Archive for LIVIN’ THE DREAM
Apr
30
The Guest House
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I’ve held off bringing this topic up until I had all the paperwork done and could speak with authority about this deal going through – FOR SURE! We have officially purchased the second mobile home for the BOL. As you all know we have the first single wide in place and well on its way to setup the way we want it for the long term. The first place is a 1997 14×70 Fleetwood – 2 bedroom, 2 bath. The second one we just closed escrow on is a smaller unit. As you can see this is also a single but its just a 2 bedroom, 1 bath – 1993 Fleetwood 14×48.
So, I know your asking yourself, what’s the story with so much excitement over these old mobile homes? Well, I’ll tell you again – mobiles are the way that many of us will find our freedom… At least the freedom from the debt based slavery we are almost all imprisoned by in the modern day USA! These homes are cheap and have so much overlooked potential because of our society’s “Trailer Trash” bias. It’s with these things in mind that I want to take all of you on this journey with me. I want to start at the beginning and document for all of you the steps I go through in getting this home purchased, moved and re-setup at the new location. I’ll show you just what I’m doing and try to answer all the questions you have as to the “what’s, why’s and the how much”…
Right now we are at step 2 – Tear down! Over the last month or so, Mrs Prepper and I have been in negotiations with this seller and working our way to the final signing of escrow papers that we got completed last Friday. The home is officially ours but there is still a lot to get done before the home can even leave the sellers property. There are some additional steps, paperwork wise, that have to be completed before the home will be in our name. This will require working with some county offices but we will try to keep the government involvement to a minimum. However, the fact is that documents have been signed and money has changed hands so its all ours!
I’m sure you’re wondering what the dollars and cents are on this place… I mentioned briefly a while back that my wife and I found this place for sale completely by accident. We had been keeping our eye’s peeled for something like this to add to our property but weren’t in any big hurry! The seller had been asking $10,000 for it, which wouldn’t be an unreasonable price. However, the place is pretty rough aesthetically and even though the bones are good, we gave her a low ball offer of $2,500. Like I said, we weren’t in any hurry and could afford to let the seller think it over for a few weeks. Those few weeks did go by and we hadn’t heard form her? I believe it was in week three that I decided to call her up and see how she was coming along in her deliberations…
The conversation went like this… Seller wasn’t willing to let the house go for that little. I asked what they were thinking would be a fair price, considering the place is in need of a LOT of cleanup and repairs. Seller explained that if they accepted the $2,500 offer, they would have to sell the “newer” appliances separately and that would be a lot of additional trouble. I asked what they might hope to get for these appliances (washer, dryer, range and propane fueled heating stove, looks like a wood stove but is propane)? The response was that they were thinking those appliance would bring $3,000 between them. I asked if I were to by all those appliances for $3,000, would they accept my $2,500 offer. Yes sir, that is what they would need to see – $5,500 and the house was ours. I made them the written offer and the place was ours… Sounds easy but this is just the first part of Step #1, the other part getting the paperwork actually signed around so we can begin the more labor intensive Steps that follow…
So, for $5,500 we purchased our self a second 2/1 home and a large project in getting the place moved, reset and then fully revamped to fit our needs. We plan to use this place as a “Guest House” for our friends and family when they visit. We’re planning to set this home parallel to the first home, separated by roughly 24 feet. We’ll span this 24 foot gap with decking and have a central courtyard area for the barbecue and fire pit activities. My hope is that the county won’t interfere with my plans and require the homes to be physically adjoined to qualify as a single residence. Either way, we’ll be fine and the price per square foot for living space is so low that we literally couldn’t go wrong.
