Much can be learned from experience but unfortunately when it comes to TETWAWKI not everything can. As a fellow preparedness nerd and a student of many of the defense and warfare strategies of both modern militaries and ancient cultures, I humbly present my concept for home defense post-catastrophe.
A strong defensive plan is paramount if a disaster or several disasters leave many without help. Many do not even have food and water for more than a day. The survival instinct kicks in and thousands even millions of survivors will be out on a mission to simply survive. Everything is fair game and you better believe the hoards will be looking for you, the prepared survivalist!
You have food, you have water, and you have supplies and all the fixins. You have now become the premium target. Stores will be looted and emptied in no time. Easy targets will be taken first along with progressively difficult ones. Ask yourself would you kill so you and your family could live?
A defense plan should be more than guns. Defense starts long before you even become aware of a potential threat. A great defense plan can and should be able to deter and eliminate threats before you have to act yourself. To accomplish this you need to think in layers.
Layer 1: Don’t Let Anyone Find You
For the urban survivalist who is stuck in the city this is not achievable, but for anyone in a rural area it is the first layer of defense. No matter how secluded you retreat is, vehicles, equipment and people create tracks and survivors will tend to follow any signs they can find, out of hope that salvation may lie at the end. Take steps to tread lightly, cover your tracks and create NATURAL roadblocks at many points. Use natural roadblocks like fallen trees instead of barbed wire and cement to reduce suspicion. Barb wire and high fences are used to protect valuable things and people understand that. The idea is to be invisible, that means all indicators of civilization should be removed. The goal is not to trigger any suspicions that at the end of the road lies a cabin full of supplies.
Layer 2: Don’t Make Yourself a Target
In the first layer the goal was to deter people with natural barriers and cover any tracks to keep people from finding us. Your second layer should make it appear as if you have nothing and send the message that proceeding forward will result in injury or death.
For example many consider the trespassers will be shot sign, but don’t be so quick to adopt this as part of your defensive strategy. Let’s put this in perspective, get in the shoes of the survivor. You and your family were hit unprepared. As the average outdoor family you have some of the basics including a gun and enough ammo to make an assault.
Without food and water you will all soon perish, in fact your son is already severely dehydrated and municipal water sources have become tainted. The city has been ransacked and virtually everything is gone, but you come across two houses. One has a yard filled with trespassers will be shot signs, windows boarded up and a couple small security cameras. The next house has the windows and doors xed out in red do not enter tape. The entire perimeter is surrounded with posts upon which is an official looking laminated sign like the one seen here.
The window shades are open to let light in but thick plastic sheeting doesn’t allow you to see much of anything inside, that is if you decide to try to get close. Now it is your choice… What house do you hit? My answer, well I have a gun and I know the guy with the trespassers sign probably has a gun. I know if he can shoot he has food, water and probably some other supplies. Wait for night fall, maybe even recruit some help and attack from multiple fronts. Numbers and surprise will overwhelm.
Heck we could even set fire to the house, or at least outside as a distraction or attempt to get them out. Or how about crash a car through the front door. That would be a heck of a welcome party! And for the other house, I don’t even know if anyone is inside. It looks legitimate and just getting close could mean contamination and certain death. On the other hand there could be someone inside, but if it is an attempt at camouflage it is pretty complex, so I think it’s legit.
Either way I’m not going to take the chance with a target I have no clue about. I’m going for the sure thing.
With the trespasser will be shot sign is not only do you instantly identify yourself as a target but you have already forewarned potential threats of what to expect. Keep surprise and the element of unknown on your side. Guys if you’re serious about prepping think defense through carefully!
Survivors aren’t stupid. Survivors are you and me and others that simply didn’t take the steps to adequately prep. We can call them sheeple or whatever else but don’t expect hordes of mindless zombies to just sit outside your house saying “uhhhh”.
These are desperate people who have seen a lot of disaster movies with nothing left to lose. Don’t think the threat of being shot is going to stop the hungry survivor with no other option. And don’t forget there are plenty of non-preppers with extensive arsenals and big trucks.
Layer 3: The Mid Ground
Once a party crosses into the mid-ground it is time to take direct action to stop the threat. First you need to know where it is. Setup perimeter alarms. These can be everything from cameras, to motion sensors to simple pull apart poppers with a fishing line trip, or even the beer can alarm M.D. talked about in another post.
It doesn’t have to be expensive just get your attention. Test all systems in a variety of conditions before relying on them. Poppers will only be audible within a close range. Cameras are useless unless you have someone there to monitor them 24/7, and can they work at night?
Employ booby traps. For the urban retreat booby traps inside the house would likely be much more productive than pitfalls and such outside the house, but your plan is your plan and modify it according to your situation. Keep traps simple, cheap, and easy to reset should the wandering deer set off one of your traps or you have to reset quickly after a hit.
This is also the place to setup walls and other defensive barriers. The closer you get to the retreat the harder it should be for an intruder to cover ground. Get time on your side! Back to the urban retreat, be mindful of appearances. This goes back to the lesson with the Biohazard and Trespasser’s will be shot signs.
Try to make any “improvement” blend in or make sense with your layer 2 strategy. Remember, people are smart. When the easy targets are gone they’ll be looking for any signs of a good target.
Consider setting up obvious trails. Generally people will follow trails, especially if they don’t expect a well prepared survivor on the other end and a pitfall could await their travels. This again goes back to the biohazard vs. trespassers example.
If there are no signs that someone on the other end is ready for a fight or even there at all, the wandering survivor will keep their guard down and look for the easiest path. Trigger their suspicions and they’ll be formulating a plan, watching closely for signs of life and keeping off the beaten path to surprise you! Keep threats where you want them and keep their guard down.
Nevertheless don’t assume everyone will follow the set paths. Be ready for the surprise attack, have a plan. The mid-ground is also where long range weapons come in. Be clear of your target before
stopping the threat. Gunshots are a sign of life and a rough indicator of location.
Layer 4: The Last Line of Defense
The last layer of defense is the area directly surrounding your retreat, or for the urban survivalist the retreat itself. From Fortified shelters to close range weapons and tactics this is your final stand. Block out non-essential windows with plywood, have a short barrel shotgun ready with buckshot nearby, get bear spray, a baseball bat, a machete, a taser, and anything else you can get your hands on. Keep your options open.
There are many ways to employ distractions and use deception and unorthodox weapons to stop the threat. And remember your goal is to stop the threat. Racking a shell in a 12 gauge may be more than enough to stop the threat. Don’t waste your ammo. Research and think outside the box. These are just rough ideas and concepts. There are so many great defense ideas and weapons out there. The internet is your friend!
Rules to Defend By:
*Define your layers… map it, know it, live it!
*No one layer will stop everyone, that is why there are layers.
*Expect the Unexpected. Never assume an intruder will enter at one point and not another.
*You must understand your enemy before you can defend against him.
*Avoid target giveaways like big fires (smoke plumes), unnecessary gunshots, and tracks.
*Deception is powerful. Employ it wherever possible.
*Fear is a powerful weapon when it is on your side.
*Know Your Terrain and understand how to use it to both your advantage and a threat’s disadvantage.
*Have plenty of cover for you, and leave threats out in the open.
Have other ideas for home and retreat defense? We would like to hear your ideas in the comments below.
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