BOL Hardening Against Vehicles

Earlier today I was taking a walk along the river here in town. There were some large rocks/small boulders along the trail as well as a large amount of broken up concrete along the sides to stop erosion. I had been thinking about what the survival/prepper community calls a Bug Out Location or a BOL. For those that may not be familiar with what a BOL is, it's basically some sort of home on a typically secluded piece of land that a person can go to during some sort of man-made emergency. A common thing for preppers to talk about is wanting to build some sort of wall around their BOL home. This wall would serve a two-fold purpose. First, it would prevent people from seeing into/entering on foot your home without authorization. Secondly, it would keep someone from breaching your home with a vehicle.

I personally see a wall as a bit too much. Unless you're very wealthy or have a LOT of resources, you're likely not able to build such a wall. However, upon seeing those boulders, I had an idea that would add an additional security envelope to your “compound”. If you have a BOL and you're able to get access to a number of large rocks, you can fortify your most important structures against the threat of vehicular attack (aka looters smashing a giant hole next to your front door—no matter how secure your BOL home is, a giant hole will take that level of security down to zero). By placing these large rocks every couple of feet, you have created a fence that is likely not penetrated by any vehicles—at least not conventional ones that two-bit thugs are going to have access to or the knowledge to operate.

The fact is, you're not going to need a whole lot. A rock that's about three feet high and a few feet across is going to weigh SEVERAL hundred pounds. Add that to the fact that said rock has a very low center of gravity and any vehicles looters try to enter your home with are gonna end up stuck at the gate. Obviously, this does nothing to stop foot traffic. Even if you place rocks together with no gap, they can very easily be climbed/jumped over. If you had enough materials to do it that way, it would more than likely slow down your attackers by a few seconds. Every little bit helps but it all depends on your priorities and the resources you have available to you.

Now, I know a lot of people would think that implementing such a security system—or even worrying about the threat of an attacker driving a vehicle into your BOL home—is just silly. Do they have a point? Honestly, yeah, they probably do. I'm definitely not saying this is the first thing someone should do to enhance the physical security of their BOL. But look at it this way. If an SHTF (S**t Hitting The Fan) event were to ever happen and it becomes a very prolonged situation, things aren't going to be like they are now. The threats you face now aren't necessarily going to be the threats you face then—in other words, certain conventional thought may no longer apply. If someone knows that you have all kinds of supplies and food stored away and they're desperate enough, who's to say they won't take the closest operational car and ram it through your wall?

Stay safe out there

What if....?

The inaugural post I'd like to make for Modern Day Survival is something that applies to many aspects of "survival". Anything from planning the contents of a go bag to planning your personal safety. At one point or another, for any such venture, you've probably been told to play the "What if" game in your head. The logic is simple. What if x happens, what will I then do? What if y situation happens, what supplies will I need to make it through? This is something I'm sure we've all done countless times.

However, I'd like to propose a change in that routine. There is a trend right now regarding what if scenarios, and it pertains to the possibility of conditioning yourself to believe that these situations are only what ifs. Situations which will never come true, simply idle thoughts to keep the mind busy. What some are saying to do instead is "If/then". If someone does x, then I will do y. If x situation happens, I will need y equipment. By running if/then situations rather than what if situations, you're making the possibilities seem more real in your head. You're much more likely to have a realistic, sensible plan in your head and you're much more likely to be able to recall the actions you've decided to commit yourself to when the rubber hits the road and you're forced to act with little or no thought.

It seems like an almost meaningless distinction, but the rationale is there. It's going to help you solidify the decisions you have made in your head so that you can bring them up with less effort than before. Even if it only saves you an extra .5 seconds, that amount of time can change a lot of things.

There's a second point here, which goes right along as part of the if/then process. When you're formulating scenarios in your head, you need to be thinking about what might actually happen. For example, making defensive plans for a person pulling a katana out of thin air and attacking you with it, well, that's probably not going to happen. Plan for the most likely events first. If you drive a lot, make a plan for if someone decides to follow you or run you off the road in a bout of road rage. If you live in the middle of the country, planning a kit for holding out during a hurricane is probably not the best use of your time/money.

What to take away:

1. Make your operational plans using an "if this happens then I will do this" model.
2. Plan for the most likely threats first. Once you get those plans in place and concreted into your mind, work on other possibilities.

Stay safe out there