Entry Point

   Well, I’m very sad to report that it finally happened… Our BOL (Bug out location) was burgled! I’ve spent nearly 18 years building and improving bug out preps in this same area and have had zero issues when it came to security. Never even had an indication that anyone had been poking around my place. I guess that had lulled me into a bit of complacency about adding much in the way of security features to our property.

   Let me lay this out for you… Mrs. Prepper and I had taken off early on Friday, which allowed to get to the property at about 6:30pm rather than our more typical arrival time of 10:30pm-12:00am. Good thing as it would have been much more of a violation to find the place breached after it was already dark out. Throughout life I’ve only very rarely had anything like this happen, a couple of car prowls but never a burglary. You always hear how it makes you feel violated… It does! It’s a weird feeling to be in your own home, even if it’s just the BOL, after some low down skunk has rummaged through your belongings! Yes, I’m keeping the language on the clean side, actual quotes from the discovery will be kept between the Mrs. and myself.

   Anyway, we arrive on the scene and of course everything looks just as we left it… or does it? I pull in and get positioned so we can begin unloading the car for our weekend in paradise… I make a habit out of heading straight into the house as I’m usually under a barrage of bathroom requests. So, I stand at the door and fish out the door key… Key in lock and turn – hmm? Deadbolt spins as if already unlocked??? Key in door handle and handle spins? This is where your mind does the “This does not compute” thing… See I’m anal about the doors being locked and frequently make a second trip through the house before departure to double-double check that all windows are closed and locked. It is inconceivable that I inadvertently left the door unlocked – NO WAY, NO HOW – it just would never happen… So, my mind is racing and I push the door open… “*&^*&$^%, we’ve been broken into”!

   I waltz right on in as if I owned the place, no thought to the fact my sidearm is sitting in the console of the Jeep? You know, its not as if I’m going to need the gun just going from the car to the house – WRONG! It didn’t even dawn on me that I had dropped the security ball on this end as well… Proceeding into the crime scene without even a thought to the SOB still being there?

   That’s when I saw him! Sitting on my couch, eating my food and drinking my beer! As I stand there in MY doorway trying to make sense of the scene before me, Mrs. Prepper pushes right past me… I barely even noticed that she had my Glock in her hand, leveled in his direction! I’ve always heard that when your in a high stress situation like this your adrenaline is pumping and you won’t even hear the gun go off when it’s fired! Well, I can testify I never heard a shot. I was shocked in disbelief as I watched her fire continuously until the slide eventually caught after the 15th round. When my mind was able to refocus I swear she was screaming at pulp boy about not taking off his freaking shoes in her house!

   OK OK, you’re right – this isn’t how it happened at all! For one thing I don’t drink and therefore he wouldn’t be drinking my beer. Secondly, Mrs. Prepper wouldn’t shoot someone 15 times for a shoe violation but after she got done moaning and groaning  at him about her new carpet, he might wish she had! Sadly though the part about me walking in completely unarmed is true! What the heck was I thinking? I have done the right thing in the past and answered an attempted home invasion at a relatives house – gun in hand – but not this time? For shame!

   So, I walk on in and find stuff strewn about, cabinets all open and contents rummaged. Thankfully the PERP was already gone. I’m fully aware that most of you reading this would have preferred he was there and given you the chance to practice your Dirty Harry voice – “Do you feel lucky – Punk?”  That was my first inclination too after my sanity was regained, as well as my pistol! A disappointment all the way around!

   This appeared to be nothing more than a typical home burglary. TV gone, ripped right off the wall. Small electronics were selectively taken, some food and soda’s, a few kitchen items, 2 pairs of women’s hiking boots and the strangest thing was MY underwear? While the underwear in question was clean and on the new side, still? Oh yeah, the sucker took the better part of a Costco sized package of TP? I was tempted to go looking for any neighbors that might have gotten TP’d in the last few days…

   The entry was made via the back bedroom window. This would be on the far side of the house and furthest from the driveway… This part makes sense as the chances of discovery would be a neighbor happening by on a walk or random inspection as a courtesy to us. However, the burglar had to jump a bit to get in that window and there were several items within easy reach he could have used to boost himself up but didn’t? Also strange were the items not taken from the house… A pair of Kenwood MURS radios, complete with chargers sitting on the kitchen counter? An 18volt DeWalt Flashlight right inside the back door? Binoculars, a LARGE Maglight beside the bed? In my opinion this is strange, he takes my clean but used underwear and not these other items? Strange?

