Be Prepared to Bug In

In the previous post I wrote about the necessity of having a Survival Bug Out Plan which will define your Bug Out Bag requirements. In fact the Bug Out Plan should be modeled using PACE planning principles. PACE - Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency, is simply a principle to address several ways to accomplish the same objective.

PACE can be applied to Survival equipment, such as fire starting tools for example. How many of you only have one lighter, or one magnesium fire starter? I would bet that most of us have a bunch of these very necessary tools. Apply PACE to a Survival Bug Out Plan and you would have several different routes and different safe locations to Bug Out to. This plan may also include meeting places (called Rally Points or linkup points) where members of your family or Survival Group can link up if separated during movement, or if Bugging Out from different start points.

Yet again, I end up write paragraphs until finally beginning my main point which is do not place all your planning and preparation on immediately Bugging Out. Imagine the guy who has a rifle, a Bug Out and visualization on Bugging Out and looters and mobs, but has not place to go and no planned route to get there. I know several people like that, Some of them write to me as well.

What if circumstances based on the threat situation, martial law, missing survival group members, weather conditions, injuries or sickness or a host of other reasons makes it necessary to remain in your residence until it is safe to execute your Survival Bug Out Plan to your Safe Location?

Hopefully, your entire Survival Plan is NOT dependent upon grabbing your BOB and rifle and skedalling. Imagine a group of looters camping in your block,...think about what you would need to remain in your residence before the coast is clear. Defensive measures, food and water stocks, waste management, power and light sources are all categories to think about and plan for.

How are you going to blackout your residence so outsiders do not see the light from your lantern or flashlight? What are you going to do if you look out the window and see four, shot out flat tires on your vehicle which you planned on taking to a friends farm and therefore safe location 200 miles away?

Do you have enough food and water for a few weeks (or maybe even longer) to wait out the situation until it is possible to Bug Out?
Do you have escape routes, other than your front door, in case you cannot defend the residence and are forced to evacuate? What about a fire? Molotov cocktails are easy to make and if looters cannot get to you they may try to burn you out.

Anyway, to be complete, think about situations and circumstances that may force you to stay when you otherwise detailed Survival Bug Out Plan is to go immediately.

Survival Bug Out Bag and Planning Review

I was sent a video of a Bug Out with the person describing each and every object in his BOB with explanations on the contents and how he intended to use it or how useful it was. The sender wanted me to review the video and comment on the contents.

I jotted some notes down and gave the sender a reply in person a day or so later and my reply went much like this:

The BOB was a orange and blue-purple Alpine type rucksack. Greater for climbing - stays close to your back, and good for if you are lost and a helicopter was looking for you,...but would require a cover if you were moving through the brush and wanted not to be seen so easily. Plus the bag did not have a hydration bladder. There are many excellent rucksacks with hydration blivets to based your BOB around such as Camel Bak, Spec-Ops, etc. You should have an in the pack water blivet of 70 ounces,..100 ounces is better,...so if you BOB does not have one, then buy a Camel-Bak replacement blivet and place it inside your BOB.

In fact this BOB had only two quarts of water! I think a minimum of 2 gallons is more like it.

This BOB had a 7 lbs tent. Now I think tents are good as they can protect you from the elements, and being wet in the cold is a big danger. But I would put my money (and weight) into a good sleeping bag system. An old army poncho (OD green in color) and individual camouflage net would be my next two items along with the sleeping bag. I just think a tent should be auxiliary gear carried in your vehicle but not necessary for the BOB and takes up room and weight for more important items.

This BOB on the video had three MRE type meals and beef jerky in his food sack portion of the BOB. They take up a lot of room. I think the food value for the space and weight could be re-done giving more value. Main-Stay bars, soups packets, mixed nuts and other light weight foods that provide fats and carbs.

The BOB had a pocket sharpening tool that is only usable for a thin bladed knife. I think combination stones (coarse on one side and fine on the other) is of much more use and applicable to sharpening axes, scissors and other bladed tools besides thin bladed knives.

The last thing in this BOB I wanted to comment on before my main point was the 50 foot of rope. This rope selected seemed to be of a 5/16 inch diameter. I would suggest smaller diameter rope (more bang for the buck) and I highly suggest at least 50 feet of para-cord which is a hollow nylon hose type line covering multiple strands of 55 lb test that can be gutted and used for many, many things.

But my main comment is that I cannot really review the applicability of the BOB unless I knew the gent's Bug Out Plan. After all, the BOB has to be oriented to support the execution of the Bug Out Plan.

It is, of course, a great idea to consider valid and likely contingencies an to carry things that you know would be valuable for use later on during the crisis, but it is unreasonable to think that the Survivor will be living out of his BOB for months and longer. The idea is to facilitate survival movement to the Safe Location and those contingencies you have identified enroute.

