In the survivalist subculture or movement, a retreat [1] is a place of refuge. Sometimes their retreats are called a bug-out location (BOL), a bunker, a bolt hole or a hidesite. [2] Survivalist retreats are intended to be self-sufficient and easily defended. Generally, they are located in sparsely populated outback rural areas.
While fallout shelters have been advocated since the 1950s, dedicated self-sufficient survivalist retreats have been advocated only since the mid-1970s. The survival retreat concept has been touted by a number of influential survivalist writers including Ragnar Benson, Robert K. Brown, Barton Biggs, Bruce D. Clayton, Jeff Cooper, Cresson Kearny, James Wesley Rawles, Howard Ruff, Kurt Saxon, Joel Skousen, Don Stephens, Mel Tappan, and Nancy Tappan.[ citation needed ] Survivalists or "preppers" build these survivalist retreats to help them survive in the event of a disaster or simply "disappear," hence, the need for self-sufficiency. [3]
With the increasing inflation of the 1960s, the impending U.S. monetary devaluation, the continuing concern with possible nuclear exchanges between the US and the Soviet Union, and the increasing vulnerability of urban centers to supply shortages and other systems failures, a number of primarily conservative and libertarian thinkers began suggesting that individual preparations would be wise. This was further reinforced by the effort on the part of the U.S. government to encourage the installation of bomb and fallout shelters in the United States after the Cuban Missile Crisis. [4] Harry Browne also began offering seminars in 1967 on how to survive a monetary collapse. He worked with Don Stephens, an architect, survival bookseller, and author, who provided input on how to build and equip a remote survival retreat. He provided a copy of his original Retreater's Bibliography (1967) for each seminar participant.
Articles on the subject appeared in such small-distribution libertarian publications as The Innovator and Atlantis Quarterly. It was also from this period that Robert D. Kephart began publishing Inflation Survival Letter [5] (later renamed Personal Finance). The newsletter included a continuing section on personal preparedness by Stephens for several years. It promoted expensive seminars around the US on the same cautionary topics. Stephens participated, along with James McKeever and other defensive investing, hard currency advocates.
In 1975, Kurt Saxon began publishing a newsletter called The Survivor, which advocated moving to lightly populated regions to "lie low" during a socio-economic collapse, and setting up fortified enclaves for defense against what he termed "killer caravans" [6] [7] of looters from urban areas.
In 1976, Don Stephens popularized the term "retreater" and advocated relocating to a rural retreat when society breaks down.
Writers such as Howard Ruff warned about socio-economic collapse and recommended moving to lightly populated farming regions, most notably in his 1979 book How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years, a best-seller in 1979.
For a time in the 1970s, the terms "survivalist" and "retreater" were used interchangeably. The term "retreater" eventually fell out of favor. [8] This was attributed to the United States withdrawal from Vietnam, which led to the perception that the country was less at risk of being attacked. [4] People began to become interested again as public paranoia intensified over the Soviet threat during Cold War period.
One of the most important newsletters on survivalism and survivalist retreats in the 1970s was the Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter (c. 1977–1982) published by Mel Tappan, who also authored the books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival. The newsletter included columns from Tappan, as well from Jeff Cooper, Al J. Venter, Bill Pier, Bruce D. Clayton, Rick Fines, Nancy Mack Tappan, J. B. Wood, Dr. Carl Kirsch, Charles Avery, Karl Hess, Eugene A. Barron, Janet Groene, Dean Ing, Bob Taylor, Reginald Bretnor, C. G. Cobb, and several other writers, some under pen names. The majority of this newsletter revolved around selecting, constructing and logistically equipping survival retreats. [9] Following Tappan's death in 1980, Karl Hess took over publishing the newsletter, eventually renaming it Survival Tomorrow.
Survivalist retreat books of the 1980s were typified by the 1980 book Life After Doomsday [10] by Bruce D. Clayton, advocating survival retreats in locales that would minimize fallout, as well as specially constructing blast shelters and/or fallout shelters that would provide protection in the event of a nuclear war.
Several books published in the 1990s offered advice on survival retreats and relocation. Some influential in survivalist circles are Survival Retreat: A Total Plan For Retreat Defense by Ragnar Benson, Strategic Relocation – North American Guide to Safe Places by Joel Skousen, and The Secure Home, (also by Skousen).
