sheep, chickens, deer etc
Rabbit farms, Rabbit warrens, Fish farms, Angling clubs.

Tool stores, engineering suppliers, plant hire agencies, camping, caravanning and outdoor stores, sports
shops, gun shops, gun smiths, boat yards, marinas, ships chandlers preserved railways etc

Remote housing that is conducive to self reliance, IE has things like functioning large chimneys and fire
places, ultra insulated, double/ triple glazed, multi-fuel heating / cooking facilities, has a well or other
clean water supply, solar panels, wind turbines, methane digesters, local supplies of fuel, defendable, etc
other facilities like outdoor residential centres, outward bound centres, alternative technology centres,
camping hostels, retreats etc are worth considering.

Check out footpaths, bridle ways, navigable water ways, rail lines, broadcasting masts, radio masts, wind
farms, etc.

Please remember that in survival INFORMATION is not only power, but a lifesaver as well.

BUG OUT CHECK LIST

Transport, Fuelled up, vehicle checked over, pols, tyres, lights, brakes, steering, spares etc spare fuel
loaded, noise level tested., radios /scanners fitted and checked.

Kit packed ready and loaded, food, water, clothes, med kit, maps, comms kit, nav kit, weapons and ammo
on hand.

Routes and alternative routes access checked

Media sources monitored

Others contacts / members contacted

Caches in place.

Rendezvous and checkpoint times understood

Emergency and immediate action drills understood

Gas / electricity / water at home isolated

Central heating and water systems drained down

Property secured

Livestock / Pets dispersed

HANDY KIT LIST

Modified list of handy stuff to have around ready for emergencies,this is like an extended general purpose
emergency kit

Shelter Water
______ Tent ______ Water Purifier
______ Ground sheet ______ Purify Tablets
______ Space Blanket HD ______ 1 litre Canteen
______ Sleeping bags ______ 5 gall Canteen
______ Plastic Sheeting ______ Water Packets
______ Mossy net ______ Active charcoal

Clothing Heat/Cooking/Light
______ 4pr Socks ______ "Lifeboat" Matches
______ Gloves ______ Butane Lighter
______ Hat ______ Candle Lantern
______ Sweatshirt ______ Extra Candles
______ Windbreaker ______ Re-sealable food containers
______ Gore-tex top coat ______ Canteens Insulated
______ Bandana ______ Fire lighters
______ Underwear ______ Eating/Cooking Utensils
______ Underwear Thermal/ _____ Camping Gas cooker
______ Boots 1pr ______ Camping gas refills
______ Bootlaces 1pr ______ Paraffin / Kerosene lanterns
______ Hiking shoes ______ Paraffin / Kerosene
______ spare laces

Utility Communications
______ Folding knife ______ AM-FM-SW Radio
______ Sheath Knife ______ Batteries spare
______ Knife Sharp Kit ______ Flashlights
______ Multi tool ______ Bulbs & Batteries extra
______ Telescopic baton ______ Pad of Paper
______ Parachute Cord ______ Pen & Pencil
______ Nylon Rope ______ Chemical Light Sticks
______ Mending Tape ______ Light Stick Case
______ Folding shovel ______ Mirror
______ Gill Net ______ Whistle
______ Pick/spade/fork ______ Flares (aerial)
______ Pry bars/hatchets ______ Cash
______ Field glasses ______ Trade Goods
______ Rifle / pistol
______ Cleaning kit
______ Spare mags
______ Ammo
______ Wood saw / secatuers

Navigation Hygiene
______ Maps ______ Soap bars
______ Compass ______ Liquid Soaps & Shampoos
______ Map Aides ______ Washing up detergents
______ GPS system ______ Sanitary products M/F
______ Survival Skills Manual ______ Sterile /Baby wipes
______ Edible plants book ______ Bottles of bleach
______ Medical book ______ Bottles of disinfectant
______ Tooth care products
______ Shaving kit
______ Garbage bags H/D
Food
______ 3 to 7 MRE *Meals * meals ready to eat
______ Small can cashews or other nuts
______ Other personal preference food items
______ Meats
______ Fish
______ Vegetables
______ Pastas
______ Rice
______ Fruits
______ Milks / Whiteners
______ Salt/sugar/herbs/curry powder

Food Stuffs must be chosen for nutritional value and preferred taste ahead of cost, Its no good buying
twenty trays of Tuna if only you out of your entire family like it.

BUG OUT BAGS AND BUG OUT VESTS

These interesting items are basically a form of insurance that many survivalists have become used to
having about, They are simply bags, briefcases or travel vests that are loaded with useful and handy
pieces of equipment , tools and supplies that you can grab and go with should the need arise.

