On the one side - get to know your neighbors and share information

ON the other - keep quiet about what you have

How have others of you balanced these two viewpoints?? No web sights please, i am looking for personal experiences.

-- SAME as B4 (NWphotog@Foxcomm.net), May 16, 1999

Answers

Have you considered sharing information with close neighbors and hiding most of your stuff while you show a small portion of it. It will prove you are frank enough to spawn similiar frankness and who knows, they may show more stuff than you and worry about you instead of you have to worry about them. Partial showings may not only shed enough light with those who may not need to ask later. CONFIRMED let's move on now to the next opportunity. That means Cache most of your stuff.

Sincerely, Feller

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), May 16, 1999.

I'm not hiding anything from the neighbors. If they saw that I wasn't serious about preparing I doubt they would do anything themselves (a couple are). I've told about a dozen people they are welcome here as long as they provide their own food.

And every single time someone not-invited says "I know where I'll be going if the lights go out" I remind them with an absolutely straight face that I'm a regular shooter and have plenty-o-guns and plenty-o-ammo. When I don't laugh or smile, they know I'm not joking...

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), May 16, 1999.

Tech 32, I understand the need to be straightforward about your intentions and fearlessness. If you live in the city with little to no acreage, I'd feel like a canned good myself. I guess adding the sour to the grapes is a typical urbanist response. Usually country people bury items to keep them in some consistent temperatured environment. Holding Items above in equal amounts as below can prove wise if you think of all the cause and effect results of Y2K in medium to bad case scenarios. Sometime things above ground go in a flash for no good reason at all. Consider this: A country boy/girl says," Have gun, will travel to hunt and when I get back home, my stuff ought to be there I hope. With his/her stuff buried, in most cases, it can be a no brainer to be secure for future times. Perhaps you may be only staging a few encounters and feel you have control over things. Life goes on and on and on and at some point in time, you might wish you were able to get "those things" buried. Sometimes we play out these scripts like movies in our head. Sometimes it's just not that easy.

Sincerely, Feller

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), May 16, 1999.

Feller,

I'm in the 'burbs with an acre of land (mostly 'forest'). About the only thing I've even considered burying is a shotgun and some ammo (in case some 'unexpected national emergency' leads to confiscation). My big problem with burying stuff would be getting it out of the frozen ground in the dead of winter.

As far as food goes, it's cached all over the house. Not exactly hidden, but I'm using storage space where I find it. Anyone walking into my home 'knows' I'm preparing. If things go bad, I won't be leaving to go anywhere, much less hunting (though we DO have an occasional deer or two wandering around in the backyard).

We'll have at least enough guns to arm every adult in the house so if anyone uninvited does show up, I'm hoping that a show of force and a warning shot or two will convice them to move on. I _really_ don't like the idea of having to shoot someone who's just looking for a meal, but if it comes down to it, I will do what I must to protect my family. I'm not fearless or couragous. I'm just being pragmatic (like a programmer could do anything but!).

About the only things I can see screwing up my plans are a serious fire or the rifle squads Mr. Decker seems to think will be roaming around (you know, defending a fixed position and all).

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.coM), May 16, 1999.

Tech 32, I see your point and it seems valid enough to me. The one thing I was able to come up with regarding mr. Decker's notion of rifle squads is to go buy some bricks or something like that. In short order, they are not too heavy to quickly stack on some interior portions of your house if you are in a bind. You may not be bricked on the outside and it may mislead the foe(s) to think of some kind of success blistering to the inerts of your household. Once they are done with their presumed success, let'em have it. A delicate matter yet can be done. You can also sleep on a mattress on the floor for surprise attachs if you've already set up the stack(s). Might not be a bad idea to reset furniture to pin in the bricks against the wall. Radical, yes, but would you do it for radical times, yes.....and who cares how parinoid others think you are if TSHTF.

Sincerely, Feller

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), May 16, 1999.

Yeah,

My grandmother lived in a working class neighborhoood in Long Beach, CA which went downhill in the past 15 years. So many drive bys etc. that she had a 3/8 inch steel plate put on the street wall of her bedroom, up about 4 feet high. She also had a semi auto rifle by her bed. We used to think this was a bit extreme.

Apparently my cousin who has been raised by Grandma got into some trouble by killing some Samoan gang member (in self defense?) and to retaliate they firebombed Grandma's house. She was rescued by a heroic firefighter at the last moment. Now she lives on the 17th floor of a condo bldg. and won't even consider living at ground level. It took her 2 years to recover from the incident.

This shit happens. I am thankful for the brick info - that seems very feasible.

-- Kristi (securx@Succeed.Net), May 16, 1999.

Feller,

The house is cinderblock and mostly surrounded by 4" thick stone. Bullets ain't coming through the wall. Snipers shooting through the windows are another matter.

Funny you mention bricks. One of the guys who's going to be staying here is a Mason. I already told him to order bricks for quick-and-dirty window coverage. If it turns out they're not needed, we'll have a really nice patio in the backyard next year.

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), May 16, 1999.

RE: protecting the street side of your home...you know that stuff they use in banks that the tellers are behind?..the very hard plexiglass? my idea was to hang those big hooks in the corners of each front facing street wall and then have plexiglass cut to fit and hang it with wire if things got wicked outside. This would protect the livingroom and two of the three bedrooms from outside bullets AND no one could tell since the plexiglass is clear. There is only one side window which is inside the back yard and could be protected by the person protecting the back slider.

Now the outside covered patio is another story, but we also considered getting cinderblocks and surrounding this patio which would protect three more windows and french doors.

The two main thoughts here are to make your home look NORMAL from the outside especially the front and try to do whatever will cover as many entries at the same time.

pamela ;)

-- pamela (pamela4@hotmail.com), May 16, 1999.