But in either case you need a group to keep your area safe. So get to know your neighbors. Most will not be into prepping but there are ways to get them to agree to work together.
One of the best is organize an emergency fire brigade.
Out in the country it can be fifteen to twenty minutes until the fire trucks can get to you best case scenario.
A fire on one property can spread in that time from one property to several.
Once you get people used to the idea of working together rather then one family working and everyone else standing around it can transition very quickly into a community defense group.
That is an amazingly good idea. It’s probably no help for whoever lives near to the fire hall, but almost everyone else in a rural county would benefit from it.