Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Knowing who’s coming up the trail in the middle of the night is critical to your
groups survival plan. It does nobody any good, if the presence of an intruder comes
as a complete surprise.
There are some ways you can almost eliminate this. The various gadgets out on the
market can be modified to serve as intruder alarms, and will work quite well.
Wal-Mart sells these for about $30.00. They come with a key chain remote for
arming and disarming it, and runs on a couple of AA-batteries. Essentially the range
of these little units is about 20 feet, and will sweep a 110-Degree perimeter. It can
be set to “Chime” an alert when somebody enters the zone, or it can be set to
“Alarm” as well.
1) Open the case and expose the small printed circuit board.
2) Find the wires connected to the small piezzo buzzer/speaker. Snip these wires off
at the base of the buzzer, leaving enough wire to work with. There’s not going to be
a lot of wire, but only one inch will do the trick.
3) If the unit has any flashing lights, then snip those wires as well. Tape the end to
prevent contact with any other component of the unit itself.
You have effectively disabled the loud siren noise and any flashing lights emanating
from the unit when it is triggered. The two wires can now be attached to a 50 foot
wire, and hooked to another smaller buzzer, or light inside you retreat. When the
unit is triggered by motion, the unit will send the alarm to whatever device you
have chosen as an alarm. Radio Shack sells “Vibrators” like used in cell phones.
They operate from .5-volts up to 22 Volts, and work quite well as a silent alarm.
There are several brands and types available, including the professional Parabolic
handheld microphones. But in my opinion, they are large, and take up a lot of
space.
Keep a rotating guard schedule around the clock. Never leave yourself open to
invasion by having everyone eat and sleep at the same time.
Communication between the guard post and retreat itself is necessary. Battery
operated intercoms, field telephones, walkie-talkies, all work great. Make sure that
at least one person inside the retreat is always awake as well. It does nobody any
good to have a guard outside, and nobody responds when there’s a problem.
Establish a check-in procedure. The guard checks in every thirty minutes. Use code
words in case he has been taken prisoner, and is forced to “check in”.
C) Nobody leaves the camp in less than 3-man teams, and everyone plans the
actions once outside of the camp. Every trip away from the retreat is treated as a
combat patrol. Patrols away from the retreat maintains communication (If possible)
at all times.
D) heavy tarps are placed over windows at night to keep light discipline active. This
goes for noice as well. Night air carries sound further. So at night, no fires, smoke
from stoves, light peeking through windows, or even flashlights (without double red
filters) are to be used. That also should be the responsibility of the guard detail, to
insure that all light and noise is absent. That way anyone coming by the retreat will
not be alerted by these tell-tale signs.
H) Don’t use gasoline powered generators without muffling their sounds. Having a
well insulated generator enclosure, and heaping dirt along the sides and top, will
make it quieter.
I) Chainsaw, axes, and other sounds that could give away your position should be
used sparingly. When you do use equipment that is loud, make sure that additional
guards are posted for several hours afterwards. Upon hearing the sounds of an axe
chopping wood, or a loud chainsaw, somebody could sneak up to your location, and
watch your camp for signs of weakness. Remain vigil for at least 24-hours, and keep
a close watch on likely avenues of approach.
If you maintain light and noise discipline, your chances for not having a
confrontation will be greatly increased. Even if you tend to be a nice guy, or your
group wants to help people out, remember that there are very diverse personalities
out there in the world. You never really know a person, or what they are capable of.
The woman that arrives at your retreat with three kids, could likely, under pressure,
rob you blind, and leave your hospitality. Later when she’s back to being hungry,
she remembers your retreat’s location, and in due time you will find yourself in a
confrontation with a small gang of hungry desperate people.