Urban Survival: Reader Response on Collapse is Imminent

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a good response from a reader on the post that a Collapse before end of the year is likely if Congress doesn't act in a responsible manner, or perhaps we have passed the point of no return. A reader wrote: I liked the article on preparing like the collapse is imminent or coming by Christmas/New Year. This is how I have been thinking the past two months. I am cautioning myself not to get burnt out on acting like the collapse is coming next week or the week after, as the result will be becoming too relaxed.

So I am considering my current actions as a mental exercise and a rehearsal for when it actually does comes. There is not such thing as being too ready, but I think this exercise is worthwhile, but there is such a thing as being too focused then becoming burnt out. I listening to the news during my travel to and from my office (I work for an insurance firm). At work I open several web sites, yours (UrbanSurvivalSkills.com) among them, so I can glance at the RSS feeds on finances
and markets, and read any new posts.

I have changed the schedule to our office meeting to Wednesday as I think the prime dates for a collapse to become apparent are Mondays and Fridays. I have a small television which I keep on Fox News for any breaking stories (God Bless 24/7 cable television). All of these measures serve to keep me tuned into the latest news so I can surmise if something significant is happening.

Most Fridays I stop at K-Mart or Wal-Mart and buy a couple items that come to mind,...more cigarette lighters, bags of peanuts or other small dried items that I vacuum pack then wrap in plastic shopping bags then place in old paint buckets that I obtained dumpster diving at Home Depot - note they come without lids but I buy Gamma Lids; occasionally I walk through the sporting goods section and find something that I have forgotten or something that tells me "this is a good thing to have" and lately I picked up a waterproof container for stick matches, a small shaving mirror, a couple collapsible cups and a folding camp stool.

This exercise of stopping at the Wal-Mart, for me, is like your last trip to the store before fiat money becomes worthless. Although when I do it for real it will be for as much food as I can load, carry or buy. So maybe for your readers the exercise is the collapse has just hit, stores are still open and fiat money is still used,...what will you buy? How much cash do you have on hand?

I am not in a survival family or group. It's me and my wife. It took me several months of talking to my wife for her to understand the needs to prepare at some level. She just doesn't buy into the possibility of worse case - anarchy. She has looked sideways at me with buying a couple guns the past year. I have a CZ-75 handgun in 9 millimeter and a Remington model 750 rifle in .308, as well as a little bolt action .22 long rifle and a 20 gauge pump shotgun. Not a lot compared to your other readers, but at least I'm not unarmed. Good site thanks for the information I have read in the past couple of months.)

UrbanMan's reply: Thanks for the letter. I think you are on track with the mental exercises and rehearsals. It is kinda problematic that you and your wife are along as I have always said "Survival is a Team Sport". However, I don't know anything about the environment you are in and any other threat factors you may have.

I would urge you to have a Bug Out plan to a safe location,..perhaps a relative or friend with a remote cabin or farm? Since you are lightly armed I would also consider ensuring your wife can operate all firearms and that you have an adequate stock of ammunition. Two boxes (40 rounds) of .308 for your Remington rifle would not be even a minimal stockage.

Roger your question on what you buy if the collapse hit now and are you prepared with some cash on hand with may be acceptable just after the electronic means (credit and debit cards) are kaput, but certainly not for long.

I think your best advice came from the news and RSS feeds to look at periodically through the day as to not be surprised. That's a good way to keep on top and track of indicators of a collapse. Thanks for writing and God Speed.

Leadership and Anarchy in the Survival Group

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment from Anonymous, on Survival being a Team Sport and Requiring some Command Structure,………"I think it would be impossible to have any diverse group survive intact over the long term. If there were only one Alpha then maybe. If there are two Alpha's then there will be a fight for power sooner or later. The only exception I can imagine is a family unit with a long history a clan/tribe style leadership, something along the lines of what you see in many Middle Eastern countries. I think also if there were men and women and there were not clear and settled relationships between them all that this element alone would eventually cause a breakdown in the social structure. My feeling is family would work OK as long as there were no unusual personalities. Possibly even a few close friends too. But I just don't see an eclectic group of people working together for very long.

UrbanMan replies: You are right about two Alpha males potentially creating a hazardous situation for a Survival Group. The only ways to eliminate this is to select your Survival Group members carefully,…choose people who are going to be team members,…have an agreed upon chain of command or otherwise a decision making process. I have been a member of groups that consisted of nothing by Alpha males,..not to mention aggressive and well armed at that. What kept us from self destructing was a common objective (a mission and a plan) and an existing chain of command.