SURVIVAL BUG OUT BAG ( My Own personal kit)

Leather/ Cordura Multi pocket tool bag
Soviet AK 47 Bayonet for rough chopping
Pocket Binos or Monocular
Multi tool with plier head
Multi-tool with pruning head
Flashlights Plus spare Batteries
Minature FM radio plus batteries
Chemical light sticks
Rations MRE
Hexamine cooker
Butane lighters
Lock knife ( Cold Steel XL Voyager Tanto)
Knife sharpener
Maps
Survival instructions
Survival book
Medical kit
Spare prescription specs
Paracord
Large folding wood saw
Ziplock bags
Small tin with button compass, signal mirror, spare batteries
Telescopic baton

SURVIVAL BUG OUT VESTS

Survival vests or load bearing vests or multi pocket vests are becoming increasingly popular with
survivalists, they can be worn instead of carried which many people prefer for various reasons, they can
either suppliment or replace bug out bags though I must admit to having both. The main advantage for
concerned people about having useful equipment about their person on a daily basis is that a partially
loaded vest can be worn as noral daily attire in most cases, this allows people quite a bit of leeway in
choosing what kit that can have readily to hand all day every day. I also have a lightweight bug out vest
to suppliment the BoB and BoV that is light and comfortable which I wear all the time as part my normal
dress.

SURVIVAL VEST KIT

Below is a description of my own Bug out Vest and its contents

Snowbee Multi Pocket ( 14) vest in olive drab, ( Modified, Larger Heavier Zip fitted, two out of three mesh
outer pockets removed)
Storm proof butane lighters x2
Silva type 4 / 54 compass ( Tritium illuminated) in Mils and Degrees
Survival whistle
LED Flashlight plus spare batteries
Mini LED torch Zipper fitting model
Thermometer
Fishing kit
Pain killers ( Aspirin, Brufen, Paracetamol)
Assorted Band aids
Gloves ( leather single skin)
Lock knife ( CS voyager Tanto)
Maps O/S 1:50,000( Or A4 Sectional maps)
Zip lock bags
Para cord 550 ft lb
Water puri tabs
Knife Sharpener
Coffee, sugar and whitener sachets.
Map reading aide memoir
Baby wipes

I am considering adding another set of folding secatuers to vest kit, but this would open the door to me
carrying another multi tool which I already have on my belt, I also find that both Mini mag lite and LED
flash lights that need 2 or 3 AA batteries take up to much space lengthwise, so I have now changed them
for a pair of lens focused LED flashlights than run on silver oxide 357 button batteries
All contents of pockets in Zip lock bags

LIGHTWEIGHT BUG OUT VEST

Last year ( 2003) one of the American contributors on Misc Survivalism mentioned in passing he was
working on a lightweight Bug out Vest that he could wear every day without attracting unwanted attention.
I thought I would take a look at the subject from a British viewpoint. The main differences between the two
systems will be the make of the vest and its type of construction ( mesh backed for warm climes and poly-
cotton for colder climes) and of course the inevitable firearm that the American could carry and Briton
could not, The American system had a seven (???) shot revolver in .22 cal Long Rifle included in its make
up.
I have been thinking about some sort of compromise between the basic pocket survival tin that most of us
carry around and a full blown bug out vest weighing in at an average of 7 or more kilos.
What I am playing around with is a lightweight vest that I can wear every day without attracting unwanted
attention, but has enough practicality to act as an interim survival vest.
The sort of thing I am considering is something like the new Regatta cotton / mesh travel vest ( slightly
modified to suit my own needs) in olive drab material, it only weighs in at about 1 ½ lb.
In this vest which is only about the third of the weight of my Snowbee Bug out vest ,I was thinking about
the following space and weight saving options.

A Swisscard credit card tool (Scissors, fine knife, rule, pen, tweezers.)*****
A Tool logic credit card tool ( Compass, magnifier, 2 inch skinning knife, tin / bottle opener) *****
A BCB steel credit card tool ( Solid Steel , reflector, spanner, screwdriver, can be made into mini axe)*****
A key ring size LED flashlight
A Gerber EZ out lightweight folder ( or possibly a Spyderco spydercard knife?)
A Gerber Pen sized sharpening stone
10 yards para cord
A plasticised aluminium pouch for cooking in / carrying water (type of thing MREs come in)
A card of Brufen, Aspirin, and Paracetamol
A selection of band aids/ steri strips
A card of 10 water puri tabs
A sachet of Potassium Permangenate
A Sun Micro compass
A Lightweight FM radio
A Windproof butane lighter.( the type with a safety catch )
A few energy bars, bits of jerky, mint cake.
A micro monocular
A wire Saw
A fishing line, hooks and lead shot
Four micro chemical light sticks
A laminated A 4 sectional map of the area you are visiting
All the above in Zip lock bags
A large plasticised survival bag

The total weight including the vest is still less than 5 lbs

***** These tools are in my wallet anyway, I always have a Multi tool like a Gerber Mod 600 and quality
folder CS Voyager Tanto on my belt

This leaves me the option of keeping my heavy full sized Bug out Vest in my car or at home, but still
affords me some increased level of protection without me looking like a member of the SAS on a scud
hunting mission.
* The contents of the lightweight BoV could also easy be kept in a hip pack.

