Gravel filled walls.

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I have built no defensive barriers yet, and don't plan to unless SHTF. That said, my plan is to use 55 gallon drums and fill them with dirt. I have a farm tractor with a front end loader and even a barrel lifting device and I plan to line the barrels up in a row and start filling them with dirt.

They will be staggered so that there are no "thin spots" where bullets can sneak through between barrels.

I have hundreds of empty 55 gallon drums neatly stacked on their sides on racks.. (we're on a small farm so we can do these things). Should SHTF, it would probably take about 1 day's worth of effort to move all the drums in place where I want barriers and to use the tractor loader bucket to fill them with dirt.

One nice things about the drums is that they are kind of like sand bags in that they are very modular.. you can stand them up, stack them, or lay them down... and when they're filled with dirt, they weigh about 800 lbs so its not like a grenade or a person is going to easily move them or blow them apart.

Well.. that's the plan.. it looks good on paper anyhow. Opinions?
 
What about just making a mound of dirt? I've given a lot of thought about this. The problem is with a conventional house, one moltove cocktail thrown over the barrier onto your roof and your burned out. I still think some fortified fighting posistions is a smart thing to consider though. Dirt is great stuff, it's cheap, is everywhere, and will stop just about any ordinance. I love the old western movies where they hide behind a tabletop or wall during a shootout. That would slow down a bullet at best.
I think camouflage is the best defense. Someone here talked about putting a derilect old trailer on the front of the property, and having your home back out of sight. Of course this only applies to building new as it would be a bitch to move my house now....
 
It would stop a round, but might start to crumble after many shots

Why I'm hoping the one layer of sandbags on the outside would absorb a lot of the initial hit, to keep the concrete from crumbling. Like I said, we'd fill em with the dirt from the planter, so post SHTF, shouldn't take more than a few hours to go from planter to fortified pillbox.
 
The problem is with a conventional house, one moltove cocktail thrown over the barrier onto your roof and your burned out.

Luckily, our house is quite a distance (definitely more than throwing distance) from most all fence lines. There is some stuff you can do to help fireproof a standard roof (the walls are concrete block).

https://universalfireshield.com/?gclid=CICC5eKSzNICFYUehgod-e0JNw
 
My home sits about 600 feet from the road with a large semi-open field in front. A few pine trees, a tree line (hardwoods) on one side, etc. We're on 15 acres and the house is in the middle of it.

If SHTF, here is my plan for defense.
1. Post signs next to the road. "Do Not Tresspass. No Warning Shots" (I'm still debating this)
2. We will be installing booby traps into the ground.. Thousands of spikes to puncture tires and feet in area's where no one should be traveling.
3. We will be installing those shotgun shell perimeter alarms in strategic locations and as these "alarms" get closer to the house, they'll progressively change into lethal booby traps.
4. We will be installing dozens of much more lethal devices designed for manual electrical activation from the home.

My main concern, (so far anyhow), is a gunfight that takes place at a distance of around 300 to 600 feet. One of my (minor?) worries are bullets being shot into our shingle roof on the house.. So for that, I have extra shingles and a couple gallons of wet-patch tar as well as aluminum flashing materials. Just general household maintenance stuff I had before I started any real prepping.

Our tractor loader is a 1/3 yard bucket so a single bucket can fill about 1.25 drums.. combined with manual shoveling, it shouldn't take long. The drums are steel so they can also be bolted or welded together to form structural shapes if needed.

My home is brick so there's some protection there.
 
Post signs next to the road. "Do Not Tresspass. No Warning Shots" (I'm still debating this)

The downside here is that it tells someone that there is something worth protecting ahead...

The better bet, is just making it look like a bad idea....(car wrecks to obscure travel, etc.)
 
That said, my plan is to use 55 gallon drums and fill them with dirt.

Sound like a decent plan. Might be a good idea to fill one of those barrels & test how well it stops bullets. Shoot at it with some different calibers of rifles and make sure of what it will & won't stop. Different soil types may have different stopping powers. Also, let us know your results.

Interesting....I'm editing this to mention that I typed the word (shoot) where the pistolero smilie is. I didn't select it. Hmmm...
 
Sound like a decent plan. Might be a good idea to fill one of those barrels & test how well it stops bullets. Shoot at it with some different calibers of rifles and make sure of what it will & won't stop. Different soil types may have different stopping powers. Also, let us know your results.

Interesting....I'm editing this to mention that I typed the word (shoot) where the pistolero smilie is. I didn't select it. Hmmm...

We live in a very sandy area and judging by the youtube videos where people test various bullet stopping powers of various objects, my 55 gallon drums filled with dirt should stop everything up to 50 BMG and possibly even higher under some conditions.

I am curious though.. dirt and sand is almost always moist.. it always has some level of moisture content. I've never seen tests done on dry soil vs wet soil and/or warm soil vs frozen soil. I would think frozen soil would be even better but my limited experience also says ballistics can be counter intuitive with some things.
 
We live in a very sandy area and judging by the youtube videos where people test various bullet stopping powers of various objects, my 55 gallon drums filled with dirt should stop everything up to 50 BMG and possibly even higher under some conditions.

I am curious though.. dirt and sand is almost always moist.. it always has some level of moisture content. I've never seen tests done on dry soil vs wet soil and/or warm soil vs frozen soil. I would think frozen soil would be even better but my limited experience also says ballistics can be counter intuitive with some things.
I say for a good ballistics test, think about what the most likely and common weapon out there that could be used against you in a shtf situation. Use that to test out your ideas.
 
Walls? Barricades? Man, you guys get real serious don'cha?
Walls and barricades oh my! "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"
If things get that bad I doubt anyone will survive.
I dunno.
Sounds like a prison.
 
Walls? Barricades? Man, you guys get real serious don'cha?
Walls and barricades oh my! "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"
If things get that bad I doubt anyone will survive.
I dunno.
Sounds like a prison.
I like to think it's just covering your bases. Do I think we should sell off all our investments in life and use it all to prepare for something that may never happen? Of course not. But one thing comes to mind here. All the old westerns where the guy hides behind a table top or wall as the bad guys shoot at him. In the real world bullets are barely slowed down when going thru a wall. I think it's good to at least know what materials can stop a round that's heading towards you.
 

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