Cookies

Notice: This website may or may not use or set cookies used by Google Ad-sense or other third party companies. If you do not wish to have cookies downloaded to your computer, please disable cookie use in your browser. Thank You.
Showing posts with label Urban Survival Planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban Survival Planning. Show all posts

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - Operational Planning: Developing the CONOPS

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment on the post that was answering a question on the Case of the Coming Collapse...."Anonymous said... Hey Urban Man - really like that stuff on military planning. Can you do some more survival collapse oriented planning?"

UrbanMan’s reply: Operational planning skills are a necessity. Some people are natural planners and organizers. Others have to have a process and that is where keywords, checklists, and formats come in handy. In a simplified manner, if someone remembers to address the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When and Why) as well as apply PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency) then they are more often going to be successful in developing their plan.

To makes things very simple the Military Operational planning process can be thought of as a Conceptual Phase and a Detailed Planning Phase. This post is on the Conceptual Phase of Planning.

Conceptual planning is developing the Concept of Operations, also called the CONOPS. This is a general concept covering key elements of a plan, but not the detailed elements of a plan. There are some essential elements of a CONOPS, they are:

Mission. What are you going to be accomplishing (considering the 5 W’s).

Task Organization. Who is participating on the operation and how the unit is organized to complete the mission.

Chain of Command. Who is in charge, second, third, etc. You need a chain of command and it needs to be enforced. A mission conducted with individuals and not a team will fail.

General Concept of Execution.
This is a general concept of how the operation will unfold. No need to determine exact times here, exact routes, etc....this is a general concept at this time. This covers from launch from the Survival Base Camp through the mission and return.

Essential Tasks. What tasks are critical to the success of the mission? WHat are trying to accomplish with the operation?

Critical Equipment (logistics). What items are critical to the mission, both team and individual gear. Sometimes this is referred to Equipment Common to All, and, Special Equipment plus who is going to carry the special equipment.

Communications. How and when communications will be conducted.

Timeline. The general planned timeline.

Imagine a Urban Survival Group occupying a house in a mostly abandoned neighborhood. Sporadic gunfire, not every day, but often enough to make the Group concerned. Abandoned vehicles in the neighborhood have been drained for fuel and stored in the Groups extra fuel cans and several of the groups vehicles are packed for a Emergency Bug Out. The Group decides that a security patrol around the neighborhood, maybe up to a mile perimeter should be conducted.

The operation is planned and briefed. The briefing of the mission serves to wargame the operation, and refine or modify elements of the mission that problems are identified with. It is essential that either a sand table (terrain model, a chart or a map is used to briefed the conduct of the operation so everyone gets a visualization on the concept.

Lets say the Survival Group consists of 5 men and 3 women. Jim (mission planner and team leader), Bob, John, Larry, Steve, Laura, Teresa and Sally.

A decent operational concept (or CONOPS) brief will go like this:

Jim: "This is the concept for tomorrow’s security patrol which will be a daytime patrol returning tomorrow night and is intended to recon the general area surrounding our neighborhood not to exceed one mile, to get an idea of any security risks like criminal gangs that have either moved in or are operating in the immediate area, and, possibly locate and contact other survival groups. We should be prepared to render aid if I can do it and not compromise our security or safety."

Jim: "The patrol will consist of myself as Team Leader, Larry and Teresa."

Larry: "Hey Jim, that leaves the only people with medical training, Steve and Sally, back here. I suggest taking a medic so if case if you encounter anyone who needs treatment you will have that capability."

Jim: "Good idea Larry. Okay, Sally replaces Teresa on this mission. I’m in charge, Larry is second in command. We depart here tomorrow morning and move NORTH up Cedar Street then EAST on Oak Street, then parallel the State highway SOUTH to the powerline, then parallel the powerlines WEST to Jackson Blvd. We’ll then follow Jackson Blvd NORTH to Peterson Street, then EAST on Oak Street and come back into our base, no earlier than mid afternoon and no later than sunset. Total distance is 8 miles and at no time should we be more than 1 mile away from the base."

Laura "Jim,...maybe you should be prepared to parallel Jackson Blvd rather than walk on it as that is the direction of most the gunfire we have been hearing and from our SOUTH facing Observation Post on the second floor, I have been seeing head lights of vehicles occasionally on that Blvd."

Jim "Roger that Laura,..okay we may parallel Jackson Blvd, but we will need to observe it for awhile to get an idea of what traffic may be using it and if there any people living along it."

Jim "Our essential tasks as I see it is to conduct a foot patrol, maintaining movement interval and noise discipline; determine extent of remaining population; determine presence of criminal or threat elements if any; and, catalog any material, equipment or supplies that may be of use to us."

Steve "Hey Jim, I would suggest taking some basic tools in case you locate something we can use that requires using tools to breakdown,..."

Jim "Good idea Steve......Okay the equipment list. Each of us on patrol will carry rifle and handgun, at least 60 rounds for the rifles and three re-loads for the handgun; Basic Bug Out Bag to include individual medical kit, three days worth of meals in case we have to hole up someplace; Motorola Radio; and, six quarts of water. For Special Equipment: I'll carry a pair of the larger binoculars, Steve carry a smaller pair. I'll carry the small tool kit with screwdrivers, large and small crescent wrenches; Sally carry's the larger patrol first aid kit - probably need to add some extra bandages, small one time use anti-biotic tubes and aspirin."

Jim "Our communications plan will be to attempt radio communications via the Motorola's every hour on the hour. Bob - you are in charge of the base camp while I am gone. Please ensure someone is monitoring the base station radio at all times. We may be pushing the range of our radios given the buildings that may inhibit line of sight. If we can't make communications for three hours then we will get some high ground, such as on a roof and attempt communications with a better line of sight."

John "Jim, what if you can't make communications at all? Will you abort the patrol and make your way back to base?"

Jim "Good point John,...Unless I think the threat is sufficient to abort, I'll take the risk of not having communications to finish the patrol. However, I will ensure that we make it back to base before last light. In the absence of radio communications, we'll ensure we approach the base in the standard method, using one person and three one-second blinks using a red lens flashlight every thirty seconds."

Jim "Any questions? No? Good. Okay we'll all meet here again at 1800 hours, except Bob and Laura who are on LP/OP duty, for the Patrol Order. We'll use another hour after that to ensure the patrol remembers the arm and hands signals, then pack equipment and get some rack time by 2200 hours. Plan on wake up at the normal time 0430 hours, except for the two coming off LP/OP duty. The Patrol will depart at 0730 hours tomorrow morning."



What occurred in the dialogue above was a Jim developing a Concept of Operations, briefing it to his Survival Group, and getting feedback to modify or refine the concept. Read it again and see if Jim covered all essential elements of a CONOPS including: Mission, Task Organization, Chain of Command, Concept of Execution, Essential Tasks, Critical Equipment, Communications and Timeline.

