10 Principles For Securing Your Apocalypse Refuge

The movie Edge of Extinction begins by following around a man’s daily routine as he tries to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. A lot of it is pretty smart: collecting corn kernels to bait bird traps, systematically exploring regions on a map, dragging water with a sled, etc. But not too far along in the movie, he comes across a solitary woman who begs him for help, and despite knowing it is a bad idea, he agrees and takes her back to his refuge.

If she had no sinister intentions, it would be a short movie, but in fact, she is part of a robber crew whose damsel in distress gig was a ploy to gain access to his hideout. Once he is asleep, she gets up, steals some supplies, and leaves to bring back the rest of the gang, who end up stealing even more and leave him tied-up, beaten, and stabbed.

So, what did he do wrong? Three things:

1. He brought a stranger to his refuge.
2. His refuge was not well-secured.
3. He didn’t have a perimeter established far enough away to provide advance warning of intruders.

These three mistakes serve as a good starting point for establishing some principles of securing a refuge. Refer to the following diagram as you read through them. This is a hypothetical refuge in a dense residential area.

10 Principles for securing a refuge:

1. Don’t let anyone know your base’s location, unless you trust them completely.
2. Related to the first point, establish a secondary location near the primary location that can be used to interact with other people should the need arise (e.g., trading).
3. Establish layers of perimeters that can provide one or all of the following: awareness, intruder detection, or defense.
4. Do not have a direct path leading to the entrance of your refuge.
5. Do not have an entrance, or a pathway leading to an entrance, visible from locations where people might observe.
6. Have a secondary emergency escape route from your refuge.
7. Set up an emergency cache along the emergency escape route.
8. Entrance to refuge should be heavily secured.
9. Draw a diagram of your base and surrounding areas.
10. Security doesn’t happen once. It is a constant. Always look for improvements and make adjustments to accommodate shifting conditions.

1. Don’t let anyone know your base’s location, unless you trust them completely.

Bringing a stranger to his refuge was our hero’s first big mistake. This should never happen, which doesn’t mean you should never help or collaborate with someone; just don’t bring them to your refuge.

2. Establish a secondary location near the primary location that can be used to interact with other people.

A secondary location is useful to have available in case you need to meet or collaborate with someone. It can range from a location that is moderately secure and lightly used to a location that is heavily used and very secure. It may even be a location that you use for the majority of your daily activities.

The significant distinction between the two locations is that the secondary location might be known to others, will probably not be where you sleep, and will not be used to store lots of supplies or valuables.

A secondary location should also have an emergency escape route and cache and may have layers of perimeters similar to the main refuge.

3. Establish layers of perimeters that can provide one or all of the following: awareness, intruder detection, or defense.

In our movie, the hero had a can trap on the door to his refuge, which isn’t really where you want one. If someone is that close, you have very little time to react. Your perimeter(s) should be set farther from the entrance to the refuge so that there is time to evaluate, prepare, or flee before the intruder is right in front of you.

Every situation will be different, so the exact nature and number of perimeters will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The important concept to keep in mind, however, is of layered defenses.

In this particular example, the following layers (from closest to furthest) are present:

1. Primary Perimeter: The closest perimeter - should be heavily secured. Ideally, it will provide some intruder detection. It is the last layer before an intruder is at your door. Generally, this is a perimeter that no one will be in unless they have a specific intent to invade your refuge.
2. Secondary Perimeter: Depending on the circumstances, this perimeter may or may not want to be obvious. An obvious perimeter signals to others a target but is more secure. At the very least, this perimeter should deter others from crossing it. A less obvious perimeter could include debris barriers or fences that look like they were always there, and houses can be boarded from inside rather than outside. Ideally, this barrier will provide intruder detection. People crossing this barrier may just be exploring and curious rather than specifically targeting you.
3. Soft perimeter: In this scheme, the soft perimeter has no actual barriers. This perimeter is simply an area that you will want to observe. People who enter this area might be scoping-out buildings.
4. Zone of control: This is an area that you will want to keep other people from moving into.

4. Do not have a direct path leading to the entrance of your refuge.

With an indirect path, if someone does spot you, they will not know precisely where your refuge is. An indirect path can also be difficult to follow if someone does find the start point.

5. Do not have an entrance, or a pathway leading to an entrance, visible from locations where people might observe.

This is related to the previous point. Keep pathways and entrances hidden from places where people might see. Pay special attention to the changing seasons. A well-hidden path through a forest in summer can become astonishingly visible in the winter. Even in an urban setting, a lack of vegetation cover can drastically alter visibility.

6. Have a secondary emergency escape route from your refuge.

Always have a secondary escape route from your refuge. In a dense urban setting such as this one, a possible escape route would be to have a ready-made bridge to span to an adjacent second-floor window.

7. Set up an emergency cache along the emergency escape route.

Keep an emergency cache somewhere along your emergency escape route containing at minimum some food and water, something for making fire, a weapon, and some clothing (something warm, something to keep you dry, shoes and clean socks).

8. Entrance to refuge should be heavily secured.

The hero in our story secured his main door by wrapping a rope around the handle. This is completely unacceptable. It would be one thing if he had just moved in, but he had been there for years. The entrances to your refuge should be able to withstand a significant amount of force from a determined attacker; At least long enough to escape through the emergency escape route, but ideally enough that the attacker gives up.

9. Draw a diagram of your base and surrounding areas.

Every situation will be different, so everyone will have to develop their own defense plan. Drawings and diagrams help to visualize the plan and will also document the history of the plan as it is modified and changed.

10. Security doesn’t happen once. It is a constant. Always look for improvements and make adjustments to accommodate shifting conditions.

The principles laid out here are general principles only. A defense strategy needs to be continuously evaluated and updated based upon the following truths:

• Every situation is different.
• Everyone is different and has different capabilities. Someone with extensive construction skills might make plans very different from someone who doesn’t.
• Every time is different. Even a well-developed plan will need modification based upon changing external (or internal) conditions.

The building highlighted in green and labeled “observation” is an example of an element based upon the unique geography of an area. The idea for this building is to be a place that one would go prior to entering the pathway to their refuge. From here, they could observe the larger road to the east as well as the open ground leading to their pathway to make sure that everything is all clear first. In reality, this may not prove useful or worthwhile, but it is important to understand the diagram as just an expression of a plan. That plan then needs testing, assessment, and revision.