ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE

THE ONLY ENTRANCE and exit to the place is a dirt road, one you suspect would be difficult to drive on during or after a rain. The house is just as unpretentious as the man who stands in front of it. He knew the moment that you turned your car onto his road, either because of some warning system or because of some sixth sense.

Dick Edwards is a sur-vivalist-one of those folks who thinks the whole damn social order in this country is en route to collapse, that we’re on a collision course with an economic depression that will result in nationwide strife and rioting, that family members and friends will one day fight and kill for food.

Edwards is not one of those survivalists who is worried about whether he should put his money into gold, silver or diamonds. He’s worried about food, water and shelter-about staying alive.

In prophesying doom, and in preparing for it, Edwards is not the Lone Ranger. Nationwide, survivalists number in the millions. And there are at least 100,000-maybe as many as 250,000-in the Dallas area.

They are, as a whole, low profile. They band together in small units and store food, guns and ammunition. They practice self-sufficiency. Some are loners, planning to care only for their immediate families when disaster strikes. When Doomsday comes, no matter what shape it takes, they don’t want to be overrun by hordes of starving neighbors. Distrust is an integral part of survival dogma.

Survivalists, though, come in all shapes and sizes, and with diverse views on how to prepare for Doomsday. The softcore think it only prudent to have a year’s supply of food on hand. The hardcore agree with such prudence, but also keep an arsenal of military-type weapons to protect what they have. And to take whatever they need.

If you see survivalists as part of the lunatic fringe, you’re wrong. They are thinkers and doers, they come from every level of society. They are rich, comfortable, poor. They are professionals, skilled workers, laborers.

But there is a common bond, a recurring theme: inflation, shortages, hunger, looting, rioting, economic collapse and war. And how to prepare, how to be self-sufficient.

Edwards’ private Utopia is a study in what he calls “alternative architecture.” The house has just 625 square feet of living space, but it seems roomier. Every inch has been utilized.

The house has two bedrooms, a combination family-dining room and small kitchen. There’s also a full bath. The walls are solid 2-by-4s, built with leftovers from an apartment project. The 2-by-4s have been stained and varnished. Insulation is on the unpainted exterior walls.

Edwards built the house, 60 miles east of Dallas in a thicket of hardwoods, for less than $5,000. It’s doubtful that J. Stiles or Talmadge Tinsley will try to copy his work, but the place is comfortable.

“There were 20 or 30 Dumpsters full of 2-by-4s, and the contractor was paying $100 a Dumpster to have them hauled off,” says Edwards. “My house is built out of those 2-by-4s, so the walls are three and five-eighths inches thick and solid. I put 250 pounds of 16-penny nails in the house.

“With my instruction, my 15-year-old stepdaughter wired the house, ana my solar heating system cost only $28. The entire house has been built out of scrap material, but I would venture to say that it’s stronger and better built than any house in Dallas. It’s not complete yet, but it’s bought and paid for.

“We cool our house with an attic fan. The method I have developed makes it very comfortable even on the warmest days. And after all, our ancestors had 100-degree days and didn’t die.

“My family doesn’t do things to save money, but just to save. We are always looking for, trying to find, a better way. The water company where I live charges $15 a month for 3,000 gallons of water. One month we used only 240 gallons. The minimum you can pay the water company is $15, but the important thing is that we conserved water. I’m not motivated by money. I’m a conservationist, a survivalist.

Edwards is of average height, heavier than he probably should be, 43 years old, thinning hair. He says he looks like a construction foreman, which he is.

A native Pennsylvanian who six years ago sold his farm and took a job in Dallas, Edwards became a survivalist in his youth, though he didn’t call himself such at the time. His parents divorced when he was young and, at age 15, he reasoned that no one could take better care of him than he could care for himself. So he left the dominance of his father and talked a farmer into letting him call an old chicken house home.

According to his self-legend, Edwards made the chicken house livable, worked for his food and clothing and completed high school. No frills, no fancy stuff. No athletics, no adolescent games. His childhood wasn’t easy; it was sometimes downright unpleasant, but he persevered. In the process he developed an attitude toward his possessions -“No one can take my stuff.”