Everyone is Recommending the Purchase of Gold and Silver

Not worrying about being overly redundant, BUY SILVER. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has long stated that Silver is probably a much better investment and more usable than Gold.

What is amazing is that not only people like Glenn Beck are advocating buying precious metals, but mainstream financial guru Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" is not only advocating the purchase of Silver but rails against the Fed and Goldman Sachs.



Silver Saver is a great place to buy Silver from.

Survival Firearms - Brownell's Annual Black Rifle Friday

Brownells is Back In Black! Their Black Rifle Friday Event was such a huge hit last year, they decided to come back for another go around. This time, Brownell's is upping the ante with even MORE products on markdown. Customers can not only save site wide, but at 12:00am on Black Friday, they can expect to see a surprise promotion to be announced at that time!

I have several M-4 carbines and probably 30 to 35 magazines per gun, as well as spare parts kits. I have had most of these for years, but from time to time add accessories. The last accessories I bought, about 3 years ago, were armorer tools. Maybe I will have a cottage industry after the collapse repairing everyone else's AR's.

The exclusive savings run through midnight, on "Cyber-Monday", November 29.

Survival Prep - Ammunition Shortage Coming?

Hope everyone is staying tuned to the news reports about Drug Cartel violence in Mexico . Not only does this forebode bad things for our security, but lets the US Government move forward to exploit the violence and situation towards stricter gun controls efforts through the mistruths about who is arming the cartels. You may have heard the Mexican President talk about how the cartels are getting the majority of their weapon and ammunition from U.S. sources. You may have heard about this Administration’s efforts to give the U.N. more say in now only our judicial systems but our guns laws as well. This is made possible through misinformation from the Government and liberal, anti-gun news media depicting their truth which is “The Vast Majority of weapons seized by Mexican Police from Drug Gangs comes from the U.S. ” One of the key leaders in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) states “Ammunition is the key for these cartels. They get the majority of their ammunition from U.S. Sources. We have got to consider controls on ammunition sales.”

I remember primer and powder scares and astronomical price increases years ago. And I remember the ammunition scarcity from just months ago. If you need ammunition, better get it now. I get e-mail sales notification from several ammunition providers, notably Cheaper Than Dirt and Natchez Shooters Supply. There are some excellent deals out there now. Stock up while you can. These are some deals from each on .223 Remington (5.56mm NATO) for your black gun toting inndividuals:



Natchez Shooters Supply

Cheaper Than Dirt

Preparing Now and Talking to People

Tim Ralston has left a new comment on the "Survival Planning - Inflation Likely to Drive Food Prices Up" post,...When it comes to emergency preparedness, most people I talk to think that nothing will ever happen to them - so why should I bother? It drives me NUTS - but I know I am not nuts. As a father of 3 small children, I have always tried to protect and provide for all their immediate and future necessities.

We have grown up in the age of consumerism and take for granted that there will always be food on the shelves. But in this economy, it will only take a small natural disaster, declaration of hyper-inflation, a truckers strike or possibly a shortage of water or gas to empty the stores shelves within hours. Just look what happened in Boston! Read it here: http://survivalist-hub.blogspot.com/

Now, I can sleep in peace! I love having the peace of mind, the feeling of being empowered-- that my family and I are covered with the necessary emergency food, and survival supplies for the next 20 years at TODAYS prices for what ever comes our way.

Tim sounds like he has a good understanding of what he faces. Many more people need to get on board and quickly. A trip yesterday to the grocery store revealed that many commodities are way up in price, especially vegetables. Fuel is up in my area 22 cents in two weeks. The Fed wants to infuse more cash,...that's a nice way of saying "printing more money", and is pushing the Government to pass another stimulus bill. Spending ourselves into prosperity doesn't work for families,...it's not going to work for this Country.

Always wanted to keep this site apolitical despite my conservative views,...but the cliff we are heading for is nasty. If you watch Glenn Beck, you'll hear him say "Buy clothes, buy food, buy gold and silver." Hell even George Soros, who is a billionaire and makes his living bankrupting countries and pushing a one world government is buying Gold like mad.

We need to do something each and everyday. Yesterday for me was restocking the pantry for immediate use foods. Today I bought some more "AA" LED lanterns,...it is hard to beat a portablel solar power to 12v battery to AA/AAA battery charger and power inverter for small power needs. I think AA/AAA batterys are going to be so important. I use them for flashlights, radios, lanterns, and scanners and cannoot do without them. I also bought a couple more 8x10 foot green tarps - which I'll spray with a light brown vinyl paint, and I bought some small packaged thermal underwear kits for our emergency extra clothing kit bags.