Jim will now develop a Patrol Order (this is the detailed plan) then brief it the night before the Patrol begins. I'll cover what they may sound like in a different post.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - Intelligence Prep of the Battlefield 101

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this comment which promoted us to talk Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield as a Urban Survival Skill,..."Urban Man, back in the day, we did "dry runs", stealthy recons, etc. Our AO was in Eastern Europe, South and Central America's cities, and our recon was done via, foot, as tourists, bus, auto and scooter/motorcycle....Taking that experience, I have applied it to my neighborhood, and surrounding area...I drive around, various times of the day/evening, and at night sometimes, with a digital recorder to make comments (so no incriminating paper) and get a feel for the area..I look for choke points, ambush points (mine & theirs), and resources (such as stores, buildings, unsecured 1000 gal gas tanks, etc). I get the vibe, map mileage and the like...Since I live in an Urban setting, I need to do this in addition to my normal neighborhood patrols/recons (dog walks)..No one is the wiser and I have lots of data to draw from...just a thought...PSYOP Soldier"
UrbanMan replies: PSYOP Soldier. Good points and appreciate your input. Visual Reconnaissance, without drawing attention to yourself, is the best way to familarize oneself with the terrain, rural or urban, and to Prep the Battlefield (IPB - a term I'm sure you'll understand) with information, that is once analyzed and exploited for your use, becomes useful intelligence.

Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefied is a term used in the military that defines the methodology employed to reduce uncertainties concerning the enemy, environment, and terrain for all types of operations. It is a continuous process that is used throughout all planned and executed operations.

IPB would be highly applicable in a collapse. In fact, in the American Apocalyse book series, the main characters assign one of the Survival Group members to be the Intelligence Officer (military acronym is S-2). You greatly incease th chances of failure when planning in an intelligence vaccuum.

Too many Intelligence operations focus on tht enemy (the threat) and will often not develop their information on the environment. The environment includes terrain, people-demographics and specifically for a societal-economic collapse this would mean locations of all commodities or equipment that you may be able to secure. These could include fuel sources, heavy equipment, material such as landscaping timbers (for hardening of defensive positions like stacking them inside your house), this list could be endless.

For Urban IPB, knowing who lived where; what they do for a living or what skills they have, and what resources and assets they may have is a must.

A good start would be to develop a list of things you want to know (a collection plan) based on the factors of terrain which are Observation and Fields of Fire; Key Terrain; Obstacles; Avenues of Approach; and, Cover and Concealment. How are they important? What do they mean to you? What would they mean to the enemy (threat)?

Having maps and imagery greatly enhances your planning and situational awareness. Keeping a set of these hard copy in case your computer and printer kick the bucket are a must. Using butcher block paper, or large cardboard from Office Depot is another good idea...and even laminating these maps and charts so you can write on them using a dry marker or a grease pencil will help greatly.

I use several programs to develop my situational maps of my urban location. Google Maps is a great program most people are familiar with. You can develop imagery and road maps from Google. Google Earth Pro is an enhanced program that is worth the cost to me, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. Another free program is www.bing.com/maps/

However, a topographical map program is a necessity. I use National Geographic Topo and have personal copies of this software for all the States I plan on being in or Bugging Out to. There are other good mapping program, such as De Lorme, Falcon View, Arc GIS and others. But Nat Geo Topo is easy to easy and inexpensive, especially if you only need one State at $49.95 per State.

With Nat Geo Topo you can product 1:500,000 scale to 1:250,000 scale US Geological Service (USGS) maps for general planning.

However, what will be most useful to the Urban Survival Planner would be the 1:100,000 scale and 1:24,000 scale USGS maps that you can toggle to at the click of your mouse. These 1:24,000 scale maps are also called 7.5' Quadrangles by the USGS. Go here to check out National Geographic Maps:

I have several maps and imagery products printed on large format, 36 inch by 36 inch paper, for my Urban Area. I laminated these and can write on these with a Sharpie for permanent annotations or with a grease pencil (China Marker) for temporary information. Basically keeping a Situation Map of my area.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - When the Trucks Stop

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received Anonymous has left a new comment on your post The Urban Threat – Why the Need for Urban Survival..."I love this site... ....Please consider a segment for the "spouse." As a male, former PSYOP guy, army brat, this come very naturally to me, but getting my wife to buy in has been a process of PSYOP.....drip, drip, drip...article here, emergency there…….Consider the recent Boston water main break, the impact on that….also consider articles like this one...this is an eye opener is used and got 'buy in," as a result."

UrbanMan replies: PSYOPS guy, great point. You can explain to your spouse about the “insurance aspect” of Survival Preparation,….you can prep by yourself in secrecy like the reader who sent me the previous post about a Bug Out rehearsal,……but in the end a constant drip of the “why” is probably your best bet.

When the military plans operations they consider what the enemy is likely to do and what enemy course of action is most dangerous to the friendly mission. This is a good lesson to take into Survival Planning. Consider what can happen, what is likely to happen and what is most dangerous to you and your family’s survival.

The trucking article link you sent me was an excellent “why” article. I am re-producing the highlights below. Everyone should consider reading the full, detailed article which you can access by clicking here. The below article is concerned about a trucking stoppage based on responses to and restrictions following an “incident of national or regional significance” such as a terrorist attack or panademic. Another scenario which could great affect trucking would be an acute shortage of fuel from a major war in the Middle East and subsequent export stoppages from our South American oil imports.

When Trucks Stop, America Stops

The unimpeded flow of trucks is critical to the safety and well-being of all Americans. However, it is entirely possible that well-intended public officials may instinctively halt or severely restrict truck traffic in response to an incident of national or regional significance.

Recent history has shown us the consequences that result from a major disruption in truck travel. Immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, significant truck delays at the Canadian border crossings shut down several auto manufacturing plants in Michigan because

just-in-time parts were not delivered. The economic cost to these companies was enormous. Following Hurricane Katrina, trucks loaded with emergency goods were rerouted, creating lengthy delays in delivering urgently needed supplies to the stricken areas.

Although in the face of an elevated threat level, a terrorist attack, or a pandemic, halting truck traffic may appear to be the best defense, it actually puts citizens at risk. Officials at every level of government must recognize that a decision to halt or severely curb truck traffic following a national or regional emergency will produce unintended health and economic consequences not only for the community they seek to protect, but for the entire nation.

A Timeline Showing the Deterioration of Major Industries Following a Truck Stoppage:

The first 24 hours

Delivery of medical supplies to the affected area will cease. Hospitals will run out of basic supplies such as syringes and catheters within hours. Radio pharmaceuticals will deteriorate and become unusable. Service stations will begin to run out of fuel. Manufacturers using just-in-time manufacturing will develop component shortages. U.S. mail and other package delivery will cease.

Within one day

Food shortages will begin to develop. Automobile fuel availability and delivery will dwindle, leading to skyrocketing prices and long lines at the gas pumps. Without manufacturing components and trucks for product delivery, assembly lines will shut down, putting thousands out of work.

Within two to three days


Food shortages will escalate, especially in the face of hoarding and consumer panic. Supplies of essentials—such as bottled water, powdered milk, and canned meat—at major retailers will disappear. ATMs will run out of cash and banks will be unable to process transactions.

Service stations will completely run out of fuel for autos and trucks. Garbage will start piling up in urban and suburban areas. Container ships will sit idle in ports and rail transport will be disrupted, eventually coming to a standstill.

