I'm still in my research phase, but I'm trying to plan out what I need to do to go "off grid." The first thing I was planning on doing was to secure the land I purchase, so that way I can build a cabin and leave it without worrying about it being vandalized while not being there. Anyone else have any experience doing this? How much would it cost to secure approx. 1 acre?
GDAWN
One man should be able to do it. So, 3 armed guards working 12 hour shifts, 3 days on, 3 days off.
Design helps. You go for utility over pretty. Came up with this one for a buddy of mine, not only from a vandalism standpoint, but a defense-after-collapse standpoint.
First, take the high ground !
Then restrict access....note only easy access is a well secured front door....no windows at ground level. Surrounding deck has no stairs to ground.....first floor is concrete filled block....deck is steel grating over steel I beam.....siding on upper floor is concrete.....that type of thing.
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First, take the high ground !
Then restrict access....note only easy access is a well secured front door....no windows at ground level. Surrounding deck has no stairs to ground.....first floor is concrete filled block....deck is steel grating over steel I beam.....siding on upper floor is concrete.....that type of thing.
A lot has to do with "how" remote that 1 acre is or how close the nearest neighbor lives???
Know of one person who built a "off grid" cabin on 7 acres and other than a very small parking area you'd have trouble finding it - he's never had a "break-in".
In turn I know of another person who built something simular on 25 acres but had a stone driveway put in, small mowed lawn, security lighting, etc and has been broken into twice - so far....
Sooo, your being secure may depend on how big a footprint you want to leave?
Know of one person who built a "off grid" cabin on 7 acres and other than a very small parking area you'd have trouble finding it - he's never had a "break-in".
In turn I know of another person who built something simular on 25 acres but had a stone driveway put in, small mowed lawn, security lighting, etc and has been broken into twice - so far....
Sooo, your being secure may depend on how big a footprint you want to leave?
Know the area first. If your place won't be safe, why buy property there? Possibly the biggest mistake people make is to buy the wrong property or buy property in the wrong area.
It can be difficult for a newcomer to an area to learn what people who have lived there for generations know. There's ways of doing that. The most important is not to get new propertyitis. It's the same as new caritis or the purchase of anything else someone just has to have. Once you get emotionally involved with a purchase, reason goes out the door.
Secluded can either work for you or against you. A determined local can get in. Especially if they think that security is protecting something valuable.
Someone or some thing has the info you need it. Invest the time needed to know the area as well as the locals. All you have to do is read the problem neighbor stories on HT to understand why that is important.
Each area and each state is unique. How many people subscribe to local newspapers before they buy in an area? Don't expect that to provide all of the nasty details. Some won't print stories about the everyday meaness tha can make your life a living hell.
In this area it's not uncommon for families to move in and then move out in a short period of time. You won't read about that in the newspaper. Some areas are drug free while ohers are heavily involved. How do you figure that out? Knowing is one of the basic aspects of security.
End up in the wrong place and you need to make your structures fire proof if the local criminals don't want you there.
Like they told you when you went to school, do your homework. It will pay off in ways you can't begin to imagine. the most secure place is where people don't lock their doors and wnen you drive by you can see all sorts of things setting out in the open. Rather than brute force a situation for security, finess it. The peace of mind is worth it.
It can be difficult for a newcomer to an area to learn what people who have lived there for generations know. There's ways of doing that. The most important is not to get new propertyitis. It's the same as new caritis or the purchase of anything else someone just has to have. Once you get emotionally involved with a purchase, reason goes out the door.
Secluded can either work for you or against you. A determined local can get in. Especially if they think that security is protecting something valuable.
Someone or some thing has the info you need it. Invest the time needed to know the area as well as the locals. All you have to do is read the problem neighbor stories on HT to understand why that is important.
Each area and each state is unique. How many people subscribe to local newspapers before they buy in an area? Don't expect that to provide all of the nasty details. Some won't print stories about the everyday meaness tha can make your life a living hell.
