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{{short description|Place of refuge for those in the survivalist subculture or movement}}
[[File:Fort Furggels - Bunker North.jpg|thumb|A woodpile at Fort Furggells in Switzerland, a decommissioned [[military bunker]] sold to a survivalist group]]
In the [[survivalism|survivalist]] [[subculture]] or movement, a '''retreat'''<ref>Fergusson, Nialll, ''[https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/trump-s-america-is-no-weimar-republic 'Weimar America'? The Trump Show Is No Cabaret]'', Bloomberg Quint, September 6, 2020]</ref> is a place of refuge. Sometimes their retreats are called a '''bug-out location''' ('''BOL'''), a '''bunker''', or a '''bolt hole'''. Survivalist retreats are intended to be [[self-sufficiency|self-sufficient]] and easily defended. Generally, they are located in sparsely populated [[Wilderness|outback]] [[rural area]]s.
==History==
While [[fallout shelter]]s have been advocated since the 1950s, dedicated self-sufficient survivalist retreats have been advocated only since the mid-1970s. The survival retreat concept has been touted by a number of influential survivalist writers including [[Ragnar Benson]], [[Robert K. Brown]], [[Barton Biggs]], [[Bruce D. Clayton]], [[Jeff Cooper (colonel)|Jeff Cooper]], [[Cresson Kearny]], [[James Wesley Rawles]], [[Howard Ruff]], [[Kurt Saxon]], [[Joel Skousen]], [[Don Stephens]], [[Mel Tappan]], and [[Nancy Tappan]].{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} Survivalists or "preppers" build these survivalist retreats to help them survive in the event of a
===1960s===
With the increasing inflation of the 1960s, the impending
Articles on the subject appeared in such small-distribution libertarian publications as ''The Innovator'' and ''Atlantis Quarterly''.
===1970s===
In 1975, Kurt Saxon began publishing a newsletter called ''The Survivor'', which advocated moving to lightly populated regions to "lie low" during a socio-economic collapse, and setting up fortified enclaves for defense against what he termed "killer caravans"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.textfiles.com/survival/caravans |title=The Killer Caravans |publisher=Textfiles.com |
In 1976, Don Stephens popularized the term "retreater" and advocated relocating to a rural retreat when society breaks down.
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Writers such as Howard Ruff warned about socio-economic collapse and recommended moving to lightly populated farming regions, most notably in his 1979 book ''How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years'', a best-seller in 1979.
For a time in the 1970s, the terms "survivalist" and "retreater" were used interchangeably.
One of the most important newsletters on survivalism and survivalist retreats in the 1970s was the ''Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter'' (
===1980s===
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===1990s===
Several books published in the 1990s offered advice on survival retreats and relocation. Some influential in survivalist circles are ''Survival Retreat: A Total Plan For Retreat Defense'' by Ragnar Benson, ''Strategic
===2000 to present===
In recent years, advocacy of survivalist retreats has had a strong resurgence after the [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks]] on the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]] in 2001, the [[2002 Bali bombings|2002 attacks]] and [[2005 Bali bombings|2005 attacks]] in [[Bali]], the [[2004 Madrid train bombings]] in [[Spain]], and the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|2005 public transportation bombings]] in [[London]].{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}
Several books published since 2000 advocate survival retreats and relocation. Some that have been particularly influential in survivalist circles are ''How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home '' by Joel Skousen,
Economic troubles emerging from the credit collapse triggered by the 2007
▲Economic troubles emerging from the credit collapse triggered by the 2007 US [[subprime mortgage crisis]] have prompted a wider cross-section of the populace to modify their homes as well as establish dedicated survival retreats.<ref name=autogenerated2>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times]</ref> James Wesley Rawles, the editor of SurvivalBlog was quoted by the ''New York Times'' in April 2008 that "interest in the survivalist movement 'is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s'”. He also stated that his blog's conservative core readership has been supplemented with "an increasing number of stridently green and left-of-center readers."<ref name=autogenerated2 />
[[Mel Tappan]] was quoted
▲==Necessity of retreats==
▲[[Mel Tappan]] was quoted in 1981 by then AP correspondent [[Peter Arnett]] that: "The concept most fundamental to long term disaster preparedness, in retreating, is having a safe place to go to avoid the concentrated violence destined to erupt in the cities." <ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ar8RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1781,1319693&dq=mel+tappan+arnett+having+a+safe+place+to+go+to+avoid+the+concentrated&hl=en] {{dead link|date=November 2013}}</ref>
==Common retreat locale parameters==
Common retreat locale selection parameters include light population density, plentiful water, [[arable land]], good solar exposure for gardening and [[photovoltaics]], situation above any flood plains, and a diverse and healthy local economy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalblog.com/retreatareas.html#CONUS |title=SurvivalBlog.com |publisher=SurvivalBlog.com |access-date
One of the key goals of retreats is to be [[autarky|self-sufficient]] for the duration of [[societal collapse]]. To that end, plentiful water and arable soil are paramount considerations. Beyond that, a priority is situation on isolated, defensible terrain. Typically, retreats do not want their habitations or structures jeopardized by being within line of sight of any major highway.
