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Survival and Preparations Long and short term survival and 'prepping'.

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  #1  
Old 06-13-2021, 9:47 AM
twinfin twinfin is offline
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Default Relocating strategically

Are you part of the exodus or about to be? Have you considered choosing a new property with long-term survival and resiliency in mind? If recent events have taught us anything about the impact of food shortages, inflation, emergency power shutdowns, civil unrest, crime and leftist takeover of government and education, then a strategic move to the country can offer a huge safety buffer against such things.

But how do you find the right country property? It's not enough to just buy a chunk or land with a bunch of trees and house or building site on it; it has to have other attributes that contribute to safety and security from all the problems that have befallen so many once great cities and towns and here is what was at the top of my list when my wife and I decided to get out of the city.
  1. Water: A well or dependable spring is essential. Pass over anything that does not have guaranteed access to a proven year-round spring or well that produces more than 5gpm. Water, or access to it, can be manipulated by government or others so having your own secure water source is a top priority.

  2. Privacy: If your home site is visible from main roads or other neighbors, you loose security from prying eyes who see what you are doing or what you have. Some would argue the value of having a neighbor that can watch over your place but I contend that you can't choose your neighbors so better to have as much privacy as possible.

  3. Southern exposure and garden potential: The ability to grow a garden helps buffer a family from shortages in the commercial food supply and can be expanded if circumstances require it. Look at property from the perspective of gardening potential and be sure there is sufficient land, exposure and water to fulfil this activity. Take into account weather patterns, elevation and local micro-climates.

  4. Energy, wood-heat and solar: Being able to heat your home with wood, whether back up or primary, is a must. This means access to firewood. To grow your own year-round firewood requires about 5 acres devoted to growing trees. Take what happened in Texas last winter when a prolonged, severe cold front combined with a wide spread power outage. Those who could heat with wood had the obvious advantage.

    Developing an alternative energy system is the best plan in my view. Having a property with good exposure to the southern sky without shadows from trees means you can develop a solar energy system immune to "safety shutdowns" of the grid or other grid failures or high taxes or other manipulations or failures of the commercial power grid. Some properties with the right kind of creek have the blessing of micro-hydro power.

    At a minimum, having an appropriate sized generator, transfer switch and fuel supply is a must. Recent events in California have opened the eyes of many to the vulnerability of reliance on the commercial power grid.

  5. Land: Taking into account the above items, a strategically selected country property should have at least 10 acres. This allows for a 5 acre, dedicated wood lot and 5 acres for the home site, outbuildings, garden and some buffer from neighbors. More land is better. You can get by with less but a 10 acre lot should be your starting point.

There are other consideration that will vary depending on your personal situation but the 5 listed above should be at the top of your list in evaluating a new home. Even if you still need to be close to a city for work, you can still find a country property outside the city but close enough to commute to work yet have the advantages and security of a country home.

If you're planning on moving, you might as well put some time and energy into finding the right kind of property that offers privacy and security against an uncertain future. Is your list of top criteria different than mine? Did you relocate strategically or are you about to?

Last edited by twinfin; 06-13-2021 at 10:59 AM..
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  #2  
Old 06-13-2021, 10:54 AM
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6. Stable neighborhood of like-minded people. Where I live, the 'hood is relatively spread out but there's a defined group of 'locals' to the canyon and outsiders stand out regardless of how/when they happen by. It's in a pro2A county and we can open carry and shoot on our properties if we choose to and many neighbors do.

Good list. I did the acreage thing for a long time in CA and am perfectly comfortable with a small chunk of forest and leave the big property ownership to others these days. My place has a creek running through it near the pump house so the domestic system can go two ways with the water treatment system in place. Tens of miles from any city so normal self-sufficiency parameters apply. Nothing new for those of us who've lived rural most of our lives.

I'm a generalist having owned a machine/fab shop for decades so can easily trade skills and decades of raw material collection for the few things I'll need, so far it's trading minor fixes for garbage space and eggs and meat, stuff like that. Easy to ramp up as needed.

Back to the first part, IMO being located among like-minded people is key. We're all individuals but core philosophy of life can find synergy with the sum being more safe and productive than any one individual.