   Anyway, we made the standard police report but figured that it wasn’t enough value to bother the insurance company over! The cop confirmed what I already thought from my personal experience, we weren’t in a high crime area. The officer said he couldn’t remember the last time there was a burglery out in my area of the county…? That was good news, I guess! A trip to the hardware store for some additional beefing up of the window security was about all we could do? Most of the truly valuable items were stored inside the cargo containers, thankfully the locks didn’t show any signs of attempted forcing.

   I guess we were pretty lucky that the scum didn’t break any windows or take a dump in the middle of the kitchen floor! All the stolen items are replaceable but the nagging feeling that will accompany our arrivals for the for-seeable future will linger on! All the stuff I’ve read on the various blogs and forums I haunt always warn about the security of the rural retreat, well take it from me the stories are true… Don’t get  complacent about your security and if you begin a new retreat or BOL project, keep the security end game in mind as you go! Things are easily fixed today but in the near future, who knows? That TP the guy stole might end up being worth its weight in gold?

Submitted for your consideration,

Prepper

   Well, if you have to know… I very well might be crazy! I see everyday things and find myself making the jump to how folks like us could possibly use that to gain an edge in our prep lives or maybe garner additional freedom. What am I talking about? The boat, that old wooden boat in the picture… Can’t you see it too? Since I know that few people actually see the same things I do – we are a very small minority of the population and even inside the “Prepper” world, we all seldom can agree on much. I’ll just come right out and explain myself!

   It all started a couple of months ago. I began my latest money making endeavor (Yes, I mean the second job) and this had me traveling down roads that I typically would have no reason to ever see… Low and behold one afternoon I spot this older wooden boat moored in a place I have never even seen a boat previously. First, in the Pacific Northwest, we have a gazillion rivers but many aren’t of the size you would usually find a boat in. Possibly a small boat that a couple of guys would do some weekend fishing from but generally not a boat like the one pictured here. Second, this particular river is in an urban setting, just South of downtown Seattle and a known pollution nightmare. I know what your thinking, this doesn’t appear to be that urban? I know, I see all those trees too, this is actually adjacent to a little know and lightly used strip of park land. A city bicycle trail runs through there as well but the whole area is surrounded by what I would describe as a light industrial area…

   So anyway, the thing that got me thinking was that here’s this boat in an unexpected area, tied to who knows what and has a makeshift wooded walkway coming out of the woods right down to it. I think to myself,  “I wonder if some-one’s living on that thing”?? Well, I watch this thing sitting just as you see it in the picture from the day I first noticed it up until just hours ago when I last drove past and it is still there. So lets say a couple of months at least!

   As the weeks went by and I kept checking to see if the boat has moved or eventually would disappear, sink or anything else! The thoughts keep running through my head… Someone is beating the system, parking a boat in what would have to be described by the lay-person as a “No Mans Land” – except on water, of course! Was this a viable lifestyle for some freedom seeker? In reality I would think it most likely that it’s some guy that got tossed out of his house either by the economy or his old lady and had no other choice. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that this boat was occupied by someone working in one of the many businesses or warehouses near by. It’s only my lack of ever seeing anyone aboard when I drive by that has kept me from attempting to interview this elusive live aboard…

   If this would work for the poor guy that’s down on his luck, why couldn’t it work by design? Like I said the greater Pacific Northwest is riddled with rivers. Why couldn’t a creative individual just give up living in the rat race and live on the river…? They could! Provided they have a boat to live on. Usually the boats we see around this area are more modern and often smaller than anyone I know would attempt to live on. Around here we are fortunate to have a large number of lakes as well, I guess all these bodies of water come along with the fact that it rains here, I believe 364 days per year – last count! So, the typical boat owner has a small fishing boat or a sporting boat, you know water skiing and other day use designs. However, if a person had a larger boat, this idea could work.

