I like SP1's stuff as well.  I had a question about something and he called me and we talked for a bit about it.  From all outward appearances, he is a good guy.

Heck, I was enjoying the "fire base" with no patrols myself.

Guys this is off the deep end of silly, approaching impossible, and insulting even to Mid-evil.

First know this, for there to be some catastrophe, any catastrophe, that times get really hard, there's going to be a mass exodus of people.  That's history from the Great Famine to the Dust Bowl in the US.  Anyone who's ever manned a permanent fire base knows this.  Even this guys physics are off like you can grow enough food inside a compound to support enough people to man the perimeter.  That's going to be one big ass compound.  That's especially big since he talked like it was permanently manned ready for action and no mention of reinforcement which blows his one man probe idea.  Its like he never saw "Green Beret" the movie or  hell "The Alamo" and/or "Zulu" and doesn't grasp "Re-enforce the north wall".  

All I can say is best not play chess for a living for he's one dimensional and one move at a time.  In Survival if you are playing checkers while the world plays chess, you lose.  

What he described was a "Fire base" or if you want step back in history a little, a Fort.  Heck you can PC it and call it a Gated Community or survival cool call it a Compound, but its all the same thing.  Regardless unless you want to be Molotov Cocktail or something far worse constant recipient, you won't be shooting at anyone walking up to your perimeter anymore than we did in Vietnam or soldiers today do in Afghanistan.  You may have to but it won't be shoot on sight.  This is classic "Hermit" survival philosophy and it doesn't work.  Face reality here if you have a compound you don't control more than 300 yards as far as a typical bullet can fly, you aren't in control of anything.  You are holed up forsaking everything around you like an old west fort once the settlements are on fire and burning.  You are Captain Smith of the Titanic ready to go down with the ship.  

Its far more complex than probe then attack.  There's recon, probe in force so to draw the maximum fire, feint, siege, etc. etc.  Compound tactics would include roving patrols, ambush, intelligence gathering (every person walking up to that gate is a source intel), reserves, re-enforcement, flanking, egress (a real biggie), etc. etc.  

You can keep this stand and fight or die crap.  Survival implies you live and combat is fight when you have a plan to win.  The Charge of the Light Brigade was a mistake.  

Of course, there are situations you may have to "hole up" even without a permanent loss of services, but a loss of services doesn't mean "oh boy I get to hole up".  If you have time to establish a "compound", you have time to do all those other things principle to most take the fight to them other than put your children in the line of fire. I don't understand this obsession people have with putting their families in harms way.  Its a fantasy that often you have to ignore history and even science to even conceive it.  

The reality to this mans scenario is an enemy won't need to use a one man probe your defenses, he'd already have nailed someone on the outside and know what they are.   Guns don't all shoot the same distance and even a child can make a motor or catapult. Only a fool throws himself at overwhelming odds and its a mistake to think your enemy whoever that may be is a fool. You only hole up when you know you will be relieved, things will get better, help is on the way.  Things only get better if you are part of the solution.  

Patton said, "Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man".  He was right.  You win by controlling the area and that means community not just the fort.

Tj