There is a youthful defiance about Edwards. “I lived in that chicken house for two years. I fixed it up. I bought my own bed. I saved. I always knew that I was going to eat because I prepared for whatever the future might bring. And there was no way that I was going to let anyone take my stuff.”

Edwards is not a gun-totin’ survivalist, but he’s quick to point out that anyone who bothers his family or tries to take his stuff had better be ready to dodge buckshot.

“I have guns,” he says. “Guns are necessary to protect what’s yours, but I’m not into guns like some survivalists are. I don’t subscribe to the theory that guns are the most important thing that a survivalist can have. Knowledge is really the most important thing. After all, you can’t kill everybody.

“You need to know how to purify water, how to find food, how to grow food. If these military-type survivalists kill all the farmers instead of learning from them, maybe even protecting them, then they will end up dying a more horrible death than the people they shoot.

“I’m not involved in any survivalist movement. I don’t trust movements, just myself. I believe in being fair and honest, paying my bills, and if I don’t like you I won’t associate with you. And I sure as hell won’t prostitute myself for money.”

Edwards, a chain smoker, doesn’t drink alcoholic beverages, doesn’t go to restaurants and hasn’t been to a movie in more than 10 years. It’s not a matter of setting his face against the modern, but “my old lady doesn’t have any problem knowing where I’m at.”

Edwards is a man of stubborn independence, bloated, blustering ways, but he wants, perhaps most of all, not to be misunderstood. He cares nothing for power, loves practical knowledge and probably knows as much about survival as anyone could. He studies survival techniques two to three hours every day, says he can solve any problem if he has a chance to study it, says he keeps himself in a state of constant awareness. He’s not bragging. Both his confusions and clarity compel attention.

Edwards doesn’t think the country can be saved by politicians. “Look what’s happening. Reagan’s bustin’ his ass trying to do the right thing and people are trying to put a knife in his back. I thought he had a mandate from the people, but from theory to the practical it turns into a lot of bullshit. Everyone is for budget cuts as long as it doesn’t affect them.

“I think Reagan’s doing a good job because he has everybody whining. I think it took a man with real balls to do what he did with the air traffic controllers. He’s as tough as Truman was about getting done what has to be done, but he’s a bit more diplomatic. Still, that’s not enough. One man can’t do it.”

A rooster crows in the chicken pen just up from the house and Edwards changes the subject. “I don’t know why I’m so fascinated with chickens, except that they can take care of themselves. I don’t eat eggs and I hate to eat chicken.” But chicken droppings can be a source of methane gas and fertilizer for a garden.

“A millionaire can walk into one of these survival food stores and plunk down $20,000 for tons of dehydrated food,” Edwards says. “But that millionaire can’t achieve what I can achieve doing everything on my own. That millionaire isn’t intimately acquainted with survival. You have to remember, when the fall comes there won’t be any survival-food stores either.”

Food, water and alternate energy sources aren’t all that occupy Edwards’ survivalist mind. His family studies languages, such as Japanese, so they can communicate in a type of code after Doomsday.

For two years Edwards was an instructor in the Japanese air force. He considers the Japanese the “finest people on the face of the earth.” Some of that admiration has to do with Japanese productivity. “The Japanese use less than one-fourth calorie to produce one calorie of food,” he says. “It takes us [Americans] two to two and one-half calories to produce one calorie of food.”

Members of the younger generation, Edwards says, are dumb; while they may know a great deal about computers and bandy about words like “interface,” they know practically nothing about the realities of survival.

“Our knowledge is actually going downhill. To those who say the youth of today are smarter than our forefathers, I say, in a pig’s ass.”

For Edwards, survivalism has become Duty. While he may, or may not, recognize the casualties of his interpretation, he refuses to compromise with the modern world. He does not bewail the destiny he sees for us, but instead makes plans to live with it.



BUT, FORGET for the moment the serenity of Edwards’ country. Let’s visit an old-frame house at 4918 Mission Ave. in Dallas. An unusual house. When you enter it you are surrounded by boxes of military ammunition and supplies. The house is an open-to-the-public weapons store.

You’re greeted by Richard Lopez, 41, owner of Defense Associates, a man in the business of selling survival equipment, including machine guns. And a man with a vigil.

