Urban Survival – Reader Questions on Camouflage Uniforms

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following question from a reader asking for suggestions on Camouflage Clothing.


“You mentioned having adequate, heavy duty clothing for Urban Survival. What is your take on Camouflaged clothing?

Do you think me, my family and friends should have camouflage fatigues of the same pattern/color? I read the Patriots book in which the Survival Group decided on a unique pattern so they could differentiate their people from others in the forests. Sounded like a great idea to me.”


Urban Man’s reply:


There is certainly a place for camouflaged fatigues in your Survival Kit, particularly shirts as they have more and better functional pockets than common work shirts. There are lots of camouflaged uniforms patterns and colors to choose from.


To keep this article as short as we can, I will limit to a short review on camouflage uniforms currently in use by the US Army: the Army Combat Uniform or ACU as made by Propper, and the Multi-Cam made by Tru-Spec. Both uniforms are well made and worth the cost increase over the older Vietnam era Camouflage uniforms, or the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) that are commonly available in Surplus Stores or on-line stores.

The ACU has a zippered front closure, elbow pouch for padded inserts, tilted chest pockets with Velcro closures, shoulder pockets with Velcro, pen pocket on sleeve and is imported.

The Multi-Cam has a better zippered front closure and replaces the Velcro closures of the ACU with YKK Powerhook closure devices which won’t wear out so bad from repeated washes. The Multi-Cam is made from 65/35 poly/Cotton Ripstop fabric or 50/50 Nylon Ripstop fabric; both version have the same slanted chest and shoulder pockets as the ACU. The Multi-Cam is made by Tru-Spec here in the USA and available is a wide range of colors: Black (would not recommend); Olive Drab (best single all around color); Digital Desert (okay for desert areas but not as an all around color); Khaki (would not recommend); 3 color desert (would not recommend); woodland; midnight navy (would not recommend); digital urban (would not recommend); digital woodland (okay for forested areas); and of course Multi-Cam (recommended for a wide range of areas).

The ACU and Multi-Cam are highly functional uniforms, especially the shirts due to their roomy pockets, very well made construction, and, we especially like the elbow pouches for padded inserts. The digital urban pattern is much too dark for our likes but would recommend either the ACU pattern, the Multi-Cam pattern or plain Olive Drab (green), shown to the LEFT with the uniform features.



The problem with camouflage uniforms is that they will set you apart. Civilians wearing camouflage uniforms will scream “Right Wing Milita” to Law Enforcement – which is maybe not a concern after a collapse. I guess a small team wearing the same camouflage uniforms may give a perception of a government element with authority. If common urbanites see you in your camouflage uniforms there is a connotation that you probably have additional Survival Gear and Equipment and therefore may mark you as a target for roving gangs.


I still think having at least a few Tru-Spec Multi-Cam or Olive Drab uniform tops or Propper ACU tops per person to wear over brown or khaki pants is a good idea as they will hold tough in rugged terrain and bad weather, and, have adequate pockets in which to carry essentials.


Multi-Cam and ACU uniforms shirts are reasonable priced at $39.99 and $40.99 from U.S. Cavalry.

Urban Survival – Recommendations for Midwest Senior Couple

UrbanSurvivalSkill.com received the following on e-mail.

“We are a senior couple in our early sixties living in the suburbs of (a large city in the Midwest ). My wife and I are both fit and healthy outdoors types, both retired and living off our Social Security, my small pension and some investment income. We see the value in being prepared for all sorts of collapse scenarios including anarchy in the streets as well as the value in re-locating to a safe place. We also see the logic in assuming that most people, including us, will probably wait too long in our urban locations before pulling out (bugging out as you call it) for our safe place.”


“I have a sister living on a 6,000 acre farm about 3 hours away from us. She is a widow, also retired (as a teacher) but supplements her income tutoring students. Other than having a 12 gauge shotgun and a .45 pistol from my Dad’s World War II service, camping equipment and our own small garden, we are relatively unprepared. I know we need to get better prepared for Urban Survival but I can’t see us running around in camouflage fatigues, etc. Any input would be appreciated.”

