RD, i love the highlands, ill be coming up again in april/may, over to Aviemore to take on Ben Macdui...again,
Im secrectly hoping the SHTF when im up there as it will give me an excuse to stay for good, you and LIL may get a visit...ill bring easter eggs...lots lol
On a more serious note, you hens are right about most southerners (i am a southerner) dont have the first clue about the higlands and would problably perish in a short space of time
If the highlands is on your list as a possible BOL then i would suggest some very serious training and prepperation..while theres still time
Lone Wolf
The long term vision
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diamond lil
- Posts: 9774
- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
- Location: Scotland.
Re: The long term vision
You can only have experience in what you know.. my daughter went to Birmingham for a big horse event. She came back in shock, hadn't left the hotel all weekend , said it was like another planet. All foreign and all strange. Very scarey & she wouldn't go back.
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lisaloolibell
Re: The long term vision
please dont take this the wrong way but while those peoples skills are useful now would they actually have the tools needed to continue to be of any use in a major shtf scenario. I do wonder whether a completely different set of skill sets would be required.Bournemouthprepper wrote:
Realistically when picking your team you should be looking at usefullness and effectiveness. However remember who your trying to save. for example i am lucky in the fact, in my immediate family i have a teacher, a nurse, a fabricator welder and a mechanic.
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axelt123
Re: The long term vision
i think you would look for people who are at least swiched on, fairly fit and diy handy and a bonus if they have skills in gardening, farming, medical ops/first aid (complex type), mayby electrics (solar, wind ect), hunters/ bushcraft, foraging, mechanices, stock (animal) keeping, bee keeping, These would be needed for a long situation this is only a few i could think of.
axel
axel
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diamond lil
- Posts: 9774
- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
- Location: Scotland.
Re: The long term vision
And how can any of us know that the chosen few will hang around or survive long enough- and things stay calm enough- for us to pick them up and drive off into the sunset ... It might be more like pot luck ! 
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lone wolf
Re: The long term vision
To be honest LIL if the situstion was so bad that we have to flee to other ares to survive then i think "luck" will be the deciding factor for most
Lone Wolf
Lone Wolf
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counsellor
Re: The long term vision
How about I add a bit about defence of a position / BOL
My thoughts
This topic can be split into two areas
a) physical b) psychological
However the two are often combined
A door doesn’t need to be made from anything more substantial than thin sheet metal
However a large, heavy substantial door send a message “you can come in when you are invited” in other words I have power over you
It is debatable whether psychological messages are stronger than physical ones
i.e. a post and rail fence is less effective that a row of daffodils and a small sign “please keep off the grass”
However when talking about BOL and self defence then I think that there are a number of points to consider
1) If no one knows you are there then it’s not a problem. So deflection is a good practice
Keep routes to and from your BOL well hidden and slightly awkward after all no one is going to go somewhere that’s hard to find and difficult to get too
2) Elevated positions tend to discourage casual enquiry due to the effort required to move uphill
Additionally it sends the message I am looking down on you and I can see you coming. Furthermore it is more easily defendable.
3) Obstacles help to slow any visitors and deter inquisitors
The best are
Water, (moats) deep, wide, cold and flowing will slow or stops most people and with added submersed obstacles in the water will add difficulty, but can also be designed to create a control funnel / passage / zone i.e. bridges, stepping stones
Ditches, vee shaped, 6ft wide by 4ft deep with steep sides will stop most vehicles and multiple ditches increases effectiveness
Mounds can be created with steep sides (between 30º and 45º is the critical angle of repose for soil) but will only tend to slow people down they also give them a place to hide behind
Hedges especially dense prickly ones like hawthorn, blackthorn, bramble etc have two benefits a) hides / camouflages your BOL b) will channel any visitors to small restricted access points, so will position any unwelcome visitors into a controlled zone
Walls if well made and tall with an overhang are effective but can restrict vision
Barbed wire / razor wire have mainly psychological properties (a widely use technique used to cross barded wire is to lay something or someone across which allows others to cross quickly. Even on Y shaped fences tend not to be that effective but widely used as a message to restrict access.
Open areas and Deep shingle is hard to travel across even for vehicles and makes lots of noise
Signs and notices like “Danger mine field” work well as does “trespasses will be shot”(I not sure that legal) I mean to shoot people and I’m not sure rabbits can read
But as I said at the beginning a combination of some of the above can create a good defence system.