My 'exodus' occurred about 35 years ago but going really rural/forest was more recent, after the last crash, since I was expecting the next one to be a lot worse. It took about three years from start to finish to find one that checked the boxes like on your list. IMO, great suggestions for anyone.
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Old 06-13-2021, 11:17 AM
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Very much contemplating a move now. It’s obvious one needs to “rent in” before buying. I have zero knowledge of the area I’m looking at and lots to contemplate. There are also geographical limits that I don’t like such as a lack of solar, arable soil where one can grow anything unless it’s indoors, and even roads lack ugh.
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Old 06-13-2021, 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by harbormaster View Post
Very much contemplating a move now. It’s obvious one needs to “rent in” before buying. I have zero knowledge of the area I’m looking at and lots to contemplate. There are also geographical limits that I don’t like such as a lack of solar, arable soil where one can grow anything unless it’s indoors, and even roads lack ugh.
There is a huge benefit in renting in a new area first. When you live out of the area/out of state, you don't get a sense for local micro climates, weather patterns and effects, sentiments of the locals etc. When you rent in the area first, you get a better feel for these things with your own boots on the ground so to speak.

Buying property and establishing a home is a huge undertaking and affects all areas of you life. It's worth the time and effort to get it right the first time. We rented in the area first and it paid off. We were able to glean a huge amount of local intel that we would never have uncovered had we tried to buy while living outside the state. We were able to look at many properties over time giving us a better sense of value, make comparisons and do necessary research on various factors affecting suitability.
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Old 06-13-2021, 3:44 PM
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I'm going to say something that goes against the grain of preppers but it so happens to be a reality. The ones who will make it through some scenario of disaster or whatever are the people who become the gray people among the many. Look, behave and blend into the mass and you don't get picked out. Its nature and you can't cheat it.

The lone animal gets selected and eaten, it's been that way since time began. They can't defend themselves even if they are strong. The strongest Wild Buffalo becomes lion food if they are caught alone, it doesn't matter that mixed in with the herd no lion would dare even attempt to go after them.

No one person or family can protect 5 acres much less any more. If the premise of the whole idea is to be out of the way a bit so that you can also be away from civil strife if it happens maybe rethink exactly what you're trying to accomplish.

Don't fret too much because all those SHTF scenarios aren't going to happen unless they are natural disasters and if they get to the magnitude anyone is hoping to plan for none of it will make a difference.

Just opinion.

Its like people who buy underground shelters replete with power sources, access to water, conditioned air and so on. Basically they've bought a coffin. People will find the fresh air access, the exhaust and so on. They will find the entrance and then you are the warthog with a pride of lions going after you. They can put an ear to the ground and they'll hear you. They'll see the wisp of exhaust or smell the food you're cooking.

How will you protect the land and access to the home? Sorry to say, that AR or any LD rifle isn't going to make one bit of difference, you become the Alamo. Seeing your solar panels is easy and then wire cutters take care of that.

Few people who buy some land and a house with the idea of being just a little isolated and therefore have a better chance to make it during hard times don't take into account this isn't the 1850s or even the 1950s, its 2021 and there are a lot of people who can run around on quads, 4X4 and such just looking for people stuck out a little ways. There are now over 330 million people in the USA and a lot of them are going to try the bug out thing. Be not where they are going but where they leave. Unless you are willing to go to a very minimalist lifestyle being on the outskirts of any place won't matter, you can't hide consumption and all that goes along with supporting it.

Unfortunately, most of the people who stick themselves out of the way won't last a day or so if that time comes. They can't defend it and it doesn't matter how many guns or how much ammo they have, its a cold hard reality.

You are stationary, they are mobile, there is no way out of that scenario. Be the fortress than looks like a regular place among the many. No different appearing than anything else, nothing special, no goodies that stick out. Be mobile or with the ability to be mobile.

Last edited by SharedShots; 06-13-2021 at 3:55 PM..
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Old 06-13-2021, 5:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SharedShots View Post
I'm going to say something that goes against the grain of preppers but it so happens to be a reality. The ones who will make it through some scenario of disaster or whatever are the people who become the gray people among the many. Look, behave and blend into the mass and you don't get picked out. Its nature and you can't cheat it.