You will run into problems even with one Alpha Male – decision maker. If you have a survival group that consists of ad-hoc members that was put together by collapse circumstances rather than a Survival Plan, you still run the risk of people resenting the leader. I have seen it many times where the leader gets the brunt of the blame – this is natural. Even in the absence of critical thinking where the Survival Group members bear problems, but no solutions and have no idea on how they would react if placed in a leadership position.

I think the key is building your Survival Group, or the biggest part of it, before a collapse and before you start integrating strap hangers and stragglers. Having an agreed upon chain of command or decision making structure, but anyway you cut it, there will have to be a final decision authority. A chain of command will give the best chances for continuity of operations when key leaders are gone for whatever reason. Rules and consequences for breaking these rules need to be developed and enforced. Other wise the Survival Group is not a team, but a collection of individuals.

It has been my experience in military units and law enforcement organizations, that the best Alphas can work for other Alphas. It is usually the non-Alphas that create problems…..these are people that put them first and the Group second. Again, pre-selection of members, established rules and protocols are your counter measures for anarchy within the Survival Group.

Urban Survival Planning - More Riots and Scenarios

The United States isn't the only country to suffer a large economic downturn. Most of Europe, from Spain, to Grece, from France to England and Ireland are all facing huge problems stemming from inflation and uncontrolled government spending.

Students pissed off about a signifcant rise in university tuition costs in England attack Prince Charles in his car. Riots due to England's bail out support for worse off countries, looming inflation and high unemployment; French citizens mad as hell about an increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62; Greeks angry about a cut in their amazing liberal pay and benefits.

What do you think is going to happen in the United States, particulary the highy populated Urban areas and the high density populated suburban areas once there is no money for entitlements. And it's going to happen too. This government will either run out of money (bankruptcy) or the money/fiat currency will not be worth the paper it is printed on (infltation-hyper inflation)...and they sure are currently printing enough of it.

English Riots Commentary



France Riots



Greek Riots



Have you thought about what you are doing to do if your present location becomes engulfed in riots?

Nobody gets angrier than a mob of people who think they are owed something and are getting the shaft. Rarely is Mob vengence controlled or otherwise target their anger in a discriminate manner. Having several routes, based on PACE planning (primary, alternate, contingency and emergency) from your work site to your home, and from your home to your planned safe location.

Consider the likely areas for targeted mobs,....possibly banks, government buildings, college campus' and the like. Check your route for choke points where turning around or making a detour on the fly would be very limited.

Be assured, riots, in some form or fashion, are coming. At some point in time there were be a large group of have nots and nthey will be mad. Consider the sequel where Islamist decide to conduct terrorist operations in concert with riots, be they based on food shortages, bank holidays, stock market crash, martial law, or even God forbid, where the US Government declares a city, area or region in insurrection where the President can deploy the miliary with law enforcement powers. Not only it is possible it has happened before. Google "Bonus Army".

There is a good chance that if the riots are large enough the infrastructure (utilities and water) could go down and not be repaired in a timely manner or repaired at all.

Don't count on the police to put things in order. Most city's have a police to population ratio no better than one officer per 700 residents. Count on yourselves and your Survival Group. Be prepeared to bug in and defend yourself and/or withdrawal to your safe location.

I was talking to a gent yesterday about the four basic requirements of Survival preparation: Shelter, Protection, Food and Water. We ended up spending much time talking about stocking Survival Food. I explained dehydrated and freeze dried bulk food such as what I get from Honeyville Grain; dehydrated and freeze dried bulk food and smaller packaged meals from EarthWaveLiving; Bulk food and accessory items packaged by the survivor such as in mylar bags using oxygen absorbers and/or vacuum packing machines; and, short term shelf food such as boxed and canned food goods you normally keep in your pantry.

I also explained the need to consider stores of food in all the packing/storage groups as well as problems with determining daily needs based on advertised serving sizes and caloric production.

Near the end of our conversation I was asked if this concept or “survival food strategy” was written down someplace in a hard copy book or e-book as my audience was asking for a “what-to-do” checklist. My reply was that there is a wide variety of ideas and concepts in various Survival novels, and especially on Survival forums where Preppers go back and forth expressing ideas and telling others what solutions they have developed. But in the end I agreed to post one version of a survival food strategy based on all the storage groups.