Back to Tim's comment: Yes, it is aggravating to try and tell people about the need to prep. And yes, a lot of them will think you are nuts, but you never know you try and talk to them. I talk to people for several reasons: 1 - get them to prepare for their own good and 2 - the better they are prepared, the lesser burden they will be on me, my family and my survival group.

I talked to a guy just two days ago and was surprised that he said words to the effect "that I was thinking about what I would do if everything crapped out. I have plenty of guns, but not alot of food." So I wrote down a couple websites for him to go to and gave him a copy of "Patriots",..in fact, what brought the conversation up was that he picked up "Patriots" from a chair and asked what this book was about. I'll give him a copy of "One Second After" to read once he returns "Patriots".

Anyway, this is my rant for the day.

Again,...Survival is a Team Sport

It seems that I have been doing nothing but talking to people this week about indicators of a coming collapse, e.g..gas and precious metal prices on the rise; higher prices in commodities, e.g..foods and clothing; terrible national debt and a lame duck congress not understanding the People’s demands to a halt in spending; Glenn Beck on Television telling people to stockpile food and buy gold; and a host of other doom and gloom reports.

It was surprising to discover that most of these people have put some thought into what would they do in a bonafide collapse. In each and every case I tried to get as much of their concept for Surviving a collapse as they would or could tell me. Some have thought about a collapse and not just only how that would suck, but what would they do. Others told me concepts to the effect that “I’ll pack up my family and move”.

Okay, fair enough – packing up and moving. But to where? How will you ensure you will have the vehicle and fuel in order to travel? Where are you doing to go? Is your location really better (safer) for your Survival chances than where you are now? What you going to do for food? For Security?

And with that question,….security,…..brings me to my point that Survival is going to be a team sport. Much more like football than badminton. By yourself and even with a small family, you are only going to simply survive.

I think the purpose for Survival preparation is to be prepared mentally, physically, equipment wise, with material, exploiting technology and planning wise, ....not only to only survive but to have some quality of life. Basically, to replicate a small community, albeit with a different prioritization on concerns.

Best case scenario is that you are able to put together a competent Survival group consisting of well matched members with all on the same sheet of music when it comes to goals and objectives, moral beliefs, maybe even religious beliefs. Of course, if you do this well before the storm you will be much better off.

You will undoubtedly at some point in a collapse survival situation be faced with the decision to integrate (or not) other people, who could be friends, neighbors, family or total strangers. Tough call to make. Even tougher if it is your neighbor who failed to return tools he borrowed. Seriously, what do you do if you are just 2 or three of you and then your brother in law and his wife plus four children wants to hole up with you? What if it the same brother in law who failed to prepare despite repeated conversations from you to him? What if it is your elderly neighbor who is extremely opposite your political spectrum and lets you know if all the time? How about guys from work who you have been talking to for over a year on their need to prepare?

Even though you need a team to survive, and if you don’t believe this then think about all the tasks you will have to do each day not to mention providing security for the group, you will have to be prepared for the inter team squabbles and jealousies, small disputes that if not corrected then and there they could become big disputes that could tear away the glue holding the group together.

This survival group therefore will require a method of governing. From simply a “Boss” to a council type arrangement. Have the rules and concept of operationalizing Survival decided and set ahead of time.

Survival Prep - Water and Reader Comments

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an e-mail from a reader concerning his water plan...... Hey UrbanMan, I’m writing to tell you about the latest things I’m doing to prep in case someone else thought it is a good idea.

Water is my biggest concern, because if they shut off the city water, we’ll all be goners in a matter of days unless we have stored water. So I have a water service bring in sealed water containers for my water dispenser. I used to get the five gallon jugs, but recently found out they have 2.5 gallon jugs, with handles. So in case I have to Bug Out I can carry these much more easily and load them into my Toyota Tacoma 4x4. The bottled water is supposed to last at least six months, so I have ten 2.5 gallon jugs on hand. I go through 2 jugs a week, so I always have at least 8 jugs or 20 gallons hand. Each week I get two jugs delivered, so I just put the new ones at the end of the row. I am thinking about expanding my water supply to 6 or 8 more jugs – what do you think?

I have a checklist on the frig for my girlfriend who is kind off into prepping since it got her a new pair of fashionable hiking boots and some 5.11 pants, but the checklist says what to do if there is an emergency. Number 1 on my checklist is to lock the deadbolts on the doors and fill the bathtub with water. BTW, I have been linking survival prep and teaching my girlfriend some things as we watch the new show Walking Dead on TV. Have you seen Walking Dead and what do you think about it?

I figure we can get 50 gallons in the tub, plus the 20 gallons on hand so we could live for about 30-35 days off of this supply.

