SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY I

BY Hal Walter

The dean of American survivalists

July 30, 1919 - April 13, 2009

Rest In Peace, Harry

Each home/shelter/property will be unique, requiring special adjustments. That may be the primary reason why the few dedicated survivalists really do not integrate any effective type of defense plan into their long term scenarios. Yet, most everyone that considers the nuclear threat admits that the one common factor that will directly affect all of our citizenry is PANIC, accompanied by the disruption of all critical services and the ugly specter of looting and invasion of privacy. Almost without exception, the 'solution' for these assured scenarios is possession of GUNS AND AMMO. Beyond this obvious necessity nobody seems to consider the critical importance of effective defense planning that encompasses the utilization of factors such as terrain, location in relation to other buildings, protective features designed into the family home and shelter, personnel (including the level of training and competence), function of perimeter defenses, use of electronic warning devices, organization of communication within the family group... as well as outside communications (I. e. 2-meter radio; 18 mile range handheld radio, etc.).... and much more.

One of the most important, and least understood, factors in military planning over the centuries has been how to incorporate FLEXIBILITY in the overall plan for any one specific defense scenario (I. e. the conflict relating to the defense of the invasion of Europe in WW2). On a personal family survival level there is a total lack of comprehension as to how to incorporate this flexibility factor into the defense plan for a home.. much less how to establish any type of 'fixed' defensive features.

One obvious axiom that must be accepted from the beginning is that 'a shelter cannot and should not depend on it's primary defense from INSIDE THE SHELTER. This presumes an AREA approach to shelter defense. Another concept that is difficult to communicate with anyone is the need, in the home and shelter defense plan, to include the flexibility factor so that a normal home layout can be almost instantly be turned into the most effective defensive layout without dependence upon some type of theoretical, idealized, impractical, last-minute, helter-skelter, improvised, futile attempt to protect.

(To be continued.)

 

Other articles by Hal Walter

• Shelter Savvy, Part 1,       

• Shelter Savvy, Part 2,   

• Shelter Savvy, Part 3,

• Shelter Savvy, Part 4,

• Shelter Savvy, Part 5,

• Preparedness Evaluation,   

• SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY I         

• SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY II       

• SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY III 

• SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY IV

• SURVIVAL DEFENSE SAVVY V