In this area it's not uncommon for families to move in and then move out in a short period of time. You won't read about that in the newspaper. Some areas are drug free while ohers are heavily involved. How do you figure that out? Knowing is one of the basic aspects of security.
End up in the wrong place and you need to make your structures fire proof if the local criminals don't want you there.
Like they told you when you went to school, do your homework. It will pay off in ways you can't begin to imagine. the most secure place is where people don't lock their doors and wnen you drive by you can see all sorts of things setting out in the open. Rather than brute force a situation for security, finess it. The peace of mind is worth it.
We have 20 acres and absolutely have not had any problems. LOL true our drive is a bit intimidating but it's been great.. and we have a huge dog and trail cameras everywhere. Still in over a year we have had one person drive back uninvited and that was someone from the county assessors office when we first bought the place to see what was out there.
I don't see it any different, off grid or not. A good locked gate either way. Good fences deter most people. Good neighbor to check once in a while at random. No tresspassing signs. Keep everything locked so there are no temptations. Let the county sherriff know, introduce yourself and let them know your intentions. I have had remote, empty properties for years, no problems....James
Yep, if your not there anything is susceptible and available.
All you really can do is camouflage your activities there. dont build roads in start hedges around perimeter etc.
All you really can do is camouflage your activities there. dont build roads in start hedges around perimeter etc.
Absolutely right...:thumb:
The best you can do is install some type of recording device so that if/when someone breaks in, you will at least have a record of it and possibly a picture of the person(s) that did it.
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Don't be so remote, have neighbors, and get to know them. Our farm was the only house on the road for a mile, everybody knew we were only around on weekends. For 40 years, we were always getting broken in to, vandalized, apparently hosting parties.
That stopped when we lost our precious isolation. The surrounding farm subdivided, and Amish bought the land. We now have two neighbors. The have keys to our house, and use our phone and freezer. They feed our horses and help around the property. When we brought our kids up after a big snow storm, the one neighbor hosted my wife and kids in their warm house while he and his sons helped me shovel out the driveway and start a fire in the stove. After a spring storm knocked trees into the house, he cut the trees off of the house, cut and stacked the wood, and burned all the small branches. Of course, when his son fell on his head, he called us in the city to give him a ride home from the hospital.
If you can have neighbors, embrace the opportunity. When it hits the fan, you will need allies more than isolation. Maybe that is not practical for where you end up, but consider how much better it could be with like minded neighbors. I would say buy one of the lots near us, but its getting crowded up here.
That stopped when we lost our precious isolation. The surrounding farm subdivided, and Amish bought the land. We now have two neighbors. The have keys to our house, and use our phone and freezer. They feed our horses and help around the property. When we brought our kids up after a big snow storm, the one neighbor hosted my wife and kids in their warm house while he and his sons helped me shovel out the driveway and start a fire in the stove. After a spring storm knocked trees into the house, he cut the trees off of the house, cut and stacked the wood, and burned all the small branches. Of course, when his son fell on his head, he called us in the city to give him a ride home from the hospital.
If you can have neighbors, embrace the opportunity. When it hits the fan, you will need allies more than isolation. Maybe that is not practical for where you end up, but consider how much better it could be with like minded neighbors. I would say buy one of the lots near us, but its getting crowded up here.
Wild blackberry, stinging thistle and yaupon or other wild privots that can be thinned slightly leaving rooted ground stakes in a living fence combined with barbed wire work nicely when combined with solar powered surveillance options and "location , location, location".
I've got a cabin in the Ozarks, remote, and someone walked in from another property, broke in to the house, and stole small stuff they could carry. Went in the attic (looking for copper wiring), and stepped through the kitchen ceiling. Only took what they could carry.
There is very little you can do to stop determined vandals and thieves if you can't be there full time.
It's also somewhat of a problem that the county cops here were stealing from citizens as well.
There is very little you can do to stop determined vandals and thieves if you can't be there full time.
It's also somewhat of a problem that the county cops here were stealing from citizens as well.