“The reason most survivalists are labeled extremists, says Lopez, “is because of a lot of misunderstanding. We’ve got to keep up the vigil, we’ve got to fight to preserve our freedom. After all, a lot of poor 18-year-old schmucks died for our freedom, maybe before they ever got their first piece of ass.”

Lopez has been selling machine guns for four years, and he says business is good.

“People are still scared. They come in here wanting to buy a high-powered rifle for the purpose of defending their home. 1 try to tell them to get a shotgun. You can have a shotgun with a seven-inch, even a two-inch barrel, if you don’t mind burning your eyebrows when you shoot.

“To get a shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches, you have to pay a $200 registration fee, just like for a machine gun. That’s because it’s considered a destructive weapon. You don’t have to pay the $200 registration fee for a Remington 12-gauge riot shotgun, because it has an 18-inch barrel.”

It’s relatively simple to buy a destructive weapon from Lopez, a sawed-off shotgun or machine gun, or even a silencer. They have to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and you have to be able to answer “no” to 12 questions. They are the same 12 questions you have to answer no to when buying any gun.



1) Are you a fugitive from justice?

2) Are you under indictment for afelony?

3) Have you ever been convicted ofa felony?

4) Are you a narcotic addict?

5) Are you an unlawful user ofdrugs?

6) Has a court ever declared youmentally defective?

7) Has a court ever declared youmentally incompetent?

8) Have you ever been committed toany mental institute?

9) As a veteran, were you dishonorably discharged?

10) Have you renounced your U.S.citizenship?

11) Are you an alien who is illegallyor unlawfully in the U.S.?

12) Are you under 21 years of age?



Lopez will then fill out in duplicate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Form 4, and supply you two fingerprint cards. You then take two passport photos, the fingerprint cards and Form 4 to the chief law enforcement officer in your area. He processes the application and signs Form 4. You then send the material to the bureau by registered mail.

It will take four to eight weeks to process your application, which will then be returned to Lopez. If the application is approved, your weapon or silencer can be delivered with a copy of the approved transfer papers. The transfer tax for the weapon or silencer is $200.

“A lot of people come in here who are scared and don’t know what they want,” Lopez says. “A lot of them think they want a pistol, which is designed to shoot something seven feet away. They’ve seen too many movies. And a lot of them want overkill weapons like a .44 magnum. 1 try to tell ’em that you can be killed just as dead with a .22 as with a .45. The shotgun is just definitely the best weapon for home defense, though, especially for the guy who doesn’t shoot much. You can do a lot of damage with a load of buckshot.”

Lopez isn’t going to discourage you from buying a machine gun. That is, after all, an integral part of his business. It’s not just the automatic weapon, but the shells that mean profits for Lopez.

You can, for instance, buy a Smith & Wesson 9mm submachine gun that will fire either semi- or fully automatically for a little more than $800. The fully automatic Colt M-16 sells for better than $850. There are more economical models.

The small MAC-10, in 9mm or .45 caliber, will cost you around $350. With it you can pump about 950 rounds a minute into a target, or a bunch of targets. At least that’s the cycling rate. It can spit out a 32-round magazine in less than two seconds.

Most of your targets show up in the dark? One of Lopez’s hottest items, at $4,800 to $5,200, is a hyper mini-scope. It is a night vision scope. Farmers and ranchers buy the scopes for predator control. Law enforcement and security officers also buy them. They are used to navigate boats at night, and for rescue operations.

Doomsday will create a survival situation for every person and family, Lopez says. He cites the riots in south Florida that occurred more than a year ago as an indication of the frustration, unrest and violence in the population.

“Businesses and homes in the riot area that were not destroyed were defended with guns by their owners. The police could do very little to stop the rioting and were hard-pressed to even contain it. A man has to depend on himself.”

Lopez thinks inflation will continue, that even a recession can’t stop it. He maintains that food, medicine, guns, ammunition and tools are the best hedges against inflation in these times, and that in a survival situation such items will be vital. Rampant inflation, rioting, potential world chaos. Reasons to arm yourself, Lopez will tell you.

For two years Lopez led Special Combat Operations Team (SCOT). He led the team through intensive training programs, ranging from wilderness survival to urban guerrilla warfare. And because of Lopez’s firm, SCOT had plenty of training aids. The team was functioning as intended, Lopez says, the men and their families organized and prepared for any emergency. They trained on 250 acres of rugged landscape west of Dallas, property owned by Gabrial Comacho, a longtime friend of Lopez. SCOT was a strong organization.

