Thanks to everyone that sent me comments on the BOL. I agree, both that it’s looking better all the time and that I still have a long way to go! This is  a fun project and something that does have a reason behind it whether times get tough or even if they don’t.

 

   One email-er said that he thinks I’m crazy to lower my standards to live in such a P-O-S. Well, I suspect that my friend is still very young and ambitious! These are both great traits to have , for-sure! Unfortunately, we are all young only for a few short years and our motivating desires change as we age. See my comments to this person below…

 

   Without taking anymore time with pleasantries, I’ll just get moving on todays post. This is going to be our weekly “READERS QUESTIONS” post. Keep your questions coming and I’ll do my best to answer them in a timely fashion…

 

Send your questions to – prepper@preppernation.com

 

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Question #1 -     “Why would I lower myself to live in a Mobile Home”?

 

   Well, first off I don’t think for a minute that I’m lowering myself in any way. I do understand where this person is coming from and maybe even the negative spirit of his passion about the mobile home. I can say only that if I do decide to go live at my BOL, it will be because that’s what I chose! To me what the mobile home represents is far more than just a home. It is really about my freedom.

   I truly believe that MANY American adults have sold there freedom to live in fancy homes and drive fancy cars. Don’t misunderstand, I think that they have the right to do this and it’s none of my business. Actually, more power to em! Some folks can do these things even while maintaining a large degree of freedom because they are still living well below their means at whatever level that might be. I do however propose, that many are not living this way by choice any more but because they have no other choice!

   I know what it means to make a lot of money in any given year but I also am all to familiar with what the required sacrifice is to make that money. I’m contemplating a volunteer reduction in earnings. This isn’t necessarily so I can make less money overall. This would be a strategic reduction in my overhead, thus allowing me to choose how to spend my time earning money!

   Something key that I think most scoffers are missing, I SHOULD, end up with more discretionary funds with this move, not less! If my earnings are reduced but my overhead is also reduced, I should come out even or more probably ahead. Can you see my train of thought?

 

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Question #2 -     “Why do I carry a 9mm”?

 

   I will assume that the questioner is asking why I carry a 9mm over another caliber? Lets see, I made this decision probably 10 years ago when attending an unarmed self defense class.

   The school I was taking this through was “Insights Training” here in the Seattle area. All of the instructors for the class, as well as their other offerings, are either active duty or ex-military men and women. It was during the class room section of the training that we covered the legalities of self defense and got into handguns briefly.

   All of their instructors were either carring Glock or Sig Sauer handguns. At the time I would frequently carry a J frame Smith airweight, .38 caliber for concealment. If I wasn’t trying to be covert I had my Glock 21, a .45 caliber hand gun. I really liked the feel of the Glock and was basically sold on it. However, the instructors had determined that the Glock model 19, 9mm was the be all, end all most reliable hand gun available. Followed by the Sig 226, at least that was the model I remember them specifying.

   They did like all of the Glocks in general but they told the class on several occasions that the model 19 was the gun to have if it HAD to be reliable! So, the .45 went in the safe and I began purchasing model 19′s as I found them for good prices, usually at the local gun show! I trusted their opinions as they we’re experienced in this area and I wasn’t – Good enough for me and I haven’t ever seen any reason to change!

 

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Question #3 -     “Can the BOL subdivision be closed off if needed”?

 

   Hmm, I again will make an assumption. This must be referring to during an event like TSHTF. If I’m off base then let me know and I’ll revise my answer as needed.

   The short answer is yes and no. Yes of course anything is possible and there could easily be trees dropped but that would be detrimental to those inside the perimeter as well! There are however, a number of folks with heavy equipment and I think that they could be persuaded to use that to create a move-able barricade if it came to that.

   The good thing about this place is that it is nothing like a neighborhood but still enough folks around to keep an eye out for problems. The main entrance to my area has a full time occupied home a hundred yards off the main road, totally line of sight. This may be a deterrent but I wouldn’t depend on it. I and a few other neighbors use a secondary entrance that is gated full time. I’m including a photo as well. This is no flimsy farm gate, its heavy gauge steel and was professionally made to stand up to abuse. It won’t stop foot traffic but I doubt many vehicles will be getting past. This gate is also in line of site to a full time resident. This particular fellow is a no nonsense older gentleman that is regularly armed and somewhat confrontational. He’s bad news for trouble makers and good to have around for the folks like us that aren’t there full time…

 

   I hope that this gives you an idea of what would be possible or at least is kind of my plan at this stage. It certainly wouldn’t be all up to me but most of the people around there are fairly like minded!

 

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Question #4 -     “Do we have plans to add stock (animals) at the BOL”

 

   Yes, we do plan to add some animals. This will be done only after much thought and not until we are there full time. The thing about animals is that they are a full time commitment. The city life we are leading now is one that isn’t very conducive to freedom. Our business keeps us pretty much tied to the office. A big concern of both my wife and I is that we be careful not to recreate this same issue again in a new location.

   We have discussed chickens as a possibility and maybe some rabbits for the meat production. I’m kicking around raising a hog or two as well. If I could figure out a practical way to just have the stock on a seasonal basis I would like that much better. I think that any of these animals could be raised part time, however the start up costs might be prohibitive on a part time basis. Hogs could be raised and then put in the freezer but I think that the small animals would be better as a regular part of the place, rather than stopping and starting regularly. My concerns could be mitigated if we had a trusted neighbor that would want to participate in a cooperative effort. This way neither party would have to be committed 100% of the time.

   These are my thoughts currently but only time will tell how this will eventually pan out for us. I do believe that the self-sufficiency that can be achieved with homestead animals would be hard to replace, in any other way…

 

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   As usual I didn’t get very many questions knocked out before I ran out of time but I will keep trying! Do me a favor and mention “Prepper” Nation to someone today and then check back in with me tomorrow!

 

Prepper