I’m sure that someone out there is tempted to remind me that there are a lot of additional expenses to getting this place setup, beside the incredibly low purchase price. Yes, yes and I’ll be sharing each and every one of these costs with you. I’m sure that there’ll be some surprises as the moving contractor hasn’t even given me his bid yet but we’re prepared to share our disappointments with you as well! I believe that this will be an interesting project and proving ground! I’ve been preaching this “Mobiles for Freedom” theme for a while now and it’s time for me to put my money where my mouth is… You will all see just what goes into a project like this, it could easily be scaled up or down depending on your own personal and family needs. The fact that this is a rather small home and just because we are going to use it as “extra space”, don’t discount the lessons we can all learn about affordable housing. This home has 1 decent sized bedroom, an extra bedroom that would make a decent home office or nursery, full bathroom with bathtub (albeit a small full bath), laundry area, full kitchen and a living room.
This house, as I just described, is small but I’ve seen many apartments that are smaller. I’ve actually lived in apartments when I was in my early 20′s that were smaller then this house. I have two Grandfathers that live in senior retirement housing that is a fraction of this size. Many trendy areas of Seattle offer deluxe studio living spaces that are much smaller then this and have rents that exceed $1,500 per month. While all of these housing situations are different, they also have much in common, being that all of them are residential in nature. Some person or persons calls this amount of space home. I intend to show you, first hand, the possibilities that a home this size has to offer and all at a price that is well below anything else on the market.
Stay tuned for updates on our progress and as your questions come to mind be sure to shoot me an email or comment. I’ll do my best to answer all of your questions and make this a valuable learning experience for all of us!
Prepper
Apr
10
Reader Question – “We’re Back…!”
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I want to have a chance to answer a few of the questions that have come in having to do with the latest break in over at our BOL… Some posts get more questions than others and these break-ins have generated more then normal. I think that the idea of having our hard earned preps stolen out from under us is a subject that commands just about all preppers attention. We work hard to buy, build or otherwise acquire the things that we all believe the world of tomorrow will require and then they ride off in the back of some son of a sumsuckers truck… Not acceptable!
First, I had one direct comment about selling the BOL and several other emails that indicated that person thought it might be a good idea… While I do understand the logic behind this line of thinking and do respect the individuals that brought it up, we won’t be doing that! I say this with complete conviction because the fact is buying and outfitting a true BOL is far harder and more time consuming then it might first appear. I’ve been working on this particular project, in one fashion or the other, for almost 2 decades! Yes, I’m 40 and so this means almost half my life… I share most everything about my BOL and related projects with you but not all the specific details as I don’t like unexpected visitors. Some of the details that have been left out for OPSEC reasons would be hard to replicate at a new location. Other factors like my families having been accepted into a small community that I don’t even live in full time yet, could only be accomplished through the years I’ve spent nurturing neighborly relationships with those around me. Not even money could buy me the good will of a diverse group of neighbors that often don’t even get along that well amongst themselves much less with a weekender family from the city! It takes lots of time to gain others confidence and frankly I don’t see us having another 20 years to try to embed myself in a new community, even if I could sell the property without losing a huge chunk of equity due to the real estate downturn…
Other emailers had asked for specifics on what all I lost… I guess these posts about my misfortune are kind of like driving past a trainwreck and morbid curiosity is getting the best of the inquirers… The following is THE list that I gave to the Sheriffs office for the police report. I have only removed the name and address, as well as removed the VIN #’s for the quads.
The following are the items that we have determined stolen from our property.
2000 Kawasaki Prairie – VIN # XXXXXXXXXXX (Red, 4 wheel drive w/ winch on front w/ black plastic racks front and rear trailer hitch)
2003 Kawasaki Bayou – VIN # XXXXXXXXXXX (Green, 2 wheel drive, gray metal cargo racks on the front and rear w/ trailer hitch)
Zenith DVD Player
19″ LCD Flat Screen TV – There was a multiple angle adjustable mounting bracket attached to the back of TV for attaching to wall or cabinet. I believe the brand on the TV was Sanyo
Mp3 stereo system – This was a small stereo system for an IPOD, black in color
Police band scanner – Radio shack brand scanner, handheld black in color
Icom IC T2A Radio – This was a 2 meter handheld Ham radio. Small black radio with a detachable rubber antenna. This would be of limited use without a HAM radio license.