The assumption is that the Survivor is planning on Bugging In until either a Planned Bug Out is necessary or a Hasty Bug Out is forced. Planned (or orderly) Bug Out is where you have time to plan the Survival Equipment and Material load you will be taking with you, most likely in a vehicle. A Hasty Bug Out is where you are prepared to grab your Bug Out Bags and not much more as this is an instant evacuation, however prepared.

Survival Food Groups

Commercial Dehydrated/Freeze Dried, Long Term Storage Bulk Food Items. The most common of this type is the #10 cans (large coffee can sized) which are vacuum sealed and contain fruit; eggs; starches – such as rice or potatoes or beans, etc; or a meat item such as turkey or beef.

Serving per can will range from 20 to 40 serving based on one quarter cup serving sizes. I think the serving sizes are small. So I figure the “real” serving sizes as 20-25% more, so 40 servings become 30 servings. I also figure two meals a day. So for one person they would need three #10 cans – one of meat, one of a starch and one of fruit to provide one meal at day. Six total cans (or a case) to provide two meals a day for 30 days.

Commercial Dehydrated/Freeze Dried, Long Term Storage Complete Meal or Entrée Meal Items. These are come in sealed #10 cans which are easy to store and transport. Much easier to make a meal, but much more expensive, these entrees are such as Beef Stroganoff, Chicken and Rice, etc. Usually coming in total servings per can of 8 to 12, you can see it would take six cans to provide two meals a day. This is not counting having another item for the meals like a fruit which would take at least one additional #10 can. Military or commercial style MRE’s would fit within this group.

Vacuum packed Long and Semi-Long Term Storage Bulk Food Items. These are bulk food items you buy either vacuum packed and sealed or loose bulk that you prepare and pack yourself. Preparing and packing could be in the form of vacuum packing using a Food Saver type device or buy using oxygen absorbers in mylar bags. Most people will use 3 to 5 gallon buckets to store bulk food, such as rice or beans, in a mylar bags with an oxygen absorber inside before the mylar bag is heat sealed shut. The oxygen absorber draws in all the oxygen, vacuum packing the mylar bag in the process.

Short Shelf Life Pantry Food Items. These are simply additional goods you pickup at the grocery store. They can be canned foods or packaged (boxed) items. This group also includes bottled water be it in 16 ounce bottles or up to 5 gallon bottles that use a standing dispenser. Ever seen a grocery store just after a declared emerging weather threat like a hurricane? People pushing shopping carts and just throwing canned goods into it. The prudent person who buys large quantities of these short shelf life foods, has a rotating system to ensure they use the oldest food or nearest expiration or “use by” date first.

My Survival Food Strategy

I have stocks of foods across all categories.

I have case lots of the Commercial Dehydrated/Freeze Dried, Long Term Storage Bulk Food Items, mostly bought from Honeyville Grain. I have #10 cans of fruit (blueberries, strawberries, bananas, apples, blackberries and peaches) as I figure fruit many be at a premium as it is hard to grow and grow fast to bear fruit. I also have #10 cans of freeze dried diced and ground beef, eggs, potato flakes, peas, green beans, carrots and corn.

I have a smaller amount of Commercial Dehydrated/Freeze Dried, Long Term Storage Complete Meals mostly in the form of MRE’s and commercial MRE’s.

Using a food saver, I have vacuum packed white and brown rice, black beans, pinto beans, split peas, and butter beans into one and two pound bags. I have taken to placing several beef or chicken bullion cubes in with the rice and beans so as I open the bag to use some of the rice or beans I can grab a bullion cube as well to help flavor. I have also vacuum packed sugar packets, one pound units of brown sugar, iodized salt, garlic salt, coffee, peanuts and items like that. My idea is rather than bulk items of one type in a bucket, I mix up the buckets, so if I end up with only one bucket I will have a more complete bucket with diversified items.

The buckets are good ideas as they provide a seat and can be emptied to store water in as well. I have several of these buckets labeled with the contents. If I am on a planned Bug Out and the vehicle becomes stuck or disabled, I can cache everything I can’t carry with me, but one of the things I will carry is one of these ready buckets which will provide approx 2 weeks of survival (minimal) rations for two people.

Buying additional canned and boxed items at the grocery store enables me to have a month or more of ready food in my pantry which will be the first food to consume. Canned vegetables, meats and fruits as well as complete rice based meals, dried instant potatoes and instant milk powder, oatmeal and steel cut oats make up the bulk of these items, multiple jars of Peanut Butter and honey make up the rest. I also have a separate refrigerator in my garage with cold storage items, which of course would probably be among the very first items to consume.

There you have it,…….this is my Survival Food strategy and provides at least a basis to develop your own.