Urban Man Comments:

The first step is recognizing the need to be prepared. Second think about all different scenarios, e.g..hyper-inflation, economic collapse, bank closures, your social security checks and even pension checks stop coming, infrastructure collapse, and, all the problems that create. This is called Wargaming. This process will identify contingencies you need to plan for which in general would be: unavailability of food, water service stoppage, lack of medical care, security issues especially in an Urban/Suburban environment with groups of hungry desperate people.

Here is what I would consider doing:

Stockpile some food. Consider six months for two people minimum.

Prepare a couple of Bug Out Bags to support movement on foot from your home to your sister’s farm. 300 miles at even 20 miles a day (which is an unrealistic sustained movement rate) would take you 15 days. You won’t be able to carry 15 days of food and water, even not considering other essential Survival Gear and Equipment. Visit my posts on Bug Out Bags.

Your Bug Out plan would primarily be your vehicle. Ensure you have enough fuel to make the trip by keeping a couple empty fuel cans in your garage and filling them up when collapse indicators indicate a stepped up level of preparedness. Your Bug Out Bags would support you if your vehicle runs out of fuel or breaks down, or circumstances dictate you get off the road and move on foot.

I would get your sister on board and stockpile some food, clothing and extra Survival gear at her farm. Hopefully she has a water source other than County water there. Look at alternate methods of powering the pumps such as solar and wind. Buy some non-hybrid seeds and store at your sister. A good idea would be to store some at your home as well.

I’ll also bet that your sister knows how to can foods. You may want to buy a couple cases of canning jars and lids and take them to her to keep on hand.

Ensure you have an adequate amount of ammunition for your current firearms. A shotgun is great. Ensure you have birdshot, buckshot and slugs – probably at least several hundred shells each. Same for your excellent .45 pistol – extra magazines available almost anywhere and you should have several hundred rounds of this caliber on hand. Consider buying a rifle. If only one rifle, then I prefer an M4 carbine, but a decent .308 rifle would also be a good item to have. Again, need to have ammunition on hand before the crunch comes.

I’ll bet there are some firearms at your sister’s. Same goes for these guns as well. A .22 rifle and a thousand rounds is a cheap addition to your Urban Survival arsenal.

Lots of other great Survival gear and equipment to have as well. Among the priorities a good set of boots, sleeping bags, binoculars, several storm proof lighters, compass, maps, poncho or field expedient shelter material, flashlights, etc.

Survival during a collapse is going to be a team sport. With just you and your wife security in town is going to be difficult – I would advise you to plan to Bug Out before the situation gets bad. You, your wife and your sister at her farm is also problematic for security. Anticipate straphangers and other relatives showing up – be thinking about who and how you are going to integrate them, or, turn them away.

Hope this helps. UrbanMan

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 15

Been busy this week. Constantly thinking about Urban Survival now. The financial trouble in Greece, expanding violence in the Middle East - how it is not possible to think about Urban Survival scenarios associated with a financial collapse of even war?

Did not mention it in the other posts, but I had previously planted some vegetables in my small backyard. If you have read my earlier Chapters, you will understand that I live almost dead center of town. Actually about a mile from the high rises of the down town district and backed up to a mountain. The good thing about my place, the last house on a dead end road, is that anyone coming down my road is doing so intentionally.

Urban Man told me that I am not in any primary refugee pattern, but I would have to worry about people trying to loot my house. Behind my house, I have some gullies, actually dry river beds called arroyos out here, plus some heavy brush that would allow me an avenue of escape if pressured to leave my house. But the primary plan is to use my vehicle. A dead end street only gives me one avenue of escape via the vehicle.

Back to my vegetables. I planted four squash plants that are now incredibly robust. I also have twelve onions in grow pots and I am going to transplant soon.
I have two Eggplant bushes coming up as well. I also planted a tangerine tree and a pomegranate tree, both which do not need a pollinator (another alike tree) to produce fruit.