Various Hand tools – There were multiple 30mm ammunition cans with all sorts of hand tools inside. Manufactures were primarily Craftsman and Proto. These would have included assorted wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers and allen head wrenches. Wood working tools would have included several wood saws, hammers, pry bars and several squares.
Power tools – (1) 18v Dewalt 1/4 impact driver w/ battery and 110v charger
(2) 9.6v Makita Flashlights with 3 batteries and charger
Power Inverter – 500 watt – I believe this was made by “Statpower” but I can’t recall for sure?
Work Boots - 2 pairs of women’s work/hiking boots. Brand unknown
Utility Box – 2′x2′x4′ utility box, covered in black short nap carpeting. Handles on both ends made of nylon rope material. Constructed of plywood
Ammo Cans - These cans are or were empty and in addition to the cans mentioned as holding ammunition or other items. (2) 20mm green steel cans, (1) gray US Navy steel ammunition can. The gray can is unique in that it is manufactured with 6 clamps all around the removable top.
“Power Kit”- 20mm Ammo can, painted green and stenciled with the words “Power Kit” in black letter across the detachable lid. Inside the ammo can was a supply of various size rechargeable batteries, I believe they were “Rayovac” brand and had a 110 volt battery charger as well
“Medical Kit”- 20mm Ammo can, painted green and stenciled with the words “Medical Kit” in black letters across the detachable lid. Inside were various first aid supplies. This would have included bandages of various manufactures, over the counter pain relievers and remedies.
Firearm Magazines – There were 10 individually plastic wrapped AK-47 magazines. These were all made by Norinco and would either be marked as “Norinco or Chinese”. All of these magazines were being stored inside a 50 caliber green ammunition can.
***All ammunition was stored inside of 30 or 50 caliber, olive drab ammunition cans unless specified otherwise. I will attempt to describe this ammunition’s packaging to the best of my recollection as well.
(2) cases 1200 rounds each 7.62×39 Norinco ammunition in a wooden manufactures crate, inside the crate the ammunition is in the typical cardboard 20 round ammunition boxes. The 20 round boxes are gray or silver and have the Norinco brand markings
(4) cases 1260 rounds each .308, South African manufacture. Each of these cases is a chocolate brown metal case clearly marked as ammunition. Each has a removable matching metal lid. Inside the brown case is 9 individually wrapped plastic cases with 7 20 round boxes inside.
(1) case .223, (1020 rounds) this ammunition was manufactured by Israel munitions Inc. – marked IMI and packaged in 30 round square cardboard boxes. This is unique since the norm would be 20 round boxes. Each round has a green painted tip. These were all packed inside a 50mm ammo can and down inside the can were 20-30 loose rounds of tracer ammo, these have an orange painted tip…
(1) Package .223 – this ammo was South African manufacture and is packaged similarly to the above mentioned .308. Inside the plastic wrapper would be 15 individual cardboard boxes, total of 300 rounds.
.38 – 200 rounds, These were in an ammo can loose, no individual boxes
.45 – 6 (50 round) boxes of Winchester ammunition, boxes were almost entirely white with minimal factory markings. These packed all together inside a 30mm can.
9×19 – (1) case – 1000 rounds, 20 boxes of federal brand ammunition. I think it was marked American Eagle, in red boxes of 50
30.06 – 3 boxes, I don’t recall the brand – 2 boxes were full and 1 had 2-3 rounds used and the empty casings should be inside for reloading. I think these were white boxes with a green manufactures label of some sort on one side.
7.62×39 – 25 boxes of 20, ammunition, Norinco brand.
As you can see by the list there was quite a haul taken this time and we can’t help but feel the sting! We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our homeowners insurance did cover these items and even though the amount of the insurance settlement was no where near enough to replace the stuff, that money did ease the pain to some degree! I also want to remind everyone that this could have been worse, much worse! There were no firearms stolen and I’m very happy about that fact. Not only do I not want to be arming the enemy, I don’t want to have to start filling in gaps in my recently parred down collection.
