Gaye Levy
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Today I share the next author interview in the Backdoor Survival Winter Book Festival. F.J. Bohan, the author of Barbed Wire, Barricades, and Bunkers: The Free Citizen’s Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat shares his answers to my questions and is also providing one of my readers with a free copy of his book.
Before we begin, I want to let you know that there will be a short delay in announcing the winner of last week’s book giveaway. The winner of George Ure’s How to Live on $10,000 a Year – Or Less will be announced as soon as I return from my travels.
Be sure to check out the details of this week’s giveaway below.
AN INTERVIEW WITH FJ BOHAN
Tell me about your book, Barbed Wire, Barricades, and Bunkers: The Free Citizen’s Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat. What is it about?
BWBB is a book about longevity. It reviews information that is common in the world of warfare and counter-terrorism protections, yet not completely understood by the average citizen. It covers what I believe to be essential information that every citizen should have when considering the defense of their homes to protect their families, friends, and neighbors.
The uncertainty of the future that exists today by far surpasses the uncertainty felt by Americans in earlier times. In reviewing the shelters and measures offered to the citizenry by our government in the past and comparing those measures with how our military does things, it is easy to conclude that preserving the citizens comes second to preserving the military and the power that politicians hold over us, commonly referred to as the continuity of government.
Today, when we are witness to Russia, China, Norway, and many other nations building shelters for their citizens at breakneck speed, I see us all stepping back and taking pause for a collective head scratch.
Once the truth sinks in, we realize that survival is up to us. There will not be anyone coming to our aid. There is no rescue or relief heading to our doors; only trouble.
This book covers just a segment of what it will take to preserve your overall survivability by explaining how to use tried-and-true methods in fortifying your home against various types of attacks.
What type of research did you have to do while writing BWBB?
The information covered in BWBB draws from my personal experiences, as well as many other resources such as Army field manuals, government publications, and several rewarding visits to the US Army Heritage and Education Center and Army Heritage Trail in Carlisle, PA.
Anyone who is within reasonable driving distance of Carlisle should visit the museum, Heritage Trail, and research center which are all free and open to the public.
How long did it take to write?
This project took a bit longer than I thought it would when I started. I kept uncovering more information that I wanted to include. All told, I’d say it took four months scattered over a six month period.
Every book, fiction and non-fiction, includes a message. What message do you hope my readers will take with them after reading BWBB?
The one message I hope everyone understands when they read this book is that time is of the essence. As a country and a free people, we have been under attack for decades and are just now prepping for survival.
Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
My wife and I live in the Appalachian Mountains on a small mountain ranch. We have been preppers since long before the term was coined but enjoy being a part of the new awakening we see in our fellow countrymen.
Do you have plans for another book?
BWBB is actually my second book with Paladin Press. The first book is titled Living on the Edge: A Family’s Journey to Self-Sufficiencyand details our experiences living off-grid while out west. Ultimately, we relocated back east, recognizing that water is everything as far as survival is concerned.
I do have plans for several new books. The next, I hope, will be another Paladin Press book which should be of interest to preppers, as well.
Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?
While it is true that time is short, there is still time to do something to better increase your survivability in the troubles that lay ahead. Giving up and relying on others is not a valid option for the free citizen. There will be many who toss up their arms and surrender their freedoms in exchange for a new role as a refugee. They will not be the survivors.
Gather all the information you can and act now to prepare.
I am a believer in keeping a library of hard copy books on all subjects relating to self-sufficiency, living off the land, survival, hunting, and trapping, as well as defensive measures. While it may be convenient to review information electronically, EMPs, solar flares, and other technical threats can destroy your electronic library in a flash. Our children and grandchildren will need this information for their survival, as well.
A special thanks to Gaye for taking the time to read and review my book!
THE BOOK GIVEAWAY
A copy of FJ’s book, Barbed Wire, Barricades, and Bunkers: The Free Citizen’s Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat has been reserved for one lucky reader.
This week’s question? We are going to have some fun this week by asking you this:
What is your favorite survival or prepping book or e-book?
This can be something in your own library, something you have borrowed, or even one of those free e-books from Amazon that I promote on my Facebook page.