Another thing I bought was a folding game carrier, like a wheelbarrow but uses a bicycle wheel. This is used by hunters to bring the animals they killed out of the wild. My use will be to use it if and when the situation to go foraging for stuff is okay. I can push or pull 260 lbs on this game carrier and have a sack of bungee cords to lock things down that I “find”.

What do you think about all this and my preps? I like your site. Jeff.

UrbanMan replies: Hey Jeff, thanks for taking the time writing to me. I know who you got my e-mail address from if your city was correct. Anyway, absolutely water is a necessity. You are correct in thinking that about 70 gallons would last 2 people 30 days – if you use it very wisely. You should immediately go to a water-less human waste system, like a bag and a bucket and use minimal water for cleaning as well as for sponge baths – but you could do it. What are you plans if/when you run out of water? You water supply needs to also last for the duration of your Bug Out travel. That travel may have to be done on foot. Hard to carry more than one jug in your hand as yopur other hand needs to carry a rifle. Best case, both hands are free. But I have traveled on foot, overland carrying 5 gallon jugs and it can be done. The good thing is that you can rapidly drop it and run with a much lighter load. Ensure you have smaller Camel Baks and canteens for your Bug Out bags and use water from sources external to your personal kit when on the move.

Good idea having a checklist for emergency tasks on your refrigerator door. The checklist may also include who to call and what your immediate need items from the local store are if you are fortunate enough to make a run.

Space is usually a problem for urban dwellers. I have a buddy who stacks dehydrated food and cases of water, then covers them with a blanket for a coffee table and end tables. My wife would kill me if I did that, but it may be an option for you,…maybe you can bribe your girlfriend with a survival knife or new Bug Out Bag.

The television show, The Walking Dead, is how not to do things. Zombie movies are entertaining, but you would have to substitute human gangs for the zombies to approach what you may see for real. Again, how not to do things,…no stored food, no survival kit or gear, lack of weapons and ammunition. The Survivor base camp on top of hill near a quarry is a bad idea, especially if you cannot defend it. Being close to a water source is generally a good idea, but realize it will attract other people, some of whom may NOT have a high regard for your life.

The folding game carrier seems like a good idea. I like to receive these little Survival Equipment tips from time to time,…always seems like people are thinking. Be safe Jeff.

CBRNE Threat - Blister Agents

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com is continuing on with posts on Survival Threats posed by Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE).

For the record, we don't believe that foreign sponsored or terrorist executed CBRNE attacks on this country would be wide spread, but they would severely degrade the U.S. Government's capabilities for emergency management across the board (maybe that's a good thing?) as well as put local or regional infrastructures down for the count,...possibly a long count. But I do not envision most of us in the Survivalist community have to live through and/or operate in a CBRNE type environment. Least I hope not, but still want to be knowledgeable about the threat.

Blister Agents

A blister agent (also known as a vesicant) is a chemical compound that causes severe skin, eye and mucous membrane pain and (severe) irritation. Blister agents are named for their ability to cause severe chemical burns, resulting in large, painful water blisters on the bodies of those affected. Although these compounds have been employed on occasion for medical purposes, their most common use is as chemical warfare agents.

Most blister agents fall into one of three groups:

Sulfur mustards – A family of sulfur-based agents, including the so-called "mustard gas".

Nitrogen mustards – A family of agents similar to the sulfur mustards, but based on nitrogen instead of sulfur.

Lewisite – An early blister agent that was developed, but not used during World War I. It was effectively rendered obsolete with the development of British anti-Lewisite in the 1940s.

Occasionally, phosgene oxime (heard of phosgene gas?) is included among the blister agents.

Effects of blister agents can be devastating. Exposure to a chemical weaponized blister agents can cause a number of life-threatening symptoms, including:

Severe skin, eye and mucosal (mucous membrane) pain and irritation.

Large fluid filled blisters on the skin that heal slowly and may become infected.

Excessive tearing of the eyes, conjunctivitis (perpetual puss in the eyes), and damage of the cornea(s).

Respiratory distress, from mild to extreme with damage to your airway and lungs.

All blister agents currently known are heavier than air, and are readily absorbed through the eyes, lungs, and skin. Effects of the mustard agents are typically delayed: exposure to vapors becomes evident in 4 to 6 hours, and skin exposure in 2 to 48 hours. The effects of Lewisite are immediate.

Weaponized Chemical Warfare Blister agents, include these:

Blister Ethyldichloroarsine (ED)
Methyldichloroarsine (MD)
Phenyldichloroarsine (PD)
Lewisite (L)
Sulfur mustard gas (HD, H, HT, HL and HQ)
Nitrogen mustard (HN1, HN2, HN3)

Survival Chronicles of Jim - Chapter 20 Buying More Silver

It's been about 10 months since I started my Survival Preparation and honestly several days will go by without me thinking about Survival.....I guess just life gets in the way. I don't know if it the Ostrich syndrome where you bury your head and if you don't see it, then it isn't real.......or me just hoping for the best. Then I realized that I really am not planning for a worse case scenario. I did get some caches emplaced close to my family's cabin but to tell you the truth, I have a hard time spending the money that UrbanMan urges me to spend to get prepared.