The lone animal gets selected and eaten, it's been that way since time began. They can't defend themselves even if they are strong. The strongest Wild Buffalo becomes lion food if they are caught alone, it doesn't matter that mixed in with the herd no lion would dare even attempt to go after them.

No one person or family can protect 5 acres much less any more. If the premise of the whole idea is to be out of the way a bit so that you can also be away from civil strife if it happens maybe rethink exactly what you're trying to accomplish.

Don't fret too much because all those SHTF scenarios aren't going to happen unless they are natural disasters and if they get to the magnitude anyone is hoping to plan for none of it will make a difference.

Just opinion.

Its like people who buy underground shelters replete with power sources, access to water, conditioned air and so on. Basically they've bought a coffin. People will find the fresh air access, the exhaust and so on. They will find the entrance and then you are the warthog with a pride of lions going after you. They can put an ear to the ground and they'll hear you. They'll see the wisp of exhaust or smell the food you're cooking.

How will you protect the land and access to the home? Sorry to say, that AR or any LD rifle isn't going to make one bit of difference, you become the Alamo. Seeing your solar panels is easy and then wire cutters take care of that.

Few people who buy some land and a house with the idea of being just a little isolated and therefore have a better chance to make it during hard times don't take into account this isn't the 1850s or even the 1950s, its 2021 and there are a lot of people who can run around on quads, 4X4 and such just looking for people stuck out a little ways. There are now over 330 million people in the USA and a lot of them are going to try the bug out thing. Be not where they are going but where they leave. Unless you are willing to go to a very minimalist lifestyle being on the outskirts of any place won't matter, you can't hide consumption and all that goes along with supporting it.

Unfortunately, most of the people who stick themselves out of the way won't last a day or so if that time comes. They can't defend it and it doesn't matter how many guns or how much ammo they have, its a cold hard reality.

You are stationary, they are mobile, there is no way out of that scenario. Be the fortress than looks like a regular place among the many. No different appearing than anything else, nothing special, no goodies that stick out. Be mobile or with the ability to be mobile.

I agree with thisAlthough it does splash a little cold water on the prep or fascination


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Old 06-13-2021, 6:57 PM
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I'm going to say something that goes against the grain of preppers but it so happens to be a reality...
This wasn't meant to be a post about how to survive the zombie apocalypse but rather a discussion about buying country property with the proper attributes that help you live well and independently today. The discussion for when society has collapsed and roaming hoards rule the jungle will be for another day.

What matters right now is what kind of property would offer the ability to enjoy a high quality of life along with freedom and the peace that comes with living as self reliantly as possible in beautiful surroundings.

I have seen others set out in pursuit of this very endeavor only to fail due to not first identifying a list of what to look for in country property. That's the "strategic" part about relocating. It's the thought process that smart people go through before they put down their life's savings into a chunk of land they hope to make their home.

To that end, I'll add another important point: easements. One of the most important things to do once you find a property you like is to go down to the county and look up everything recorded on that property. Be on the lookout for recorded easements. Read what they say and try to understand the implications of them.

One very beautiful property I looked at had a public access right-of-way to adjacent public land that went right past the house and through the the center of the property. That was a deal breaker for me and because I researched the easements ahead of time, I didn't end up wasting my time putting together an offer on a property that wasn't suited to my needs.

Last edited by twinfin; 06-13-2021 at 7:01 PM..
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Old 06-13-2021, 7:57 PM
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Originally Posted by twinfin View Post
This wasn't meant to be a post about how to survive the zombie apocalypse but rather a discussion about buying country property with the proper attributes that help you live well and independently today. The discussion for when society has collapsed and roaming hoards rule the jungle will be for another day.

What matters right now is what kind of property would offer the ability to enjoy a high quality of life along with freedom and the peace that comes with living as self reliantly as possible in beautiful surroundings.

I have seen others set out in pursuit of this very endeavor only to fail due to not first identifying a list of what to look for in country property. That's the "strategic" part about relocating. It's the thought process that smart people go through before they put down their life's savings into a chunk of land they hope to make their home.

To that end, I'll add another important point: easements. One of the most important things to do once you find a property you like is to go down to the county and look up everything recorded on that property. Be on the lookout for recorded easements. Read what they say and try to understand the implications of them.