FIT, FEEL AND FAMILIARITY

 (Getting to know your kit)

OK, so you have done the research, bought the kit, developed your plans and stockpiled everything
including the assault systems kitchen sink. Now what are you going to do? Wait for Armageddon?
Its no good at all having a great piece of kit if you are not totally familiar with its feel and fit and you need
to be very comfortable about using it. Why buy an all singing all dancing tactical folding knife then put it
away until it is needed? Does it open and close smoothly, can you cut a rope, fillet a rabbit, defend
yourself with it, sharpen it or is it to big or to lightweight for the task?
Does it sit comfortably on your hip now? What about after 8 hours with your rucksack pressing it into your
hip, can you unleash it, open it and use it with cold, wet, tired hands?
Your expensive flashlight with its lifetime warranty, can you strip and replace the self cleaning switch, Is it
big enough powerful enough to do the job for a full evening in your blacked out camp site or retreat, or is it
always getting in the way, pulling your belt down, and eating batteries faster than a kids toy?
Be honest, if you were stressed out, scared stupid and fleeing for your life along with your family, Could
you put your hand straight to your compass, flashlight, map, knife or whatever in your bug out vest /bag
without having to unpack or rummage about for it. What about the vest / bag itself Is the vest up to the
job, comfortable, not going to slide up or down, ride up into a knot or disintegrate at the first time its put to
use.
Its the same with the super duper tyres you paid a premium rate for, and what about the PV unit or wind
generator you have obtained, will the tyres give the traction you seek or are you going to end up with
terminal wheel spin in the inevitable piece of swampy real estate along the route to your destination, or
the PV and turbine working flat out simply don’t provide enough energy to stop your freezer from thawing
out. What if for example the turbine produces enough noise to let the residents of the next county home in
on your secluded retreat?
You have the will, you have the need, and now you have the kit to enable you to survive, so get familiar
with it use it, get comfortable with it, reassure yourself that it will be up to the task, Why not for example
wear your vest for a few days at a time partially loaded, so you get used to it, let it find its shape, find out
the best way to load it with your kit. You don't need to go into town looking like you are ready to start a
war, but it will do you no harm at all to use your vest as a gillet carrying your knife, flashlight, compass,
first aid kit, Para cord, wallet etc for a few days, perhaps you could make it your car coat or your dog
walking jacket. It’s the same with the new boots you have recently invested in.
Now you have realised that bugging out in a vehicle is going to be almost impossible and have purchased
those 200 dollar boots, are they up to the job? To stiff, poor fit, not broken in, not water resistant, take
forever to dry out etc? you need your bug out boots, clothes and kit to be snug, comfortable, familiar at
hand, and up to the job.

I got myself what I thought would be an ideal garment to use as a bug out vest, I bought it, loaded it up,
then put it away whilst I waited for Armageddon. Then one day I thought I would take the mutt for a good
long hard walk and decided to try out the vest............................... It is now into its third set of alterations
and modifications to make it more comfy and better suited to the task it was originally designed for.

STOCKPILING SUGGESTIONS

There are many lists available on the web and in books about what to stockpile or cache, this article is
simply a guide of useful things to consider having around "just in case"

Some items you may wish to obtain can be useful on a day to day basis as well as being invaluable
during a crisis for your own use or to barter with.

Tea / coffee / whiteners

sugar / salt
flour / grain / pasta
soap / bleach / detergents
tooth paste / deodorant
ziplock bags / bin bags
Candles / parafin
Coal /charcoal / wood

All of the above are everyday consumables that will quickly become in very short supply during a crisis
and pound for pound the likes of salt, paraffin, coffee, and candles will become more valuable than gold.

Writers of survival planning often suggest that you should keep a supply of pure gold and silver coins for
use as barter currency, perhaps they are correct but in my mind if you can not eat it or burn it or preserve
food with it I don't think it will be of much use to you. People will sell their souls for the supplies I've listed
when its in short supply and you can not really have two much in store because its something that you
use continuously in your every day lives.