But, I have been buying more groceries and ensuring they I have about a two month supply in my pantry and I do have some long term storage food. But I don't think I'll ever get to the recommended 12 months of stored, long term food.

But some things are changing now that things are happening that are, frankly, scaring me: the Fed printing more money; inflation and probably hyper-inflation to hit; gas prices on the rise (19 cents higher since last week where I live); and the noticeable increase in staples at the grocery store have got me concerned. UrbanMan is telling me to ensure I buy enough ammunition and if I want an AR type rifle I better get it now, as the prices will most surely rise but my pay check won't.

The least dangerous thing for me to do is to purchase more Silver. I found this Silver site and asked UrbanMan to post it so those of you who cannot get to a Silver Market or save enough for a order and shipment can actually buy Silver through debits as low as $50 a month, or $25 a week.

The deal is you have your account or card debited for a certain amount on a automatic period, say every week, twice a month or just monthly. The money goes to this company (Silver Saver) who buys the Silver until you reach a minimum amount, in this case 20 ounces, then you can elect to have them ship it to you - this is what I am doing.

Watch the video below and you'' understand it better and maybe see a greater need to have some silver on hand.




If you are interested in learning more than go to Silver Saver.

The Dollar Meltdown and the Looming Financial Crisis

Yesterday I had a conversation with several people who just did not understand what inflation and the devaluation of the dollar on the world stage meant to them and their stability and survival. I told them I would get some short pieces of information together, but in the mean time to take a few moments and consider what sky rocketing prices of commodities means to them and their families.

Imagine all manner of foods we take for granted to be on store shelves not only costing hundreds of percent more, but becoming scarce. What are the tens of millions, if not over a hundred million, people who live hand to mouth going to do when they can no longer even afford simple foods?

When the Fed announced they were monetizing the debt and printing more money to buy government debt, I immediately ordered two more cases of long term storage food and finally bought the backup .308 rifle that I have been wanting.

On my immediate list (buy this week) are additional boots for my family. What are your plans?




For those of you really into the "why's" and "what for's" of the coming collapse of the dollar, you may find these books valuable.

Terrorist or Conventional Attack Threat

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has long thought that the most likely catalyst to a survival situation would be economic or social collapse, either through a dynamic event or a gradual degradation. However we can't discount the possibility of a terrorist or Foreign State sponsored attack such as described in the books "One Second After" or "Lights Out".

One of the newest delivery systems for nuclear, conventional, biological or chemical weapons is cruise missile launchers disguised as common MILVAN or Sea Shipping Containers which can be loaded onto commercial ships and sailed into a sea port then launched onto American cities.

Of course, terrorists can just load a ship full of explosives, radiological material (dirty bomb) or a pre-fab nuclear device then detonate it in a port, but missiles give a much longer range to reach into the interior of the country.

The bad thing is there is a Russian weapons company marketing a new missile system that is hidden inside an ordinary shipping container. It can turn a ship, train or truck into a long range missile launcher. Won't be long before all the crazies of this world have this capability as well.

The promotional video for the Club K Missile system is part of the marketing campaign by a private, Russian-based weapons manufacturer. The cruise missile system is hidden in a 40-foot shipping container. It can fire four long range satellite-guided missiles from a ship, train or tractor-trailer.

The Club K is being marketed at international weapons shows as a military weapon. In the hands of a terrorist group the container could easily be smuggled into the United States. It is so new most international security experts have never heard of it.

"To look at an entire weapons system that can be put on a cargo ship and deployed is frightening," said Brent Brown an international security consultant, "It is a pretty devastating piece of technology that could have all kinds of collateral damage."

The Port of Savannah is the fourth largest in the nation; moving over three million containers a year. A Club K Missile system fired from a container at the Port of Savannah could easily reach Atlanta 250 miles away.

Customs and Border protection are responsible for port security. Farmer asked the Directors of Customs and Border Protections if he was aware of the weapons. Director John Porter replied, "I am now."

Just how does the Federal government check millions of containers? Customs says that they carefully monitor the paperwork of every container. They said that it is largely done at the port of origin overseas. They admit, while they have the latest in x-ray technology, it is simply not realistic to scan all cargo.

Thousands of containers are off loaded from ships like this one but just a fraction go through machines.

"If you are not checking 100% that it is a hole in the system," said Brown.

