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100 to 200 Acre Bug Out Site. What Skills Are Needed?

5K views 34 replies 22 participants last post by  Russ Jackson 
#1 ·
Say you have a 100 to 200 acre piece of property. Heavily wooded with water. If you were looking to find 10 or 15 like minded individuals to set it up as a Bug Out Location and you were screening these people to work the land and get it ready what would you be looking for as skills?

1) Doctor or Nurse
2) Organic Farmer
3) Livestock Skills
4) Canning and Food Storage
5) Carpenter/Handy Man

These are not in any order and just a start. Some skills are not obvious but would certainly be quite important and overlooked. Also with 10 or so people they would have dependents with them. What would you add to the list? How many people would be your maximum?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Basically, the less modern equipment one has, the better a "woodsman" one must be. MY strategy will be to try to have all available and transportable equipment needed for a year or more, and learn how to improvise & "make do" over those years as said equipment begins to wear and become inoperative.

Perhaps cultivating some of the more "stone-age" skills now, with help from Youtube.com or other sources, might be of benefit?
 
#4 · (Edited)
For the farming part find someone who knows about planting the "three sisters." That's corn, pole beans, and squash together in a hill. If they say, "What's a pole bean." Stop right there. Also look at Square Foot Gardening and French Biointensive Gardening. Think raised beds, hand soil mixing and manipulation, things that can be done with basic hand tools and then kept weeded and water with minimal workload. And use less water in a more directed way.

Is each person going to be cross trained in skill sets in addition to what they bring to the table? Can each person train others and be willing to. Just because you are really skilled doesn't mean you can transfer that information to others well.

When assessing potential team members ask the uncomfortable questions. Do they fully understand and are they fully willing to take other lives when required to protect the team and their resources? Are they fully prepared and do the really understand what it is to live in reduced and at times very rough circumstances?

Show them some videos or pictures of or just discuss folks living in the backwoods. I'm talking old school Appalachians, prairie dwellers from way back, trappers and such. Then see how they react to those people and that way of life. If they look down their nose at "hillbillies" and fail to realize that a post SHTF lifestyle will resemble that more than a camping trip. Pass on them.

Study the old school "hillbillies," rural blacks of the past, and any culture who has lived in the sticks with minimal everything and gotten by just fine. These are your teachers when technology fails and you need to function on a less is more level.

Will the people you gather make the time and effort to train together, to plan then test those plans together? Will they take the time to go to the property and live for a weekend, a week, or more under post fan conditions?

I've had folks with good skill sets who were all for putting a group together and having a plan. Problem was, no one would even take the first step of actually getting together to even talk about planning.

Canning/food storage, livestock skills, and basic handyman skills (often creative fixing), are all skills that should be common across the board. While some may be really skilled at such, it's one of those "additional duties" kind of things that are just part of living that lifestyle. My mother and friends or relatives handled the primary canning when I was a kid. Others were kept busy in the gathering food, prepping food, hauling the jars out, boiling lids, and whatever else the primaries directed.
 
#5 ·
Lots of trade offs and compromises for your situation. Wooded areas may not give you a lot of room for crops but trees provide shelter and fire materials. Horses or mules could be huge assets but require a big commitment to their care plus you would need them before things go bad. I'm a carpenter and welder but time is money so surprise, surprise, the majority of my tools are power tools and not very useful in the woods with no electricity. You'll need the right tools for that environment and the know how to use them effectively.
Are you already growing crops on site to have food ready if you have get there on short notice? You don't want to show up with no food but a handful of seeds ready to plant next spring. Ideally, you should almost have a working site before you need it which means a huge commitment beforehand on the assumption that you might need it later. That means everyone has to be on board regardless of soccer practice or life. Once you get a group with the necessary skills to make that commitment then you just have to make sure they all have the right personality to live with each other long term and under stress. Definitely not an easy undertaking. Good luck.
 
#6 ·
If I was going to embark on a project like this.

Then I would just be looking for people with lots of money to recruit. To purchase and develop 100 acres plus of arable land is not going to be cheap. I do not care where you are. My wife are making a fairly successful go of it on our meagre 45 acres in Virginia. And we are getting there insofar as self sufficiency goes. We are even managing to turn a buck here and there on our beef cattle.

But anyone that envisions picking up a hundred acres of productive land with all important adequate water with which to produce anything of value. Well you better do your research as well as have deep pockets. Just sayin.
 
#9 ·
Already have the working farm and a barn full of old style equipment if it ever comes to that.

Just had a retired surgeon buy the place down the street. Need to get to know him better.

Of course with my health issues not sure how long I would last but at least I can lay a good foundation for the rest of the family.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Some skills are not obvious but would certainly be quite important and overlooked.


forgive me, Russ
But it's hard for me to take these type bugout hidey-hole scenarios seriously

but I'll play .....
you didn't mention "how bad" things got that the you need to run off to the forest..
So I'll just boil it down to this question;
what's it take to have an off the grid, self sufficient commune and how many people would it take ?