OTHER USEFUL ITEMS

Flashlights
Batteries
Nylon cord
Rope
Shovels
Picks
Pry bars
Hand operated tools
Paraffin and candle lanterns
Boots, insoles and spare laces
Ordnance Survey maps 1:50,000
Compasses
Ducting tape / insulating tape
Multi tools Gerber / Leatherman etc
Compact field glasses
Short wave radio or scanner
Spare knives
Hiking clothing /gor-tex type
Rucksack
Medical kit
Weapons
Tents / bivouac bags
Blankets
camp cooker / barbeque ( multi-fuel)
Water containers
Extra personal sanitation kit / spare prescription glasses

FOOD stuffs that have a long shelf life or can be reconstituted easily are required and it must be food you
like. It does not put much of a strain upon your financial resources to spend an extra £ 2 a week on food
to lay away for emergencies (unless you are a British pensioner) Don't forget to rotate your cached food
through your everyday supplies so you always have the freshest stuff in reserve.In many cases rural folk
and those who are affected by restricted access to the shops keep a lot more tinned and dry goods than
would normally be found in the average families town house. I tend to buy tinned goods like baked beans,
soups, vegetables, fruit, corned beef, tinned hams, peas, carrots, potatoes, tinned milk etc by the dozen,
tins if looked after have a good shelf life and fairly easy to store. Do write on the end of the tin with a
marker pen whats its contents are and its expiry date, just in case the label falls off during storage. I have
added a shelf life list further towards the end of the book.

NICE STUFF TO STRIVE FOR

A retreat or holiday cabin/lodge/mobile home/caravan in an isolated location.
A four-wheel drive utility vehicle is good , an estate or people carrier is next.
A full two way amateur radio set-up.
A portable generator
Solar panels/composting toilet/wind turbine/water turbine/ and a well for your house or retreat.
Moving out of the city (everyone should be pushing for this)
Horses /mountain bikes / boats.
Living within 50 miles of other friendly survivalists.
Working from home or being self employed.

These lists can be endless and bloody expensive, but if obtained over time they can be achieved and if
you accidentally become overstocked you can always barter the excess with other survivalists for
something you do want, This is why the UK survivalists needs to have frequent rendezvous so they can
exchange goods and services with like minded folk.

INCREASED STOCK LEVELS

People have asked exactly what I mean when I say I am increasing my stock levels during a perceived
coming crisis, Listed below are some of the things I do and some of the things I get in extra to my normal
shopping .

Fill cars with fuel

Fill Gerry cans
Check over vehicles systems, POL* as required
Strip, clean and adjust all tools and blades and other pieces of kit

*POL Petrol, Oil and Lubricants

Fill potable water containers and treat.

Pack extras into bug out bags
Monitor news continuously
Change batteries in flashlights and radios
Top up normal shopping stock, I always keep about three months’ foodstuffs anyway.

Then I get extra

Tea bags 2000

Coffee 4 jars
Sugar 8 kilos
Salt 2 kilo
Whitener/creamer 1 kilo

Rice long grain 12 lbs

Pasta shells 12 lbs
Wheat flour 12 lbs
Cereal grain 12 lbs
Noodles etc 4 lbs

Tinned
Salmon/Tuna x8
Ham/Turkey x8
Processed meats x8
Soups Asst x32
Stews x 8
Tinned meals x 16 (all day breakfast etc)
Peas x 8
Carrots x 8
Potatoes x 16
Baked beans x16
Beans with sausages / burgers etc x 16
Mushrooms x 8
Mixed vegetables x 16
Mixed fruit cocktail x 16
Tins fruit various x 16
Tins cream x 4
Tip Top x 20
Tins custard x 16
Tins / jars cooking sauces x 12
Tins oriental / Asian vegetables x12

Dried fruit
Dried nuts
Dried meats

As above but vac packed assorted x 12

Get extra toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo etc bars neutral soaps x 32

Top up all medicines inc prescription stuffs

Bleach unscented x 4 gallons

Fairy liquid washing up liquid x 4 gallons
Batteries AA, C, D x 32 of each 12 x 357 silver oxide button batterys
Solar powered battery chargers and a set of Ni-Mh batteries is a good option

Above normal stock requirements.

Other items are obtained as and when deemed necessary, refer to your own main kit lists and select
adjust as necessary.

SIMPLE METHOD OF CACHING

One of the best and easiest methods of hiding your emergency equipment is to cache it in some safe
location away from your home or retreat.

The commonest method of caching is to bury it at a place that

A you can easily find again
B It can not be easily found or accidentally uncovered by someone else
C it is in a position were it can be retrieved during a crisis without
exposing you to danger
D It is not likely to become exposed due to erosion or land slip or
agricultural activity
E it is not likely to become covered over by development or flood water

There are many locations for you to choose from, some will suit you some will not, its up to your own
personal choice and the environment you live in. I hid my caches by burying them next to manhole
covers, inspection pipe covers in rural locations along the various bug out routes I have chosen.
One of the best types of caching container I have used is the one made from plastic drainage piping, I buy
a 3 metre length of 8 or 10 inch heavy duty waste water piping and 6 blanking end caps, I chop up the
pipe into 1 meter lengths and use either pipe welding solvent or external grade silicone sealant to seal an
end cap onto one end of the pipe, I then fill the pipe with whatever I choose (maps/ rations/medical kit/
tools/ fuels/etc)
Then add some moisture absorbent crystal sachets to the contents and seal the top on.