Every truck is check for radiation as it leaves the Savannah port, but the Club K Missile can be either nuclear or hold conventional explosives that would not' trip these detectors. Savannah authorities told us they believe the Club K would not' make it through either way.

"Our systems in place would detect such an anomaly," said Porter.

"It is extremely troubling, it's extremely troubling," said retired general now defense industry consultant David Poythress. Poythress added that the military has quietly been working on technology to defend against a Club K cruise missile-type system.

"It's a huge threat. A cruise missile launch from a vessel, off-shore against an urban population," said Poythress.

Janes Defense Weekly estimates the price tag on the Club K Missile is between $10-20 million. The Russian company that makes the weapon has refused interviews. They have issued statements saying the Club-K is not being marketed to terrorists and is meant for use on military ships. The company also claims to have nations in Latin America and the Asia pacific region interested in weapon.

CBRNE Threat - Blood Agents

This is another post in a continuing series on Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Threats.

A blood agent is a chemical agent, very toxic to the body, that gets into the blood stream through breathing (inhalation or swallowing (ingestion). They are very fast-acting, lethal poisons (in the proper amount) that can be a gas with a very light smell.

The military chemical blood agent are used as aerosols and as such become effective through breathing in the poison. They are much more effective in confined areas rather than large open areas where the previaling winds and effect or disapte their lethality.

Blood agents are usually Cyanide based compounds that occur in small amounts in the natural environment and in cigarette smoke. They are also prevalent in pesticides and some manufacturing. Cyanide gas is often the cause of death in fires as it is given off when certain materials burn such some plastics and other comon household material such as drapes.

The symptoms that appear from blood agent poisoning depend on the level of concentration and duration of exposure.

Cyanide-based blood agents irritate the eyes and the respiratory tract, while the other less common blood agent, Arsine, is basically non-irritating. The Hydrogen cyanide version has a very faint, bitter, almond type smell. Arsine has a very light garlic like odor that is only detectable at very high levels with wold be lethal.

Exposure to small amounts of cyanide has no effect - remember the cigarette smoke - except for long term exposure and then only linked to degenerative diseaes like cancers. Higher short term exposures at higher concentrations cause dizziness, weakness and possibly nausea, which usually cease when removed from the area.

Long duration - long term exposure can cause permanent brain damage and muscle paralysis. Moderate exposure causes stronger and longer-lasting symptoms, including headaches, sometimes followed by seizures, convulsions then death. Very heavy concentrations will cause severe lethal effects within seconds.

One way to tell if blood agent poisoning has occured on dead people is that their blood will appear very bright.

Cyanide poisoning can be detected by the smell of bitter almonds, or respiratory tract inflammation in the case of cyanogen chloride poisoning although it will be hard in a survival situation to determine this. There is really no way outside of a laboratory to determine arsine gas poisoning, but it may leave a garlic smell on the victim's breath.

At sufficient levels of concentration, blood agents can quickly infuse the blood and cause death in a matter of minutes or seconds. They cause powerful gasping for breath, as the agent denies the body the use of oxygen in the blood. Violent seizure type convulsions and a painful death that can take several minutes. The immediate cause of death is usually respiratory failure.

Detection methods for Chemical agents do exist for hydrogen cyanide in the form of test strips, like the military M8 type paper. Ordinary clothing, particular vinyl rain suits, gloves and protective masks provides some protection, but military grade protective over garments would be recommended. Mask filters containing only charcoal are ineffective, and effective filters are quickly clogged.

Due to their high volatility, cyanide agents generally need no decontamination. In enclosed areas, fire extinguishers spraying sodium carbonate can decontaminate hydrogen cyanide, but the resulting metal salts remain poisonous on contact. Liquid hydrogen cyanide can be flushed with water.

There are some antidotes for Cyanide poisoning but these are mostly beyond the grasp of Urban Survivalists.

Carbon monoxide could technically be called a blood agent because it inhibits the use of oxygen in the blood by contracting with the with the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin.

Survival Planning - No More Excuses

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a private message from a reader: "In response to your post from the National Inflation Association, a great article from NIA by the way, on the probability of hyperinflation coming to call on us soon, I ordered 7 silver rounds from Northwest Territorial Mint today. I also set up an automated investment plan for Silver purchases through SilverSaver. I set it at $100 a month. After 20 ounces are accumulated, they can be delivered. I wish I didn't wait so long from when I first thought about buying Silver as a Survival insurance plan until now, the price has increase from around $17 an ounce to $25.

UrbanMan replies: Good call on your part - not the waiting, but the purchase now and not waiting anymore. I hear quite a few arguments about it's too late to prepare,....we won't be able to do anything anyway,.....don't you think the government knows what is going on and is planning for it?,.....

