Surviving TEOTWAWKI Part 3b; A Place in the Country

For many people the thought of trying to survive an economic collapse (and the attendant social discord) in or near a big city is simply, well, ......unthinkable. The lucky ones have the sort of job, or finanacial resources, that has already allowed them to relocate to a more desirable location. For the rest of us there is only the option of trying to obtain a cottage or such as some sort as a bolt-hole in the event of emergency. This would provide the option to carry on in a more congenial environment "far from the madding crowds" without having to abandon the niceties of ubran dwelling and employment in the short-term.

There are many things to consider when selecting a domicile in a non-urban environment. First (as the real-estate people always say) is location. Access to resources is equally important in the country as it is in the city, water, food and fuel will continue to be crucial requirements. The upside of some cottages is that they are almost independent for short-term use (a good many have wells and septic fields so an important part of civilized living is covered) but many fall down when you consider permanent use as a dwelling. Most vacation properties were selected for sweeping views or seclusion in a quiet pine forest or waterfront access to an all-sports lake. These are excellent features for a vacation home they do not add to long-term survival in a crumbling world. If you can find a property that has these features and can cover most of the items that we will dicuss below then you are in good stead, if not you might consider looking elsewhere.


In the event of an Explosion there will almost certainly be a rapid decline in the liveability of urban areas, particularly if there is a trigger event that might cause people to flee the city (terror attack, biological event etc). The terror-struck flight from an urban area will cause no end of problems. Most people do not contemplate having to rapidly relocate and have made no prepartions at all for such an event. These are the sort of people that will pack their car willy-nilly with all sorts of silly things and take off on the nearest highway to "the country". They, of course, have never been to "the country", don't know anyone who lives there, and have no idea what they are going to when they get there. They will also flee the city with whatever fuel they have in their car, hoping to get more along the way. This is a formula for disaster, tens of thousands of city-dwellers will end up between 100 miles and 200 miles from the city core on the highway/freeway heading out of town. They will run out of gas because the fueling stations do not expect such a sudden load. They will have brought little or no food and will have no idea as to how to get more. There will be nowhere near enough accomodations to handle this tide of humanity. Things will get ugly for anyone living near a freeway as this horde of hungry, angry, feckless people spread out looking to survive any way that they can.

From this we can deduce our First Rule on locations of the Place in the Country; Get as far as practicable from any thoroughfare. You have no desire to be caught up in a mob of crazy-eyed people on some highway of death, do not plan on using such a road as your pathway to survival. This also applies if you are looking for a relocation or retirement home, if they can find you by walking a few hours from the freeway you might as well have stayed in the city. You can look at any map and see the areas that would be under threat in this situation, mentally block off the areas that are too close to main highways and then start looking for places in the remaining zones that can meet your needs. I present the following images to clarify my point;

              Here we see lower Michigan, where 90% of the population lives in a few huge cities

The same map with the area accessible to most of those people with a half-tank of gasoline.

Additional considerations would have to include a steady reliable source of potable water. Rivers and streams can be contaminated by upstream events so we are really talking about a well. You want one that is solidly built and deep enough to provide plenty of water for your party and any addition potential "guests" as you may find that there are relatives that suddenly remember that you are one of those "doomer nut-cases" and show up uninvited (how you deal with such people is up to you). You will want a sturdy hand-pump to raise the water from the well, you can even get those nifty little windmills that you can attach to a pump to lift the water. You probably also want a nearby supply of fresh water, either a lake/pond or a stream of some sort, for uses other than drinking/cooking. Thus our Second Rule; Water, gotta have it!

Even if you are a Crash/Recovery guy like me, you know that they are not going to get things back on an even keel over the course of a long weekend. You will need to be able to feed your party for an extended period of time while commerce is re-established and the world stabilizes. This means that your property should have passive and active food sources. Passive food sources are such things as fruit trees, berry bushes, naturally occurring edible plants, nut trees etc; they will provide food all of their own and will be even more generous if looked after. Wetlands and ponds are also passive food sources as they contain fish and attract waterfowl without requiring any tending. Active food sources can be as simple as a large vegetable garden and range all the way up to full-on livestock raising. Both of these food sources will greatly extend your prestocked or brought-with supplies. If you get a large enough parcel you can rent out a portion of it to a nearby farmer to keep under cultivation (the rents may pay part of the cost of the property as well) to both of your profits. And so we have our Third Rule; You Have to Eat, make sure that there is something there to put on the table.