Here break-ins have been a real problem with rich people's summer homes as well as isolated camps. One fellow had an old farm house he used summers. While winterimg in Florida; teen agers used his house for a party and then burned it and the barn down! He had no insurance because the house was isolated and not reachable by the local fire department.
We know amother guy who has had a camp in the woods for over twenty years. When the camp is not used the windows are boarded up. The whole building is painted brown and forest green and there is no obvious path or trail to it. He brought supplies in by four wheeler. The camp sits on four acres he owns surrounded by forest land owned by someone else! He pays no taxes on the building because the tax man does not know it is there. He has never had a break-in either. I found his camp quite by accident while walking in the woods with my dog. The man told me only a handful of people know where he lives and asked me not to tell anyone. So I guess if you live remote enough and don't tell anyone; your risk of vandalism is little. Everyone else is vulnerable.
We know amother guy who has had a camp in the woods for over twenty years. When the camp is not used the windows are boarded up. The whole building is painted brown and forest green and there is no obvious path or trail to it. He brought supplies in by four wheeler. The camp sits on four acres he owns surrounded by forest land owned by someone else! He pays no taxes on the building because the tax man does not know it is there. He has never had a break-in either. I found his camp quite by accident while walking in the woods with my dog. The man told me only a handful of people know where he lives and asked me not to tell anyone. So I guess if you live remote enough and don't tell anyone; your risk of vandalism is little. Everyone else is vulnerable.
We're on a fairly busy road, but you can't see our house (or garden) from the road, just the gravel driveway. We've got two lines of mature trees and in one corner where they're sort of sparse we've planted some more blue spruce and a quick growing bush (can't remember the name of it).
The neighbor's homes are more visible. By the time you step down our driveway and if you're up to no good, you'll be met up with a couple of large dogs and fully armed back up.
Move along, there's nothing to see here at all....
The neighbor's homes are more visible. By the time you step down our driveway and if you're up to no good, you'll be met up with a couple of large dogs and fully armed back up.
Move along, there's nothing to see here at all....
This
If you dig it by hand, and sneak in all of the supplies, bought from way out of the area, you might actually have a minute chance of success...
Trouble is, locals usually make it a point to know what is going on around them. If you bought property, the locals knew it was for sale, and it was sold, they know 'who' bought it. The see a strange vehicle, they make mental notes, if they see construction trucks (full of lumber) or cement trucks, they definitely take notice. The more they see, the more curious they get. IF you move in, the dark impulses pass, if no one stays, some dark impulses compel them to investigate.
Onliest way you'll secure something is to secure it, with a human presence.
I'd place nothing valuable or 'borrowable' anywhere if I wasn't living there, or had hardcore friends and neighbors 'watching' it.
Exactly. I leave my cabin with a little furniture and some food. I leave the doors unlocked (saves me from buying doors).
If you are concerned about vandalism and break-ins, you are not nearly remote enough. Find a better place if it feels that unsafe. In the hundred year history of this farm, there has never been a single incidence of anything. There are place like this still out there, you just need to find them.
I do know the location of one of Green Peace's safe houses.
A friend helped build it.
It is built into the side of a bluff overlooking quite a bit of land. They own a lot of the land around it.
The put up a temp. power line and a small temp road while it was under construction.
Whe they finished it they took down the wires and let the road grow up.
Below the bluff there is a pasture where a small plane can land. Most of the people living in the area didn't know about it and those who did know have mostly forgotten about it.
Guess it is about the most secure place I know of.
A friend helped build it.
It is built into the side of a bluff overlooking quite a bit of land. They own a lot of the land around it.
The put up a temp. power line and a small temp road while it was under construction.
Whe they finished it they took down the wires and let the road grow up.
Below the bluff there is a pasture where a small plane can land. Most of the people living in the area didn't know about it and those who did know have mostly forgotten about it.
Guess it is about the most secure place I know of.
I particularly agree with Wind In Her Hairs last line. There are just so many variables to deal with when it comes to security. We commute. Homestead/farm on weekends, work home (also rural) during the week so we have security at two properties to worry about and yes, we do worry.