One point of note, you don't always need to bury the tube in a vertical position if the area is reasonably
undisturbed and is not likely to attract the attention of animals you can bury it about 18 inches down, put a
few rocks on it to hold it in place then back fill the hole, remember to put back the turf or whatever was on
the surface so it blends in with its surroundings.

Food Shelf-Life Recommendations

FOOD Shelf-Life in Months

Baking Power 18 or exp. date
Baking Soda 24
Bisquick Exp. Date
Bouillon 24
Cereals 6-12
Chocolate Pre-melted Semi Sweet 12 18 18
Choclate Syrup 24
Cocoa Mixes 8
Cocoa Mix 24
Coffee 24
Coffee Lighteners (dry) 9
Cornmeal 12
Cornstarch 18
Argo Cornstarch Indefinite
Country Time Lemonade Drink Mix 24
Crystal Light Drink Mix 24
Tang Drink Mix 24
Kool Aid Drink Mix 18-24
White Flour Whole Wheat 6-8 6-8
Gelatin, all types 18
Jell-O 24
Grits 12
Honey 12
Honey 12-24-
Jellies, Jams 12
Molasses 12+
Marshmallow Cream 3-4
Mayonnaise 2-3
Milk Condensed Evaporated 12 12 6
Pasta 24
White rice 24+
Minute Rice 18
Bottled Salad Dressings 10-12
Salad Oils 6
Oil - Crisco or Puritan 24
Corn Oil 18
Crisco Shortening Indef.
Vinegar - Container with Plastic Lid Indef.
Salt Indef.
Sugar Brown Confectioners Granulated Indef. 18 24+ 24+
Syrups 12
Tea Bags Instant 18 36 24
Vinegar 24+
Biscuit, Brownie, Muffin Mix 9
Cake Mixes 9
Casseroles, complete or add own meat 9-12
Cookies 2-3 weeks
Pillsbury Mixes 18
Betty Crocker Mixes 8-12+
Jiffy Mixes 24
Crackers 3
Stove Top Dressing Mix Exp. Date
Frostings Canned 3 8
Hot-Roll Mix 18
Pancake Mix 6-9
Pie Crust Mix 8
Pies and Pastries 2-3 days
Potatoes, instante 6-12
Pudding Mixes 12
Rice Mixes 6
Rice-a-Roni Exp. Date
Pasta-Roni Exp. Date
Rice & Sauce 10-15
Noodles & Sauce 12-24
Pasta & Sauce 9-12
Sauce/Gravy Mix 6-12
Soup Mix 12
Soup Base 120
Country Kitchen Soup 36
Toaster Pastries 2-3
Canned Baby Foods Canned Tomato Sauce 12 12
Canned Cheese Sauce 24-36
Canned Tuna, Fish, and Seafood 5 Years
Canned Cranberry Sauce Exp. Date
Canned Fruits 36+
Canned Fruit Pie Fillings 24-36
Dinty Moore Spam Ham Chunks Chili Dried Beef Indefinite
Black Label Ham Exp. Date
Canned Meat Canned Chicken 36 36
Canned Soup Exp. Date
Canned Tomatoes 36+
Canned Vegetables 24-48
Canned Baked Beans 24-36
Canned Black Beans 24
Canned French Fried Onions 24
Canned Ragu Spaghetti Sauce Use by Date
Canned Five Brothers Pasta Sauce 24
Canned Fruit Juices 6
Juices 12-24
Dried Fruits 6
Dried Vegetables 12
Dried Peas and Beans 12
Catsup 18-24
Chili Sauce 24
Mustard, Yellow Prepared 24
Jar Pickles 12-24
Spices 12-24
Steak Sauce 24
Tobasco Sauce 60

Extracts Vanilla 24 12
Vegetables, Dehydrated Flakes 6
Cheese, Parmesian Grated 10
Coconut, Shredded, Canned, or Packaged 12
Meat Substitutes TVP; Imitation Bacon Bits 12
Metered-Caloric Products, Instant Breakfast 6
Nuts In Shell Pkg. Nutmeats Pkg. 4 24 3
Peanut Butter 6-9
Jif Peanut Butter 24
Popcorn 24
Freeze Dried Mushrooms 24
Whipped Topping (dry) 12
Yeast (dry) Exp. Date

HYGIENE FOR SURVIVAL

If you think the greatest risk to your groups continued existence is going to be starvation or violence then
you are very much off the mark, it will more likely be a failure of your hygiene protocols that kill off most of
you and the bulk of the countries population. Sanitation failure, bugs, food poisoning, rodents, disease
(common ones more so than exotic ones ) will kill more than any other reason.

If you need to be paranoid about anything post collapse then it should be hygiene, hygiene in the home /
retreat, hygiene in the kitchen, hygiene when coming into contact with strangers or late arriving group
members.

