Urban Bug Out after the Collapse

Received this message from an Urban Survivor: ”Dear Urban Man. I have recently came across this site and have found it very informative and eye-opening. It got me thinking a little bit about what will I be able to do. I live in the greater (city deleted) area, living paycheck to paycheck, in a small 2 bedroom apartment, with my wife and 7 month old baby. For supplies we only have a weeks worth of food tops, a Ruger GP100 and a Winchester M12 with about 50 rounds each. Also some camping gear I like to hold on to (sleeping bag, ponchos, old army ruck sack). Not much, but it's what I have to work with. What advice if any would you be able to provide myself and for people living in these apartment buildings, if any, should the need arise to bug-out? Thank you.”

UrbanMan’s response: I intentionally left this gent’s name and city off, but suffice to say it was a large city on the Northeastern coast.

Unless a substantial part of your apartment complex population are prepared, equipped and can act as a cohesive unit, your best bet is to develop a Bug Out plan. You are reduced simply by the nature of geography on what direction you can go. You are hampered by the fact that one of you, your wife or you, will have to be a full time caretaker of the baby for several more years. You have a good start on a survival firearms battery with the Ruger GP100 and the Winchester Model 12 shotgun.

You Bug Out plan should consider a safe place to go, outside of normal refugee routes, possibly is the mountainous areas to your West. If you do not know anybody in a remote or rural location, then you may want to consider some weekend trips to do so. A lot of small communities are slowly dying. Looking around and letting people know that you are thinking of re-locating is a good way to get the feel of the area and to meet some people. You don’t need to articulate that you would be re-locating there just ahead of a Zombie mob or Mushroom cloud. You may have some close friends who do have some other friends of relatives in rural – remote areas.

As far as how you are getting there the best option is to be able to get ahead of the crowd of refugees. That’s means being ready to execute your Bug Out plan before all hope is lost or even if the situation is still undetermined. You probably be using a vehicle. It’ll pay to always keep your vehicle in some stage of readiness such as with some gear loaded and a fuel tank probably never below ¾ full. If you plan requires travel at the very limit of your vehicle range, then to pre-stage fuel cans and to fill them when the small indicators of a collapse start tingling your spidey sense.

A well stocked Bug Out bag for you and your wife is a requirement. Sleeping bags, ponchos, survival gear like multiple lighters, knifes, Gerber or Leatherman pocket tools, flashlights are all necessary; canteens and hydration packs are very necessary as well. I would put long stay food like MRE’s and/or Main Stay Food bars in my Bug Out Bags. A bucket or two of Wise type Survival meals and larger water containers like five gallon water jugs would be in my vehicle.

I would choose my routes out of the city carefully, avoiding the more dangerous choke points like narrow bridges and two lane roads. Have multiple routes so that you can transition from your primary to alternate to contingency to emergency (PACE) as necessary. Have some linkup points that are easy to find and that provide some cover and/or concealment in case you and your wife get separated.

Consider a couple more firearms so that you and your wife each have a handgun and a long gun. I think you priority on weapons now would be a decent repeating rifle. An AR platform such as an civilian M-4 is great, but you would not be handicapped much a pump action or small magazine fed semi-auto rifle.

I would also think about adding some Silver coins, bullion or old U.S. silver coins for their melt value to my Bug Out bags. They may come in handy. Have adequate amount of ammunition for each firearm.

Read the Survival Chronicles of Jim, from Chapter 1 to present and you’ll get an idea on how Jim and his plan and preps have evolved. Good luck to you.

Government Crackdown on Survivalists?

UrbanSurvivalSkills received several e-mails from readers alerting us to "government raids on private citizens who had been stocking food" because these people fit a profile for domestic terrorist activity. Apparently this story came from an Oath Keepers report on a federal raid on a Mormon (Latter Day Saints) facility in Tennessee and was later de-bunked by Glenn Beck and the Blaze and the
story recalled by Oath Keepers.

However, the roots from this story, and possible others like it, come from government "intelligence" reports about domestic terrorism with survivalists, "gun nuts" and returning "disillusioned war veterans" as potential "lone wolf" type domestic terrorists. One of the government documents that fuel the belief is a joint bulletin from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) titled "Communities Against Terrorism" where the bulletin listed potential indicators of terrorist activities related to (purchases at) military surplus stores.

The joint bulletin lists suspicious activity and encourages store owners to call authorities if they have customers who meet any of these profiles:

What Should I Consider Suspicious? People or Groups who:

Provide ID that is inconsistent or suspect, or demand identify privacy.

Insist of paying with cash or use credit cards in different names.

Significantly alter appearance from visit to visit.

Have missing hands/fingers, chemical burns, strange odors or bright color stains on clothing.

Make racist or extreme religious statements coupled with comments that are violent or appear to condone violence.

Make suspicious comments regarding anti U.S radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause.

Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased.

Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items.

Make bulk purchases of items to include: Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers; Meals Ready to Eat; Night Vision Devices, night flashlights or gas masks; high capacity magazines; bi-pods or tripods for rifles.


See the Blaze story here, as well as a copy of Joint FBI-BJA Bulletin.

UrbanSurvivalSkills believes that if you are not doing anything illegal then you have little to fear from the government, except tanking the economy and running businesses out of business, but it stills pays to maintain OPSEC,....against misguided government instusion and criminal threats targeting you because you are a prepared survivalist.