The most frequent complaint that I hear from my fellow survivalists is simply that they can not afford to acquire land for their survival retreat. With today's pitiable economy that is perfectly understandable. I really don't perceive it improving in the least for some time to come.
However, all is not lost for you can still prepare in the event that you will need the services of a retreat and you can do it rather cheaply at that. The first thing you will need to do is to locate a 30 year old van of some sort. This van will become your emergency survival retreat.
You may already be familiar with using vehicles as bug out machines to get out of harms way and to a safe retreat however you can also use those same vehicles as the actual retreat as well. Your van can serve as your new home away from home should the need arise. It can travel from a dangerous neighborhood at a moments notice and safely transport you and your family to a safe haven some distance away. Additional storage can be obtained by installing a car top carrier on the roof of the van.
A van comes complete with a built in alternator or generator. I personally believe in maintaining dual battery systems in the vehicle so that I can make one battery dedicated to starting the van only. The second battery would power any inverters and 12 volt accessories that may be desired for surviving in the wild. If you have the additional room available you could even consider the use of more then two batteries placed in parallel to provide you with higher current capabilities. You would merely need to add an inverter to it and you can produce as much AC electricity as you may require to run many of your household appliances.
Battery selection should pose no particular problem as your best choice here would be to select 12 volt Deep cycle Marine batteries. These types of batteries are very rugged and can be charged repeatedly without detrimental effects to the battery cells.
Although I prefer to have a 4 cylinder engine in my van for economic sake it too can be costly. Running an automobile engine tends to use up a considerable amount of gasoline and as you can readily tell by a visit to your local filling stations these prices keep going higher and higher. A solar panel collector placed atop your van can correct this problem by keeping your batteries well charged with the help of the sun.
You will want to ensure that the ones which you purchase are weather resistant and have a plastic surface which makes them more adaptive for mobile use. There are many on the market made specifically for automobile use. Make sure that you follow the manufacturer's recommendations exactly or research the internet to obtain additional information on setting up the solar panels.
You should have no problems in the area of cooking. I myself prefer to have 12 volt appliances which I can use inside the van but if you use an open flame make certain to use them outside your van. Never use cook stoves inside unless they are specifically designed for such use. I once had a complete kitchen installed in the rear section of a Dodge Caravan where all I had to do was to lift the back panel up and I had access to a sink, stove and refrigerator. It was a perfect arrangement. There were considerable amounts of space in which to hold water and supplies.
In order to bathe when out in the wild with your van you can readily make use of one of the portable showers that are made specifically for camping. You can add some sort of removable curtain to the side of your van in order to provide a measure of privacy. They now have solar heated water showers where a container of water is heated by the sun and ready when you use your portable shower. Now let's discuss toilets. Let's face it using mother natures land is rather nasty and uncouth. It would be much better to take and spend a little money in a portable toilet or even make one yourself. They really are not hard to build in the least.
There are many features that you can incorporate into your van by merely using your imagination and a little bit of ingenuity. Good luck and enjoy your new home.
Copyright @ 2009 Joseph Parish
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