Within a week

Automobile travel will cease due to the lack of fuel. Without autos and bus’ many people will not be able to get to work, shop for groceries, or access medical care. Hospitals will begin to exhaust oxygen supplies.

Within two weeks

The nation’s clean water supply will begin to run dry.

Within four weeks


The nation will exhaust its clean water supply and water will be safe for drinking only after boiling. As a result gastrointestinal illnesses will increase, further taxing an already weakened health care system.

This timeline presents only the primary effects of a freeze on truck travel. Secondary effects must be considered as well, such as inability to maintain telecommunications service, reduced law enforcement, increased crime, increased illness and injury, higher death rates, and likely, civil unrest

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - Argument For Economic Collapse with the Shrinking of the American Middle Class

The Middle Class in America is Radically Shrinking, from The Business Insider
by Michael Snyder, Editor of theeconomiccollapseblog.com

UrbanMan’s Comment: What do you think will happen when there is no middle class only a lower class scraping to get by and an elite class? What will this ratio look like? 10% Upper Class and 90% in the poverty zone? How long will the people in the poverty zone put up with that? The 10% in the Upper zone will include the super rich and government employees, over 400,000 added to the roles is the number I seen, compared to 2.5 million net job loss since the Obama Administration came into office. Keep in mind this article was written by a economist, who is not in the habit for preparing for the worst like we are.

The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a blinding pace.

So why are we witnessing such fundamental changes? Well, the globalism and "free trade" that our politicians and business leaders insisted would be so good for us have had some rather nasty side effects. It turns out that they didn't tell us that the "global economy" would mean that middle class American workers would eventually have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and very few regulations. The big global corporations have greatly benefited by exploiting third world labor pools over the last several decades, but middle class American workers have increasingly found things to be very tough.

Here are the statistics to prove it:

83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 43 percent in 2007.
66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.

36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.

For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.

Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.

This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.

Giant Sucking Sound

The reality is that no matter how smart, how strong, how educated or how hard working American workers are, they just cannot compete with people who are desperate to put in 10 to 12 hour days at less than a dollar an hour on the other side of the world. After all, what corporation in their right mind is going to pay an American worker 10 times more (plus benefits) to do the same job? The world is fundamentally changing. Wealth and power are rapidly becoming concentrated at the top and the big global corporations are making massive amounts of money. Meanwhile, the American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new "global" labor pool.

What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are "less attractive" than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.

So corporations are moving operations out of the U.S. at breathtaking speed. Since the U.S. government does not penalize them for doing so, there really is no incentive for them to stay.
What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while most Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to make it. There are now about six unemployed Americans for every new job opening in the United States, and the number of "chronically unemployed" is absolutely soaring. There simply are not nearly enough jobs for everyone.

Many of those who are able to get jobs are finding that they are making less money than they used to. In fact, an increasingly large percentage of Americans are working at low wage retail and service jobs.
But you can't raise a family on what you make flipping burgers at McDonald's or on what you bring in from greeting customers down at the local Wal-Mart.

The truth is that the middle class in America is dying -- and once it is gone it will be incredibly difficult to rebuild.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Urban Survival Plannng - Not Good News for Silver - Gold buyers

From Numismaster. We thought our readers would like to read about this. The reason we fight against gun registration so heartedly is that the Government has to know who has the guns in order to take them away....a registration of ownership. Well, the same could be held true for gold and silver if the Government confiscates the one true medium we have for commerce and trade,..we'll be left with only fiat dollars and a barter system. I'm not a lawyer, but the law spelled out below leads me to believe if we buy coins for the silver melt value or even numismatic value, we'll be okay if we stay below the $600 level.

"A blizzard of paperwork could be about to hit numismatics."

Passage by Congress of the national health care legislation has had an unintended consequence to the nation’s coin collectors, vest-pocket dealers who buys and sells coins, and larger dealers who are frequent buyers of coins that collectors periodically liquidate as they trade up their collections for better coins, or simply sell to take a small profit or loss.

What has happened is that effective Jan. 1, 2012, the whole system of giving and receiving Internal Revenue Service 1099 forms will be turned on its head and all persons (including corporations) who are in business will now have to give 1099 tax reporting forms for coins and other goods that they sell as well as buy.

The responsibility for issuing forms kicks in at $600 for coins or bullion – not a very high level and one that has already started sounding alarm bells. It doesn’t matter in what form payment is made, whether cash, check, credit card, or Yap stone money, the $600 threshold applies.

There’s a bill introduced by Rep. Dan Lungren (H.R. 5141), which has gathered over 80 members of Congress as co-sponsors to repeal this section. Evidently, however, the drafters of the provision think there is a $17 billion loophole that this plugs.

The Industry Council for Tangible Assets is alerting member dealers and the public at large in the hope that some sense of outrage will lead to a ready modification before the law becomes operational in 2012.

Form 1099 is used to report independent contractor income, income from dividends, income from other things – and is one of the reasons why children receive tax bills for work or labor or services performed.

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148, signed into law by President Obama this spring) turns 1099 forms into reporting forms not only for independent contractor’s income – what they have long been used for – but also to show sales, gains and losses on purchases and sales of goods as part of a trade or business.

The section reads (in relevant part) “SEC. 9006. EXPANSION OF INFORMATION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) IN GENERAL. – Section 6041 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:

‘‘(h) APPLICATION TO CORPORATIONS. – Notwithstanding any regulation prescribed by the secretary before the date of the enactment of this subsection, for purposes of this section the term ‘person’ includes any corporation that is not an organization exempt from tax under section 501(a).

‘‘(i) REGULATIONS. – The secretary may prescribe such regulations and other guidance as may be appropriate or necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including rules to prevent duplicative reporting of transactions.’’

(b) PAYMENTS FOR PROPERTY AND OTHER GROSS PROCEEDS. –

Subsection (a) of section 6041 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended –

(1) by inserting ‘‘amounts in consideration for property,’’ after ‘‘wages,’’
(2) by inserting ‘‘gross proceeds,’’ after ‘‘emoluments, or other’’, and
(3) by inserting ‘‘gross proceeds,’’ after ‘‘setting forth the amount of such.’’

The property section means that if B. Max Mehl was selling coins to another major dealer of that era, a 1099 would have to be issued. When he bought from the public, the same thing is also required. The “report” does not necessarily measure profit or loss, but it does show activity.

The old exemption against corporations is also gone. If you buy or sell more than $600 of coins, or whatever, from, to or with a bullion dealer, for example, you have an obligation under the new law to issue 1099s.

You can read the original article at: www.numismaster.com

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Day of the Collapse - What do you buy with a $1000

With my respects to www.nobullshitsurvival.com, I am re-creating a question posed on one of it's threads.

Here is the scenario: You are who are you, with all the survival preps, survival gear and equipment that you really have right at this moment.

It's Friday afternoon and you are coming back from you linear income producing day job. Your pull into the gas station to get fuel and notice a line of cars waiting to fill up. Tempers are blaring, horns are honking, and people seemed pretty stressed out.

You park off to the side and go inside the convenience store part of the gas station where you hear customers in arguments with the clerks. "Whadda you mean you can't take a credit card?", "Sir, my boss said no more credit cards - inflation is so high by tomorrow he'll be losing money on the transaction",....... "How come you won't take a check?", "Sorry sir, my boss said no checks, only cash."...."But your ATM here is broken and won't give out cash." "Hey, that's odd, both the ATM's I checked on my way home from work were not working either."