Another question was about what additional safeguards have been added to assure that more preps don’t walk away again? Well, lets see…? We added an alarm system to the house and primary outbuildings. Additional extra loud exterior sirens were installed that are pointed right at the closest neighbors house to add to the likelihood they will be heard day or night! We have installed additional heavy duty lock mechanisms to the doors of the cargo containers, these were bolted and welded in place. The locks were positioned so as to be almost undefeatable without a cutting torch! Even with a cutting torch, the alarm will sound as soon as the doors are opened or they gain entry to disturb the motion detector!
It will be a long time before I’ll feel comfortable with my own security there again. Nothing gets left out and all the doors get locked tight before dark and or whenever we leave the property. It’s hard to shake the idea that at anytime there could and probably has been someone in the woods watching the house! I find myself doing random shooting skills excersises much more frequently. I’d like to say that I hope to catch someone trespassing but I really don’t want to, what I really do want is to be left alone!
I have to agree with the folks that commented on the fact that its very difficult to successfully secure a property that isn’t occupied full time! This will eventually take care of itself as we will be making that move in the not to distant future. Until then we will be working towards getting the entire 10 acres fenced with at least a typical barbed wire fence. I don’t have delusions that a barbed wire fence will keep these scumbags out but it will be very difficult to make a case that they didn’t know they were trespassing when or if they are ever caught on the property! I have other additions planned to beef up our security and those will be revealed in future posts as I work out the kinks!
Again, thanks to everyone that emailed me with their sympathies! I do hope that nobody else has to experience this but it comes with the territory and as the economy sinks further into the toilet, I would expect that these occurances would increase. Don’t get complacent and wait until after you get hit by these characters to do what you know in the back of your mind needs to be done, do it now!
Prepper
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If the topics we cover here at PREPPERNATION are interesting to you, please take a minute to subscribe to the email notifications. I will email you each time I add new material… I always like to hear from you, my readers, so let me also encourage you to post your comments on this or any of the other posts in the comments section!
Apr
03
We’re Back…!
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I’m going to relate a story to you today, I’m sorry to say it’s beginning to be a familiar theme! I know what you’ll all be thinking… How could Prepper continue to allow this to happen? A smart “prepper” would figure out a way to keep himself and his family safe, especially during a time when the S hadn’t even Hit The Fan yet? This would never happen to me, I wouldn’t allow it – no way, no how! Well, we’ll see, I hope you’re right!
Back on February 12 Mrs. Prepper and I had been over to the BOL for the weekend. We didn’t really do a whole lot but just kicked back and relaxed! I did some writing for you guys and just had an all-around good time. In fact I wrote the post “The weakest link” that particular weekend. We had taken several walks and stopped over to visit with our closest neighbors. Nothing at all seemed out of place. On Sunday afternoon we got all packed up to hit the road and get back to the insanity inWestern Washington(otherwise known as real life). We normally would always stop over at the old cabin (original BOL) at least once during a weekend, just to keep an eye on the place. For some reason we didn’t get a chance to do it this time.
Well, we were actually at the end of our driveway and locking the gate to go when I decided that we better go take a quick look, just to put my mind to rest. We turned that direction and followed the road that leads up to that piece of property. This particular lot (7 acres) is just about adjoining to our main property but the way the lots are subdivided there are 2 private roads that cut us off from actually sharing a property line. So, I rounded the last corner and started up to the locked gate… When… Wait… What,NO WAY! I could see the cargo container doors swung all the way open and stuff sitting outside the thing???? My mind was racing as to how I could be seeing what I was? My good buddy and survival partner hadn’t been there in a couple of weeks and would never have left the doors unlocked much less standing wide open!
It was true! The freakin grimmies had struck again but this time had actually gotten into one of the supposed supply strongholds! I approached the scene with caution but it was pretty clear that the low life’s had already done their damage and cleared out. As I walked up the hill to where the conex container sat, I was dreading the look inside! The entire end of the box was sitting there VACANT! Right where 2 quad ATV’s should have sat there was nothing! I walked closer and was able to see down into the dark nether regions of the 40 foot metal tube and saw that the entire contents had been upended and the place looked as though a hurricane had hit.
