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Not that Paladin Press needs recommendations of any of their books from me, but yesterday I had a chance to do some reading. Early yesterday morning, the oral surgeon took the top back molar from my maxillary sinus, and sent me home to recover with Percocet. I really needed the Percocet, but it struck me as unsafe to take it and then be less than alert with the four horses I need to care for in the extreme heat. I took a little bit of ibuprofen and decided to catch up on some reading.
One of the books I read yesterday was E.J. Bohan's Barbed Wire, Barricades and Bunkers: The Free Citizen's Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat. On our own farm we have controlled access by installing gates, placing hidden camera monitoring equipment, and planting additional blackberry bushes in natural regions in which trespassers might inadvertently cross to our property.. We do have a section of deep woods which has some barbed wire which predates our ownership here. It never ceases to amaze me at how the deer so gracefully jump over the barbed wire, and what a pain in the neck it is to human beings who might wish to traverse it. However, this book would have been an excellent guide to planning access control on any rural property, farm and even some suburban homes. Bohan discusses at length, the use of barbed wire and barbed wire fencing alternatives. He moves on to the uses of bollards. That tall round post painted yellow between the parking lot and the store is one type of bollard. He also explains gabions which are another type of access control barrier. He then includes a chapter on revetments, which are protective walls. There is a lengthy chapter on bunkers. This is very valuable because it discusses the differing types of bunkers for lots of different purposes including as storm shelters. I think my favorite was the concrete pillbox bunker. This book is an excellent resource for anyone remotely interested in such subjects. Seeing drawings and directions for what is possible in terms of access control and protection of a property you own is exceedingly helpful in that you are less likely to overspend and make costly mistakes, especially on a subject in which not a great deal is authoritatively written.
This book was published on the first day of this year, and is therefore up-to date.
E.J. Bohan is also the author of another book entitled, Living on the Edge: A Family's Journey to Self Sufficiency.
You can buy this book by going to Barbed Wire, Barricades and Bunker's at Amazon
It has been voted as "One of the best books of the year thus far" by Amazon. The author is a musician, an animal lover and says he is often shamed into helping his wife on their orchard and rural property. He has been a frequent article contributor to Backwoods Home Magazine.
6 comments:
I use a single bottom plow to make ditches, people have complained about them along my road and don't feel comfortable driving by them so they must be a good thing. Anyway, with the plow and shovel I can quickly make any approach pretty hard for most non military class vehicles. My goal would be to delay someone long enough for me to disappear into a better defensive position than a house. The house becomes bait.
Sounds like my kind of book; sadly, I no longer have a budget for books. Guess I could check the library. Ha!
Gorges, I read a huge number of books, but in all honesty, I have to watch my money carefully. I buy most books from www.half.com Most books even new ones are available deeply discounted, and some for 75 cents when they are still fairly new releases. I read all of Barack Obama's books before the first presidential election, for 50-75 cents each on half.com . I wish more people had !
How sad we have to think this way. We had a crash course in setting up a farm defensively some years ago on our prior farm when we had a crazy neighbor, and then another time when someone was trespassing and trying to plant pot for later harvest for themselves. We "landscaped" in such a fashion that this was no longer possible, and then we had the DEA sweep the property at our request for pot plants planted by our trespasser. Made some good friends and acquaintances with the DEA too.
We have numerous choke points along farm roads, and I had always thought that we would tow a parts car we had in the forest out to the entrance and turn it over if we ever needed a quick barrier. Unfortunately, this year, we became concerned that trees were beginning to grow through and damage the parts car and so we sold it and got a fortune as a junked car. Now of course, I have to consider an emergency barrier if needed.
That book looks like too much fun. It has always been my complaint that preppers always talk about stocking up on sand bags but ignore the obvious advantages of barbed wire fencing.
The fastest bollard I can think of is black pipe with a little bit of quickcrete. The black pipe is what they often use to make bollards in real world construction so it seems pretty fool proof. The concrete/steel combination makes for a difficult combination of materials to cut with common tools that don't make a huge racket.
The key would be getting pipe that has been demo'd rather than new pipe.
Barbed wire fence can be a very effective and important thing to have. Have you noticed how much more expensive it has gotten recently ? I always keep a large roll here locked in the barn.
My daughter's house has a winding driveway next to her well. My son was concerned that without a bollard, some tax assessor, or contractor of some kind could drive off the driveway and ruin her well pipe. He made a bollard to protect it, and then arranged it in such a way that no one except my daughter will know where the well is located.
The book is great. I recommend it for men and women, for those who are experienced and not.It could be essential survival information. Thanks for your post Russell.
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