Looking for suggestions/criticisms for my location/plans

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Your weak porch wall I'd line, if possible, with an exterior brick flower bed about 3 ft tall and a min of 2 ft wide. It will work as cover in a pinch and you could grow herbs in it. also the dogs being isolated in the back is not ideal for me. It's better to give them free roam.
Your outer tree line can work more against you then for you. The enemy can use it as cover during an ambush. You should create an inner tree perimeter closer to your house. That way the home itself becomes harder to target. The fruit trees wont get big enough so maybe in places where the fruit trees aren't. Plant cotton woods or the like, they grow fast. I've included a copy of your layout with where the trees should be and I did my best to avoid shading the fruit trees. Red spots mark the suggested tree perimeter.

TheRanch-Fences.jpg
 
Great suggestion on the porch wall! We currently grow some roses, aloe, and some other useful plants in beds there, but I like the idea of raised concrete beds for cover. It's unlikely we'd have to worry about an assault from that direction, but still an easy and attractive way to make that weakness less of an issue.

In a SHTF scenario, the dogs would have free reign throughout the property. The fenced in area is pretty much for use now, when the front gate is open, and we have customers/boarders in and out. Keeps the dogs safe from either their vehicles or from going out in the road (they never have, but just to be safe).

I like the idea of using the fruit trees to "hide" the house. Thanks. I just may have to put them on the other side of the fence to keep the horses from picking them clean or eating rotten dropped fruit.
 
keep in mind that though you hide the house with them, you also hide any hostiles. place some cams and motion sensor floodlights around the perimeter.
 
The real vulnerability is the glass doors in the back porch/mancave area. Though they have security bars, and security film (and alarms), I'm still not comfortable with them in a SHTF scenario. I think I'd simply concrete block them up in that case, at least at present. The back porch's "walls" are a pretty flimsy affair from a security standpoint, as is the door, but not too much of "portable" value out there. (doubt anyone is making off with my fridge or pool table).

ever thought of Lexan? Its pretty damned strong. you could place it as an outer shield for your windows, while replacing the original windows with layered glass. to further slow attackers down. nothing is impenetrable though
 
Some kind of security film was put on them, in the past, so I'm not sure on the specs. Seems pretty strong, but still glass to me.

ever thought of Lexan?

Sure, ever priced it? Yikes! Considering the area's new purpose (from back porch to mancave), glass doors aren't really a necessary thing. No view anyhow, since the porch was built in. I'd be better off walling it up and putting in more standard (locking) doors, I think.
 
Found a great little security light.

Link

It was a bit touchy at first, but now works without a problem. It's battery powered, but only comes on in darkness, and when motion is detected. We use it to help light the way to the door at night (if we didn't leave the porch light on), but I can envision lots of places where this would be useful. (especially the stables).
 
I noticed something :) they can see what you have from the road I would put some trees and wild looking brush or bushes to hide your place. the less anyone can see the safer you are from looters and trouble.
 
We are encouraging some vine growth along the outer fence. We like the look of it, but it also helps to conceal. We don't want to hide too much though, because we are currently a business, so need to advertise. (yes, come SHTF, we've got some changes to make in that department). Most preps, like the garden and rain barrels, can't be seen from the road. You can't even see the stables from the road...just the house and garage. When we add fruit trees, those may be visible, but at a distance. I think I may add more of them in the dog yard instead anyhow. We already have a tangerine tree there.

Growing some nice thorny bushes in front of the fence though, is an EXCELLENT idea. Thanks! We already use that idea under the windows, so can't imagine why it never occurred to me for the front fence. We just have to do it on the outside though, for the horses' sakes (and keep it trimmed back on the inside).
 