   Unfortunately, I do not own a boat – or fortunately, depends how you want to look at it… Mrs Prepper is feeling very fortunate that I don’t own a boat as this currently prevents me from asking her to come live on the river with me. I’m only half way kidding here, as I am very much done and over with the whole rat race lifestyle! Why not buy a boat to try this all out? Not me, some theoretical “prepper”? I realize boats can be and often are quite expensive! How about looking for an older wooden boat such as the one pictured on craigslist? On several occasions my searches for other products, like used mobile homes, have lead me to find used boats in this category… Expensive? Not necessarily, I saw some boats that sounded and looked to good to be true – I will assume they were! I also so some moderately priced boats in the 26-30 foot range and were setup very similar to a land based RV. What was there true condition? Of course I don’t know for sure but even if they needed a lot of repairs, as long as the structure was sound…?

   I’ll even take this one step further, why would this boat have to have a good motor? Yes, yes… it would have to be able to get to the spot picked for your new life up the river! There are ways to get boats moved when their engines aren’t working, which on all the boats I’ve been around is fairly often… Boats usually come with a large amount of ongoing maintenance to keep them dependable. Many of the classified ads I’ve read were for “Project” boats, the prices on these boats were shockingly cheap… For good reason, the buyer was taking the problem off the hands of the current owner! I did see apparently beautiful boats that had some “Issues” with the power plant… Also, one large expense with a motor boat is the cost of fuel, an additional expense that would be nullified in our little thought exercise…

   What I’m imagining here is doable! Would it work for you and yours – probably not but it WILL WORK for some. A rather small but well setup cabin cruiser, with or without it’s own on board power plant, moored “Up the River” or even at a local marina… Hmm, what are moorage rates at the local marina – might be worth looking into. Usually these moorage rates are with hook ups for your sewer, phone and electric… This wouldn’t be nearly as cheap but at least around here the rates are FAR lower than even an inexpensive apartment…

   As usual I’m submitting this as just another option that might work for one of you guys out there. This strategy would come with several downsides but it would also allow for that freedom only achievable when that mortgage payment has been destroyed… Food for thought!

Prepper

  I have another alternative housing post for you today… This is going to be another head scratch-er, at least it was for me… I remember seeing hippies back in the 1970’s living in retired school buses. Sometimes they were road worthy but mostly I recall them being semi-permanent on a piece of land.

   I try to check my local Craigslist everyday to stay on the look out for a screamin deal on another singlewide mobile to add to our BOL. As it turns out I haven’t been able to locate a good candidate yet… I’ll be watching though and timing is everything! I missed out on several when I was looking for the initial one to purchase.

   Anyway, it was on Craigslist that I found the ad we’ll be discussing today. It is for a “Converted School Bus”… Normally, I wouldn’t have clicked on this ad but something caught my interest enough to take a peek. You can see in the pictures, someone has done a good job turning this place into a comfortable and snug little cabin. It doesn’t have a bathroom but most everything else is there.

   What do you guys think, could you live in a school bus? What if the price was right? I don’t know either but I wouldn’t rule it out, especially for a BOL shelter. It wouldn’t be much different than living in something the size of a motor home, since this is basically what it is after you converted it.

   It appears from what I saw in the ad that the owners lived in the bus for the year that it took to build there new home. They have it rigged up to the electric grid and have running water to the kitchen sink. With the  large wood stove that’s in the pictures, heat wouldn’t be much of an issue at least as long as someone was there to keep the thing stoked up.

   So we have running water, heat and electric. Is there something that could be done to answer the issue of the bathroom? I envision this thing sitting on some one’s BOL, out in the countryside somewhere. I know if it were me I would just add an out building to use for a bathroom and laundry facility! It wouldn’t be difficult to come up with a simple design that could be finished to whatever level of grandeur the specific owner/user required.

   There are all sorts of people that live in RV’s of all different sizes. I’ve seen a number of articles that show entire families being raised in these close quarters. Some of them on the road traveling but mostly at a full time location… That wouldn’t have been my first choice for raising my daughter but I wasn’t faced with an economic need that required it either.