I think most overlooked (and I rarely see mentioned) in these fantasy commune redoubt scenarios is a strong leader to be in charge.


a rudderless ship will run aground real quick


..L.T.A.
 
#15 ·
forgive me, Russ
But it's hard for me to take these type bugout hidey-hole scenarios seriously

.
My sentiments exactly. I can't take these scenarios seriously at all. I often wonder how bored does one have to be to the point of asking these questions???
 
#11 · (Edited)
I think in more lifestyle terms. If you want to practice self sufficiency then go where people are already 1/2 way there, the country. I can't imagine taking 10-15 people from suburban USA and trying to make a go of it off the land. You need people who already have been doing that to some extent. I live very remotely and have property just like the other people that live around me. Not everyone who lives in the country are hill-billies either. We've got country docs and lawyers, EMT's, teachers, etc... people who already have an affinity toward that lifestyle. I'm an engineer in hi-tech and commute 50 miles one way to work and often work from home. All of us have had to be self-sufficient at some point for a period of time. When power goes out, we're the last ones getting it back. When the roads are blocked, flooded or otherwise inaccessible it takes a while to get them back in order. Most everyone around me has some sort of livestock, everyone has a garden, most everyone has multiple firearms and know how to use them. We all get some of our sustenance from the land. Living that lifestyle it doesn't take much stretch of the imagination to envision a world where you're living in isolation for some time. Having to deal w/the issues that are inherent w/living remotely expands your concept of the reality of isolation and what it would take YOU to survive it. Neighbors aren't just acquaintances when you live away from suburbia, they are your support system, the ones who don't want to 'play ball' are quickly identified and categorized as liabilities should things go south.

You'll be way ahead of the game by relocating yourself and loved ones to an area that can provide whatever it is you believe you need and start living the lifestyle. It's going to be hard to jump on the boat when SHTF. It also takes living it to understand what is really going to be important, to entrench the mindset that's going to be needed, to build your support system and to be ready. IMO if your not living a bug-out prepared lifestyle before the fact the chances of surviving and thriving when the world turns upside down are greatly diminished.
 
#25 ·
I think in more lifestyle terms. If you want to practice self sufficiency then go where people are already 1/2 way there, the country. ....
This is good advice, but I would only mention that the real society collapse survivors are even further off the beaten track. When it all hits the fan, the Mayans living in the mountains of Guatemala (for example), wont even notice. They are already doing what is being fantasized of here, but they are doing it in quiet little villages and without a pile of guns.
 
#12 ·
The most important skill needed to pull this off will be leadership. Like cult leadership abilities akin to David Koresh. Ok, not exactly, but close. That many people with dependents will create a lot of drama no matter what skills they posssess.

After that, probably the most important thing will be moral character. The most skilled mechanic or gardener that sells you out or abandons the group when the chips are down is useless at best, fatal at worst. I would start like others have said “doing” everything you would do in a SHTF situation now with good people who can learn. Good people can learn skills. Bad people with skills will always be bad.
 
#13 ·
Organic farming is difficult farming. It is best done in dry places with water runoff from another source. So the first thing is to check out the soil, rain amounts, etcetera. I would contact the County Extension Agent now for advice on what and how to grow.

I would research water availability and look at putting in a hand pump.

Next, I would not go organic, one good insect outbreak and you could lose your crops. If you closely monitor plant disease, you can tone down spraying needs and make agricultural supplies last a long time. The next thing I would do is put a 1,000+ gallon tank for fuel on the property and put in a very small towing vehicle and a very small sprayer and lay in some parts and research chemicals to extend fuel storage life. Then, I would put in a concrete shed with a camera and good current security for hand tools: hoes, rakes, saws, nails, axes, etcera. You do not want somebody to steal your stuff before an event so you need security in a rural area. Stuff gets broken into, there.

I would bulldoze the woods now except for a portion for fuel. Felling tree stumps later is back breaking work that will drain resources for food production.

I would go in now and plant appropriate trees like apples, peaches, pears, etcetera. Once started, these are fairly easy to grow. For a semi tropical area you could put in avocados, oranges, and mangoes. You want diversity because farming is risky with one crop. You should pick high fungus resistant cultivars. Fertilizer can last in a tree for a year and you could hit the trees with an Osmocote type product with is delayed release, now.

I would also store long term food supplies on the property.

I would skip the doctor until things got settled, but would have good first aid supplies available.

As background, I have set up new, very large farming operations in multiple third world countries as well as the US. It is not simple to train people without a rural farm background.

Frankly, I don't think most urban people would do very well at this.
 
#16 ·
I can't imagine 10-15 people on 100 or even 200 acres. Maybe if the land is very, very productive. What to do about human waste of 10-15 people? How do you feed 10-15 people everyday? Antibiotics? Humans are very filthy animals.