I’ll soon be out of room with my small back yard. I did this because I was intrigued by Urban Man’s posts on stockpiling seeds and wanted to see if I could grow anything. The squash proves I can, and I’ll withhold my judgment on the onions.

I also went to a local Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought some heavy duty plastic bags with a one way value, where you can stuff clothes into then suck out the air using a vacuum cleaner....in effect, vacuum packing sets of clothing. Now it is the very hot down here, over 100 the past few days, so not needing cold weather clothing for another six or seven months, I vacuum packed some of my winter clothes into these bags and put them in a duffel bag in my garage to throw into my vehicle in case I have to bug out.

Oh yeah, within the last two weeks I found one Eisenhower dollar with silver met value and two pre-1965 silver quarters, each with a silver melt value of $3.14. So just being aware I was able to add $11.77 to my growing collection of silver bullion and silver melt value coins.

be safe, Jim

Urban Survival - Food Stockpiling

Every serious Urban Survival prepper knows about preparing dry foods in Mylar bags, with oxygen absorbers. Some even go so far as to then store the vacuum packed Mylar bags in buckets with Gamma Lids. All good. You can get a long storage live out of this method. I certainly recommend this method for long term storage and cache emplacement.

Another method for preparing and stocking emergency food is by using a Food Saver vacuum packing and heat sealing device. The company advises a two year storage life with dry goods using their vacuum packing device and their FoodSaver bags. I think you can get more life than that if you take reasonable care to store your food in a controlled conditions, at least until the SHTF. I don't know,...I could be wrong, but what I do know is that if a bag is two months of out date, I'm not throwing it away until I check it,...check it like you would any foods. You'll notice I wrote the food item name and packaging date (month and year) on each package in the picture below.

In order to supplement my 8 and 10 gallon cans of Mylar bag sealed dry foods, I bought a Sport Model Food Saver so I could prepare smaller packages of foods for Bug Out Bags and to prepare meals faster during movements like a Bug Out from my Urban Location to my planned Safe Location.

Today I prepared some foods for use during a vehicle Bug Out movement. I'll place the below described packaged foods in a bucket for immediate use.

$1.44 on 2 lbs of Split Pea Soup, packaged in 1 lb bags
$3.98 on 2 lbs of 16 Bean Ham flavored soup, packaged in 1 lb bags
$1.04 on Salt, packaged in 1 lb 10 ounce cans
$1.44 for 2 lbs Brown Sugar, packaged in one bag
$3.55 for 8 lbs of Pinto Beans, which I packaged into two 4 lb bags
$4.35 for 6 lbs of Enriched White Rice, packaged into one bag
$2.00 for 2 lbs of Long Grain Brown Rice, packaged into two 1 lb bags
$3.64 for a 10 ounce pack of Coffee already vacuumed packed
$4.04 for one 8 ounce bottle of Adobo Seasoning for the rice and beans

I figure I can easily get two weeks of meals out of the above ingredients. Each day having two small meals. All for a total cost of $25.48 for the food items.

I have some extra heavy duty one gallon zip lock bags from which I'll place the ingredients for my meal into, add water and let soak, if possible in the sunlight, then transferring to a pot to cook in later on. This shortens the cooking time and if you can't cook it, well you can eat it like it is.

I packed the Brown Sugar, not just as an after thought, but to use on any game like fish or rabbits or even snakes I catch. Plus I plan on adding some Steel Cut Oats to this bucket for which Brown Sugar is a necessity.

All of the above fits into a bucket I'll place in my truck, in a ready location, if and when I Bug Out. Smaller versions of the above dry foods, and other foods like peanuts and granola, are in vacuum packed smaller packages and sitting in my Bug Out Bags. I have several Bug Out bags, anticipating people to come to my location in the event of TEOTWAWKI. Who I keep and integrate into my Urban Survival Group, who I turn away maybe giving them a Bug Out Bag (no use creating enemies if you can help it) and who I just turn away cold (sometimes you can't help but create enemies) is another story, once of which I have addressed in different posts such as "Absorbing People into Your Survival Group".

Good luck -prepare well.