Practical resilience for communities
Ash & Oak, LLC is a small, founder-led California company. We build practical resilience for communities: the skills, tools, and places people need to stay safe, connected, and self-reliant when conventional systems fall short.
Three ventures, one purpose
Refugium
Emergency preparedness training and consulting in firearms, medical, power, and emergency resources. Today Refugium works one-on-one, through custom consulting and individual instruction. For emergency communications, Refugium works through Radios Without Rulers, a separate Ash & Oak venture.
Rootworks, part of Refugium
Rootworks guides groups forming intentional communities through the full path to owning land together, and helps make existing urban homes resilient during utility interruptions.
Radios Without Rulers
Emergency point-to-point communications without commercial infrastructure, including system builds, ham radio licensing help, starter kits, classes, and education.
How the work fits together
All three meet the same need from different angles. Refugium covers preparedness: medical, power, food, and security. Through Rootworks, it also helps make existing urban homes resilient enough to serve as places of refuge during significant utility interruptions, and helps groups with land and governance for self-reliant communities. Radios Without Rulers covers communications that don't depend on the power grid or cellular carriers. The ventures share field operations, including a mobile unit used for both training and radio research.
About the founder
Jason Breede founded Ash & Oak in 2025 and runs it as Founder and Managing Member.
Jason holds an MS in Engineering (mechanical, with a robotics specialization) and an MBA. He has senior engineering leadership experience in sustainable building technology and AI. From 2008 to 2010 he owned and operated a renewable energy and energy efficiency company. He is a former appointed member of the Planning Commission for the City of Peoria, Illinois, with experience in land use, zoning, and sustainable development.
He is a licensed amateur radio operator, call sign W6DOM, with hands-on RF engineering and field-testing experience. He has lifelong firearms experience: he was raised on military installations and trained in firearms safety from childhood.
Recent classes and talks
- Class: Intro to HF antennas. Oakland, August 2026.
- Class: Intro to HF field use. Oakland, August 2026.
- Talk: "Beyond APRS: LoRa Mesh Radio and the Next Generation of Digital Experimentation." San Francisco Amateur Radio Club, August 2026.
Start with a conversation
Tell us what you're working on: learning to handle a firearm safely, keeping a group in touch when the cell network is down, or finding land with a group.