One very beautiful property I looked at had a public access right-of-way to adjacent public land that went right past the house and through the the center of the property. That was a deal breaker for me and because I researched the easements ahead of time, I didn't end up wasting my time putting together an offer on a property that wasn't suited to my needs.
Then my misinterpretation and so - apologies.
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Old 06-13-2021, 8:23 PM
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Then my misinterpretation and so - apologies.
No worries mate! You actually do make a point about having realistic expectations. I just didn't want this topic to stray too far away from goal of discovering what to look for once the decision is made to move to the country.
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Old 06-13-2021, 10:27 PM
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I was going through the relocation process a few years ago and was focusing one an area. It didn't work for other reasons due to timing, yet when I was looking at the history of the area there was one red flag with fire danger. There were some really nice mountain type properties in a suburban setting in Colorado Springs. The area that I was looking at had some stunning areas in the Rockies, yet there were some houses that were foundations due to a major fire that took out part of that area. There was also a very cool area called the black forest and when I was visiting, there were signs "thank you firefighters" still up and that area was hit hard and current burn scar when I was visiting.

Something to think about, may be geographically limited. Happened to places also like Paradise. I see Placerville as a major risk area just by being familiar with the area. Just something to consider when you want land in rural areas that have cities or increased population growth.
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Old 06-14-2021, 7:05 AM
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Most of the people that have come and gone in our area have been retirees with the dream of living in the boonies with the wrong expectations of what it's like. The last ones left 2 years ago. Our closest neighbor is 6 miles away and it's pretty easy to keep track of everybody.

Rural living is really too hard and inconvenient for most people. EMS/LE is 1/2 hour away at least. You have to be your own 911 response.

No spontaneous trips to the store. Needs have to be planned for. Everything needs planning. Most people just burn out pretty quick because it's a lot of work. NOT a restful retirement at all. Then add in any medical issues and they are done. Time to move.

I agree that relocating to a more rural area is a good idea and requires leg work and investigation. Any land purchase is the same. Caveat emptor.
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Old 06-14-2021, 8:44 AM
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I love to read about what people think they know about living out in the middle of nowhere.

We do both, a house in town and the ranch. We learned quickly that a hour 1 way and a bunch of kids was not doable. Work and schools and activities would not allow it. Saying that, I would not trade it for anything.

I have a huge family, we have 6 other homes on the ranch that are lived in full or part time, life gets in the way.

We have more than enough water and food to get us through anything. We can also protect what we have.

I'm am not worried about the bands of marauding thieves at all. If SHTF fuel will become a issue within days and the bad guys are going to walking just like everyone else. They can't carry enough food and water on their backs to even make it to us. We will not go quietly.

Urban areas will be a blood bath, people do stupid things when they are desperate. Thirst, starvation and desperation will be the big killers.

The only long term chance anyone has is isolation until things settle down.

The biggest threat all of face is our own government and or religion. They are by far the biggest killers on earth. History proves that.

Without society and the infrastructure that goes with it, California can support about 4 million people or about 10 % of what we have now. Give yourself a chance to be one of them.
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Old 06-14-2021, 9:12 AM
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Much is factored into our plans...
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Old 06-15-2021, 7:54 AM
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We do both, a house in town and the ranch. We learned quickly that a hour 1 way and a bunch of kids was not doable. Work and schools and activities would not allow it. Saying that, I would not trade it for anything.
Mr. B, As an elder statesman of sorts around here, if one of your brood was to set out looking for a rural property, what three attributes would you advise to look for in a property? What three things would make you walk away?

I'm curious to hear what would be at the top of your list of things to have, things to avoid in property if you were to look for another retreat.
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Old 06-15-2021, 8:37 PM
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moved 5 years ago. a truly unique property that is hard to describe, on a well and year round natural spring, game animals galore, privacy etc.

but it is very different and not for everyone. deep chest freezers, pantry, atvs, utvs, 4x4s, snowblowers, chain saws are all a neccessity here.

6 cords of firewood racked and thats only a start. just adding 2500 gallon back up water tank for house. adding goat pen and chicken coop.

the work is every day and never ending...a working cattle ranch has no off days...
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Old 06-15-2021, 9:04 PM
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Mr. B, As an elder statesman of sorts around here, if one of your brood was to set out looking for a rural property, what three attributes would you advise to look for in a property? What three things would make you walk away?