However beware that anything that slows or prevents someone getting in will also stop you getting out
My thoughts
This topic can be split into two areas
a) physical b) psychological
However the two are often combined
A door doesn’t need to be made from anything more substantial than thin sheet metal
However a large, heavy substantial door send a message “you can come in when you are invited” in other words I have power over you
It is debatable whether psychological messages are stronger than physical ones
i.e. a post and rail fence is less effective that a row of daffodils and a small sign “please keep off the grass”
However when talking about BOL and self defence then I think that there are a number of points to consider
1) If no one knows you are there then it’s not a problem. So deflection is a good practice
Keep routes to and from your BOL well hidden and slightly awkward after all no one is going to go somewhere that’s hard to find and difficult to get too
2) Elevated positions tend to discourage casual enquiry due to the effort required to move uphill
Additionally it sends the message I am looking down on you and I can see you coming. Furthermore it is more easily defendable.
3) Obstacles help to slow any visitors and deter inquisitors
The best are
Water, (moats) deep, wide, cold and flowing will slow or stops most people and with added submersed obstacles in the water will add difficulty, but can also be designed to create a control funnel / passage / zone i.e. bridges, stepping stones
Ditches, vee shaped, 6ft wide by 4ft deep with steep sides will stop most vehicles and multiple ditches increases effectiveness
Mounds can be created with steep sides (between 30º and 45º is the critical angle of repose for soil) but will only tend to slow people down they also give them a place to hide behind
Hedges especially dense prickly ones like hawthorn, blackthorn, bramble etc have two benefits a) hides / camouflages your BOL b) will channel any visitors to small restricted access points, so will position any unwelcome visitors into a controlled zone
Walls if well made and tall with an overhang are effective but can restrict vision
Barbed wire / razor wire have mainly psychological properties (a widely use technique used to cross barded wire is to lay something or someone across which allows others to cross quickly. Even on Y shaped fences tend not to be that effective but widely used as a message to restrict access.
Open areas and Deep shingle is hard to travel across even for vehicles and makes lots of noise
Signs and notices like “Danger mine field” work well as does “trespasses will be shot”(I not sure that legal) I mean to shoot people and I’m not sure rabbits can read
But as I said at the beginning a combination of some of the above can create a good defence system.
However beware that anything that slows or prevents someone getting in will also stop you getting out
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Bournemouthprepper
Re: The long term vision
"Signs and notices like “Danger mine field” work well as does “trespasses will be shot”(I not sure that legal) I mean to shoot people and I’m not sure rabbits can read"
HAHA that did make me chuckle out loud
HAHA that did make me chuckle out loud
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Red Doe
Re: The long term vision
~The trespass law in Scotland is very different from that in England. Here, there is no tresspass law as such. Scots have the Right to Roam act which says anyone can traverse almost (there are exceptions, but not many) tract of land to get from A to B, so long as they aren`t damaging crops, propery or livestock. It`s a thorny issue and many Scots, I freely admit, don`t help clarify it.
For example, in a crisis, I would be wary about who came into my territory and react accordingly. But...as I do today, I defend vigorously my Right to Roam and many an Englishman (sorry, not stereotyping, it`s statistically true
) has moved north of the Border, and stuck up No Tresspassing signs. After which locals usually tear down said signs and tromp all over his patch of land.
I`ve literally been marched off an area I was crossing at gunpoint by such a person. I got the polis who politely explained he wasn`t allowed to do that and that, providing I stuck to the law I could cross his field whenever I liked. He wasn`t happy. *shrug*
I think in a crisis, laws like this would go out the window and humans, regardless of their birthplace, being the territorial creatures we naturally are, would ALL be doing the prepp equivalent of "Bugger off, this is my bit!"
I think nature makes us territorial in the same way she does make us fear snakes and many spiders...a form of protection from potential harm, in this case, the potential harm of the unknown stranger.
For example, in a crisis, I would be wary about who came into my territory and react accordingly. But...as I do today, I defend vigorously my Right to Roam and many an Englishman (sorry, not stereotyping, it`s statistically true
) has moved north of the Border, and stuck up No Tresspassing signs. After which locals usually tear down said signs and tromp all over his patch of land.I`ve literally been marched off an area I was crossing at gunpoint by such a person. I got the polis who politely explained he wasn`t allowed to do that and that, providing I stuck to the law I could cross his field whenever I liked. He wasn`t happy. *shrug*
I think in a crisis, laws like this would go out the window and humans, regardless of their birthplace, being the territorial creatures we naturally are, would ALL be doing the prepp equivalent of "Bugger off, this is my bit!"
I think nature makes us territorial in the same way she does make us fear snakes and many spiders...a form of protection from potential harm, in this case, the potential harm of the unknown stranger.