Because of its low population density and diverse economy, James Wesley Rawles <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalblog.com/retreatareas.html |title=SurvivalBlog.com |publisher=SurvivalBlog.com |access-date
Mel Tappan was disappointed by the demographics of southwestern Oregon after the survivalist influx of the late 1970s. "Too many doctors and lawyers" relocated to Oregon, and "not enough plumbers, electricians, or carpenters."<ref name=autogenerated1 />
===Evacuation to a retreat===
While some survivalists recommend living at a rural retreat year-round,<ref>{{cite web
==Retreat organization==
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==Retreat architecture and security==
Jeff Cooper popularized the concept of hardening retreats against [[small arms]] fire. In an article
In both his book ''Rawles on Retreats and Relocation'' and in his survivalist novel,
Both Bruce D. Clayton and Joel Skousen have
==Retreat logistics==
Anticipating long periods of time without commerce in the future, as well as observing documented history, retreat groups typically place a strong emphasis on logistics.
In their books, Joel Skousen, Mel Tappan, and Howard Ruff all emphasize the need to have a one-year supply of storage food.
Mainstream economist and financial adviser Barton Biggs is a proponent of well-stocked retreats. In his 2008 book ''Wealth, War, and Wisdom'', Biggs has a gloomy outlook for the economic future, and suggests that investors take [[survivalist]] measures.
==Survivalist retreats worldwide==
Survivalist retreats, both formal and informal exist worldwide, most visibly in Australia,<ref>{{cite web|last=Donaldson |first=Janaia |url=http://www.energybulletin.net/node/22852 |title=Head for the hills - the new survivalists |publisher=Energybulletin.net |date=2006-11-23 |
==Government operated retreats==
Construction of government-built retreats, [[Compound (fortification)|security compounds]] and underground shelters—roughly analogous to survivalist retreats—has been done extensively since the advent of the [[Cold War]], especially of public nuclear [[fallout shelters]] in many nations. The [[United States]] government has created [[Continuity of Government]] (COG) shelters built by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] and [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] ("FEMA"). These include the massive shelter built under the [[The Greenbrier#The Bunker|Greenbrier hotel]] (aka [[Project Greek Island]]), military facilities
==Further reading==
*''[[Fallout Protection]]'' (1961)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/falloutprotectio00unitrich Fallout Protection ]</ref>
*''[[Nuclear war survival skills|Nuclear War Survival Skills]]'' by [[Cresson Kearny]] (1979, updated 1987 version) {{ISBN|0-942487-01-X}}
*''[[Survival Under Atomic Attack]]'' (1950)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/survivalunderato00bost Survival Under Atomic Attack]</ref>
*''Tappan on Survival'' by Mel Tappan (1981) {{ISBN|0-916172-04-X}} <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/mark_l_anderson/faqs/tapp.txt |title=Tappan on Survival |author=Mel Tappan |publisher=Webcitation.org |
*[[Textfiles.com]] archive of articles that circulated online during the [[bulletin board system|BBS]] era, includes several Kurt Saxon articles from his old newsletter: [http://www.textfiles.com/survival/ Article archives]
==See also==
* [[Survival kit]]
* [[Survivalism in fiction]]
* [[Panic room]]
* [[Blockhouse]]
* [[Tsunami house]]
==References==
{{Reflist
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