I'm curious to hear what would be at the top of your list of things to have, things to avoid in property if you were to look for another retreat.
Good water is life.

Land enough to grow and raise your own food.

The ability to see at least 500 yards around you.

Being able to control the roads around you, limit traffic.


Biggest deal killers,

No easy water access.

Urban area's.

Easy access by good roads.


There are not many places in California that fit the bill because of the very dense population of this state and most of the state is a desert. I don't even know where another place like mine is. I'm sure there are many but its a game of compromises.

I have owned my place for 35 years. I couldn't afford to buy it now and I hope I never have to sell it. It is my family's legacy. Thank God for old zinfandel grape vines and a lot of luck.

If I was a young man just getting started, north east Utah would be a good place to look. We love the Benson area. Lots of places fit the bill up there and in north western Utah. Good places to raise a family, its it tough to find a good paying job. God Bless and pray we never have to find out.
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Old 06-15-2021, 9:51 PM
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Good points Mr. B. and CudaKidd

Roads can be a blessing or a curse. You need a road to get to your property but you don't necessarily want to be too close to too big of a well traveled road. "off the beaten path" is better than "off the main thoroughfare."

I'd agree that living in the country means plenty of work keeping up the property. I find this sort of work satisfying. There is a certain pleasure that comes from working outdoors, on your own land, surrounded by nature.
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Old 06-15-2021, 10:25 PM
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I dunno, having recently driven through Wyoming, I suspect that anyone looking for an out-of-the way loaner is going to run out of gas or be noticed by like-minded folks who own the few stores and gas stations. Those people on their quads will be no match for the locals in their diesel F-250s.
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Old 06-16-2021, 12:08 AM
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Nobody bugging-out is going to find my place in WY. Turn-offs get overgrown pretty quickly if you help it a bit with a chainsaw.
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Old 06-16-2021, 9:24 AM
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Good points Mr. B. and CudaKidd

Roads can be a blessing or a curse. You need a road to get to your property but you don't necessarily want to be too close to too big of a well traveled road. "off the beaten path" is better than "off the main thoroughfare."

I'd agree that living in the country means plenty of work keeping up the property. I find this sort of work satisfying. There is a certain pleasure that comes from working outdoors, on your own land, surrounded by nature.
On the way to the ranch, 11 miles one way and 13 miles the other way are 2 bridges. We will make them impassable if things get ugly. We don't want anybody near us in vehicles.

My whole county can be closed off from the rest of the state by closing 5 bridges and closing the pass. Snow does that 6 months out of the year already.
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Old 06-16-2021, 9:59 AM
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I just got the blessing from the head-hancho at a facility in a free state, which is the first step at my work to transfer, keep my pay, and work from home most of the time, but be their emergency backup IT support guy!!!
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Old 06-23-2021, 3:14 PM
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Spoke with some guys at work that aren't leaving the state anytime soon, and let them know that I MIGHT be selling some off-roster guns (to keep them in the state?), and more PPT, WITH upgrades pre-installed. I DID inform them they'd have to fight over them, like BumFights.
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Old 06-24-2021, 9:19 AM
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Spoke with some guys at work that aren't leaving the state anytime soon, and let them know that I MIGHT be selling some off-roster guns (to keep them in the state?), and more PPT, WITH upgrades pre-installed. I DID inform them they'd have to fight over them, like BumFights.
Where's your imagination to inspire? I'd go this way for kicks n grins.

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Old 06-24-2021, 9:22 AM
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[*]Privacy: If your home site is visible from main roads or other neighbors, you loose security from prying eyes who see what you are doing or what you have. Some would argue the value of having a neighbor that can watch over your place but I contend that you can't choose your neighbors so better to have as much privacy as possible.
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. [*]Energy, wood-heat and solar: Being able to heat your home with wood, whether back up or primary, is a must. This means access to firewood. To grow your own year-round firewood requires about 5 acres devoted to growing trees. Take what happened in Texas last winter when a prolonged, severe cold front combined with a wide spread power outage. Those who could heat with wood had the obvious advantage.
[*]Land: Taking into account the above items, a strategically selected country property should have at least 10 acres. This allows for a 5 acre, dedicated wood lot and 5 acres for the home site, outbuildings, garden and some buffer from neighbors. More land is better. You can get by with less but a 10 acre lot should be your starting point.
5 acres?? More like 500 acres. I was looking at a house a few weeks ago. All the houses in that area are on 5 acre lots. I could see at least a dozen houses without even squinting, never mind the roads leading up to each of them.