The next consideration is possibly the most intractable and is a source of significant problems for modern society; Energy. Our current reliance on abundant cheap energy has given us many neat toys and a comfortable life style. In an End of The World scenario you can bet those tanker trucks wil be few and far between. How to over come this is the real battle. Many a cottage has a cord or two of wood stacked outside (which, BTW, seems and looks like a LOT of wood) with the owner thinking that they are all set. The problem being is that trying to heat the cabin to a reasonable level (and I am talking 50F) will chew through that wood in very little time. Having a full propane tank can make life a lot easier, but that is a one-shot deal, once it is empty it won't be easy (or cheap) to refill; use it wisely. A pile of coal is reasonably cheap and fairly long-lasting, you may wish to lay in a supply if you can get it in your area. Solar and wind can help a lot with the electrical side. Keep in mind that you will need a way of retaining the surplus electicity, batteries are the most common. So, unless you live near a coal source, you will need a small forest on your property as well as a good sharp axe (probably a couple of them). I would suggest that you obtain and become familiar with as many different sources of energy as you can, you will need all of them. So our Fourth Rule; Energy, get as much as you can.

So, now that you have found a location that complies with as many of our rules as possible, we must now consider the place itself. There are a goodly number of old hunting cabins and farmhouses scattered about that can be had for reasonable sums. These bear careful examination as they may have been built in a time when fuel was cheap and easy to get. They may also have inadequate wells and septic fields. I will assume that you are smart enough to choose a well-built and well insulated domicile and I will move along to futher considerations. One of the big questions is prestocking, if you are going to use this as a refuge when things go pear-shaped you will want to have a fair amount of supplies stashed in the house beforehand. This presents two problems, both dealing with invaders of a sort. First is vermin; bugs, mice, chipmunks etc. There are no end of cute little creatures that would just love to eat your food, chew your clothes and generally raise havoc with you carefully prepared supplies. The second is vermin; there is also no end of the sort of useless humans that will delight in eating your food, wearing your clothes and sleeping in you bed. Both of these types of lower life-form need to be deterred. The problem is that the system that works against one is inadequte against the other.

For those that have gone the MRE route most of that stuff will stand up for a long time on its own, a metal case or cabinet will keep away the chewing sort of critter that might be able to otherwise damage them. This holds true for most dry goods and canned items. For other things those silly vacuum bags that are advertised on late-night TV here in the US really do work, you can seal clothing in it and stash it in a metal cabinet or box and they will be fresh for ages. They also work fine on containers of ammo (be sure to include some dessicant packs , just to be sure) and guns. The old trick of laeving poison around for likely vermin is sometimes effective but I find the endless supply of vermin eventually exhausts that supply of poison.

For protection against human vermin all I can say is that your neighbors are the best defense, get to know them, be nice to them, be helpful any time you can and they will return the favor by keeping an eye on your  place while you are away. The very best fortification will fall if the attacker is given enough time, a neighbor with a 12-guage will run them off befor ethey do much damage..

This brings me to my last point. While "going it alone" has a certain romantic appeal ( a la Robinson Crusoe or Swiss Family Robinson) you will end up just surviving. The point to preparation is to continue living. You will have to be part of some sort of communnity in the long run. Include that in you quest for a Place in the Country. Small towns can seem quaint to big-city dwellers but they represent the smallest unit of sustainable society and will provide a host of resources that can make your life easier in the long run. You don't have to be in one, just near one. Make a point of getting to know the people and businesses there, conduct your commerce with them, make friends. It will pay off in the long run, regardless of if you are putting down roots or just establishing a safe-haven.