In recent years, advocacy of survivalist retreats has had a strong resurgence after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001, the 2002 attacks and 2005 attacks in Bali, the 2004 Madrid train bombings in Spain, and the 2005 public transportation bombings in London.[ citation needed ]
Several books published since 2000 advocate survival retreats and relocation. Some that have been particularly influential in survivalist circles are How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home by Joel Skousen, Rawles on Retreats and Relocation by James Wesley Rawles, and Life After Terrorism: What You Need to Know to Survive in Today's World by Bruce D. Clayton. [11]
Online survival websites, forums, and blogs (such as SurvivalBlog) discuss the best locales for survival retreats, how to build, fortify, and equip them, and how to form survivalist retreat groups. [12]
Economic troubles emerging from the credit collapse triggered by the 2007 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis have prompted a wider cross-section of the populace to modify their homes as well as establish dedicated survival retreats. [13] James Wesley Rawles, the editor of SurvivalBlog was quoted by the New York Times in April 2008 that "interest in the survivalist movement 'is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s'”. He also stated that his blog's conservative core readership has been supplemented with "an increasing number of stridently green and left-of-center readers." [13]
Mel Tappan was quoted by then AP correspondent Peter Arnett that: "The concept most fundamental to long term disaster preparedness, in retreating, is having a safe place to go to avoid the concentrated violence destined to erupt in the cities." [14]
Common retreat locale selection parameters include light population density, plentiful water, arable land, good solar exposure for gardening and photovoltaics, situation above any flood plains, and a diverse and healthy local economy. [15] Fearing rioting, looting and other unrest, many survivalists advocate selecting retreat locales that are more than one tank of gasoline away from any major metropolitan region. Properties that are not in "channelized areas" or on anticipated "refugee lines of drift" are also touted. [16]
One of the key goals of retreats is to be self-sufficient for the duration of societal collapse. To that end, plentiful water and arable soil are paramount considerations. Beyond that, a priority is situation on isolated, defensible terrain. Typically, retreats do not want their habitations or structures jeopardized by being within line of sight of any major highway.
Because of its low population density and diverse economy, James Wesley Rawles [17] and Joel Skousen [18] both recommend the Intermountain West region of the United States as a preferred region for relocation and setting up retreats. Although it has higher population density, Mel Tappan recommended southwestern Oregon, where he lived, [19] primarily because it is not downwind of any envisioned nuclear targets in the United States.
Mel Tappan was disappointed by the demographics of southwestern Oregon after the survivalist influx of the late 1970s. "Too many doctors and lawyers" relocated to Oregon, and "not enough plumbers, electricians, or carpenters." [19]
While some survivalists recommend living at a rural retreat year-round, [20] most survivalists cannot afford to do so. Therefore, they rely on keeping a well-stocked retreat, and plan to go there "at the 11th hour", as necessary. They keep a bug-out bag handy, and may have a dedicated bug-out vehicle (BOV). This is a vehicle that the owner keeps prepared in the event of the need for an emergency evacuation. Typically a BOV is equipped with a variation on the bug-out bag that includes additional automotive supplies, clothing, food, and water. Survivalists tend to favor ATV/Off-road vehicles in particular such as four wheel drive, pickup trucks, SUVs and motorbikes such as Streetfighters, Enduros/Supermotos etc due to their greater off-road/handling abilities. Survivalists may opt into maintaining an older vehicle as they most likely lack critical electronic components that could be damaged by the electromagnetic pulse that accompanies a nuclear explosion.
Most survivalist retreats are created by individuals and their families, but larger "group retreats" or "covenant communities" are formed along the lines of an intentional community.
Jeff Cooper popularized the concept of hardening retreats against small arms fire. In an article entitled "Notes on Tactical Residential Architecture" in Issue #30 of P.S. Letter (April, 1982), Cooper suggested using the "Vauban Principle", whereby projecting bastion corners would prevent miscreants from being able to approach a retreat's exterior walls in any blind spots. Corners with this simplified implementation of a Vauban Star are now called "Cooper Corners" by James Wesley Rawles, in honor of Jeff Cooper. [21] Depending on the size of the group needing shelter, design elements of traditional European castle architecture, as well as Chinese Fujian Tulou and Mexican walled courtyard houses have been suggested for survival retreats.
In both his book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation and in his survivalist novel, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse , Rawles describes in great detail retreat groups "upgrading" brick or other masonry houses to that of a blockhouse with steel reinforced window shutters and doors, excavating anti-vehicular ditches, installing warded gate locks, constructing concertina wire obstacles, and fougasses, and setting up listening post/observation posts (LP/OPs.) Rawles is a proponent of including a mantrap foyer at survival retreats, an architectural element that he calls a "crushroom". [22]
Both Bruce D. Clayton and Joel Skousen have written extensively on integrating fallout shelters into retreat homes, but they put less emphasis on ballistic protection and exterior perimeter security than Cooper and Rawles.
Anticipating long periods of time without commerce in the future, as well as observing documented history, retreat groups typically place a strong emphasis on logistics. They amass stockpiles of supplies for their own use, for charity, and for barter. Frequently cited key logistics for a retreat include long-term storage food, common caliber ammunition, medical supplies, tools, gardening seed, and fuel. In an article entitled "Ballistic Wampum" in Issue #6 of P.S. Letter (1979) Jeff Cooper wrote about stockpiling ammunition far in excess of his own needs, keeping the extra available to use for bartering.
In their books, Joel Skousen, Mel Tappan, and Howard Ruff all emphasize the need to have a one-year supply of storage food.