If you want privacy, you're going to have to go into a hellhole nobody wants to be near, or have hundreds, if not thousands of acres.
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Old 06-24-2021, 6:44 PM
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Originally Posted by czakita View Post
Do any places within CA or even other popular states like FL, SD, TX, even fit the aforementioned qualities?
I looked at small parcels in Modoc County, in the Warner Mountains, where there weren't any neighbors in sight due to the area being sparsely populated, much NFS land and a wide variety of parcels. If one doesn't mind living in CA, that's still a viable potential area if one doesn't mind a remote location. Back when I was looking in the 90's, small parcels were a grand an acre and big ones like 160's-up were around 500/ac. Last I looked about six years ago it was still pretty affordable and sparsely populated but one needs to go local, stuff doesn't always show up on MLS/realtor sites.

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Originally Posted by sigstroker View Post
5 acres?? More like 500 acres. I was looking at a house a few weeks ago. All the houses in that area are on 5 acre lots. I could see at least a dozen houses without even squinting, never mind the roads leading up to each of them.

If you want privacy, you're going to have to go into a hellhole nobody wants to be near, or have hundreds, if not thousands of acres.
That's a good point and IME neighbors can make or break a living experience.

In surburban/rural interface areas, where small acreage lots like 5's are usually rectangular and often long and skinny to pack more along a given road, close neighbors are definitely an issue. Where rural interfaces with agriculture, less of an issue since there are a lot of 20/40/80/160/320 acre parcels adjacent or nearby.

The latter would describe my historical CA residence. I rarely saw neighbors and could barely see their homes through the orchards. Mostly what I saw was farmworkers and tractors/farm equipment and the occasional flock of sheep being herded down the road. Pretty private, though not as nice as a large 20 acre-up parcel of course.

I have a pretty small parcel now in Oregon, well under an acre, but it's in a sparsely populated forest area and many homes are vacation homes so don't see people very often. I'm fine with that. It has everything I need and ownership costs are dirt cheap. There's enough room for a pistol range and I can always hook up with a neighbor who shoots to use their larger acreage for rifle work. Shooting is pretty common in the neighborhood.
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Old 06-24-2021, 10:38 PM
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There's a difference between privacy and isolation. There is a certain peace that comes from living outside the constant view of others and is a quality worth pursuing when strategically evaluating country property.

Isolation is not the end goal, just having enough buffer between you and those who live near you. Sometimes that buffer can be distance but it can also be trees, terrain or some other feature.

My last country property was near three other neighbors on lot sizes between 7 and 40 acres on a dead end road. Terrain and trees made it so none of us could actually see each other from our houses which were not too far apart. We all got along well and could count on each other for help but at the same time, each family enjoyed their own privacy.

There is no perfect property. All will have their positives and negatives but being strategic in your evaluation can greatly improve your daily quality of life as well as increase resilience from what that may lie ahead. That's why trying to identify what things to look for, what things to avoid is worth figuring out ahead of time.
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Old 06-26-2021, 1:55 PM
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Heh, just saw my cat jump about 8' in the air.... either someone was shooting a really big gun nearby or blowing off a m160 or mortar, it was loud enough to travel the distance and rattle the windows. Two big booms about 10 seconds apart, then silence. It's a Communist vacation home so either could be in play.

I've been hearing a lot of big booms at night and seeing flashes in the distance, kinda reminded me of the war zone at night in Saving Private Ryan. No screams so I guess that's a good thing. I think if a good firefight got going few not involved would notice the difference and the closest LEO's are a good hour away anyway. Close enough to do the paperwork
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There is no perfect property
Yup
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Old 07-03-2021, 6:55 PM
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Actually I’d say #1 for me is to be on the beach but by fresh water. The ocean is a much better provider of food than hunting game animals and I’m a decent hunter. I never need heat to stay warm which is a huge time and resource saver and it’s never too hot. Ideally I’d pick someplace like Hawaii. Fruit grows on trees, chickens are wild and all the fish you could want. Travel can be done by sail.

