Alternative Survivalists

Executive Summary - Here we are going to discuss some other approaches to survival that are rarely brought out. Most survival books, blogs and websites promote the cabin retreat and filling it with $40,000 or $50,000 worth of stored food and other survival equipment. We are going to bring out some other theories that we feel are not as marketing worthy thus they are for the most part left untouched.

Helicopter Retreating from Chaos - If you are wealthy enough to own a helicopter you can probably store it on some property you have concealing it in a barn or other structure. If the trouble starts suddenly you can hop in and take off for your retreat. This would allow you to access a retreat off of any roads at all thus ensuring your safety tremendously. This is not popular due to the expense and issues associated with learning to fly it. Thus the marketing potential would be very limited. The effectiveness of such a bug out escape aircraft is most advantageous.

Private Planes - This is basically like the helicopter. One takes off when the trouble is close. You would need to be a little ahead of the curve to make sure you could get to the airport and that the airport was still open. This enables one to land at a retreat that is far from any roads thus ensuring personal safety from looters and gangs. This means one would not have to dedicate a lot of time to personal security at the retreat. Concealing the landing strip can be an issue. The landing strip can attract unwanted visitors. One way of dealing with this is to put large concrete abutments or other obstacles across the runway and have a tractor or pickup available to remove them when needed. Placing old trucks, cars, or busses on the runway would also have a similar effect and perhaps make it look like the runaway is long out of service and being used as an auto repair or parts facility. In any event the plane would need to be stored in a building like a barn, not a hanger to further give the impression that the runway is out of service.

The Really Remote Retreat Accessible by Air Only - Such a retreat accessible by air only has a number of advantages. If anyone approached by plane there would be no serviceable landing strip. If helicopters came the noise would announce their presence and this could be life threatening for the people in the helicopter. A few shots with a high power rifle can dispatch a civilian helicopter easily. The cabins are not bullet proof on civilian craft. BY removing yourself from road access you gain a marked degree of security and dedicate time and energy to better pursuits like farming. There are people doing this just not that many. Remember constructing the retreat is problematic. Flying in crews is one way but then they all know where it is.

The Boating Expat - Get a sailboat and sail to a nice country that you like. Probably looking at Latin America. Dock the boat and that is now your home. Get electric, phone, cable, internet, fresh water direct from the boatyard. If you want luxury get a powerboat but if it gets bad fuel is a major obstacle that should not be overlooked. Now you are living in comfort with full power and full communications weathering out the storm in a warm climate. If the country you are in gets bad you just cast off on short notice. Go to another country or look for an island somewhere. Weapons can be a problem so best try to build a sophisticated hiding place for them perhaps under the water line in water proof containers. This is a great way to ride out the storm with a built in bug out escape ready to go. Best of both worlds. Some of you may not be comfortable with this so read below.

Survivalist Boats - The boat is an excellent survivalist tool. Sailboats are far better than powerboats for reasons of fuel shortages disabling powerboats. The sailboat can be used to access remote out of the way islands and coastal points. One can easily rig up a tent and set up camp. Many of these islands will have game animals that can be trapped. Of course there will be fishing. Many coastlands and islands will support farming. An out of the way section of the coast not accessible by roads can make a safe retreat. The same goes even more so for an island.

One can live on the boat itself at sea but that is a hard way to go. Food supplies can be a big obstacle. Granted one can fish but that is not a balanced diet and over months that will take its toll on a person's health. Storms of course are a problem. One could rig solar panels on a sailboat to get some electricity in addition to a generator run by water when under sail. A desalinization machine is essential for water. One could always make a solar still to evaporate ocean water. The still collects the water having been evaporated without the salt. Works best in the sun. One could run this all the time so there are back up supplies of water.

The solar panels may be able to power some instruments a few hours a day and run cooking appliances even refrigerator etc. There are even solar cooking appliances. A solar shower would provide warm shower water on sunny days. The larger the boat the more solar panels that can be installed on mounts. Staying in warmer waters would be essential. The size of the boat is a good question. Smaller boats are easy to bring in to shore and hide. Larger boats hold more supplies and can weather a storm better. Perhaps a compromise of about 38 feet is a good one? Plenty of storage, easy maneuverability and has an excellent chance in rough weather. There may not be weather reports being broadcast so manual and electronic instruments would be essential but they need not be run all day. A manual compass and barometer as a minimum for manual instruments. Navigational charts can be carried.

Remember carrying a radio(s) in a sailboat is not a problem. One could have marine band, CB, shortwave etc. Satellite Internet is also possible. Rigging up a large radio antenna is also easy to increase range. When traveling one can follow a coastline just making sure to stay far enough offshore so as to avoid pirates. I would think ten miles would be a bare minimum. Pirates would come after a sailboat with craft like zodiacs. The fuel for these is a problem. If you were twenty-five miles out then it would be a bigger problem for a zodiac. Most of the pirates will be using binoculars to find sailboats to go after. Figure the power to run instruments would be a problem for them. If one is ten miles out they might be seen on a clear day. The further away one is the harder to see.

One needs to be careful coming in to land. Binoculars will be helpful especially if they are strong marine binoculars, which require mounting to stabilize them. Risks will be there and outrunning a zodiac is tough. Firearms would be essential. The .50 cal rifles the best since they will go out a long distance. Even if you get misses you might deter the pirates. They do not want to be disabled in the water. In that case you could pick them off while out of range and loot them. If the .50 is not an option then the .308 would be next best bet with armor penetrating ammo, which is not hard to find. The .308 will easily go out a few hundred yards and penetrate hulls and outboard engines. If it gets close then you want 12 ga shotguns, the marine version in stainless to repel boarders. Pirates will more than likely kill their victims. Handguns will not be of much use. Buying body armor that is also a flotation device like the navy and coast guard uses is a good idea as well. Armored helmets as well.

One can make themselves a secure area by putting Kevlar onto plywood in multiple layers. A stand can be made this way to afford you a secure position to shoot from without adding in the weight of steel plates. Something like a deer stand on an upper deck to draw fire away from the hull. It would be hard to stop rifle fire but if the rifles were a few hundred yards away and you put a few layers of Kevlar up you might just get there with the plywood as well. Rifles at 500 yards are not anywhere near as hard to armor against as they are at 50 yards because their velocity drops. This concept has not been marketed because it is a costly way to go but the survival retreat is also costly. For about $250,000 one can do well either way.

If you have a sailboat you can locate some islands and coastal points before the trouble starts. Most of this land will be posted and have various warning signs which will be mostly irrelevant when the trouble starts. If you are bold you can even dig a hole or find a cave and cache supplies. If you make several trips you can leave food, clothing, medical equipment, weapons, tools, water supplies, reading materials, radios, and even put some dirt bicycles and generators ashore with gas to run them for a while. The generators will be invaluable in helping you get firewood and build a shelter. The tent is just for you to use while you construct some sort of cabin.

Keep your dwelling low key. Burn fires only when at night or overcast. Keep your dwelling concealed from the air. Same for your boat. Get it as close to shore as possible and put camouflage nets and shrubbery on it. Defending an island from invaders is hard if not impossible unless you are a group of at least twelve and are ready to stand watches round the clock and are ready to repel unwanted visitors. The size of the island is critical, the bigger the island, the harder to defend. Possible to share an island, risky but possible. This is just an overview to give one an idea as to how a sailboat can be used. There are resources available to explain this concept better.

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