# BOL necessities



## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Ok. My BOL has no buildings at all. I will need shelter for 20, an orchard, garden and cellar. I have 2 reliable water sources and meat is not an issue due to large hunting herds in the area. I am currently working in my own families supplies and the other are as well (more or less) including 4 dogs of various sizes. Am I forgetting anything?


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## seanallen (Nov 13, 2012)

You have a LOT of ppl to prep for. Ever considered buying and burying several Conex boxes? Lay them in side by side and weld them together. Install doors and ventilation. Designated sleeping areas.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My husband and I are prepping for ourselves, our son and dog. My grandpa is prepping for himself, my mom, her caregiver and dog with their help, my sister is prepping for herself and her dog, my sis in law is prepping for her family of 5 plus their dog. My I laws and another sis in law are doing nothing for 5 ppl and a dog. I'm having extras just in case. 

Anything I can do to make it easier. We have 2 safe houses on our way to our BOL. Anything that I can have already there to cut down on time to pack wld be great, mom lives in downtown.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

You can either build something or start out with something like a camper (or campers in your case). If the climate is mild then you may have to start out in tents. You could always put up a couple of sheds at your BOL if you own it. You can conceal and lock them to keep thieves from getting at your preps. Otherwise you could bury some caches. Do you have guns for hunting, water filters, etc.? In order to give you better advice we probably need some additional details.


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

dixiemama;196174 meat is not an issue due to large hunting herds in the area.[/QUOTE said:


> dixie, the problem here is feeding 20 people is going to take a LOTS of meat. Say on average (some will eat more some less) each person consumes two pounds of meat per day X 20 = 40 pounds per day X 7 days = 280 pounds of meat a week. Now the average whitetail deer will have around 80 pounds of useable meat 280 pounds divided by 80 = 3 1/2 deer on average per week. breaking it down further 14 or so deer a month. Now that is assuming your group is the ONLY one's hunting the area.
> 
> Now hunting that heavily will eventually cause the herds to move to a different area that will be outside your comfort zone.
> 
> ...


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

dixiemama said:


> Anything that I can have already there to cut down on time to pack wld be great, mom lives in downtown.


 I agree with sentry here. If finances allow cache supplies there in advance. You can buy 55 gallon drums for around $15 each. bag up and vacum seal extra clothing and not perishable stuff ( things that won't be damaged by temperature changes like freezing) put them in a clean drum seal it up good and bury it. You can also build cache tubes out of heavy PVC pipe fairly in expensivly to store guns and ammo and such as well.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are growing there now. As are peanuts (great grandad used to garden and we keep them in pretty good shape). Deer, bear, pheasants an rabbits are populating the property wild. I do own it so that isn't a problem. Cattle wld be too expensive to transport and its 2 hours from my home so it's not possible to keep them at the BOL now. We will possibly be the only ones hunting as its 6 miles from the nearest neighbor. I have some non-meat breakfast recipes, and will be canning, making sausage, dehydrating, etc all that I can. Mind you, 3 other families are all doing this as well. We are all responsible for our own families but also for the greater good. Each of us has skills that will be beneficial to all when SHTF.


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## doubleTHICK (Jun 19, 2012)

3 minutes w/out air
3 hours w/outshelter
3 days w/out water
3 weeks w/out food
3 months w/out sanity

That's all you need.  Seriously though, what about livestock? You can pick up some chcikens and goats fairly cheap. I could never count on hunting because I am horrible at it, I would starve. You and a few key players could make a trip out there for a mini vacation to do a shake down and some brainstorming to figure out what is needed. Nothing better than being there and realizing that you wish you had "X"


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

We farm here at home. We are getting more in the spring, including pigs, cattle and chickens. Deer, elk and turkey are VERY plentiful here. Our orchard will also be planted first chance. We wld bug in but we don't have a reliable water source


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Shelter seems like the thing you are really lacking. Tents are fine for very short term but like Sentry says some kind of RV's would make life there much better. You could build a simple outhouse and dig the hole for that so one thing is ready. You said you have 2 water sources- - are they on your land? Lugging water very far gets old fast. With 20 people and some animals you will need alot of water. You could maybe dig a well or drive down a sand point with a hand pump(depends on area).


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> My husband and I are prepping for ourselves, our son and dog. My grandpa is prepping for himself, my mom, her caregiver and dog with their help, my sister is prepping for herself and her dog, my sis in law is prepping for her family of 5 plus their dog. My I laws and another sis in law are doing nothing for 5 ppl and a dog. I'm having extras just in case.
> 
> Anything I can do to make it easier. We have 2 safe houses on our way to our BOL. Anything that I can have already there to cut down on time to pack wld be great, mom lives in downtown.


Well, if you and the neighbors over hunt the deer at least you will have plenty of hotdog meat!!!