You get spooked and head home, on the way the radio states that that the Federal Government ordered banks not to open on Monday, and when they do open, people will be limited to a $200 withdrawal per week, until runaway inflation can be curbed.

You are now thinking, this is it. This is what I have prepared for, hoping it will not happen, but being prudent enough to prepare. Your neighbor is waiting for you as you pull into your drive way. He knows that you are one of those "Survival Preppers." You tell him that you think that it will only be a short amount of time until cash loses it's value and/or commodities will become scare. Your neighbor tells you that he has $1000 in cash and wants your suggestions on what he should buy. He pulls out a notebook and pencil,.....what do you tell him to buy with that $1000?

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com will be giving away a piece of survival kit, haven't decided yet, but it will be either a Camel-Bak H2O Bag or a Maxpedition Pack to the $1000 purchase list we like the best. Send an e-mail, with your version of the $1000 shopping list you would recommend to your neighbor, to me at urbanman@urbansurvivalskills.com
. Put your list in the text body of the e-mail and not as an attachment. You can also post your list as a comment under this post. Closing date for lists is midnight, Central Time, 30 June 2010. I'll post the winner, on this site, on 4 July 2010.

This is what I would tell my neighbor to buy with the $1000:

Fill up your vehicle and all empty fuel cans you have. Cost $80

Buy 200 lbs of wheat bran ($40) at the local Animal Feed Store and pick up two 50ml bottles of injectible Penicillin ($40); and, needles/syringes ($20);

100 lbs of rice ($125?); 100 lbs of pinto beans ($150?); Salt, Bullion Cubes, Garlic ($60);

more vegetable Seeds - Squash, Beans, Onions, Corn, Beets, Egg Plants, Cucumber ($80);

Bottled, water, preferably in the cheaper one gallon bottles ($40);

Clothing - jeans, socks, shirts ($100); hand tools - shovel and ax ($30);

flashlights, lanterns, re-charger and batteries ($100);

Duct tape, Alcohol, gauze pads, bandages, aspirin, bar soap and butane lighters ($100);

then probably $35 worth of Macaroni and Cheese:} Seriously, you can sometimes buy 5 boxes of Mac and Cheese for $1 - $35 would buy 175 boxes.

My reasoning is that my neighbor, for better or worse, will most likely become part of my survival group. With maybe one or two days left of "out in the open procurement", I want him to primarily procure some non-durable items, such as foods, so he won't become a burden on my Survival Stocks. If I need to I can outfit him with a rifle and ammunition, and even train him, if need be, to be asset for our security and defense.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Storing Fuel

I have a lot of friends and other people visiting this site that are preparing for Urban Survival and have been in communication with me who have bought or are planning on buying gas or diesel powered generators for power after the collapse.

I urge caution here. A small generator, man portable (maybe even a 5,000 KW version) may make sense for your particular circumstances and Urban Survival Plan, however you are dependent upon fuel of course. I don’t know how long we could count on finding fuel after a collapse and any large amounts of fuel you store, even at a safe location, will have a fairly short shelf life.

Civilian fuels are not treated as military fuels are. Gas and Diesel will go bad. Even under exceptionally controlled storage, I would not expect non-treated fuel to last more than 12-18 months.

Gas breaks down, oxidizes and the lighter components will evaporate leaving a lower octane mix. There were be some particles that may clog up your engine or fuel filters. Diesel is sensitive to breakdown as well producing what people call algae or mold which is really a acidic type sludge residue.

If your gas is a blend of alcohol (gasohol) I have been informed by reliable sources that it will deteriorate even faster than standard gas.

This points to some problems you would have to solve to make a generator viable – gas storage, gas stock rotation and treatment.

There are some off the shelf fuel stabilizers that would come in handy, chief among them are:

Gold Eagle Gas Stabilizer, useable in 2 and 4 cycle engines. Eight fluid ounces treats 20 gallons of gas. Approximate cost is around $10 per 8 ounces.

Sta-bil Marine Formula, Ethanol compliant Gas Treatment, useable in 2 and 4 cycle engines and engines using ethanol. Advertised to keep fuel fresh for 12 months. Can be found in a 32 ounce bottle which would treat 320 gallons of gas. Can be used for two years after opening the bottle, which you may do as you probably have storage containers less than 320 gallons, therefore treat using one ounce per gallon of fuel. Approximate cost of $35 per 32 ounce bottle.


Star Tron SFF Diesel Additive would be a good bet for diesel fuel in storage which can be get “moldy”. Star Tron advertises that this additive can stabilize Diesel for up to two years, with one ounce treating 16 gallons. Reasonable costs at $10 a bottle.

A combination of routine replacement of fuel storage stocks and a treatment plan can make alot of difference. However, I would highly advise Urban Survivalists not to put all their eggs in one basket. I would consider fuel storage first to run vehicles, not generators, and work to use other, renewable forms of energy meaning solar and wind, for bigger static power needs. Look at portable systems that can be disassembled and re-located as needed.

A good site to visit for alternate power sources and solutions would be: http://www.solarpowerharness.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010

New Urban Survival Skills Feature - Leeds on Finance

Provided to us by an associate who in involved in Finance and is a shooter as well (you know who you are R.F.), UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has inserted a link, underneath our header, to Leeds' financial blog. We find his analysis easy to read for us knuckle draggers and very much appreciate his insight. Plus we approve of his Marine Corps standard haircut. You can also access his site by going to: http://leedsonfinance.com/


Sandy Leeds, CFA is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin. He teaches graduate level classes in the MBA program and also serves as President of The MBA Investment Fund, L.L.C. Prior to teaching, he had careers as a lawyer and a money manager. He did his undergraduate work at The University of Alabama and also has a law degree from The University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Texas. At UT, he has received many teaching awards, including Outstanding Professor in the MBA Program. He is married and has three children.

If you have read this site very much at all, you'll understand that we believe heavily in Planning and a plan without incoming information and analyzing that information, or otherwise planning in an Intelligence vacuum, is setting yourself up for failure.

Keeping on top by analyzing the financial trends will allow you to craft a better plan, make better priorities and adjust your Urban Survival Planning and Preparation timeline as necessary.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Urban Survival Skills - Bug Out Bag Questions

We received a message on Face Book (see Urban Man on Face Book) from Paul, who is married and the father of two girls, 10 and 14 years old.

Paul have viewed the first four segments of After Armageddon and was introduced to the Survival Bug Out Bag concept that was commented on in After Armageddon Chapter 4. He lives in the city and is now starting to make plans in case of a collapse (economic or pandemic are his two main fears).

Paul also viewed the previous posts on UrbanSurvivalSkills.com relating to Survival Bug Out Bags and other posts on Survival Gear and Equipment. His primary questions were: 1 – should each person (including his girls) have separate items in their bag, in other words spreading out the items, such as one girl carrying water and fire starting items and the other girl carrying food and the first aid kit? What type of bags and the maximum weight would I suggest that the girls carry?