In a crisis for example economic collapse you will need to consider the following protocols.

Patrols to fill in and disinfect all pools / ponds/ puddles that are not used by the group for a large around
the retreat.
No footwear or clothes that have been used in patrolling/ foraging / agricultural work / cesspit digging to
be allowed anywhere near the kitchen or food prep / storage areas.
Anyone on kitchen / food prep duties who leaves the work area must wash again before re-entering the
work area, especially if going for personal ablutions.
All toilet habits must finish with a good wash with hibiscrub or similar disinfectant.
No one with so much as a sniffle to be allowed near the kitchen / food prep storage areas during the first
6 months of the crisis.
All visitors / late arrivals to be quarantined for 10 days during first 6 months of crisis.
All suspicious food sources (old tins etc) to be treated with absolute caution (food taster volunteers!)
Internal cleaning of the home / retreat to be of a standard that would satisfy conditions for an operating
theatre or strive to be as hygienic as possible.
Washing and cleaning of clothes, crockery and pottery that ensures sterilisation be adopted every day
during the first year of the crisis.
All waste foods that are not being recycled / composted to be buried in a way that rodents and animals
can not dig them up.
All rodents, squirrels, and scavenging types of wildlife to be eradicated within a 500 yd radius of the home
/ retreat if possible.
All cesspits to be limed and filled in every two weeks.
All used bandages, dressings, nappies, sanitary products to be treated as though they are lethal and must
be incinerated.
All water for consumption and personal hygiene MUST be boiled or chemically treated, never presume
anything about the quality of water.
All fruit and vegetables must be washed with clean water.

The above suggestions are by no means complete and its your own responsibility to ensure that high
levels of hygiene are maintained, I suggest that any member of your group who chooses to ignore your
hygiene protocols be dealt with as though he were a mass murderer.
An outbreak of flu is an inconvenience to you now whilst you are healthy, but post collapse it will kill your
young, your weak and old folk, Imagine what an outbreak of dysentery or gastro enteritis will do to your
groups integrity, Measles, mumps, TB are going to crucify those who don't maintain their health and
hygiene protocols.
Please don't forget that post collapse most forms of wildlife will be a risk to your group especially if rabies
travels down the channel tunnel, The hairy arsed tree rat (grey squirrel) is as big a disease carrier as the
brown rat, and don't forget feral dogs and cats they will have been feeding of all sorts of unpleasant
carrion.
Post collapse most cute furry things are not to be trusted.

SENSIBLE MEDICAL KIT

Sterile Packs, containing coated sterile field, 2 comp procedure tray, non woven swabs, dressing towels,
latex gloves, yellow disposable bag.
Gauze swabs
Sterile dressings assorted sizes
Field dressings
Band-aids
Tapes
Alco wipes
Burn gel squares
Steristrips
Sterile gloves
Stitch cutters
Tweezers
Scissors
Spencer Wells Forceps/ Haemostats
Syringes for irrigation

Aspirin (liquid and tabs)

Paracetamol (liquid and tabs)
Ibuprofen (liquid and tabs)

Antihistamine cream and tabs

Anti-inflammatory cream and spray
Anti fungal cream and spray
Antiseptic cream
Anti-biotics, tabs, powder and liquid
Bonjela mouth ulcer & teething treatment
IBS ( irritable bowel syndrome) Tabs ( Colofac)
Eczema spray and cream
Insect repellent lotion and spray
Hydrocortisone cream
Acne & spot treatment ( Nicotinamide 4%)
Vaseline
Eye Ointment ( styes)

Nasal decongestant ( Otravine spray)

Diarrhoea treatment
Eye drops
Ear drops
Worming treatment
Re-hydration sachets (dioralyte)

IF AVAILABLE
Broad spectrum antibiotics
Local anaesthetic spray and cream
Malaria treatment

Important do obtain

All prescribed medications for everyone in group

all prescribed spectacles, dentures, hearing aids etc

This kit is in no way complete or comprehensive, but it does provide a good basic kit to build from, watch
out for expiracy dates and rotate / replace as necessary.

SHORT TERM DOMESTIC HEAT AND LIGHT

Having limited financial resources offset by a need to have some sort of heat / light backup has sent me
on the following route.
the stuff listed below is ideal for short term contingencies such as storm induced power outages.

For situations that need me to provide heat / light for my family on a short to medium term situations I
have obtained a portable bottled gas fire and a building site bottled gas lantern / cooker combo, I intend to
keep three of the medium size bottles for them and rotate the bottles via my gas barbeque which is itself a
reserve source of heat.

These will be backed up in turn by a camping cooker (SINGLE BURNER) and a pair of camping gas
lanterns, I keep loads of gas canisters in a vented fire resistant locker at the bottom of the garden.