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

If you are not going to live on your land full time use a travel trailer and pull it out as you leave. The bottom line is while you are gone people will steal you blind. I have had two different places and theft by locals is always a problem. I hate to be negative but the truth is people will steal things they don't even need. They just want it. 

We caught one family loading up our house at the farm. They had a U HAUL rental full of our things. The Sheriff turned them loose. They were his nephews family. The NEW sheriff gets to hunt on my land now in order to keep scum off it. 

My recommendation is live on the land and build Good fences. GB


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

We have a well (old that needs to be tested), a creek on property and the river runs through it as well. We had problems for a while with ppl squatting but have got that under control. There are plenty of places for houses for us all.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

GrinnanBarrett said:


> If you are not going to live on your land full time use a travel trailer and pull it out as you leave. The bottom line is while you are gone people will steal you blind. I have had two different places and theft by locals is always a problem. I hate to be negative but the truth is people will steal things they don't even need. They just want it.
> 
> We caught one family loading up our house at the farm. They had a U HAUL rental full of our things. The Sheriff turned them loose. They were his nephews family. The NEW sheriff gets to hunt on my land now in order to keep scum off it.
> 
> My recommendation is live on the land and build Good fences. GB


Nothing is more secure than security! lol! My buddy & I took care of an Ocean 55 Sport Fishing Boat when I lived on Miami Beach. The owner took it up the river for storage when he went away, we went as crew. While he was gone the security people in the yard helped them selves to his inflatable life raft and Epirb. Well the owner got back and realized his stuff was missing and decided us 2 dock roaches had stolen it. An argument ensued and we were fired. Some time later the Epirb got flipped upside down and started signalling. A couple of planes passing by overhead reported the signal to the authorities and it was recovered. what the theives (boat yard security) didn't know is that the Epirb is registered and gives off it's own distinct signal. The owner was able to recover most of his stuff, but was so embarrassed that he never did appologize to me or my buddy.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

If you have good fences and reliable water and some pasture I don't really see why you couldn't have cattle there. It would be a source of income as little as it might be right now. No need to transport as you bug out and they would be a sustainable food source unlike wild game that WILL eventually run short and sooner than you think ask an old timer or two that lived through the depression/Dust Bowl they will tell you how fast wild game dissapeared and that was at population levels back then. So having the livestock there you could probably get away with weekly trips to check on them give additional feed. Same in winter but you'd need to use big bales and maybe feed them in a less than efficient manner making sure they have plenty if you can't make it one weekend for some reason.

Shelter and security Are the Number one thing of course anything not completely buried away from prying eyes can't be relied upon however for storage of the prepositioned food and supplies you should have there. Connex containers buried or not and left unlocked and empty would give a ready source of shelter. Half buried ones with ground level windows cut in to observe from and fire from would give some security. YOu could spread em out a lil bit where they cover each other so all twenty of you won't be living on top of each other and could be used as large hunting blinds in the mean time. Other than maybe a barrel stove or two dont leave anything in em or it will likely be stolen. 

second your well should be a priority and hopefully is in a location good for defense so you can center your "homes" around it to both defend it and have it convieniently located. 

Securely buried prepositioned foods and supplies 20 people are gonna need a huge amout of stuff to live for very long so unles they will be arriving in 10 or so heavily laden vehicles some stuff has just got to already be there unless you expect to only need to be there a couple months. Does anyone intend to live there permanently at some point? Would be a big help in keeping pre positioned stocks secure and maintained. As well as increases the number and types of livestock that can be kept going there and keep a garden worked up and ready for producing the large amount needed to support a mob that big. 

part of me is glad it is your logistical nightmare, the other part of me is jealous I don't have such a night mare. 
Good luck.


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> Ok. My BOL has no buildings at all. I will need shelter for 20, an orchard, garden and cellar. I have 2 reliable water sources and meat is not an issue due to large hunting herds in the area. I am currently working in my own families supplies and the other are as well (more or less) including 4 dogs of various sizes. Am I forgetting anything?


Sounds like you need to make the BOL a weekend home.

Please remember, when shtf everyone will be hunting ... Everyone.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> Ok. My BOL has no buildings at all. I will need shelter for 20, an orchard, garden and cellar. I have 2 reliable water sources and meat is not an issue due to large hunting herds in the area. I am currently working in my own families supplies and the other are as well (more or less) including 4 dogs of various sizes. Am I forgetting anything?


You need to be living on your land to make it self sustaining. Depending upon stock piling for that many people only establishes a predetermined life expectancy for your party. When the preps run out and they will run out sooner than expected, everyone dies.

Learn what the food and medicinal plants in your area are, When they are ready for harvest and how to harvest, use and store them. It helps if you can help them propagate. Never ever strip an area bare.