Then SCOT began receiving publicity, publicity Lopez says was adverse. He says the “hatchet job by the press” destroyed the group in three short months.

Lopez formed SCOT in the mid-Seventies because of his concern about the failing dollar, the stagnant economy, and what he saw as a soft defense posture of the United States. He wanted a mutual defense and survival organization.

“Our concept was to have the teamwork and training, plus the equipment needed, to get a member family out of a riot-torn area quickly and without the loss of any life. Or, if we had enough time, we could meet at a specified location and determine our status during the threat of war or collapse. “

Since the demise of SCOT, Lopez has been suggesting that persons interested in survival join the Texas State Guard. The Guard is the Constitutional State Militia. Men or women can join, there are no age requirements and prior military service is not a requirement. It’s an all-volunteer organization.

“If you want to learn about survival, the Guard’s the place to do it without a lot of adverse publicity,” says Lopez.

In the meantime?

“I can sell you this Thompson submachine gun for $800.”



AT THE DALLAS INDOOR Pistol Range, you can learn to fire your weapon. The owner of the range, Rick Brantley, probably knows as many survivalists as Lopez. He trains them.

Above the loud clapping of pistol fire, Brantley will offer you places in classes on combat pistol shooting and riot shotgun training. His students include doctors, lawyers, accountants, truck drivers and secretaries.

“But I’d have to say that most of our clients are professional people. And we have special classes for women who want to learn to use handguns. Those classes fill quickly.”

The main instructor in the combat course is 23-year-old Ronin Coleman, who studied and taught at Jeff Cooper’s Combat School in Paulden, Ariz.

“People interested in competitive handgun shooting know that Jeff Cooper is sort of the god of the Colt .45,” Brantley says.

Brantley is co-owner with his parents of Ray’s Sporting Goods at 730 Singleton in Dallas, one of the leading outlets for guns in the nation. Some of his best customers subscribe to the survivalist movement.

Brantley was among 12 area residents who last year took a week-long course at Cooper’s Combat School. He says six of the participants were from a religious group.

“The six people from that religious group outshot everyone. I’d have to say that God was on their side. Six of us had a good time, but not them. They were there to learn to kill, to defend themselves.”



PAT RIFT IS STANDING in one of the aisles of her Survival Products Store at 11550 Piano Road, telling a customer, “No, dehydrated food doesn’t constipate you.”

Ms. Rift, a jovial woman, looks very much at home, very content, among the dehydrated banana chips and green beans that line the shelves of the small store. Though she is a member of the Texas Guard, she has to be classified as a softcore survivalist. She has been what she calls an “economic survivalist” for about 10 years, and has been a dealer in survival products for about six years.

Asked if she’s in the survivalist movement for monetary purposes, Rift laughs. “If I am, it’s not working out too well. I would like the store to pay for itself, but my motivation is to make it possible for people to know some of the alternatives available to them.

“I don’t prescribe units of food for storage as some stores do. I think a food program for a survivalist has to be personally designed to meet that person’s needs. I try to help people plan that way.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that our economic and political situation will result in social disorder. I don’t think it matters who is president, either. Poor Reagan may end up like Herbert Hoover, completely innocent but in a situation that he can’t control.

“The government budget deficit is still out of proportion. Reagan didn’t cause it, but he can’t stop it. The government continues to waste money on nonsensical things. Last year they spent $3 million on an endangered species of sparrows, and there are only three of those sparrows in existence. That’s just one of the many stupid expenditures.”

The guru of soft-core survivalists like Rift is Howard Ruff, a Mormon who is prospering quite well on his book, How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years. More than 2.5 million copies have been sold nationally, and Ruff has now written another book, Survive and Win in the Inflationary Eighties.

Ruff’s combined enterprises will gross more than $25 million this year.

Pat Rift says a real estate salesperson tried to get her to steer survivalists to some East Texas land selling for $2,000 an acre. She says it was worth no more than $450 an acre.

So to the list of Doomsday dangers – nuclear weapons, big government, crooked politicians, a hostile press, the Communists, your neighbor, Christians, non-Christians-add those seeking to make a buck off those only seeking to survive.