Please reply with your answer in the comments form at the bottom of this page. If you are reading this in an email, you will need to click through to the website to get to the form.
The deadline is 6:00 AM Pacific next Friday. A winner will be selected next Friday at random using tools on the random.org website. (Note: Due to my upcoming travels, there may be a delay in selecting and announcing the winner but absolutely, a winner will be selected.)
THE FINAL WORD
After food and water, defending my home is my number one prepping priority. I can never get my hands on enough reading material to educate myself on this topic. Like many of my readers, in all but the most catastrophic of circumstances, I plan to bug in.
I am grateful to authors such as FJ for providing me with the tools I need to insure that my home is safe.
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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Spotlight Item: Todays featured book is, of course, Barbed Wire, Barricades, and Bunkers: The Free Citizen’s Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat.
This is a guide to readying your home retreat for any scenario. You will learn how to take proven designs for fortified structures and adapt them to your personal defense plan. Examples include barbed-wire fences and entanglements, concrete posts and barriers, and simple but effective sandbags— and a lot more.
Bargain Bin: Listed below are all of the books in the Backdoor Survival Winter Reading List. There are both fiction and non-fiction titles and a bit of something for everyone. Also, some of these books are Kindle e-books but you do not need a Kindle to read Kindle e-books. Simply download the free Kindle app from the Amazon site and you are good to go.
The Backdoor Survival Winter Reading List – Non-Fiction
The Prepper Next Door: A Practical Guide For Disaster And Emergency Planning (Author Charlie Palmer)
Rapid Fire!: Tactics for High Threat, Protection and Combat Operations (Author Max Velocity)
Lanterns, Lamps and Candles (Author Ron Brown)
An Operations Manual For Humankind – The Complete Compendium Of Natural Health: (Author: Paul Patrick Robinson)
Understanding the Use of Handguns for Self-Defense (Author David Nash)
Where There Is No Doctor (Authors David Werner, Jane Maxwell, Carol Thuman)
Making the Best of Basics – Family Preparedness Handbook: (Author James Talmadge Stevens)
How to Live on $10,000 a Year – Or Less – Newly Revised for 2013 (Author George Ure)
Barbed Wire, Barricades, and Bunkers: The Free Citizen’s Guide to Fortifying the Home Retreat (Author F.J. Bohan)
The Prepper’s Pantry: Building and Thriving with Food Storage (Author Anne Lang)
The Truth About Simple Unhooked Living (Author Estar Holmes)
The Backdoor Survival Winter Reading List – Fiction
Preppers Road March (Author Ron Foster)
BUG OUT! Preppers on the move! (Author Ron Foster)
The Light In The Lake: The Survival Lake Retreat (Author Ron Foster)
Patriot Dawn: The Resistance Rises: (Author Max Velocity)
Holding Their Own: A Story of Survival (Author Joe Nobody)
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29 Responses to “Winter Book Festival and Giveaway: FJ Bohan and Barbed Wire, Barricades and Bunkers”
Hi Gaye, Excellent interview and I look forward to reading his book.
My favorite survival book so far has to be John Wisemans “SAS Survival Handbook” for any climate and any situation. Most complete one that I have read.
Have fun with your travels and look forward to your next review.
My favorite survival book is actually an old woodslore and camping book for young people, Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger 1940. It showed me a simple and self-reliant approach to experiencing the outdoors when I was a teenager.
Hi Gaye, What an interesting interview. I would love to get a copy of this book. Thanks for another great give away. I will be thrilled if I win this book. Thanks, Robert
It’s hard to pin it down to a single book but I like Carla Emery’s book of Country Living Skills for the ‘brass tack’ info and Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles for ‘scenario thinking’.
For poster John Wesley Smith, unfortunately, the game we’re all being forced into is militaristic. You’re either going to have to get your mind around that or fail.
I don’t see relocating as an alternative. Where do you think you’re going to relocate to where you won’t have to live in a militaristic scenario? The entire world is going that way, there are no safe havens no matter how much we want there to be.
I think relocating causes you to lose one valuable thing, homefield advantage. You know the area and people you are already in. Don’t lose that.