The third level will be (If I underestimate the duration of the crisis) supported by paraffin lamps and a
home made wood / charcoal burner and a pile of hexamine cookers.

I have disposed of my portable petrol generator as it was underpowered and unreliable and I was not too
happy about keeping so much gasoline about. Gas powered Generators as gaining popularity as they
are reliable, clean, safer than petrol and cheap to run.

Being the type of person who has not practised what I preach I lived in a bungalow that had an electric
cooker, electric microwave, and a electrically operated gas central heating system, My gas fire had been
removed during a major refurbishment of the house because it was worn out, I also refuse to pay out the
money for a replacement (£400 for what is basically a piece of bent tin with three bricks and a bulb in it.)

In the medium term I am insulating everything that can be insulated, and installing double-glazing (It’s
remarkable how easy as a DIY project this is)

For long term I am still looking into solar power to provide auxiliary heat and power but at present these
systems are still too expensive.

I have since moved home three times in two years in an effort to find a more suitable home (Nov 2003)
Jan 2004 I have recently moved into a new house right on the very edge of a small northern town.
 TOWED TRAILER CARAVANS

The idea of having two homes both equipped and furnished in a manner and style of your choosing is a
highly desirable concept, but for many of us a house in town and another in a secluded rural location will
never amount to more than a pipe dream..

But wait, what about a good modern well equipped and winterised caravan ( trailer for the Americans), for
only upwards of a few hundred pounds and a bit extra for upgrade and refitting you can have your second
home in the country, and what’s more you can move it to better pastures if you find them. Obviously the
more you spend on the basic van the better the results are likely to be.

A caravan ( trailer) can have multiple berths ( fixed or stowed away) Heating ( Gas, Electric 12v and
mains) 12 v and mains lighting, gas cooker and oven, microwave, fitted kitchen with sink and taps, a
separate bathroom with integral shower and cassette/ cartridge toilet, Fridge Freezer, wardrobes,
cupboards, TV / cell phone / satellite / radio aerials, solar panels, water filters, auxiliary battery, portable
generator, spare gas bottles, Wardrobes, integral water and waste water tanks, double glazing and well
insulated as well. If you uses an awning ( tent structure attached to the side of the caravan) it can double
the size of the covered area available to you.

If you think about it a caravan pre-positioned in case of emergency at some location of your choice will
not only provide your family with an ideal weekend holiday home but a very well equipped retreat as well,
some people have made arrangements with land owners and farmers to keep their vans on secluded
spots on the farmers land in return for a rent and an assurance to help the farmer keep his livelihood
protected during a crisis. Other people have purchased their own small plots of land in secluded locations
and conceal their vans in wooded copses or behind man made or natural berms, it is remarkably easy to
camouflage even a white caravan in the middle of a wood. Don't forget as survivalists blending in with Joe
Public is paramount and attracting undue attention could be very unpleasant for your survival plans, but
as a reminder sighting your van in the middle of a load of other caravans in a nice decent quality rural
caravan site can offer many benefits apart from good company and camaraderie, a case of hiding a tree
in a forest if you wish :o)

Should circumstances change there is no real reason for you not to move your van to other locations /
positions of your choice as determined by global, natural, civil or political events. Above all else it gives
you more options to consider for your social, domestic and survival plans.

Modern caravans are built on galvanised alloy chassis with integral braking systems, their construction
can be of aluminium, glass fibre or ABS construction ( or a mix of any or all) over a laminated timber
framework packed with insulation, with a little care a caravan can be kept in a functioning condition for
decades at minimal cost.
Much standardisation of parts throughout the industry ensure spares are plentiful and inexpensive, items
such as electrical fittings, lights, water pumps, taps (faucets) locks, hinges, upholstery, gas fittings and
white goods are readily available in most areas.

From a survivalist point of view a well-sited van near a sources of clean water (and preferably electricity)
can sustain your family during a crisis for months. If one keeps a good supply of food stuffs cached at or
around your caravan as well as inside of course, you can feed your family a healthy balanced diet for
extended periods, that is far better than becoming a refugee at the mercy of strangers or your govt. A
supply of bottled gas ( butane / propane with spare regulators and gas flexi pipes) backed up with a solar
panel (PV CELL) and a micro wind turbine feeding your 110 AH auxiliary battery can provide all your
energy needs again for months at a time (depending on climate, how much gas you keep, and how frugal
you are with it.
Many people keep small sheds or garden stores with their vans in which to keep gardening implements ,
keeping extra gas bottles in one is not going to attract attention.
Other considerations are trailer tents but these can not sustain a family as well during extremely cold wet
windy weather and are more prone to damage, the only one we have tried and approved is the Combi-
Camp trailer tent for 3 season usage. All the others appear to be to fiddly or to delicate for our needs.