Your BOL needs to be geographically defensible. As you have already bought it you need to KNOW the lay of the land and develop a defensive plan to keep people out. Preferably before they see your land. When you build keep defenses in mind as you lay out your buildings. Have a plan.

Do not depend solely on wild game have at least a back up meat source. Turkeys make good meat and act as watch dogs. As do geese. Goats are easy to manage in a herd.

Hopefully your soil is fertile. Still develop a good layer of top soil. Growing enough food to sustain 20 people requires a good chunk of land and significant effort. You may want to consider horses and or a long term fuel supply. Have replacements, spare parts and everything you need to maintain your equipment.

Develop power sources solar, wind, stills.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your input. This isnt land I just bought and its not small in size. It's inherited, 250 acres and I know it all. My great great grandparents raised a family of 16 in its fertile land so gardening isn't an issue. Defense could be a problem as the old road is still there and the river is shallow in some places and easy to ford. 

I am planning on getting everyone together at the property this wknd to discuss what needs to be done. This property was lived on by 4 generations of my family so there are plenty of house spots as well as the garden and old barn. 

Should I tell them that each family is responsible for their own shelter, the garden an livestock being commonly cared for as well as defense? My brother in law is a retired policeman so he's our 'head of security' lol. 

The houses will be centrally located around a natural spring with the well right against our house spot. 

As far as having livestock there now, I worry about theft. Even tho the property is pretty secluded, it's still a concern. Gonna check on fencing prices today...


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

hiwall said:


> Shelter seems like the thing you are really lacking. You could build a simple outhouse and dig the hole for that so one thing is ready.


The first thing I ever did on my land was dig a big hole and built an outhouse. I can sleep in a tent or a small shed for a couple of weeks, but an outhouse is near necessity.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Linktex- that was fixed this past summer lol! It was still standing but needed repairs. New walls and tin. Door and frame were sound.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I wonder if you could get some cheap mobile homes to put on that property. If you put in just septic tank systems that would be enough. You could heat them with kerosene heaters. You'd just need a lot of kerosene in 55 gallon drums or 5 gallon cans. Unless you got some 1,000 gallon propane tanks.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

I'd go with the bigger tanks harder to move/steal. 

If Any of you are thinking about building there I highly reccomend looking into ICF=Insulated Concrete Forms. My personal Favorite brand is Poly-Steel. Everyone should be responsible for finishing their homes so it suits them But their lay out needs to be done by someone with a clue about tactics so they can be planned for mutual defense. If everyone is going on the cheap with somthing like the connex or mobile homes might be worth your while to hire some dirt work and have the trailers spots pushed out and berms built to give them some balistic protection. Someone needs to bitethe bullet and live there (I know that may just not be possible) it would give you so many more options on livestock and prepostioned fuels, supplies and dry foods like rice you'd always be able to have a garder going so if "IT" happened mid summer there would still be somthing there for you the first year. YOu could have All the bulky heavy gardening equiptment and canning equiptment already there no need to bring it with you on Bug out Just would be a huge advantage to have a permanent live in gaurdian.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

BillS said:


> I wonder if you could get some cheap mobile homes to put on that property.


I got a 14x76 for free, that a tree had fallen on one end of. It is now a 14x52, LOL! It did cost a few hundred to move it....


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Will def look into the mobile homes.. So much easier to transport, can be customized and will be ready when needed, plus save some $ when times are already hard!


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> It's inherited, 250 acres and I know it all. My great great grandparents raised a family of 16 in its fertile land so gardening isn't an issue.


That changes the equation considerably but does raise the question are there or are there not any buildings/homes on the property? Maintaining/enriching the soil should still remain a priority. Once SHTF chemical fertilizer will not be available so developing a cycle of composting, mulching and cover crops now will be a real benefit. An idea for your cover crops is to plant indigenous wild life food plants in the acreage you leave fallow as you rotate your crops. There are appropriate mixes available for your area.

In fact growing crops to be self sustaining now is the ideal. Just because your great great grandparents did it does not mean you know how many acres each of corn, potatoes et all you need to plant to sustain your population. By being self sustaining now you will learn how much you need to plant to produce enough to survive, and how productive your land is. It took us about three years to get it figured out. Starting to plant crops after SHTF guessing how much you will need will only serve to help feed those who arrive after you have starved to death.



dixiemama said:


> Should I tell them that each family is responsible for their own shelter, the garden an livestock being commonly cared for as well as defense? My brother in law is a retired policeman so he's our 'head of security' lol.


IMO no. Instead everyone should know that their ability to benefit from this resource is contingent upon their efforts and contribution now. In addition to providing their own shelter, storage. They need to contribute time effort, and resources to providing any communal storage needed, planting, maintaining, harvesting, canning, storing, crops and taking care of livestock now. If they are unwilling to help put the food on the table now, they need not bother sitting down to eat after SHTF.



dixiemama said:


> As far as having livestock there now, I worry about theft. Even tho the property is pretty secluded, it's still a concern. Gonna check on fencing prices today...