Everything that was inside had been removed, smashed and or generally torn up! MY STOMACHE SANK, I was specifically looking for the substantial stack of ammo cans that should have been right where they always were but that spot was piled high with what now looked like nothing more then junk! I found several ammo cans still among the mess but they were now empty and had previously held supplies that were now all over the floor. Every ammo can that held ammo was now GONE! I just felt sick, literally sick!
Close to 18 years with nothing more then a gum wrapper to indicate anyone had trespassed and that was likely a well meaning neighbor out for a walk! The in a little over a year, we get hit 3 times. The worst thing was that I had just gotten finished writing the post about the weakest link and was developing a plan to make security improvements to the containers! So much for well meaning plans, when they don’t actually get completed! I made a quick mental inventory list of what I thought was missing. It was right about then that I thought I had better go check on the cabin…
The cabin is just a little to far back in the trees to be able to see it clearly from the container so I had to walk down the trail… Dreading each step I took and what I would soon be faced with… You guessed it, the front door was standing wide open and there were items strewn about on the ground. I had to walk past a semi-submerged fuel storage area and sure enough it had been hit too! I walked around behind the kitchen lean-to and saw that the back shutter had been ripped off the window. It was obvious that this was the point of entry.
I entered the cabin and sure enough the flashlights just inside the door were gone and everything had been rifled threw! The place was a mess and my mind was spinning too much to make out clearly what else, if anything, was really gone rather then just dumped out on the floor? It was about that time that I tried to close the place back up and head for the conex to decide what I needed to do next! Do I call the police, go see the neighbors, find someone to take all this out on! It’s amazing what kind of mischief your mind will come up with when you’re excessively angry and nearly in shock…
I decided that the sheriff needed to be called, so I took care of that first… While I waited for the report takers to show up I started my own investigation. It turned out that the scum had attempted to use bolt cutters on the padlocks but had been unsuccessful. They did succeed in cutting the chain that was wrapped around the door hardware, the links being sufficiently softer then the padlock… Then I find that they had cut the locking hasp that is actually part of the latching system that’s built right onto the container itself!
I found the bolt cutters these characters had used laying in the dirt not far from the front of the container. They were completely destroyed! The handles were bent beyond repair. They were so cheep that I’m surprised that they even worked at all? However, they did work and the guys did make off with what would eventually turn out to be almost $12,ooo worth of goods!
Eventually the sheriff did show up and take the requisite reports and gave me the instructions about how to best document the items taken so they could keep an eye out with all the usual suspects… I asked the officer for information on who these “usual suspects’ might be but he didn’t think it was a good idea to give out any specifics to the guy that just got robbed, go figure! The officer was sympathetic but didn’t offer much hope that the items would be recovered. 
After the reports were completed it was time to try to clean up the mess, at least enough to get the doors locked back up in some fashion. I was able to relock the chain around the doors and jimmy the locks back in place enough that the casual observer would think the conex was locked again. The truth was that the important survival goods had already been pilfered and the remaining items while valuable were of the least likely to be stolen anyway. Needless to say I felt very uncomfortable with my other containers sitting on the other lot. Something had to be done or I would never be able to go home and trust that all my valuables would still be there when I got back… This type of thing is very unsettling to say the least!
Well, I was able to alert the neighbors about what had happened and still get an upgraded lock mechanism welded on to the primary container before the daylight faded. With every possible lock fitted onto the containers, we were able to reload the Jeep and start home… That is after we loaded every firearm and some of main ammo supply in the trunk. No way I was going to loose the gun collection to these scum bags! We went home heavy but I felt a lot better knowing the guns would remain under my control!
I thought I would relay this latest event to all of you but not to show you what a loser I am for allowing this to continue to happen. I wanted to show you that it does happen and even to experienced preppers that should obviously no better! These pictures that I’m attaching aren’t that good but if you look carefully you can see what the latches that the crooks cut to get around the padlocks. In some future posts I’ll show you what upgrades I’ve come up with and eventually I’ll be rolling out some commercial options since there is a distinct lack of upgrades for these conex boxes. I’m also hoping that I can provide some object lessons for the rest of our community by pointing out my particular weaknesses! “Old Man prepper” always told me to learn from other peoples mistakes because I would never live long enough to make them all myself!