No, it is not too late to prepare. Anything you can do today to prepare,...well, do it. You'll be much better off, even if you just put more groceries in the pantry. But if you are even a little more serious about you and your families survival, then this site and others (see the links bottom right) will help you. Figure out what you need,...it always comes down to food, water and protection and a safe (or safer) place to Bug Out to when your current location is not tenable.

You won't be able to do anything about it anyway?? Are you kidding me? Or are you just from the age of entitlement? You are responsible for yourself, not the government, and there is so much you can do "about it" and the "it" is a collapse,.....economic, social, panademic, whatever,.....start planning and preparing now and remember Survival is a team sport, unless you want to live in a dugout in the Mountains and living off fern plants.

As far as the government planning for it? That deserves another "Are you kidding me"? Do you trust the government to take care of you? The only way the government can take care of you,.e.g..expending resources like food, water, shelter and security,...is to control you. The only way to control you is through martial law and/or camps. And no, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I just know what is possible and what is not. If you think the government is going to subsidize food and water on local bi-weekly runs through your neighborhood, then I would ask you not to read this site anymore,...go join ACORN or MOVE-ON.org and hope they take care of you.

Survival Planning - Inflation Likely to Drive Food Prices Way Up

Most of you are already keeping track of the soaring prices of Gold and Silver, of course caused by the Fed's decision to print more money to buy U.S. Debt that nobody else will buy,...not even China who already holds massive amount of U.S. Debt.

The following is a article from the National Inflation Association that projects a large increase in U.S. food prices. And of course, Food, gold, silver won;t be the only things increasing,...fuel, commodities,...EVERYTHING will go up except your salary to keep pace. This my friends will also create shortages, increase the have not and have separation and likely set the stage for a economical collapse.

The NIA Article of 5 Nov 2010:

The National Inflation Association today announced the release of its report about NIA's projections of future U.S. food price increases due to the massive monetary inflation being created by the Federal Reserve's $600 billion quantitative easing. This report was written by NIA's President Gerard Adams, who believes food inflation will take over in 2011 as America's greatest crisis. According to Mr. Adams, making mortgage payments will soon be the last thing on the minds of all Americans. We currently have a currency crisis that could soon turn into hyperinflation and a complete societal collapse.

"For every economic problem the U.S. government tries to solve, it always creates two or three much larger catastrophes in the process," said Adams. "Just like we predicted this past December, the U.S. dollar index bounced in early 2010 and has been in free-fall ever since. Bernanke's QE2 will likely accelerate this free-fall into a complete U.S. dollar rout," warned Adams.

NIA projects that at the average U.S. grocery store it will soon cost $11.43 for one ear of corn, $23.05 for a 24 oz loaf of wheat bread, $62.21 for a 32 oz package of Domino Granulated Sugar, $24.31 for a 32 fl oz container of soy milk, $77.71 for a 11.30 oz container of Folgers Classic Roast Coffee, $45.71 for a 64 fl oz container of Minute Maid Orange Juice, and $15.50 for a Hershey's Milk Chocolate 1.55 oz candy bar. NIA also projects that by the end of this decade, a plain white men's cotton t-shirt at Wal-Mart will cost $55.57.

The report highlights how despite cotton rising by 54%, corn rising by 29%, soybeans rising by 22%, orange juice rising by 17%, and sugar rising by 51% during the months of September and October alone, these huge commodity price increases have yet to make their way into America's grocery stores because corporations have been reluctant to pass these price increases along to the consumer. In today's dismal economy, no retailer wants to be the first to dramatically raise food prices. However, NIA expects all retailers to soon substantially raise food prices at the same time, which will ensure that this Holiday shopping season will be the worst in recorded American history.

Urban Survival Planning – Politics and Elections and What Does it Mean to Survival Planning?

Maybe some of you are like me, trying to makes heads or tails of the results of the mid term elections and how they apply to the possibility of an economic collapse or other catastrophic event and the planning/preparation for surviving.

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment from Don Wand,..”It is not business as usual! Look around people! Sanity is an illusion, the world is falling apart at the seams physically and spiritually! We all need our house in order! We need survival gear now, not when our dollar is worthless! We all will need food and water! Get 15 Year Shelf Life Food Now!

Obviously Don Wand thinks there is no time to waste…..Frankly, neither do I.

It is interesting to see people’s comments on What will cause us to slide into a Survival situation and Whenthat may occur.

Discounting the 2012 Mayan Calendar-Collapse of Mankind Speculators, there are many valid political, social and economic indicators that may or will foretell a collapse or the beginning of a collapse. I think it is important for all individuals and groups planning for a future Survival scenario to understand that if and when a collapse hits and when it becomes time to fully execute Survival plans, all the experts are not going to be there with you.