As far as splitting up Survival Gear and Equipment I think Paul needs to ensure each Survival Bug Out stands alone. Consider the people in your Survival Group being separated. Each Bug Out Bag needs to fully support each survivor. Food, water, Survival tools and clothing in each bag. Each person carrys their own important paper documentation and better yet multiple copies which can be crossed loaded.

As far as weight to be carried or limited to,......depending upon the type of bag they are using and the girls’ physical condition. I would think a very maximum of 40 lbs, maybe less for the younger girl. A lot of this will be water, which will be consumed and therefore lightening the load as you go. Same as food as it will also be consumed. Your foot movement will be slow, as it should be to ensure security. You would be taking multiple breaks or temporary halts during movement to rest, do navigation/map checks, adjust loads, looking and listening for others approaching and generally ensuring you are not being followed, especially by two legged predators.

Many great bags out there. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com is partial to bags made by CamelBak, Eagle and new bag we have been testing from Mystery Ranch. All good kit – sometimes it boils down to personal preference.

Paul mentioned he has an older Jeep Cherokee in good shape and he has two full up spare tires for it and two five gallon fuel cans that he would also take. That’s a good start. You would be leaving the urban area during a collapse, first in your vehicle, and possibly later on foot if and when that became necessary. The Survival Bug Out Bags need to be within arms reach and the contents never used while you still have a vehicle to transport you. Drink and eat out of stocks in the vehicle. The Bug Out Bags need to fully stocked if you have to immediately run from the vehicle and don’t have time to be screwing around cross loading other Survival Gear or Equipment.

I would consider a firearms for each girl based on their firearms training and capabilities. Worst case, .22LR rifles for each with a minimum of 100 rounds of spare ammunition.

Paul, the bottom line is that the Survival Bug Out Bag equipment list won’t change much per bag or per person carrying it. Consider everything in the Survival Bug Out Bag as individual kit. Thanks for your excellent question and hope this helps.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - Survival Decision Matrix and Tasks List

We wrote in an earlier post about having a Urban Survival Decision Making Matrix and a Survival Tasks List that you would wargame against possible events in order to determine what you had to do, what steps you have to take, what protocols you implement, etc.

This is a living document. One of the easiest things for you to do is to carry a 3x5 card or small notebook and pencil with you where ever you go so you can write down things that come to you and not forget these "little" ideas be they small tasks you don't want to forget or items of Survival Gear and Equipment and you need to research, procure, make or trade for.

Even though you are planning for a collapse, life goes on. I had to buy a new Bar-B-Que gas grill since my wife was hosting a small party and was ashamed of the old beat up grill. At the hardware store I was asked is I wanted a propane tank to go with the $99 grill I bought. I initially said "no", then changed my mind and yes, I'll take a propane tank. Now I have three propane tanks and two are always full. In a total collapse it's either cooking with propane until it runs out or using a wood fire.

Besides a full propane tank is a great barter item. How much in trade do you think I would get for a full propane tank, say 3 months after an infrastructure collapse?

Buying the extra propane tank also made me realize that I need to keep my large propane tank for the house water heater and stove filled as well. So I checked the gauge and it read 30%. I called the gas company and ordered a re-fill then made a note on my Survival Decision Matrix to never let that tank get below 50%.

This allows me to have fuel for hot water and cooking for 4 to 6 months after a collapse,....if I stay here that long, before moving to my Safe Location.

This is an example of a living Urban Survival Preparation plan. You should be always be modifying and refining your plan, your Survival Decision Matrix and Tasks List.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – the Survival Food Triangle



This is NOT your USDA Food triangle explaining what we need for our daily nutritional requirements and such. This Food triangle is the 3 ways Urban Survivalists are going to be able to access Food for survival.

The three main food procurement areas are Stored Foods, Harvested Foods and Bartered Foods.

Stored Foods which are you pantry items that you have been stockpiling; any cases of MRE’s, or stored whole foods such as grain and beans in sealed buckets; #10 cans of dehydrated vegetables – powdered milk – fruits, etc. We would consider six months of stored food as a viable objective and necessary asset.

Harvested Foods are plants and animals that which you cultivate or hunt for food. This would include crops that you plant, cultivate, grow and harvest which are mostly vegetables unless you are far sighted enough to procure fruit seeds or plant fruit bearing trees. This also includes livestock and their produce such as goats or milk or meat, chickens for eggs, etc. I would think that practically any animal, other than cats, could serve as meat animals and this includes dogs.

The six month supply of stored food would conceivably get you and your family through a non-growing season and give you time to establish your Survival Garden.

The third leg of the Survival Food triangle is Bartered Food, regardless if this is prepared foods, raw foods, raw meat or living livestock this would be food items you barter for. You would probably perform manual labor or trade Survival Gear or equipment in exchange for these foods items.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Be Prepared to Vacate Your Home

The alternate titles for this post are: When Home no longer is an Option; Being ready to execute your Survival Bug Out Plan; or, Withdrawal to the Safe Location.
In any event, we have written several times about not only having a safe location and a plan to get their,…remember Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency Routes?

Remember making your vehicle ready to get you there with extra stored food, extra spare tire, tools and even material to camouflage your vehicle if you have to hide it or remain over night or day at a location in between? Remember planning for foot movement overland in case your vehicle craps out or the roads or even the situation dictates moving on foot?

We have also said that most urban Survivors will make probably the decision to leave their Urban or Suburban homes later rather than sooner, in any case the Urban Survivor needs to be prepared to go at a moment’s notice. The last thing you need to be doing is throwing loose Survival Gear and Equipment and other odds and ends, however so necessary, into your vehicle.

The key is organization. And the key to organization is labeled containers. Cardboard boxes, plastic bags and fragile, one use containers should be avoided. Instead look to store your Survival Gear and Equipment, and other commodities such as food, seeds, tools, clothes, ammunition, and hardware to name some categories, in containers like buckets with lids, ammunition cans and gears bags such as rucksacks or daypacks.

This is separate from your Survival Bug Out Bag. Remember, your Survival Bug Out Bag is a last ditch small to medium sized rucksack that contains only the immediate essential Survival Equipment and Gear that you absolutely require.

Buckets can of course be purchased. However you may have some rural friends with livestock and they probably routinely throw supplement buckets with lids away. Lowe’s and Home Depot throw used paint buckets away. Check with the store or look in the dumpsters (probably better to ask first). We use a lot of buckets and hardly ever throw them away, unless they are flimsy. The picture (left) depicts many styles and type of plastic buckets.


Military ammunition cans are great storage containers. In good condition they have a rubber seal, however they are heavier than plastic buckets. Surplus stores and gun shows are the primary place to procure military ammunition cans. On-line or hard copy Survival Equipment stores also sell these. The large ammunition can in the picture (Left) is a 40mm ammunition can, while the smaller one is a small arms ammunition can.

Both types of containers have dual or multiple uses. They can of course be re-used for many different Survival Equipment and Gear; can be used to collect water or other foraged material in; can be used for expedient seats or tables; and importantly will last along time.

We use both kinds with labeling to rapidly identify what the contents are. The ammunition cans are particularly good for storage fragile or semi-fragile items like battery powered lanterns, other electronics, medical supplies, and liquids such as cleaning solvents, bleaches, etc.