Prepper
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If the topics we cover here at PREPPERNATION are interesting to you, please take a mintue to subscribe to the email notifications. I will email you each time I add new material… I always like to hear from you, my readers, so let me also encourage you to post your comments on this or any of the other posts in the comments section!
Feb
16
The Weakest Link…
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I want share a story with you today in hopes that we can all take a closer look at the individual items we are trusting in for our security. You will all probably recall the BOL break in post I did a couple weeks ago. Today’s post is a follow up on that situation.
If you recall the cabin had been entered and it appeared that nothing was actually taken. We even have a 99% solid ID on the culprit. During the months after the break in it was determined that there was a police scanner that turned up missing but so far that’s all… Well, inside the cabin was a key ring that had a whole mess of keys on it. Thankfully, when Mrs. Prepper and I discovered the break in the keys were still hanging on the hook right where they always had.
These keys would have been the worst thing to have been discovered missing since used in the right series they could be used to gain access to the whole shooting match. You know if you use the shed key to open the shed then you could find the key for the fuel storage area that also had a hidden key to the conex boxes, etc. Well like I said thankfully they hadn’t been taken. So, I took them and locked them up at my place so my friend could pick them up from me next time he came East…
Pick up the keys he did and then promptly forgot they were in his car and they ended up back inSeattle. Now, this isn’t any big deal but he then forgot to bring them back on his next trip. I didn’t have spares for most of the keys on that ring so that left him with a small problem, which was the main point of this post.
At the cabin all of the windows are covered with wooden shutters and then secured with a hasp and Master Lock padlock. The keys to those locks were on that ring… I had spare keys to the front door and even the secure supply storage area but not those windows. This wouldn’t be any big issue except that its winter time and he would be burning the woodstove to keep the place warm enough to stay in. The bedroom is at the back of the cabin and the woodstove is near the front door at the other end of the place.
I don’t know about you but I’m not about to go to sleep with a fire burning between me and the only exit. Some folks wouldn’t be overly concerned but not this prepper, I’d want at least one of the windows for an escape route in an emergency.
After trying to pick the lock with my junior cat burglar lock picking set and failing, we went for a pair of bolt cutters to see if they would work… The lock was clearly marked as hardened and I knew from experience years ago that a hacksaw wasn’t going to work. As you can see in the photo, these cutters aren’t all that large, I’d been using them to cut rebar and they seemed on the small side for even that chore.
Well I’m happy to say we got that lock off but I’m sorry to report it wasn’t even a difficult feat! That lock cut like it was made of lead… This is not at all what I expected! I had been under the false belief that these locks being well reputed would do a much better job of slowing down a thief, not so! My entire security strategy would have to be rethought!
Let me clarify, I use padlocks but I also do use other forms of security to protect my valuables. In the role of locking down less important items or for shorter periods of time, I thought these locks would be just fine… I’ll be searching for something else to fill this role from now on. I’ve seen metal shields that fit over the lock making it much harder to get a cutting devise on. Also the puck locks that twist on and would also be difficult to cut… Lot’s of locks around my place and I’m not really looking forward to finding a new solution and then trying to be sure they are all keyed alike again… Oh well, better to learn from this small mistake then to have the SHTF and find out the hard way after losing something significant to this lack of security! I’m sure that the common criminal already knows about these locks weakness!
We are all only as secure as our weakest link, do some research of your own and see if there are areas that you too are vulnerable. As I discover the replacements for my own locks I’ll report what I find and hope to help all of you in your pursuits as well!
Prepper
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If the topics we cover here at PREPPERNATION are interesting to you, please take a mintue to subscribe to the email notifications. I will email you each time I add new material… I always like to hear from you, my readers, so let me also encourage you to post your comments on this or any of the other posts in the comments section!
Jan
25
Heat… check!
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