  My interpretation of this as a lifestyle would be for just a single or maybe a couple that got along real well… In the photos I see a kitchen area, small 2 seater dining table, sofa and bedroom area with a mounted television. The whole place couldn’t be more than 300-350 square feet total? It seems that all the necessities are covered. HEAT, WATER and some sort of cooking arrangement. This place actually appears to be warm and inviting, I particularly like the wood panelling throughout. 

   Let me remind everyone that I spend a good deal of my working life out seeing clients in there homes. I’ve seen it all, from chickens living inside with the family, to the old “cat lady”, to actual mansions. It would shock most people to see how there neighbors are really living! More times than I can count I’ve seen a high end luxury car in the driveway but found the living room with no furniture and second hand/garage sale furniture in other rooms. The kitchens are often so messy it would make a 20 year old bachelor blush.

   My point is that where we all live and our perceived standard of living, is subjective at best. I don’t hold this out as a GREAT option but it is an option. I see old school buses going for as little as FREE – just drag it away, on up to several thousands of dollars. I’d be more inclined to spend the money for a running unit or one that was in great shape.

   Looking at the pictures of the subject specimen and the asking price of $6500, it would appear that you would be getting a make shift home for a reasonable price, if you had the ability to put it to use. I have seen this ad running for the last few months and this is always an indicator of a motivated seller and with a little luck, you could get this bus for a couple thousand dollars. Add in the cost of the out building/bathroom and the towing bill to get it moved to your land and what do you have into it?

   No, this isn’t going to be for everyone but a shelter with all the usual requirments for under 10K? Ponderous! I know what your thinking, “I could get a good RV for less than that!” True, maybe that is a better route to take, only you could decide that. I like this idea as I’m a little off from the norm or at least thats what I’m told. This would allow room for the full sized wood stove and give more creative control than a traditional light duty RV… Who knows, maybe this wouldn’t be a good idea but is worth thinking about!

   Now more than anytime in our recent collective history, we have a populous that is going to need to think outside the box, when it comes to shelter. I hope to provide the stimulus to more creative ideas. These ideas will eventually lead many to a more freedom centered life or at least that’s my goal…

Prepper

   Welcome back, I hope everyone had a great holiday! Looks like we have another short week and then onto a New Year… I don’t know about any of you but I think 2010 promises to be interesting… Terror attacks, economic collapse and other fun stuff just ahead… I actually have no better idea than anyone else what we could see in the coming months! I am keeping my head up and eye’s open!

   I don’t want to speak for anyone except “The Prepper Family” but it seems that there is still alot to get accomplished. Our business has been effected just like most every one’s has by this economic recession/depression or whatever we are currently calling it. However, keeping this fact in mind, we all need to still be striving to better position ourselves for whatever the future holds. As we hope that the good times will make another appearance on the scene, we better still be prepping for the possibility that they don’t… To over simplify it – we can’t eat food that we didn’t store! Watch for bargains and get busy!

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I want to thank “Ranger” for his generous Christmas gift. He sent me a box of Corbon 9mm and a nice card addressed to “The Prepper Family”. So – THANKS RANGER! That was unexpected and pretty cool!

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Floating McMansion

 

   I do a lot of traveling throughout Western Washington for my business and try to keep the camera close by, just in case I see something I can share with the group – I would like to encourage others to do this as well! Anyway, last week I had some business down in Seattle that brought me close to a neighborhood of homes that I hadn’t previously noticed…

   This neighborhood is located in a most unlikely place. Floating just off the side of the road. I saw these homes as I was speeding by and had to do a quick u-turn to get a better look.

Who needs land to have a cabin?

   I suppose that many of you have seen the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”, where Tom Hanks was living in a floating house. Well, I saw it too but hadn’t ever run across the location of this interesting neighborhood. Just like much of what we see in Hollywood, I assumed that it may have been shot on location in another city. It may actually have been but these places still represent what was portrayed in the movie. Basically regular homes built on top of a floating platform.   

