My adventure begins!....Just bought bug out/ homesteading land!

Greetings ATSer's
I started this thread in hopes that it might create helpful conversation about survival/homesteading. I know there is alot of information out there, but I thought it may be of some help to follow along as I try and go from novice prepper to prepared as fast and as cheap as I can.

First lets start with about me. I am a middle age, fat guy with a bad back...not ideal so will be working on that. 17
Years law enforcement background with added military and Emt. Married and couple kids still at home..Back injury has really limited what I have been able to do, and they have done all the surgeries they are going to do..
Finances are tight, depending on wifes income and my odd jobs.

I live in rural Northeastern Oklahoma on 40 acres that has not been used in many years...we moved into a family members house while they moved to take care of a elderly mother....so we have no rent/ house payment...

I have been a wanna be prepper since Y2K, but mainly that was just having a smallish stockpile of food and lots of reading about survival, so I have some book lurnin but not much else

The begining:
I have gotten fairly concerned about the world we live in and decided It's time to do something about getting ready
Our house sits on what used to be a small farm/ranch. Open flat land...sits right next to a gravel road with a moderate amount of traffic...

After talking with the wife and a buddy....came up with the following plan.....start using/ working the land where I am and also find and prepare a bug out location should we need to leave, we would be joined at the retreat by my buddy and his wife as they live in the city.

The bug out location:
After a bit of searching we found our spot...it's about an hours drive, undevloped, wooded, on top of a ridge 1/4 mile from a river....it is a small 3 acre lot but we are remote and alone( there is a couple summer cabins about about 2 miles away but thats it)

After meeting with the land owner a couple times, and having him provide information concerning aquifers ( well will have to be 50-75 ft deep)..
I had to do some selling and horse trading but We did it! 4000.00 for 3 acres of remote retreat..

So what would be ideas for house/shelter? At first I was thinking camper or something like that but it gets awful hot here in the summer and we will be living off the grid so no A/C....

Has anyone ever messed with straw bale housing?

I was also looking at some yurt plans, but not sure about those...after all this is tornado alley,

Any one have an Ideas or advice?

Thank you for your time

No real advice to give as i have never had the opportunity to attempt a venture such as yours, i just wanted to say well done for making the step.

Have seen many programmes on straw bale housing, with the lime coated walls, looks like a good option if done right. I'm sure there will be books and videos out there on the net.

Good luck, must be pretty exciting.

CX.

reply to post by okiecowboy


Can I help you with your endeavor?...I did the same thing,2 years ago and finally every thing is in order.It's not that easy....I wish the best for ya's...(get that garden going as early as possible),,,set traps and take advantage of the water table.....

I'm sure I can speak for most in congratulating you and wishing you the best of luck.

Yurt ideas: www.yurtco.com...

Try this:



Not as outback as they used to be. Back it up with walls and a great oven. Great way to live as you can always take it with you.

If not the yurt, go for a cob house. This is my plan:


or...



Tornadoes? Above ground or below. Can't get much sturdier than this. Buy a container for as low as 1K...

Good Luck!



Put a few together...

reply to post by okiecowboy


Hey! You live in My neck of the woods! Wanna be bug out buddies?

Congrats on finding a spot off the grid. I was looking for some land to get to have in case of emergency like that. I was looking at the old school FEMA fallout shelter plans. If you found a good deal on some concrete blocks you wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to your structure.

Fallout Shelter

reply to post by SarnholeOntarable


Sure I would love to have advice as we go along from someone that has been there! It is a bit scary without a doubt....so much to do and not real sure where to start on everything...shelter water and food at the too of the list.

reply to post by jude11


JUDE! I was about to thank you for the first two videos then realized how many more you posted. Awesome.

