The Phoenix Sunrise

So I was reading on another blog about how this guy has his perimeter.  Realize, however, that I’m not going to discuss the entirety of home defense here…  Just the thought about perimeters.

Husband and I have talked many times about perimeters.  Amazingly, one of the best ideas we came up with?  A moat.  Would I like to have a 15ft steel reinforced concrete wall with razor wire on the ground and around the top of it?  Sure.  But I think a moat would be pretty effective at stopping or at least deterring most “criminals.”  We’ve even discussed the things we’d put in the moat… like broken glass.

Anyhow, just throwing that out there.  Anyone else have any interesting ideas, I’m certainly all ears. 

There are a lot of things to consider when planning for PAW survival.  I’ve read some comments on some other blogs where people were critical of the author for only addressing one type of scenario and not another.  I think for now, I’m going to make sure you’re all aware, I’m going to be addressing pretty rural situtations.  I have no need or desire to go all urban.  A lot of what I talk about will probably be useful in both situations, but I am not going to go out of my way to address those scenarios, really.

I think that suriviving is very much a determination of will first and foremost.  Granted, there’s only so far will can go.  I can’t necessarily stop bullets with will, or kill viruses (or can I??)…  Every person I talk to who says to me regarding a PAW, “I’d rather not live to see such times,” is already defeated.  I can’t blame them.  I don’t even try to convince them.  Maybe I’m heartless.  A very close friend of mine has a quote in her profile on a message board about anarchists…  “Anarchists don’t want to liberate people, they want people to liberate themselves…”  That’s about where I am.

I have determined that I will survive.  Will you?

Husband and I are trying to decide what the best bug-out vehicle would be.   There are all kinds of things to consider…

1) How readily will fuel be available?

We’ve tried to address this concern with the idea of Biodiesel.  Biodiesel, in its most simple terms, as I understand it, is fuel derived from biological (plant) sources.  We know already that a diesel engine will run, though not quite as efficiently, on vegetable biproduct alone.  Of course, of course, this has its own complications, the first of which being how much “biodiesel substitute” would one have to acquire/create in order to go a certain distance?  How would we store it?  How would we transport it? 

2) What’s the purpose of the BOV?

Does it need to be a “regular” mode of transportation?  Will it be used to get from Point A to Point B and then be discarded?  If the former, consider 1 above.  If the latter, is there already an established Point B?  What’s the distance of Point B? What will happen when you arrive at Point B?

We haven’t figured this out, either.  I’m pretty sure we’re leaning toward only having to get from a starting point to a “final destination” where we would then be “on-foot,” as it were.

3) What kind of terrain are you going to encounter?

This could be anything as simple as totally flat highways/fields or as complicated as hills and streams and wooded areas.  Something to certainly consider.

4) What kinds of threats do you need to anticipate?

Consider weather (extreme hot and extreme cold).  Wild animals would be a factor.  If you live near a zoo, take that into consideration.  Consider whether or not other people would be  a threat to you, living or dead or even living-dead if that’s your thing.    Would you need to be protected from small-arms fire? 

For our discussions, we assume that in a PAW, other people would be a tremendous threat, at least at first.  We assume that people would be very desperate to survive and would likely try to take what we have if they think their survival depends on in.  In that way, I’d certainly say that small arms fire would be something very good to protect against where possible. 

We’re torn between needing all-wheel-drive and needing space.  If we decide we need to bug-out, a jeep would be excellent to get to a remote area.  Downside?  There’s little space in a Jeep.  If we needed to bunker down somewhere, we’d need to transport supplies, and do so safely.  Jeeps also have very little protection from potential dangers (weather, small arms fire, etc.).  We’ve considered a bread-truck.  Lots of room, reinforceable, like the door you lift versus the door you swing open… but would almost certainly have to stay on a road…

There are trade offs in all situations.  Very interested in other opinions.

Thanks so much,
LP