It sounds militaristic because the military mindset is what is required to keep going when you are neck deep in s&&t and alligators and the only thing to do is to keep on going until you’re out of it. The US Army field manual tells you everything you could possibly want to know about surviving in a hostile environment. The US Navy Seals manual is smaller and more concise. It lacks most of the drawings of the Army’s book, but then SEAL’s are not going to be in one place for very long-24 hours or less if at all possible. No excess verbiage here: as the old TV line went “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts”.
Then we can add all of the Rodale publications, and the more common and long time in print DIY books on construction, etc. This author admits to gleaning the DoD manuals, which does excuse his plagiarism, but doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in his facts.
I do not see my government as any kind of a threat, only those who can be considered as misguided and willful scum who have attained positions of power, i.e. Ovomit. These animals are at all levels of government, and getting rid of them is the job of the FBI and other internal intelligence arms who actively seek out the bad guys. \
It’s a beautiful day here today in Windsor Heights Iowa (Des Moines suburb), sun shining, few clouds, and moderate westerly winds. So I think I’ll go out and park myself in a chair with electric blankets above and below me, drink some “hi’ falutin'” coffee, and smoke a good cigar. I would leave you with this re-thought of what The Lord said: “Six days shalt thou work, and the seventh thou shalt rest.” I would say: “5 days thou shalt work, including thy housework, so that though may goof off or do as you wish on the 6th and 7th days, and feel no guilt.”
I hope you all have as good a day as I plan to, and for those afflicted, beset by troubles, and such, may The Lord Bless you, and keep you, and make His Face to shine upon you.
My favorite book at the moment is Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse, by James Wesley Rawles. It was a good story line and a lot of great information on preparation for hard times. Many of the chapters outlined what may occur in the future. Well worth the cost and the time to read it. Thanks for all the good information you bring to us.
I think I understand the author’s point of view, but it all sounds so militaristic. Is that really how we want to live? Surely there are other prepping alternatives, including relocating.
First of all I would like to request Gaye to remove me from this contest, because I wanted the book on Barbwire and Barricades so much that I just purchased it on Amazon (hopefully through your link).
Second, as many have, I need to respond to the concern about life becoming militaristic. I would like to divide this life into three stages. First is the great stage we are in now, with the freedom to learn, to prep, and to practice all sorts of homesteading and survival skills. Second is local emergencies, such as a hurricane, in which you may need your preps or your bug out gear, but the disaster will pass without violence. Third would be national or world wide crisis which will change the world as we know it. Large scale disaster will put us into a state of lawlessness because law enforcers will also have been hit by the pandemic, EMP strike, economic collapse or nuclear attack. They will not be there to protect us. In order to protect ourselves, our families, and our homes against violent attacks by gangs of armed thugs who did not prep, yes, we can best learn from and follow a militaristic model. It is the best route to preparing and executing home defense in a lawless situation. Hope this helps.
Dear Gaye, first of all, thank you for this week’s interview, and for entering me in the contest. I am extremely interested in “Barbed Wire, Barricades and Bunkers”. These tactics will be the key to defending my home. Firearms alone will not be enough. I currently spend most of my prepping though time on these subjects.
Favorite Book: I have found that certain works of fiction are so full of detailed practical information that they have as much or more value than non-fiction. My two favorites so far are “Patriots” and “Bugging Out to Nowhere.”
There’s a few that’s really great and its hard for me too pick one. The one I’m been studying on this past week seems pretty good. My son had borrowed this book from one of his Boy Scouts friends. Hugh McManners, THE COMPLETE WILDERNESS TRAINING MANUAL,second revised edition. Boy Scouts of America…… It seems too touch up on all the basics of surviving.. I want to thank you agin for a great web site,and all the great info for these crazy times where living in…Thanks…lol…
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery is one I would not want to be without.
Right now (it changes all the time), my favorite ebook you suggested is by Alex Smith – Getting Home, making it back to your family after diaster strikes. It is well written and easy to understand. He details items you need to carry everyday on your person (EDC); items you need to keep near daily (DP); items to keep at your desk at work; items to keep in your vehicle; and items to get back home if your vehicle is inoperable (GHB). I’m making lots of notes so I remember what I need when I’m out shopping.