If someone is not living there and it is not being made self sustaining now, that is the least of your problems. Trying to develop a self sustaining homestead AFTER SHTF is is going to be an exercise in futility, especially for as large a population as you have. My wife and I have a life time of experience and knowledge with every resource on the planet instantly available to us when ever we learn we need something. After ten years we are not quiet there yet, imagine how difficult it is going to be once there are no resources available and you discover as we did that you do not even have the tools you need.



dixiemama said:


> Defense could be a problem as the old road is still there and the river is shallow in some places and easy to ford.


That is not an insurmountable obstetrical. Establish where you will be approached from, than develop a plan to deal with it. Be sure to eliminate all possible hides and cover intruders can use. If there is cover or hides attackers can use that can not be eliminated figure out how to over come it. That is some of the knowledge you can only have by living there and knowing your land intimately. Put together some kind of early warning system motion sensors cameras as far out as you can. Create open areas with no cover kill zones and of course be sure you have hardened firing positions to defend yourself from. One thing you can do is to play with airsoft or paint ball war games. You'd be surprised how quickly weakness are revealed.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

LongRider,


Thank you for your information! The garden lot that was there when I was a child sustained 8 comfortably but nothing has been there since 2000. My husband and I are going there soon to start clearing it off and expanding the garden size. In the spring we are transplanting some trees from here to our BOL, as well as grape, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry. 

We will be having that conversation tomorrow with my husbands family- mine are on board and already helping out. It's my husbands oldest sister and parents who are of the 'oh it's not gonna happen' mindset that need convincing. I'm not going to waffle on the decision tho; my son comes before all others. If they aren't going to help and then come to my door, they are a threat to his well being to be dealt with accordingly.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Well heck even if they don't beleive that the end of the world as me know it is coming you would seriously have to have your head in the sand to not KNOW there is a recession posible depression just about on us (I"m talking on the nay sayers side I DO KNOw) And even if the whole world keeps creeping along having a source of fresh home raised fruits veggies and meat is never a bad idea. 

And yeah at a certain point you have to just say whatever and don't come crying to me.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> It's my husbands oldest sister and parents who are of the 'oh it's not gonna happen' mindset that need convincing. I'm not going to waffle on the decision tho; my son comes before all others. If they aren't going to help and then come to my door, they are a threat to his well being to be dealt with accordingly.


You are most welcome. I applaud your mindset and you are absolutely right. Some may see your position as unnecessarily harsh. In which case I am sure you will be happy to allow them to support your husbands oldest sister and parents when SHTF.


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## cm4ever (Oct 26, 2012)

Don't laugh..but try Craigslist. Usually they have "Hunting Campers" avaliable for not much.

The tires are dead or they are not in good enough shape to drive around.

That's what we are thinking of using if we finally get some land until we can build. 

CM4ever


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Deer and other critters will provide you with some meat but you will HAVE to have another source as 250 acres for 20 people will not sustain you with wildlife as when pressured it will move. When the settlers first reached the east coast, there was a lot of game too. Now not so much. We don't have the herds that we used to have. 

I would say to live comfortable you will have to kill 4 cows, 8-12 hogs and 100-150 chickens a year. We had a family of 5 growing up and we killed one cow, 2 hogs and 50 chickens every year.


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## ONEOLDCHIEF (Jan 5, 2012)

DM, is everyone on board with this plan? What I mean, are they all actively perparing? I have found that many say they will, but most do not, so when it finally hits they are mooching off those that have prepared... 

I think everyone should be responsible for their own cabin. You guys need to sit down and draw up a simple cabin plan that connects all the cabins, Kinda like circleing up the wagons...A 12X24 should be enough room for everyone, with one cabin being the wash house in the dead center. 

Do you have a pond? A one or two acre pond would yield a lot of fish, just in case the deer, rabbits and other critters became limited; I am partial to catfish...

Does your land have any rolling hills, In a SHTF situation being underground is always the safest place.

Just food for thought, GOOD LUCK...


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I would definitely make sure my family had private housing. 20 family members living under one roof under stressful circumstances won't work long at all. Bumper pull travel trailers can be had for a couple thousand dollars where you can store lots of stuff & have a comfortable place to be.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My mother is actively prepping, she asks me questions all the time about this or that and has shown me her supplies. Her caregivers are as well. My sister is prepping for herself and her dog and my grandpa is in charge of weapons (I usually know by the end of the day whenever he buys something). My one sister in law who is prepping, is training her Vishla (Russian hunting dog) this winter and put out their first garden this past year. She has a plan in place to either bug out to our house and convoy to the BOL or head straight for the BOL. 

It's just gonna be 15 of us, including 3 dogs. My in laws are on their own.


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