100-200 acres for three to four people is more likely. Backbreaking labor of the kind most people are unaccustomed to in today's world.

You might have better luck with goats than cows. And the little varmints make gardening really tough on 40 acres of plowed and planted crops. It will be a full time eradication job.

It is an interesting mental exercise.
 
#28 ·
100 Acres is a box about 1/4 mile by just more than 1/2 mile. Defending that with even 6-8 people would be difficult depending upon METTT. I do think the number of folks crossed referenced with skill set requirements suggests the need for cross training.
 
#17 ·
My wife and I produce a good portion of our own food.

We could produce more. But we also enjoy things that we can not produce like seafood for instance. However the food that we produce is fairly expensive. We do it because we want better food, and we get that. Economical food production for a large group of people is a very specialized process.

Maybe all of the Hobbits in the Shire do well by this. But one does well to consider what one ventures into.
 
#18 ·
I have to second scw2 on organic farming. It’s a nice sentiment and long term SHTF you will run out of fuel/chemicals. But for surviving initially, producing large amounts of calories quickly and without huge amounts of physical labor is paramount. I would be prepared to grow food conventionally as well as organically.

The rest of scw2’s post is also spot on. Especially about the hard work part. It seems to me most Americans would rather starve to death than work at hard monotonous physical labor.
 
#22 ·
Sometimes I also don't understand the need for these questions, maybe it's from watching too much tv or something.
But to me bug out land = a place to shoot. Maybe we all should be looking for bug out land
 
#23 ·
Im out in OH farm country. Cows outnumber people. I can shoot in my backyard.

The longer drive sucks but you get used to it. Pick up a cheap used honda/toyota for mpg. Carry a get home bag.

Out here you can buy a farm and live in the house and lease the land, You get the tax credits and the $ will offset your mortgage.

Start a garden maybe some livestock and start your remote country living.

Folks out here look out for each other. My wifes family has been farming out
here for over 50 years. Her family name will get me help/shelter for at least a 15 mile radius.

Being born in NYC and now moving to farm country this late in life is truly an interesting experience. Takes some getting used to.
 
#24 ·
Depends on how friendly are your neighbors. For that amount of acreage, I would prefer 5-7 folks who are well rounded in survival applications.

If your location is near a city, move to a more isolated area.
 
#30 ·
This as others have pointed out is a funny thread. In anarchy it is kill or be killed. You have animals--someone will steal them to eat. No you say I have 3 1911's 6 AR's and 225k rounds of ammo!

Big deal---people will over run your area or wait and kill you when you walk to the outhouse and then steal the "corn cobs" from the outhouse lol..
 
#32 ·
A couple of lap tops, and a box full of flash drives with programs on every topic you can think of that might be useful. I assume you'll have the 10,000 gallon tank of diesel for the generators anyway. We'll also need a fleet of drones with thermal sensors to keep watch on everything. And miniguns so we can establish fire superiority when the zombies or the North Koreans come. I guess I'll die, I don't have any of that.
I do have two weeks worth of food and water. I do have all kinds of critters I could kill, but I don't see that being necessary. Come to think of it, I can't realistically think of a SHTF situation that will last more than two weeks. North Korea, the Russians, the Chinese, they aren't coming. The zombies aren't coming. Terrorist attack, within two weeks the cavalry will arrive (okay I admit to have some faith in the US government). And if a asteroid hits or Yellowstone blows up and destroys earth's climate, well I hope I am there at Old Faithful on vacation when it happens.
 
#34 ·
Even though these scenario exercises are often too far-fetched for people to take seriously, I appreciate them because I almost always learn something or see something I never thought about before.

For the sake of discussion -- here are some things I rarely hear people talk about -- group dynamics and leadership. No one ever says good leader/manager, diplomat, or "communications specialist." Sometimes, it takes a certain kind of person on point to keep things running smoothly and efficiently at camp (and in the field). And the farmer or carpenter aren't always comfortable with or good at brokering new relations with "others" or negotiating with "outsiders." Or let's say you are fully on the kill or be killed end of the spectrum. You'll need sharp and skilled communicators to pull off your hustle(s).
 
#35 · (Edited)
I am not really thinking about the kill or be killed scenario. But I do think a group of like minded people that have specific skills with a large piece of property to go to makes sense. I would be more apt to store food, water, fuel etc... Plant some fruit trees and maybe have some livestock and a garden. A place to go on a regular basis. I understand that in a very bad situation the odds of being over run are high. More of a survival camp where the basics can be had. An option to being stuck in a city. I understand that setting up a total farm in an effort to survive with 15 other people and their dependents could not be done. That was never the intent of the original post but that's what it turned into.

I live in a major city. If the power went out or marshal law looked like it was going into effect. I certainly would like to have a place to go to as opposed to sitting in place. I have seen what happens when people start acting stupid.
 
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