Having organized Survival Gear, Equipment and Material in durable and labeled containers will not only store your items in a protective manner but will greatly assist in the decision making and packing of Survival Equipment and Gear when you have to rapidly vacate your Urban Home for a withdrawal to your planned Safe Location.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Urban Survival Planning - More Reason to Get Prepared

The Urban Survivor planning grabbing his/her Survival Bug Out Bug, loading all other Survival Gear and Equipment and "getting out of Dodge" enroute to their planned Safe Location, needs to time the withdrawal correctly. Too late to Bug Out and you may find yourself trapped in the city or suburbs with dwindling food and threats all around.

A Decision Matrix where you track various information concerning the economic-financial, political, health and other circumstances would allow the Urban Survivor to determine additional steps in Survival readiness and preparedness for hunkering down at your present Urban-Suburban location or for the tactical withdrawal to the safe location.

Thins are not looking good out in the world right now.

Iran is continuing to develop a nuclear capability. The Chinese, our biggest creditors, are blocking meaningful sanctions. War or even just a military strike by the Israelis will plunge the Middle East in additional turmoil and drive up fuel prices therefore the prices of food and other commodities placing us closer to economic collapse.

Unemployment is killing the United States. The Obama Health Care bill will add additional taxes and drive more people out of work and into entitlement programs further worsening our situation.

The government reported 162,000 jobs added in March 2010. 48,000 of these were Census workers and an additional 40,000 were Temporary Services. The rolls of people unemployed or over 27 weeks increased by 414,000. The list of discouraged workers, that is people not longer looking for work increased by 309,000.

More small business failed in Jan, Feb and Mar 2010 in all of 2009.

The United States credit status where we enjoy a Trip A (AAA) bond rating may be lowered to a double A (AA) status thereby increasing our interest payments on the debt to the Chinese and others, further increasing he National Debt now standing at 12.7 Trillion dollars, and, increasing interest rates for all consumers.

Now, is there any reason you are not doing all you can do to get prepared for some time of collapse, most probably economic and financial in nature? Or at least considering steps to make yourself more self-sufficient?

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Water Management, Pre and Post Collapse

One of the foremost factors in your Survival planning has got to be Water. Without water you will die and die quickly. A person can go without water for maybe 48 hours maybe slightly longer depending upon activity, but towards the end of period without water, that person’s ability to accomplish tasks such as moving and even thinking will be greatly reduced until their body shuts down and dies.

What this means to the Urban Survivor developing his/her Survival Plan is that you have to plan for water throughout the phases of your Urban Survival Plan.

You should be planning on leaving your Urban or Suburban location for a safe location. This safe location should have a water source and not rely on public utilities for water. Such as a stream or river, a well, a lake, etc. If the source is a well, how will it be powered after the power utilities go out?

You would most likely be at your urban or suburban location for a period of time after the collapse is evident, unless you are really on the ball. If you stay at your home for any length of time following a shut down of the water utilities you will need to plan for water to last as long as you are going to stay there and then plan a safety factor. One gallon per person per day would be minimum and you should consider people that may end up part of your survival group.

If you drink bottled water and normally store a case in your pantry, then you may want to consider stocking say ten (10) cases, and each week or two, replenishing your supply so if the collapse hits you unexpectedly you have a supply on hand.

You may think about having empty water storage containers such as one gallon camping type water jugs or even 5 gallon cans. Once events starts happening to make you nervous, then start filling.

If you still have water pressure and you know water is or has been cut off, you maybe be able to fill your bathtub(s) and use that water first.

If and when the collapse hits and water utilities are out, do not use water for non-essential things like washing-bathing or flushing toilets. Consider now, how you are doing to deal with human waste. A porta-potty type arrangement, or even storing waste in sealed plastic bags, such as trash bags or grocery bags, then into a larger container would work.

If you get caught short, there is a small supply of water you can purify and use for drinking in the toilet tanks and hot water heaters.

If you store water for a long time, you may need to purify it. See the earlier post under Survival Skills for water purification.

Again once the Collapse hits you need to have water for the time your are going to be at your present Urban or Suburban location, and for your movement to your safe location. Consider a safety factory in case your time line doesn’t go according to plan. Consider your purification needs and protocols as well. Be safe.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Home Vulnerability Assessment

Most likely the Urban Survivor is going to stay past the appropriate time when a Bug Out to the Safe Location is indicated, therefore preparations to make the Urban or Suburban home safer after a collapse of society or the infrastructure is vitally necessary.

This starts with the Urban Survival Vulnerability Assessment.

Look at the directions from which possible threats may come and the avenues of approach to bring threats onto your property or the vicinity of your property.

Are their any friends or neighbors that you could rely on for mutually supporting observation and early warning? If so, what is the mechanism for that warning? A simple extended wiring of your vehicle horn can be lead into the house and used to alert the neighborhood using a simply code to indicate direction and threat.

Can you get better observation from your roof or second story? Is there a nearby location to establish an observation post/listening post (LP/OP)? If so, does the LP/OP have a covered and/or concealed approach and withdrawal route back to your house? Be careful about over extending your manpower if you have too few people to provide near security on the house and also accomplish survival tasks like preparing or cooking foods, purifying water, or resting, etc.

It there an unimpeded access along these avenues of approach that presumably threats will come from, straight into your neighborhood or directly to your house? If so, what can you do to minimize this? Large earth planters filled with dirt to stop vehicles? What about placement of, maybe even a re-location of landscaping timbers or large rocks? Thin slats of wood with nails pounded up through them can make effective anti-vehicle spike units.

What about covered or concealed routes for bad guys on foot to approach your house undetected? What is your visibility from all windows in our house? What are the dead zones – meaning the areas that you cannot see? Do you have to cut down or be prepared to cut down brush? What is the soil or ground like next to all your entrances? Remember that windows often make better entrances than doors so consider these too.

Loose gravel next to the house and especially doors and windows will make noise when someone approaches. Windows are easily broken. In the winter time this means a less comfortable and warm place to live. You may decide to collect windows to build a greenhouse to grow life saving food and would therefore need to take a page out of the Florida folks that are imminently prepared for Hurricanes with ½ to ¾ inch plywood cut for all windows with mounting hardware.

Lighting. Can be used several ways. Illuminating approach routes to your house may make intruders look for a softer target – maybe not. If you have solar powered lights when the electrical grid is off, this may draw attention to your house. With solar powered motion detecting lights, you may want to re-route wiring into your home in order to have a command initiated outside lighting system. I would mount these with easily re-moved hardware, wing nuts and such, in order to be able to take them with you once you have initiated the Survival Bug Out Plan as those lights may come in handy someplace else.

Doors. Most every modern home has dead bolts above the door knob, but nothing a shotgun won’t take out (we call that ballistic breaching). Consider commercial or man made braces that go into the floor either on a slot or by friction, and fit underneath the door knob. This is added security that would make intruders spend more time in the fatal funnel of a door way before making their way into the interior of your home.

The ability to defend your home with small arms, meaning the ability to shoot from your home would be important. As important is the ability for you to withstand small arms fire. Most homes provide terrible cover (protection) from small arms fire. Aside from sand bagging or laying sheet steel on the walls around your windows, or using rail road ties or 4”x4” posts, this would be a major job. Any containers that hold dirt would also do.