Mountain living is way too deadly and way too much work. It’s easy to pick a mango and catch a fish, I’m ready for my nap by noon.

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Old 09-29-2021, 12:18 PM
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I'm going to say something that goes against the grain of preppers but it so happens to be a reality. Be mobile or with the ability to be mobile.
I agree but I guess depends on severity and nature of "event" or "change".

It ain't like anyone was finding pockets of hold outs when the USSR fell, and I don't you would've found any "hold outs" after about 1922. Pretty sure even semi-trained dogs will find anyone even up in the hills in a spider hole.

However, IIRC the survival rate for "Boat People" was better than 90% and they all had pretty sub-standard boats by USCG standards.

I'm thinking a MacGregor 26 would be my choice. Sure its not the ideal boat for cross ocean voyage but they have sailed from CA to Hawaii, but best feature is it can be easily towed and "crash launched" at lots of places (I'm thinking of a long rope and Come-Along and pull the boat and trailer into a slough over the mud by anchoring the rope on other side of slough and leaving trailer in the slough on a one way mission) , and has big outboard for decent short range speed to get clear of trouble and in theory unlimited range with the sails, and on land it doubles as a towable RV for lodging.
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Old 10-04-2021, 5:00 PM
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The single most important thing about moving out into the sticks is building solid relationships with like minded neighbors.
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Old 10-04-2021, 8:07 PM
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Interestingly, natural disasters was one of the first things to rule out certain areas. Flooding being the biggest one, but any place on flat land can be flooded... so I wanted geographic variety, to funnel flood waters. So, mountains and hills... which immediately takes out 50% of the US. I want a long growing season and plentiful rain, which takes out just about all of the western states. I also wanted lower population density, which takes out most anything east of the Mississippi.

And that's how I ended up in the Ozarks.
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Old 10-05-2021, 4:56 PM
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Rainfall/water was one of the biggest factors I considered, after living under the tyranny of water overages due to lack of planning in Cali for so long, and getting perpetually dinged for overages, no more...

Mother in law and boyfriend moved to Washington because of rainfall/water concerns, we are going to the Dallas area, already approved, be there by 11/02 is the requirement.

Still gotta throw a bunch of stuff away, sell the Cali-house, THEN prosper for the rest of our lives(?)...
The wife and daughter are going to stay until the house sells, so I MIGHT have to find another, part-time job, to pay rent out in TX to rent a room for a few months...

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  #33  
Old 10-05-2021, 9:41 PM
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We have a small community 20 lots on 800 acres, eventually 4 full timers living here, the others are empty lots or weekenders, completely private due to a easement through a huge land owner and a single point of access through two security gates. We are surrounded by either nature preserves or absentee landowners.

My immediate neighbors are the heavy equipment owners, you name it we have it here!

The main skill set missing we need is welding, we plan to learn, a wire feed welder is here waiting!
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Old 10-08-2021, 8:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cudakidd View Post
We have a small community 20 lots on 800 acres, eventually 4 full timers living here, the others are empty lots or weekenders, completely private due to a easement through a huge land owner and a single point of access through two security gates. We are surrounded by either nature preserves or absentee landowners.

My immediate neighbors are the heavy equipment owners, you name it we have it here!

The main skill set missing we need is welding, we plan to learn, a wire feed welder is here waiting!
This proves that even in crowded California, there are still off the beaten path places that offer serenity and security in an increasingly crazy world. Giving thought to all the what-if's ahead of buying one's next home is an effort worth exploring.

Most people don't even know the burden they carry on their shoulders every day due to constant worry about sketchy neighbors, barking dogs, the next power outage or price hikes, overcrowded cities and roads; the list goes on. Why not make your next home resilient against these things and a refuge that is a joy to return to?
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Old 10-08-2021, 6:44 PM
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My plan is to buy a 5th wheel, travel to some places on my list, poke around and stay in that area for a while, when I find a place I like I plan to buy land then live in the 5th wheel while I build a cabin.
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Old 10-08-2021, 7:07 PM
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Just about ready to GTFO of dodge! Waiting for the last straw. I’ll get laid off before this time next year.. guarantee it
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