I really like the thorny bushes, black and raspberries give some protection and produce fruit at the same time. I had some natural blackberries in a spot where I didn't want them, I've mowed then down forty times at least and the tough little buggers are still sprouting up! The hardest part of real protection is any normal house is not defensible, period. A 22 can penetrate any standard wall, and windows won't even slow it down. The best plan is to have safe areas that you can reinforce, and can have a way to return fire from. Also consider an emergency retreat path in case you're outnumbered. I haven't done it yet but am considering a concrete room in the crawlspace. Since your property is so large it may be a good idea to make a fortified store room in an outbuilding also, in case you couldn't make it back to the main house in a pinch. I think a 12" block wall filled with concrete will stop a 50 cal. If you have some peep holes for return fire you have a pretty good advantage. Hope you'll never need to test these ideas out!
 
....The best plan is to have safe areas that you can reinforce, and can have a way to return fire from. Also consider an emergency retreat path in case you're outnumbered. I haven't done it yet but am considering a concrete room in the crawlspace. Since your property is so large it may be a good idea to make a fortified store room in an outbuilding also, in case you couldn't make it back to the main house in a pinch. I think a 12" block wall filled with concrete will stop a 50 cal. If you have some peep holes for return fire you have a pretty good advantage. Hope you'll never need to test these ideas out!

the problem with reinforcing the crawl space is that you cannot escape at all. sure you could make a emergency exit tunnel, but you'll achieve of an impact on the enemy force if you don't prolong the bleeding effort. the hostiles will also be relatively quickly inside your basement or at its peepholes if you aren't holding them off. They'll see there is a tunnel and they will shoot down it while others run the direction of where the tunnel leads above ground. sure you could say well i'll make it a hidden tunnel. but once you disappear they will find it. because they know there is an emergency exit to the room because that is the only thing that explains your disappearance and lack of a body. you would still need to burn the house down behind you to hide it.

Imagine you are leading that assault on your property and what you would do to conquer it. and if you cannot conquer it you annihilate it. plan your defense like that. from the view of the attacker and what would hurt him most if he did it like you.
 
I actually discovered quite a bit of blackberries growing wild on the property, so encouraging them in certain places. The house itself is pretty much concrete block, so no worries about rounds going through (but man, it's a pan to hang anything on an outside wall (have to drill an anchor into the concrete). I would love to build a radiation/redoubt bunker on the property, but that's going to take some serious scratch and time (so it's further down the list).

However, I do have an out building that we use for hay storage, that is concrete block for about the first 5' of height. Wouldn't take too much to put in some firing ports, to use it for such a purpose, in a SHTF scenario, so may just do that...thanks!
 
I actually discovered quite a bit of blackberries growing wild on the property, so encouraging them in certain places. The house itself is pretty much concrete block, so no worries about rounds going through (but man, it's a pan to hang anything on an outside wall (have to drill an anchor into the concrete). I would love to build a radiation/redoubt bunker on the property, but that's going to take some serious scratch and time (so it's further down the list).

However, I do have an out building that we use for hay storage, that is concrete block for about the first 5' of height. Wouldn't take too much to put in some firing ports, to use it for such a purpose, in a SHTF scenario, so may just do that...thanks!
By the way, great looking piece of real estate!
 
the problem with reinforcing the crawl space is that you cannot escape at all. sure you could make a emergency exit tunnel, but you'll achieve of an impact on the enemy force if you don't prolong the bleeding effort. the hostiles will also be relatively quickly inside your basement or at its peepholes if you aren't holding them off. They'll see there is a tunnel and they will shoot down it while others run the direction of where the tunnel leads above ground. sure you could say well i'll make it a hidden tunnel. but once you disappear they will find it. because they know there is an emergency exit to the room because that is the only thing that explains your disappearance and lack of a body. you would still need to burn the house down behind you to hide it.

Imagine you are leading that assault on your property and what you would do to conquer it. and if you cannot conquer it you annihilate it. plan your defense like that. from the view of the attacker and what would hurt him most if he did it like you.
I like the suggestion of reversing the roles of defender to aggressor, gives you a broader perpespective.
 

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