Need to use the term “wargaming” again. The best vulnerability assessment would come from you wargaming various situations based on the environment you live in then develop counter measures to mitigate the threats and weaknesses you have determined. Again call it “what if’ing” but it is an effective way to look at contingencies and resources needed to implement better plans and contingencies.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Barter Goods

This post follows the Survival Financial Planning posts concerning possessing Gold, Silver and the various phases of Survival purchasing where very possibly paper cash and precious metals may not be as valuable or even accepted by many. 

As a re-cap, we think that after a infrastructure collapse, we would go through several different periods of commerce where paper money, then precious metals, then material items (barter items) would be distinct.  We can’t even begin to determine how long each period would last.  Paper Money, in a Survival Situation, may only be good for two to three days,…maybe more, maybe less, but certainly no-good after the realization that things are not going to go back to normal hits the people square in the head. 

Gold and Silver had traditionally and historically been of value.  Their value based would fluctuate based on the increasing inflationary value of life saving material, e.g..food, water and material things during a Survival situation.   Commerce using Gold and Silver may rebound if and when various segments of the population achieve some sort organized society. This may be based on locations and access to material goods than it is anything else.

Barter goods in a Survival Scenario will always be of value.  Imagine negotiating with someone for 3 gallons of fuel:  “Yeah, I got 3 gallons of fuel,…what do you have to trade?” “How about 4 Morgan Silver Dollars?”  or  “How about 6 cans of vegetables and a bag of rice?”   What do you think this guy is going to want to trade for?    

In a Survival environment where commodities are in very short supply, what products do you think would be of high value? 
     
Obviously food such as high caloric/high carbohydrate items; Water and devices to carry water such as canteens are a sure bet; Alcohol may be a prime barter item; First Aid supplies especially anti-biotics pills and ointment, aspirin and other pain killers are also good Survival barter items; Lighters and/or butane fuel for lighters; firearms and ammunition would be high, may even be number one on the Survival item Barter List. 

Plant seeds for vegetables are another good bet; clothing items such as socks, sweatshirts, sweat pants; backpacks may be another good Survival barter item. 

The idea is not to try and stock a retail store, just realize that what may be important to your survival is also important of others facing the same commodities shortage.  

The benefit to a total collapse of society as we know it, lapses us into a Survival mode, be it an Urban, Suburban or Rural environment is that your spouse may not be getting on your butt about getting rid of some things.  The ‘Hey, maybe I can use that” excuse for all material things will take on a new meaning.            

Friday, March 5, 2010

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 9

I completed buying the medical items from my list I made during Neomi’s visit and completed emplacing the Survival Caches at my Safe Location. On my way up to the Family Cabin, I reviewed the primary route, with the exception of the detour to my Son’s college, and looked at several key points I was concerned about on the Alternate and Contingency route. My Emergency route, completing my PACE plan for my Urban Survival Bug Out Plan, as you will remember is moving over land on foot, navigating to the Safe Location and my Survival Caches.

On my way up the thought that I did not have a shovel hit me, so I deviated to a Wal-Mart and bought a D handled shovel and walking through the sporting goods area, I also picked up a pack of fish hooks and some mono-filament fishing line to drop into my Survival Caches near the Cabin. Reason being is that there is a stream running close to my family’s run down cabin which I do not know or not if there are fish in it, but, there is a small lake about 6 miles form the cabin – so better to be safe than sorry.

The land navigation practice went okay. I was able to plot a compass heading on a map and I walked about 1,600 meters (about a mile) to the little draw I plotted on my USGS map. I did not use the GPS, but I did see the need for a way to tell distance. I talked to the Survival Cadre about that and they said I could use a “pace count”, where I measured how many steps it took me to walk a measured 100 yards or 100 meters then use that count in the woods to keep track of distance.

On my way back I took stock of my Urban Survival Preparations and Skills to date:

Bought two guns, a shotgun and a pistol;

Prepared a Survival Bug Out Bag;

Prepared my Toyota RAV 3 with a second full up spare tire and camouflage system;

Bought two gas containers so when events and circumstances dictated, I would keep them filled up in my garage to ensure I had fuel for “Getting Out of Dodge”
Selected a Safe Location that is fairly remote and has access to water;

Emplaced a small Survival Cache near the Safe Location;

Became familiar with my firearms;

Learned alittle about Map Reading and Land Navigation;

Started looking at how I would defend my home in the early days of a collapse before I executed my Survival Bug Out Plan;

Brought a Friend (Neomi) into my Survival Planning and she is prepared with a Bug Out Bag, Survival firearms, a vehicle and a foot route to link up with me at my home if a collapsed came on sudden;

My next Survival Preparation Plans are:

Continue buying ammunition, albeit small amounts, each month;

Purchase a couple of cases of Mountain House Food from EarthWaveLiving and some #10 cans of dehydrated bulk food from Honeyville Grain;

Ensure I continue buying a little extra each grocery store run keeping bottled water in one gallon jugs, large bags of dog food and canned/dehydrated meals in my pantry;

Make plans and prepare more Survival Caches for emplacement at my Safe Location – I’m not doing to put a whole lot of stuff up there at first. I think I’ll concentrate on maybe 3 months worth then later a six month minimal supply for three adults,…that would be Me, Neomi and my Son. Be Safe, Stay Ready!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Long Shelf Life Food

Even if your Urban (or Suburban) Survival Plan calls to implement a Bug Out or a withdrawal to a Safe Location, the Urban Survivor should consider stocking some long duration food items at his/her urban or suburban home.

We envision an undetermined “wait” period after an initial societal or infrastructure collapse. Most people will be waiting for some level of government to fix the problem and make it better. In fact, public radio or emergency broadcasts may be exposing patience, telling the people that things will get better soon. Human nature will be to believe and to wait. To be able to wait until the need to Bug Out becomes clear the urban Survivor will need to have a stock of food. Best case is if this food stock is compact and easily loaded and moved once the Urban Survivor departs his home for the safe location.

This means packaging food items yourself or buying packaged and prepared food designed for a long shelf life. We recommend both actions. Procure bulk items such as rice and beans and prepare/package containers of them yourself.

To package and prepare bulk food items yourself you will need containers such as 5 gallon buckets and lids – old paint buckets work well, Mylar bags, and oxygen absorbers. The Mylar bags are placed into the buckets, filled with rice or beans or whatever, then oxygen absorbers are dropped into the Mylar bag which are then ironed closed. The oxygen absorbers remove the oxygen in the bag creating a vacuum packed effect and allowing for long term storage, 10 years or so, in the right conditions. Oxygen absorbers need to be controlled in an air tight environment as they rapidly absorb oxygen when exposed to air and can become un-useable if not properly stored.

Prepared food items that can be purchased, are usually dehydrated, and can be divided up into two different types: single items such as dehydrated fruit, potatoes, eggs, etc; or, a meal type items such as dehydrated stew, soups, chili con carne, etc.

