Urban Survival Skills – Map Reading Basics #2, Terrain Features

Urban Survival Skills – Map Reading Basics #2, Recognizing Terrain Features

The Urban Survivor moving from the Urban or Suburban’s areas cross-country will need to know how to identify terrain features to be able to figure out what lays ahead of him/her in order to plot routes, plan rest or hole up stops and defensive positions. They are also useful for navigating on – that is figuring out where you are and where you need to go.

The basic terrain features we will cover with a diagram on how it looks on a map, are: Hills, Saddles, Ridges, Depressions, Cliffs and Draws.

Urban Survival Skills – Map Reading Basics #1

Even if the Urban Survivor does not plan on having to move on foot over ground to get to the Safe Location, having a rudimentary ability to read maps and navigate is essentially a basic skill.

The crew here at www.urbansurvivalskills.com is going to post a few basic map reading lessons in order to facilitate the fledging Urban Survivor.

Every topographical map should have what is called Marginal Information
and should include Map Identification information such as Map Sheet Name and possibly a catalog number.

Other Marginal Information, depending upon type of map, may include:

Index to Boundaries. Shows County and State boundaries that occur within the map area.

Adjoining Sheets Diagram. Depicts the map sheets by Map Sheet Name and/or Number that border this map sheet.

Elevation Guide. Provides a means of rapid recognition of major landforms and their elevation range.

Declination Diagram. This diagram depicts the angle differences between True, Grid and Magnetic North. What is NORTH on a map is somewhat different from the magnetic NORTH shown by a compass – this diagram shows you how to convert from one to the other.

Bar Scales. These are rulers used to determine map distance to ground distance. On the 1:50,000 maps that we will be using the scales are in Kilometers, Statute Miles and Nautical Miles.

Contour Interval Note. Shows vertical distance between adjacent contour lines on the map.

Grid Zone and 100,000 meter Square Identification. Found on military maps using the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) as opposed to Universal Transmercator (UTM) or Geographic Coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) which is the coordinate systems for most other maps including the excellent US Geological Survey maps.

Legend. This information contains the symbols and their descriptions.

The Map should be in colors which are used to designate various things such as:

Black. Man-made features such as buildings and roads.

Reddish-Brown. Relief features, terrain features and contour lines.

Blue. Water such as lakes, rives, streams and drainage.

Green. Vegetation such as orchards, woods, etc.

Red. Populated areas, boundaries - mainly on older maps.

Other. Sometimes other colors are used to show special information and objects. These will be listed in the Legend portion of the marginal information as well.

The next Map Reading Lesson will focus on identification of natural terrain features.

Financial Survival Planning – Melt Value of Silver Coins

We recently received another question from our post on Financial Survival Planning. “In your Urban Survival Planning - Financial Survival post you mentioned that as a guide we should have $1,000.00 face value of pre-1965 dimes, quarters, and half-dollars per person. I know that pre-’65 Quarters have some silver, but could you explain the silver value of the other coins and how much they are worth?”

Yes Sir, here’s the deal: There are a lot of U.S. coins, circulating or not, that contain silver. We’ll call that “melt’ value. As of February 8, 2010 the melt value of these U.S. coins are as follows:

1942 – 1945 Jefferson War Nickel, $0.05 face value, worth $0.85 melt value

1916 – 1945 Mercury Dime $0.10 face value, worth $1.10 melt value

1946 – 1964 Roosevelt Dime, $0.10 face value, worth $1.10 melt value

1932-1964 Washington Quarter, $0.25 face value, worth $2.74 melt value

1916-1947 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, $0.50 face value, $5.48 melt value

1948 – 1963 Franklin Half Dollar, $0.50 face value, $5.48 melt value

1964 Kennedy Half Dollar, $0.50 face value, $5.48 melt value

1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollar, $0.50 face value, $2.24 melt value

1878-1921 Morgan Dollar, $1.00 face value, $11.71 melt value

1921 – 1935 Peace Dollar, $1.00 face value, $11.71 melt value

1971 – 1976 Eisenhower Dollar, $1.00 face value, $4.79 melt value

The above coins’ melt value does not consider their worth to a collector. A proper appraisal of each coin prior to sale (during normal times) should be accomplished.

You can also prepare with silver by purchasing Silver Bullion in the form of bullion bars or silver rounds. There is usually a premium for each piece, bar or round, above the price of the silver you are paying for.

We remember the oil crunch of 1978 or 1979 where gas stations were advertising a gallon of gas as so much in conventional currency or a much smaller amount (face value) of U.S. silver coinage. That’s the way we envision another severe economic crunch. Paper money being useful only for a short period of time, then silver and gold would be used as a currency before bartering for goods and services would take over as the major form of currency.

Stay on top of U.S. silver coin melt value (click here)

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 6

Okay! Now I feel like I have accomplished something. Although I am not necessarily buying into the whole “the World is going to Crash” scenario, I AM practical enough to have a plan just in case something does happen. My Survival Bug Out Bag is now complete, or at least to a stage where I am comfortable having something ready to grab as I run out the door. I’ll continue to add Survival Gear and Survival Tools as I become aware of them and find value in them, not to mention if I can afford them!

Have not yet heard back from Neomi. I’m going wait for her to call me. If she wants to be prepared, I’ll help her, but I am not going to be placed into a position where I have to talk her into it.

I went to the local Bureau of Land Management Office and bought maps to cover my route from home to my survival safe location in case at any point during my movement to my Survival Safe Location (the family cabin), I will have some navigation aids. Next I need to learn how to read a map and navigate better.

I also bought another rim and spare tire for my Toyota Rav 4 vehicle, so now I have two full up spares. I also went to a local military surplus store and bought what is called a “shelter halves”, which is a light weight green canvas tent, and a section of netting, called a ‘Light Weight Camouflage Screening System or LWCCS in military jargon”. I’ll keep all this in my garage until circumstances will key me to start loading my vehicle in a higher level of readiness.

The shelter halves will be used to place over my Toyota’s front and rear windshields if I have to stash the vehicle or hole up in the forests or in the desert - this will reduce the shine and reflection off the glass. I can roll down the other windows. The camouflage netting I can use to drape over my vehicle. After all, my vehicle is red! The Survival guys told me that I can use or make wet dirt or mud and “paint” my vehicle with that as well as to use green duct tape to reduce all the shiny areas such as chrome trim, etc.

My next step is to find the best spots from my house to the Survival Safe Location to hole up at, whether I’m driving or walking, and water sites like streams, lakes or ponds. I will be carrying 100 ounces of water in my Survival Bug Out Bag, plus four additional quarts of water, plus a couple of Energy drinks (not the commercial sugar laden kind but a healthy energy drink I buy from a buddy of mine).

If I can make it out of the city, pickup my son at college and make it out of that small town, then I will have about 140 miles left to travel to get to the cabin and could make it in seven days, which will require me to pre-load seven days worth of Main Stay Survival bars in my Survival Bug Out Bag. (click here to see the Product Review on Mainstay Survival Food Bars).

I’ll also put together a package of food and water to rapidly load in my vehicle for my Bug Out plan, so I’ll have food and water during my trip to the Survival Safe Location and not have to touch the contents of my Survival Bug Out Bag.