So what does this mean? Maybe I’m thinking that while you should use the “experts” to help develop indicator criteria and keep the “experts” and their information close at hand and under constant review, each of us has to be individual responsible for what we do and don’t do for survival preparation and execution when necessary.

When I started writing this post, I had a thought centered around the concept that while most people believe that the economic outlook for this country, after yesterday’s election, would appear to be rising – this may not be the case. Many policies and a base direction were set the last two years that combined with gridlock in the Capital may just set the stage for something we cannot recover from.

If citizens of this country think that the last couple of years were rough, I hate to think what they would think if things got really rough,….Greece or Argentina like rough. I just believe, or maybe it’s just a sense of dread, that either any efforts won’t be enough to avoid a near future economic collapse or that no efforts will be made to forestall a collapse.

And my ideas on a collapse are not necessarily a dynamic collapse where you wake up one morning with banks closed, grocery stores empty and fuel scarce,…..I think that a much more likely scenario is a gradual economic collapse that spawns a much larger “have not” or even homeless segment of the population, sporadic regional based anarchy, flailing attempts by the government to control the situation and the population including implementation of martial law, and a general day to today fight for the commodities that we take for granted today.

Nothing has really changed, only a greater need to be prepared.

Urban Handgun - Reader Comments and Replies

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment on the response to reader question on Urban Handguns......... "Anonymous said,.... It's pretty hard to argue with your idea to standardize on a gun model and ammo, but here is another thought to consider. If the group all has Glock 9mm what do you do (after TSHTF) when you are low on ammo but all you can find for sale/barter is 38 cal? Why not do as you suggest picking the most popular/available ammo for each type weapon (handgun, shotgun, rifle) and then have a backup plan where 2 or 3 different weapons are kept so you can make use of "found" ammo down the road. So everyone gets a glock 17 as the primary handgun and the group picks up a couple .357 & .44 revolvers, a Army .45 a couple of 10 mm etc. My favorite caliber is 22 LR. A cheap way to bring meat to the table and deadly at close range.

UrbanMan's reply: I agree with your idea where you have several firearms of different calibers, .........this describes me and my firearms battery, although I have centered my main battery around .223 Remington in AR platforms and 9mm Glocks. I still have many firearms in different calibers, just in case. There will be some people who argue that if you prepared enough, you do not need to have a slew of additional firearms just to use ammunition they barter for or find.

I was reading into the reader question and believed that this "white collar" new survival group (as they describes themselves) was not to keen or committed to the idea of a well rounded survival battery of firearms. It almost seems distasteful for them to arm themselves, but the reader did ask if standardization was the right thing to do.

Funny thing that he did not ask for a recommendation of type of handgun. If a Survival group decided to arm themselves with only handguns, then I think one choice at the top of their list should be a high capacity 9mm semi-automatic like the Smith and Wesson Military and Police with or the Glock 17/19......and if they are going to limit their survival firearms battery to a handgun, then lots of magazines and plenty of ammunition is in order. I would try to talk them into a couple .22 LR handguns like you say,...especially if they have people in their Survival group and are not going to take weapons training seriously or maybe are physically unable to handle a center fire handgun.

Urban Survival - CBRNE Threat: VX Nerve Agent

I see alot of back and forth on the internet assessing the probability of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) events being the catalyst for a collapse. I assess this is less likely than either a gradual or dynamic economic collapse, but still possible. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com possess very basic knowledge in this area and feels that Urban Survivalists can take some steps to protect against some of the likely agents, be it military grade weapons or some type of commercial contaminant, however the required technology, equipment, and expertise to be exceptional prepared and protected is far outside the scope of most Survivalists.

It is always prudent to have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as protective (gas) masks, extra filters, protective suits, gloves, and decontamination material, such as bleach on hand. The ability to seal the air input into your home or residence may be crucial as well.

Over the next few weeks and months, we will post some information on CBRNE Threats, particularly chemical and biological threats.

VX Nerve Agent

First symptoms of exposure (skin contact) may be muscular twitching or sweating at the area of exposure followed by nausea or vomiting. Some of the early symptoms of a VX vapor exposure a runny nose, tightness in the chest with shortness of breath, and pinpoint pupils.

Treatment would include first removal of the liquid agent from the skin before moving the person out of the contaminated area. Begin decontamination by washing the contaminated areas with household bleach and flushing with clean water. After decontamination, the contaminated clothing is removed and skin contamination washed away.

An individual who has received a known nerve-agent exposure or who exhibits definite signs or symptoms of nerve-agent exposure should immediately have the nerve agent antidote drugs atropine, pralidoxime (2-PAM), and diazepam injected. In several nations the nerve agent antidotes are issued for military personnel in the form of an auto-injector such as the United States military Mark I auto-injector.