Suburban Survival Odds & Ends

Every now and then I run accross or come up with an idea or two regarding suburban survival preparadness. From time to time, I'll post them here. These posts will be open for comment.

Here goes the First Odds & Ends post:

Suburban Survival is an option because you survive best on the land that you know.

That being said, you need to make the most of the land you have in suburbia:

1. Plant two apple trees in each corner of your backyard. It will be a couple of years before they start to bear fruit, so better sooner than later.
2. Expand backyard flower beds so that they can be easily adapted for squash and tomatoes. In a real survivial situtation, these beds will be expanded to your entire backyard.
3. Plant a winter garden now. Know what varieties of cabbage, beets, etc. will live over winter depending on what your weather is like.
4. Go down to the garden store this week and buy last year's seeds on clearance. Put them in a cool, dry place.
5. Consider installing a koi pond in your backyard (close to your downspouts but far enough away to avoid damage to your foundation). In a survival situation, this can be converted to rainwater collection/cistern/source of water/place to store excess catfish.
6. Have a 55 gal drum & several 5 or 7 gal water holders, as well as a way to collect/filter/haul new water.
7. Get a generator. Now. Look around for an army surplus generator if you have the space to store it.
8. Start accumulating tools of various kinds, including hand tools such as hand saws, hammers, and wood drills.
9. Find out where the water table is on your land. It may be possible to drill a well and install a hand pump.
10. Do you have non-gas powered transportation? Bicycles will be valuable when there is no gas to buy (as will bicycle parts).
11. Spend some time sizing up your neighbors. Which ones are kind of handy with tools and have useful skills such as electrical or plumbing? Look carefully at thier lifestyle/needs. Will they be valuable as an ally? Survival in a suburban setting will take planning. You will need like minded people in the community with whom you can share responsibilities and tasks.
12. Try hard to pay the house off. It may be a lot easier to come up with the property taxes as opposed to having to make mortgage payments. If your finances are not in such a condition right now that you can pay off the house, get them in order.
13. Have the materials ready to reinforce a door (2X4's & wood screws).
14. If you have to abandon your suburban property, have 2 escape routes and a "bug out" bag always ready.

Thoughts/Comments?

National Response Framework and US Army Terrorism Guide

The National Response Framework provides a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework presents an overview of key response principles, roles and structures that guide the national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government and private-sector and nongovernmental partners apply these principles for a coordinated, effective national response.

A poster over at Daily Kos has written an excellent two part summary of the framework: Part I and Part II. Any thing I would write would be duplicative and I recommend you read these posts over (Daily Kos is political site but some things go beyond politics and this topic is one).

Finally, another reference you may want to examine is the US Army Guide to Terrorism in the 21st Century.