We try to keep our homestead as simple looking as possible. For 3 years we strove to keep it looking Amish but now, with a power pole suddenly springing out of the front yard, it's kinda of a stretch to do that any more. We do keep our vehicles and valuable dirt bikes and tractor, etc, out of sight however and when we recently ran our copper rich electrical cable to the house, we covered the hole with plywood and dirt so nobody would come by and decide to jerk the almost 200 dollars worth of wire out of the ground to support their meth habit.
I think the main thing for us as far as keeping things secure is concerned is using common sense. Post No Trespassing Signs liberally and add game cameras (and post that you have game cameras on the property so folks know that if they nose around you will get them on a picture), keep valuables out of sight or in safes that cannot be moved, and use really good padlocks on outbuilding and sheds and locks on your doors.
I have to admit that our first year on our homestead, we suffered a lot of petty thefts. Garden hoses, garden tools, garden produce and the funniest of all, gas from our generator. DH would fill up the generator before we went to work on Monday so he could fill the gas cans and we would come back on Friday to find the generator half full instead of completely full. Amazing that when we put a padlock on our generator room and a couple of neighbors of the Amish persuasion moved on (no proof but looks suspicious) our generator became extremely more fuel efficient. We just learned the hard way to keep things locked up.
We also scattered a few ADT signs around the property. Like the ADT rep told me when I once upon a time had their service, lots of times just the signs deter potential trouble because folks just don't know what kind of protection you have with ADT. So yeah, cruise Flea Bay and pick some up cheap. They do work.
Also please remember that when you live extreme rural lifestyles, law enforcement isn't minutes away, it's sometimes an hour or more away so be prepared in whatever way is comfortable for you..
Frankly, I like to adhere to the advice that was given to me once by one of our patients.
Make it a habit to clean your hand gun and hunting rifle while sitting on the front porch in plain view of passersby. Maybe whistle a little tune while you are doing it. It keeps folks wondering about you and gives them second thoughts about causing you trouble.
We try to keep our homestead as simple looking as possible. For 3 years we strove to keep it looking Amish but now, with a power pole suddenly springing out of the front yard, it's kinda of a stretch to do that any more. We do keep our vehicles and valuable dirt bikes and tractor, etc, out of sight however and when we recently ran our copper rich electrical cable to the house, we covered the hole with plywood and dirt so nobody would come by and decide to jerk the almost 200 dollars worth of wire out of the ground to support their meth habit.
I think the main thing for us as far as keeping things secure is concerned is using common sense. Post No Trespassing Signs liberally and add game cameras (and post that you have game cameras on the property so folks know that if they nose around you will get them on a picture), keep valuables out of sight or in safes that cannot be moved, and use really good padlocks on outbuilding and sheds and locks on your doors.
I have to admit that our first year on our homestead, we suffered a lot of petty thefts. Garden hoses, garden tools, garden produce and the funniest of all, gas from our generator. DH would fill up the generator before we went to work on Monday so he could fill the gas cans and we would come back on Friday to find the generator half full instead of completely full. Amazing that when we put a padlock on our generator room and a couple of neighbors of the Amish persuasion moved on (no proof but looks suspicious) our generator became extremely more fuel efficient. We just learned the hard way to keep things locked up.
We also scattered a few ADT signs around the property. Like the ADT rep told me when I once upon a time had their service, lots of times just the signs deter potential trouble because folks just don't know what kind of protection you have with ADT. So yeah, cruise Flea Bay and pick some up cheap. They do work.
Also please remember that when you live extreme rural lifestyles, law enforcement isn't minutes away, it's sometimes an hour or more away so be prepared in whatever way is comfortable for you..
Frankly, I like to adhere to the advice that was given to me once by one of our patients.
Make it a habit to clean your hand gun and hunting rifle while sitting on the front porch in plain view of passersby. Maybe whistle a little tune while you are doing it. It keeps folks wondering about you and gives them second thoughts about causing you trouble.
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