   Anyone that’s been reading “Prepper” nation for any time at all will know that I have a thing for – Alternative Housing! This would definitely qualify as alternative in my book! There was one particular house that caught my eye and its the big one that’s built in the “Craftsman Style”, very cool! This particular example shows that apparently a builder isn’t restricted in the size of the home that could be built! As cool as it is and I’d love to get the opportunity to see the interior, it’s still what I would call a McMansion. Probably wouldn’t be a cost effective approach for the prepper to take, in gaining their shelter independence…

 

Floating Neighborhood

  As you can see in these photo’s, the home styles are diverse and range widely in size. They all appear to have a barge of some sort under them, which would stand to reason… I wonder what the moorage costs are in comparison to property taxes. This particular area of Seattle and near the water, would command a high tax bill. At least it would be high for our area. I see the references on the web that show places back East that have taxes well over $10K a year… I can’t imagine having to cover that nut each month even after the home was paid for? WOW!

    Anyway, as interesting as this concept is, I was wondering if there would be a viable prepper solution in any of this? The home I want to call your attention to is the little humble one. This is the one that looked promising to me. From all exterior appearances it isn’t drastically larger than a modern motorhome. The small moorage that it requires would make it more economical as well… I wouldn’t be surprised if this one wasn’t home made, it has what looks like a fairly simple design. I say simple, only in comparison to the larger homes.

Possibilities?

   If you notice the platform on this one, what is it? My best guess is that it’s a small barge with a fiberglass covering to make it more user friendly and aesthetically pleasing. I walked down as close to it as I dared to take a few pictures… I didn’t really want to answer questions about my trespassing, if it could be avoided.

   As you can see, the owners even have some potted landscaping plants on board too… It makes me think that a container garden would certainly be possible as long as enough fresh water could be procured, long term that is… Kind of makes you think…  

Container Gardening

   This area of town is near at least two sizable university’s and the bicycle in the photo makes me wonder if this isn’t being used as student housing? If the right opportunity came along to either purchase a small unit such as this or even build one from scratch and keep it moored in a convenient location? Hmm? Sounds interesting, I bet the concept could be done for much cheaper than a small cracker box starter home in the area. I don’t have first hand info on the moorage costs but if they’re similar to a marina, the costs with shore power wouldn’t exceed $500 a month. Now that isn’t chicken feed and you don’t have much in the area of square footage but once the house was paid for the rental costs could be kept fairly reasonable… 

  This wouldn’t work for the type of future that I’m interested in, with the exception of if I needed to maintain some sort of housing in the city. This would only be applicable to my situation if I decided to keep our business going with employees after making the move to the BOL. We have considered this and are pondering what we may want to do for a crash pad for when we have to come to town…

Reserved Parking?

   Our group -Preppers – is very diverse! What I couldn’t see as doable, someone else would see as a dream come true. This small boat, house, RV or whatever it actually would be called, would fit into this category… A misfit, at first glance but paired up with a creative mind, the possibilities could be endless. Other than the uniqueness of a home like this, it is pretty well camouflaged. If I hadn’t noticed the big showy home down the dock from it, it wouldn’t draw much attention. It even has the ability to be moved, maybe even under its own power, with a little forethought.   

   You decide for yourselves if this is cool or even interesting? I see things like this and find myself having to think about the possibilities, which leads me to the conclusion that if I think twice about something like this – you might want to see it too? I’ll keep bringing things to your attention and you sift through them and keep the one’s you like and just discard those you don’t!

Prepper

   First off, congratulations to Ranger, he was our 15th emailer yesterday! I will be making arrangements to get the book out to him, ASAP! 

   OK, I have another set of used mobile homes or “Wobbly Boxes” as I’ve seen them called over the years, to show you today.  Two of the homes are from my local area here in Seattle but a third came in from Sean, a reader in Arizona. At least the mobile home’s in Arizona, Sean didn’t actually say where he was? Again, these are just examples of what I’ve been talking to you about. I haven’t done my homework on these beyond exchanging an email or two.

   The most important thing to remember is that these homes are indeed available. These places are all still a bit older than I would like, ideally… However, if I was seriously looking for a place to call home on the cheap, I’d check on anything that looked even the slightest bit hopeful.

  I have copied the text from the corresponding advertisements, these are the sellers words regarding their homes, not mine! The ads are all fairly recent so if they sound interesting to anyone, I included the phone numbers so give the sellers a call.