The most basic and functional van for our needs appear to be restricted to one model, the Knaus Sport
and Fun, this van offers very little in the line of frills or fancy refinements, but does offer functionality and
durability. other makes that appear to come the closest to our needs are the Compass range of caravans,
this is the make two of the north British survivalists choose to use for various personal reasons.

MOTOR CAMPERS AS BUG OUT VEHICLES

This intro speaks for itself, camper van can in many circumstances make very good bug out vehicles for
individuals or families, they can make the trauma of fleeing from ones home during a crisis a lot less
stressful by travelling in a familiar vehicle surrounded by familiar facilities and equipment. A well sorted
and equipped camper can help sustain your family during some very traumatic times. However getting
the biggest and best camper van may not be the best method of choosing your BOV. Some campers are
brutally large gas guzzling monsters with very low ground clearance and huge overhangs. They may be
very well equipped with everything to sustain you, but if they need 70 feet of road to do a right or left turn,
or if they sink up to their axles the second they leave Tarmac then they become more of a liability than an
asset. Re-fuelling some of these beasts can bankrupt some people, and if fuel is already in short supply
trying to feed something that only does 8 to the gallon is suicidal.

At the end of the day all you really need internally is berths for your group / family, a cooker, a fridge (not
essential) A cassette toilet, washing facilities, storage facilities, water storage, waste storage, gas
supplies, back up battery, PV cell for recharging batteries, maintenance tools, spares, food, clothing,
maps and other basic kit.

Many people simply fit a normal commercial van with basic camp cooker, toilet, water containers, folding
seats and camp beds ????

Never Ever use bottle gas appliances like cookers and fridges in enclosed spaces like vans unless
correctly installed and well ventilated, and a fire extinguisher kept close to hand is a must, even with extra
vents fitted its always prudent to keep a door or window well open, AND NEVER change a gas bottle
inside the vehicle.

The ideal type tends ( but not always) to be the demountable camper on a 4WD pickup 1 ton truck, this is
followed by the utility vehicle conversion that uses the standard steel body of the vehicle to contain the
fittings and facilities.

Whenever possible try to get at least a 100 BHP naturally aspirated diesel powered engine with long
range fuel tanks, as well as being more simple, durable and reliable than a gasoline engine you can install
a heater system from a full size truck ( Semi Trailer) that runs off diesel , this makes staying warm that bit
easier and convenient without having to break into your limited bottled gas supplies. Ground clearance is
another important consideration, availability of parts , tyres, service components is also important.

The more bland, the more common, the more uninteresting your BOV camper looks the less likely you are
to attract unwanted attention from people who may be looking to relieve you of your hard earned survival
supplies. Remember there are far more people who would rather waste their spare monies or fritter it
away on idle luxuries, preferring to rely on the state to bail them out in a crisis or during hard times, there
are many in society who like to deride survivalists during times of plenty and stability, it is these same
people who will come knocking on your door when things go wrong, and many of them will steal or try to
take by force the supplies and equipment you have strived so long to save for. A low profile for your family
and your vehicle is called for during troubled times, this is why so many of us now purchase standard
panel vans and when fitting them out as camper BOV’s fit extra sunroofs for illumination instead of fitting
glass panels in the side of the van.
Options

Consider combing your BOV with a towed caravan ( Trailer) to increase the functionality and flexibility of
your survival plans, ( See Caravans for Survivalism). If you can afford to change your family car that is
used to tow the caravan for a panel van or camper van then this is an option you may wish to consider.

WINTER PREP CHECK LIST

House
Wood cut and dried?
Coal stocks ordered?
Gas bottles changed and refilled
Gutters cleaned
Fencing and posts checked
Window seals checked
Boiler (furnace) serviced
Doors /windows draught proofed
Drains free flowing

Spare candles / flashlights etc, emergency heating kit

Snow shovel
Spare fuses/ circuit breakers
Boarding up shuttering for broken windows
Weather warning radio

Personal

Extra food stocks got in in case of snow / ice storm / whiteout

Prescription medicines gotten in

Winter clothing got out of storage and cleaned aired

Boots weatherproofed

Vehicles
top up / change antifreeze
tighten /adjust drive belts
tyre condition /pressures
check hoses
lube locks
change wiper blades
check M & S tyres condition if still in store
check your tyre chains
fit thinner oil if you live in very northern climes.
check battery condition and leads
radio tuned to weather and traffic station
Sleeping bag/ survival blanket
Chemical light sticks / flashlights/spare batteries
Candle/ matches
Snow dye
Survival kit
Shovel
Snow mats
ShortWave radio
Hot drink making kit
Vehicle spares,
bulbs,
belts,
fuses,
plugs,
leads,
oil,
coolant,
hose clips,
hose repair kit,
exhaust repair kit,
cable ties
duct tape
snow chains
wheel brace
spanners / sockets and screwdrivers
sockets
tyre levers & tyre pump