I've been looking at cheap real estate around WA for awhile and some amazing bargains can be had for less than $15k. I found one place I am still kicking myself for not snatching up. The property was about an acre and extended to a river with views of the mountains. I looked at the flood plains and it didn't ever take on water. Had electricity and was close enough to a major highway to be a great place in good times. but far enough away that it would be safe if things got bad. I really regret not picking it up.

reply to post by jude11


Thanks for the info...I like the storage containers...but again not sure about living in a steel box in the summer. Not sure about what I am doing for power yet, but it is something to think about..
What makes the cob house something you want to do over other choices?
again thanks for the info! I will be watching those tonight.

reply to post by dave_welch


Send me a msg and we can talk
I would want to get to know someone pretty good before I agreed to that. No offense meant.
the last thing I would want is to be joined up with someone that drove me nuts.

reply to post by okiecowboy


Something like this - www.simondale.net...

would be a good choice, although fairly labor intensive. Three major benefits - the underground design would help insulate from both heat and cold, and that sort of building would be hard to destroy via tornado, if properly constructed, and thirdly, in the case of a scenario where you have to bug out, something that would be very easy to hide from both the air and the ground, giving you a layer of security via obscurity. The fact that your water table is fairly deep too would mean that this sort of construction may be very viable for you. In the case of needing to hide the property, it would just be necessary to cover the entrances and windows with vegetation, and voila, you're suddenly just an innocuous hill.

congratulations and continued success! this is a goal of mine as well. call me paranoid but maybe leave out the specifics of where you live, what your plan is and exactly where your bug out is located. just in case, you never know, especially on a site like this. good luck!

Originally posted by okiecowboy
reply to post by jude11

 

Thanks for the info...I like the storage containers...but again not sure about living in a steel box in the summer. Not sure about what I am doing for power yet, but it is something to think about..
What makes the cob house something you want to do over other choices?
again thanks for the info! I will be watching those tonight.

The cob house is a process everyone can learn. From kids to seniors.

It's cool in summer and retains heat in winter. If you want another window, just make it. If you want one less, just cob it over. If there's damage, just patch it with the materials you already have at hand.

If you want to expand, make a little coblet (my word) and connect them. Plus there is the bonus of shaping it any way you want without having to bend or treat materials...just the hands.

And how expensive is mud and grass or straw? You'll see in the vid that these can be made quickly and with very little expense.

Peace

I've always been kind of partial to this system: Beehive Shelter Systems
If I could afford the renovations I would buy an old ICBM launch silo, though.

How is the land for farming crops?
Grazing cattle ?
Goats?

My family has a few acres in Iowa that the land is being leased out.

Just thinking of ideas when I eventually acquire it.
It would be the perfect bug out location if the shtf.

Concrete canvas......



Concrete Canvas Shelter

Basically, blow it up, soak it down and wait for it to dry.

What exactly are your reasons for doing this, just out of curiosity?

reply to post by r2d246


Well basicly my view is this....something, anything could happen to change the world as we know it..natural disaster, economic crash, world war, zombies, aliens, with the way things are it would not take much to disrupt the norm to a point, that food, shelter, and protection would be a concern for my family....I just want to be prepare for one of many what if's..

Well today I went back out to the retreat and spent a few hours getting to know the land batter.
I have decided for the short term I am looking for a small rv or camping pull behind to place out there..will buy me a little time while deciding what style build would work the best.
Also decided that the spot I picked out for a garden is pretty rocky so I am going to do a raised bed at first to get rolling..

Also talked to a neighbor about using his tractor to plow up a garden spot at the farm, so that will happen next week.

After thinking about it for a bit, due to pasture at the farm being overgrown for several years....I am in the market for some goats, I think they will be a good transplant to the retreat..so any tips on breed? Want milk and meat production.

Saw 16 deer and some wild turkeys while driving in so that made me feel good ( will post some pics later)

I have been debating wind vs. Solar power......solar wins so I need to learn about that...anyone have an idiots guide to solar power?

Picked up a case of qt. Mason jars at a garage sale for 5 bucks. Might start checking more garage sales!

And I walked about 2 miles today...It's not much but it's a start...gotta get in shape