The second in a series of two stories

From Staff Reports

 WAYNESVILLE � A class on �Being Prepared� was among the dozens offered during the Life Skills Conference held Sept. 28-29 at the Haywood County Fairgrounds.

Led by Preston Ingalls, about 50 people attended the two-hour program, which was held Sept. 29. Ingalls said he has been a prepper � or �survivalist� as was the term until recently � since the early 1980s and he is the leader of a prepper group that has a retreat.

Ingalls said the evidence of impending financial catastrophe in the United States �is esclating ... The best scenario is a deflational environment� and the worst �is a collapse of the financial system.�

He added, �The government is ready � are you?� Specifically, Ingalls said, �It�s kind of spooky when you start looking at the statistics... Why do you think the United States government is buying� up ammunition? It�s that they don�t want you to have all these rounds.� 

Next, Ingalls said the U.S. unemployment statistics are misleading. �What�s not in those statistics?� he asked. He then said the under-employed and long-term unemployed are not included in the figure, making the jobless situation seem better than it is.

If a collapse occurred, where should someone go and what should that individual do? he queried.

�Find some property and surround yourself with like-minded people,� Ingalls advised. �I don�t believe the world is going to end. I think it�s going to be different and people will have a different lifestyle.� Ideally, he said one would band together with �14 or 15 families,� the minimal size �to be able to sustain themselves and their families.�

For a retreat, he said key characteristics would include a good Southern exposure for passive solar heating and crop growth, be up against a mountain or on top of a hill where it could be defended, have a flowing, year-round stream or creek for an alternative water source and mini-hydro power, and be well-hidden from all roads.

�When the nukes (nuclear reactors) run out of fuel, they will melt down,� Ingalls said. Therefore, he noted that his own rule is to have no retreat within 60 miles of a nuclear reactor.

With a grin, he noted that �there is no course at Duke (University) or N.C. State on �Retreat Management 101.�� To that end, he said many hippie communes, survivalist retreats and other such alternative communities fail because �they don�t enact bylaws.� Also, Ingalls said that �strong leadership� is needed, �but not autocratic leadership.�

Building group dynamics is important for a group at a retreat, he said. For instance, �We�ll cook as a group � not individually. It�s more efficient for the food� and builds camaraderie.

In his camp, �all teens must become firearms-proficient,� along with all adults, Ingalls said. �We are prepared to use legal force to protect ourselves.�

In his �group,� the person who has the lenthiest drive to reach the retreat is five hours away. Ingalls said that two to two and a half hours is a good average driving distance from a retreat.

�We require everyone to have a mobilization map, Ingalls noted. �We have a Plan A, B and C. In business, they say to have a Plan A and B. We require a Plan C, too.�

Someone asked how far back in time one must go to be ensured of having an �EMP-proof� vehicle.

�Anything in the �70s and early �80s� should still function in the event of an electromagnetic pulse, Ingalls replied, in reference to motor vehicles.

In addressing what he termed �minimal expectations� for what one desiring to join a retreat group should have, Ingalls listed six months of stored food �for everyone in your family,� up to two medium-sized water filters and �no less than $150 in barter items.�

Ingalls added, �Wear subdued clothing. We don�t encourage camouflage, except for hunters...� He also said that his group requires that �each family must have at least one windup watch.�

In general, he said those preparing for catastrophe should have �sufficient water filtration for a six months� supply of water, gas masks and a 10-day supply of potassium iodate,� the latter of which are anti-radiation pills.

Each male in group must have an AR-15 rifle and a 9-mm handgun as primary weapons, as well as a .22 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, while each woman must have a 9-mm handgun or a .38 revolver, Ingalls said.

In regarding the possibility of an EMP attack, he said �we fabricated a Farraday Cage to store (the group�s) electronic equipment,� which was wrapped in aluminum foil.

�Protect what you have stored,� he stressed.

�In a sudden �down� situation, we know that the (grocery and hardware) stores will be emptied in two to three days,� Ingalls said. �Restaurants, distribution centers and other food preparation or storage faciltities will be emptied in one or two weeks.�

Given that �there are 90 weapons for every 100 Americans,� 33,000 street gangs with 1.4 million members and �a 40 percent increase in activity (street gang violence) in the last three years, the ability to defend oneself will be critical to survival.

�Gangs are responsible for 48 percent of the violent crime� in the U.S., Ingalls said, citing FBI statistics.

�You had better be prepared to protect what you have store with a hardened resolve,� he noted. 

�It is an easy choice to deal with �bad guys,� but what about �good bad guys.�� a reference to those in uniform, either law enforcement or the military?

�The �bad guys� will probably be coming through the woods� in an attack, but �the �good bad guys� will be coming through the gate, under martial law,� Ingalls said. Therefore, he said a retreat mantra is �Keep it hidden... They can only seize what they can find.�

To that end, he recommended stocking a fully supplied redoubt that yone can go back to, in case the retreat is overtaken. �Have multiple layers of defense ... lots of signs ... tell them you�re prepared to shoot.�

Ingalls also recommended having a secondary ring involving an early-warning system. �When will they (the bad guys) come? When you least expect them. They usually prefer pre-dawn.� The general theory in attacking a retreat is to �take advanage of the darkness (at pre-dawn) to attack and the light (later) to mop up...

�When does the watchtower go up? When the bad things come down� on society, Ingalls said, advising that it be placed in a central location within a retreat.