Mainstream economist and financial adviser Barton Biggs is a proponent of well-stocked retreats. In his 2008 book Wealth, War, and Wisdom, Biggs has a gloomy outlook for the economic future, and suggests that investors take survivalist measures. In the book, Biggs recommends that his readers should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.” He goes so far as to recommend setting up survival retreats: “Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily breaks down.” [13]
Survivalist retreats, both formal and informal exist worldwide, most visibly in Australia, [23] Belgium, Canada, [24] France, [25] Germany [26] (often organized under the guise of "adventuresport" clubs), [27] New Zealand, [28] Norway, [29] Sweden, [30] and the United States. [13]
Construction of government-built retreats, security compounds and underground shelters—roughly analogous to survivalist retreats—has been done extensively since the advent of the Cold War, especially of public nuclear fallout shelters in many nations. The United States government has created Continuity of Government (COG) shelters built by the Department of Defense and Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"). These include the massive shelter built under the Greenbrier hotel (aka Project Greek Island), military facilities such as Cheyenne Mountain Complex, and the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, and Mount Weather sites. Facilities in other nations include the Swiss redoubt fortress system and its dual use facilities such as the Sonnenberg Tunnel and Norway's Sentralanlegget bunker in Buskerud County.
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War.
Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order caused by political or economic crises. Preparations may anticipate short-term scenarios or long-term, on scales ranging from personal adversity, to local disruption of services, to international or global catastrophe. There is no bright line dividing general emergency preparedness from prepping in the form of survivalism, but a qualitative distinction is often recognized whereby preppers/survivalists prepare especially extensively because they have higher estimations of the risk of catastrophes happening. Nonetheless, prepping can be as limited as preparing for a personal emergency, or it can be as extensive as a personal identity or collective identity with a devoted lifestyle.
Dean Charles Ing was an American author, who usually wrote in the science fiction and techno-thriller genres. His novel The Ransom of Black Stealth One (1989) was a New York Times bestseller. He wrote more than 30 novels, and co-authored novels with his friends Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Leik Myrabo. Following the death of science fiction author Mack Reynolds in 1983, Ing was asked to finish several of Reynolds' uncompleted manuscripts.
The Intermountain West, or Intermountain Region, is a geographic and geological region of the Western United States. It is located between the Rocky Mountain Front on the east and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada on the west.
Mel Tappan was the editor of the newsletter Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter and the books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival. Tappan was an influential leader of the Survivalist movement who advocated relocation to survival retreats in lightly populated regions.
Bruce D. Clayton is a noted forest fire and biological control ecologist as well as being the author of several books of interest within the survivalist movement.
Cresson Henry Kearny wrote several survival-related books based primarily on research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Nuclear War Survival Skills or NWSS, by Cresson Kearny, is a civil defense manual. It contains information gleaned from research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during the Cold War, as well as from Kearny's extensive jungle living and international travels.
A safe room or panic room is a fortified room that is installed in a private residence or business to provide a safe shelter, or hiding place, for the inhabitants in the event of a break in, home invasion, tornado, terror attack, or other threat. Safe rooms usually contain communications equipment, so that law enforcement authorities can be contacted.
Kurt Saxon was an American writer, radio host, survivalist and the author of The Poor Man's James Bond, a series of books on improvised weapons and munitions.
Wagner, Richard (2024-03-30). "Three Candidates for the Constitution Party Presidential Nomination to Debate on April 6". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
Don Stephens is a futurist, eco-home sustainable designer and author. He has published books in the field of what he terms "optimized self-sufficiency" for a range of uncertain-future scenarios, that is also labeled survivalism by others.
James Wesley Rawles is an American author, former U.S. Army Intelligence officer, and survival retreat consultant. Rawles describes himself as a Constitutionalist Christian libertarian. He presents his name as "James Wesley, Rawles", using a comma to differentiate between the names that belong to him, and that which belongs to his family.
John Allen Pugsley was an American voluntaryist libertarian political, economics commentator, lecturer, and best-selling author.
Portrayals of survivalism, and survivalist themes and elements such as survival retreats have been fictionalised in print, film, and electronic media. This genre was especially influenced by the advent of nuclear weapons, and the potential for societal collapse in light of a Cold War nuclear conflagration.
The Patriots novel series is a five-novel series by survivalist novelist and former U.S. Army officer and blogger, James Wesley Rawles. It is followed by his Counter-Caliphate Chronicles novel series.
The American Preppers Network (APN) is a non-profit corporation and part of a growing international movement of people who call themselves preppers. The social network is organized by state and regional blogs and forums. The members are volunteer contributors who are dedicated to providing free information on survival skills, preparedness, self-sufficiency and sustainability
Nancy Tappan was the co-editor of the newsletter Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is now the editor of The New Pioneer magazine. Born Nancy Mack, she is the widow of Mel Tappan.
The American Redoubt is a political migration movement first proposed in 2011 by survivalist novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles which designates Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming along with eastern parts of Oregon and Washington, as a safe haven for conservative Christians. Rawles chose this area due to its low population density and lack of natural hazards.
Walton W. McCarthy is an American businessman and mechanical engineer and is known as an advocate for creating scientific standards for the underground shelter industry. McCarthy is a Principle Mechanical Engineer with NORAD Shelter Systems LLC, a Texas underground blast shelter company formed 2016. He is formerly the president of Radius Engineering.
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