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Example #1

 

#1

 

Nice 1971 Home, in a nice Senior Park (55+). Located on bus line… close to lakes & shopping. 2 Large storage buildings/workshops, 1 with roll-up door. $7,900

 

Features include:

 

Central Heat & Air
Extra Insulation under floor
New Vinyl Windows & Sliding Glass Door
New Vinyl Flooring bath, kitchen, entry
All Appliances including Washer & Dryer
3 Large Porches
Dish Network Satellite Dish, also Wired for Cable
Fenced rear Yard with Gate & Pet Door to kitchen (pets welcome)
2 Car deep driveway with Carport
6’ x 11’ Storage with Shelves, Work Bench & Outlets
Separate 11’x 16’ “out building” with roll-up door, work benches, shelves & outlets.

 

R/V Storage Space is available in park

 

Space rent of $330.00 includes water, sewer, garbage.

 

Owner Financing with Flexible Terms w/substantial down. Discount for “all cash offer”.

 

Call anytime 253-312-3334

 

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Example #2

 

#2

 

Three bedrooms, two bathrooms nice and pretty big extra wideshed, I added it for a wreck room. I’m trying to sell fast so I can get right again for the holidays that’s why it’s so cheap. Look, own your own home for $6,000 that’s a deal and for a nicer place you seen most mobile homes posted, most are really old looking, not this one! I’m also willing to work out deals depending on what you got? Like I will take $3000 cash and a trade for something like a nice running car or truck that’s deals right there so don’t wait soon will be to late who do this , I’d hurry before it’s to late call Jon (206)-403-7621

 

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Example #3

 

#3

 

Trailer for sale year is 1989
3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom
11,000 in payments
but 9,000.00 CASH!
OK condition
Needs work in kitchen and bathroom
Please contact Vanessa at (520) 336-8550

 

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   There you have it… 3 possible homes that could possibly be turned into productive homesteads. All of them could be had for cheap to free, depending on how good at dickering you are. I’m going to just give you my initial thoughts on these and the kind of actual purchase price you might expect for each of these homes…

 

#1- These folks said specifically that there would be a discount for cash… I’ve seen this ad on craigslist for a couple of weeks now. If I were going to make them an offer it would be no more than $5000, it might actually be no more than taking the title and paying them a couple hundred to leave the house clean when they left. It’s a 1971 and therefore could present some issues when getting it moved. It’s in a rural senior park so it’s probably quiet, a person so inclined could possibly just live in the home where it is and bank the rent/mortgage money while they save their cash for something better or to maybe move this home to some free and clear land! $330 space rent, including water, sewer and garbage – not to shabby?

 

#2 – I emailed this gentleman and he is very interested in dealing… This is a 1985 home and he claims that it has 2×6 exterior walls and is sheet rocked on the interior. If it wouldn’t be to far to move to my BOL, I would at least take a long look at this one… He apparently is in need of $3000 cash, from what the ad says, so that’s all I would probably have to pay. $3000 cash in hand and this guy would sign anything I asked…

 

#3- This is the home located in Arizona. I can see from the photo that it would be a fixer. This alone wouldn’t scare me away as long as it has a solid structure. Believe me going through a small home like this with new flooring and paint just wouldn’t cost much… For someone that was handy, a few thousand in fix up money could go along way. Plus, you would have the benefit of de-scuzzing the place at the same time. They have already played their hand and said that they are willing to deal. $2000 off the purchase price for cash would probably mean a cash buyer could get this one for $5000 or maybe even less since they admit it needs work? It’s a 1989, so this one is another I would definitely dig a little deeper on if it were located nearer to me.

 

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   In closing today, I want to remind you that I DO NOT advocate lowering your standard of living by living in a mobile home. I actually think that many of our lifestyles would improve if we had lower overhead. These homes can be fixed up VERY nicely and be quite comfortable. I realize this plan wouldn’t work for everyone but shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand because of any self imposed stigma associated with a “Trailer House”, I speak from personal experience here! I will continue to show all of you what the Prepper family is doing with our MOBILE HOMEstead and try to lead by example, showing everyone what’s possible!

 

Prepper