Our favorite packaged and prepared Survival food is Mountain House Food freeze dried meals in pouches or in #10 cans (coffee can sized). Mountain House Food makes meals from $3 to $6 per serving depending upon what you order. We use EarthWaveLiving (see the link to this company on the right side of this page) as they offer a large selection of Mountain House Food items in various configurations as well as other Survival and Self Sufficient items like solar panels, batteries, radios, water filters, grain mills, food dehydrators and heirloom seeds for food gardens.
The Urban Survivor should also consider stocking Salt, Sugar and other spices; bullion cubes would also be a good idea. Packaged in smaller Mylar bags, these items would also have a long shelf life, possibly 10 years or longer.

Just how much food should you stock? We think optimally you probably should not stock more than you can load in your vehicle if and when you Bug Out. However a six month supply of food, probably mixed between purchased prepared Survival Foods and bulk items you prepare yourself, is a decent concept that would allow you to get through a non-growing season into warmer weather where you could grow your own vegetables or otherwise procure food. Your six month supply will most likely be based on a reduced consumption level.

Long term storage food items are also an excellent barter item, so consider the possibility of bartering your long stay food for necessities that you may have forgot during your Survival Preparation.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Too Late to Buy Gold or Silver?

We had a recent conversation with a man in his early 50’s. He is currently working as truck driver and is an Army veteran. He, like us, are concerned with the direction the country is heading, and accordingly to him, has long thought about trying to be prepared for a TSHTF Urban Survival type scenario. His current Survival Preparation is centered around having a few firearms and sufficient ammunition and other Survival Gear and Equipment like Sleeping Bags, Cold Weather Clothing, etc.

Our talk turned to financial planning and inevitably to gold and silver. He thought that it is too late to buy Gold and Silver and also rationalized that commodities will be worth more in a barter type environment that Gold or Silver.

He is wrong on one count and half right on the other.

We cannot envision an environment where it is too late to start buying Gold or Silver. Obviously the idea is to buy it at the lowest possible prices, but today’s high prices may be tomorrow’s low prices. As we write this, Gold closed at $1,118 an ounce, Silver at $16.31 an ounce. A pre-’65 Washington Quarter on Feb 8th, 2010 was worth $2.74 at Silver melt prices and a Morgan Silver Dollar at $11.71 Silver melt prices. On Feb 19th, 2010 those same coins were worth $2.88 and $12.34 respectively.

Now we’re not saying Gold and Silver are going up and will never come down. What we are saying is that you cannot predict the market and you cannot afford to wait until prices are where you want them to buy Gold or Silver. Buy what you can, when you can. If your budget only allows the purchase of a roll of pre-’65 Roosevelt Dimes – well, that’s better that not having any Silver at all.

Our friend was half correct when he said commodities or what we call barter items will be much more valuable in a TSHTF Urban Survival type scenario. We think there will be three phases of “Survival purchasing power” following a catastrophic event that plunges everyone into a Survival mode.

The first phase of Survival purchasing power will be paper cash. It will help to have cash on hand as some people will undoubtedly not accept credit or checks but will believe the situation will come back to normal before too long and these people will seek to profit from the situation by charging exorbitantly. So have some cash on hand. We can’t tell you how much,….maybe a starting point would be $1,000 in $5, $10 and $20 bills.

The second phase of Survival purchasing will Gold or Silver. People who will not take paper cash will most probably take Gold or Silver in exchange for commodities or services. They may not know the closing value of Gold or Silver but nonetheless history shows us that Gold and Silver has long been an acceptable world wide currency.

The third phase of Survival purchasing will be barter based on commodities. We will do a post, in the near future, devoted solely to the acquisition and storage of barter items. Some people may still take Gold and Silver but commodities that cannot be acquired anymore will have an exceptionally high value.

We cannot even begin to estimate the duration of these three phases of Survival purchasing. The cash phase may last one day or it may last 2 weeks. The Gold and Silver phase may last one month, maybe three months or continue forever. So, the bottom line is that it is not too late to buy Gold or Silver, just buy it in amounts you can afford – some is much better than none, and, to be prepared for all phases of Survival purchasing - cash, Gold - Silver and Barter items.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Urban Survival Preparation– Wargaming the Bug Out Plan

The Urban Survivalist in Planning having completed his basic Survival Bug Out Bag, needs to develop the when the “S@#* Hits The Fan”, know by it’s acronym of SHTF, Bug Out plan.

The Urban Survivor will have to develop a decision matrix or otherwise have an idea on when it is he needs to leave his urban environment for his safe haven.
Human nature being what it is, that is hoping and expecting things to get better – hoping that the government will fix things, may hold the Urban Survivor back from leaving or delaying the departure to a point when it becomes riskier.

Without stocks of food, the ability to provide security and defense and a source of water, the Urban Survivor cannot afford to wait.

The Bug Out will need to be wargamed. Wargaming is a process of “what if’ing” the plan. It is used to determine the problems and develop solutions. For example:

Time to put the Bug Out Plan into action, I need a full tank of fuel to get from the house to the safe haven.
Problem: What if I only have a half tank and the ability to get commercial fuel is not longer an option?
Solution: At an appropriate time when things are getting worse, you would need to ensure that you stock fuel at your house which will require fuel storage tanks such as 2, 3 or 5 gallon containers available at Wal-Mart or a Surplus store.
Problem: Fuel stored for a long time will go bad.
Solution: Routinely replace the stored fuel and/or use Sta-Bil fuel additive to prolong the usability of stored fuel.

Problem: The vehicle has a mechanical problem during the movement from your house to the safe haven.
Solution: Carry parts and tools for common problems that are within your ability to fix such as a broken serpentine belt or flat tire. In fact, having two full spare tires complete with rims are a good idea.

Problem: The primary route from the house to the safe haven becomes clogged with traffic or otherwise too dangerous to drive.
Solution: Plan Alternate, Contingency and Emergency (remember PACE?) routes on less traveled roads.

Problem: May have to stop and hide the vehicle during darkness as driving during the night with lights on is a very bad idea. Solution: Need a canvas or earth tone tarp to cover the windshield and a camouflage net to drap over the vehicle. Need green or brown duct tape to cover exposed shiny parts of the car.

Problem: Route becomes impassable and there is no option to take another and/or the vehicle becomes disabled.
Solution: Plan to walk overland to the safe haven. You will probably needs maps and have areas selected along this foot route that would be tentative safe areas to hole up in for a day or two. If you need maps, you probably need some map reading and land navigation training. Can you carry enough food, water (water is more important) in your Bug Out Bag to make the trip on foot? If you are initially traveling in a vehicle, you should drink and eat stocks placed in your vehicle rather than use it from your Bug Out Bag. Remember your Survival Bug Out Bag is your last ditch option for when you are on foot or on the run.

If you carry Wargaming through to arrival at your safe haven, you would need to plan how you are going to approach and identify yourselves to people at the safe haven. You may even have the forethought to pre-place supplies and material at the safe haven, either stored openly at a safe haven that is full time occupied or cached. A cache is a hidden store or equipment, supplies or material. We’ll be writing about that later. In the mean time, sit down and think about your trek from your house to your safe haven and imagine what can go wrong. This will identify what contingencies you need to plan for. Remember Murphy’s Law,…….What can go wrong, will go wrong.