Survival: Mountain Man Style

While I heavily believe everyone should have wilderness survival skills, I am not relying on these to survive the collapse. They are a last ditch tool kit. The whole idea behind SHTF preparation, in my mind, is to not only survive a collapse, but to do so with a quality of life - not living in a dug out on the side of a mountain,....having cold camps,.....relying traps, snares, fishing and edible plants for sustainment.

However and again, you should at least a modicum of these skills. What would happen if you found yourself running for your life and you had to drop kit to get away? Or you were taken captive by some thugs then escaped with nothing on your back?

In any case, it is possible to survive even pro-longed periods in a wilderness. Remember the newspapers from decades past where Japanese soldiers were found on islands 30 years past the end of World War II? These soldiers, some in their 60's and older, not only survived but they evaded the detection of their presence for several decades.

There is a recent, and on-going, example of someone surviving and evading capture. This time not the jungles of New Guinea but in remote Utah wilderness. It should be clear that his individual is a criminal, it is also clear that his survival skill sets are pretty robust.

It seems like this modern day mountain man in the wilderness areas of Southern Utah, is robbing cabins and eluding authorities. This is an example of someone surviving in the wilds, albeit with assistance from what he can scavenge and steal, that no doubt will fuel some people prepping for SHTF to believe it is a viable plan for them as well. While there is no doubt everyone needs to have wilderness fieldcraft and survival skills, living like this apparent fugitive does in the story below presents little attraction to me. I think the whole prepping for TEOTWAWKI is planning and preparing an existence with a quality of life. Anyay, the authorities have an idea of who this individual is and some actual pictures taken from hidden game cameras that provide a pretty good quality side profile of this "mountain man". Which proves the validity of owning gamera cameras,...I have several and have written about their use to surrepititiously place to record what kind of activity, two or four legged or even vehicle, may be occuring in a specific area.

The summary of the news article on this individual: Troy James Knapp is a wanted man, a survivalist, modern day mountain man and recluse that authorities say is responsible burglaries in the remote southern Utah wilderness. He is armed and considered dangerous and has been on the loose for more than five years. Until recently he has been virtual ghost in the woods, until his image was take on a game camera and authorities have now identified him. See picture from game camera.

He has been tracked across hundreds of square miles of wilderness near Zion National Park in Utah but Knapp has always been able to elude capture. His camps, along with guns and supplies he has stolen from cabins, have been discovered but yet he still is on the loose.

In this undated photo provided by the Iron County Sheriff's Office in January, a man is seen walking past a cabin in the remote southern Utah wildness near Zion National Park. Authorities believe the man in the photo, captured by a motion-triggered surveillance camera sometime in December, is a suspect responsible for more than two dozen cabin burglaries over the past five years.

Now that authorities believe they know who he is, they're honing in on everyone who knows him. According to court records, detectives are tracking telephone calls to his family members in Moscow, Idaho, trying to determine if he is using a cellphone.

Investigators say family members have had little contact with Knapp, an ex-convict they believe is still roaming somewhere across roughly 1,000 square miles of wilderness.

He is believed to have set off on a solitary life some nine years ago after his release from a California prison.

His family, originally from Michigan, has offered little help -- "the ones that will acknowledge having anything to do with him," Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Wingert told The Associated Press. "He's just kind of out there on his own. I don't know if he's fed up with civilization."

A recent court order allows marshals and sheriff's detectives to track calls made to and by a couple in their 60s -- Bruce and Barbara Knapp of Moscow, who are relatives of the 44-year-old fugitive. The Knapps haven't returned repeated telephone calls from the AP. No one answered the door at their home Wednesday.

Detectives in Utah's Iron and Kane counties announced late Tuesday that Troy Knapp was their long-sought suspect in dozens of cabin burglaries, aided by recent surveillance photos captured of him outside one cabin and fingerprints lifted from another that authorities say finally were matched to him in January.

A Kane County arrest warrant charges Knapp with three burglaries and a weapons charge. Knapp has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault with a dangerous weapon, Kane County prosecutor Robert Van Dyke said Wednesday. He did not elaborate.

As a teenager, Knapp was convicted in Michigan of breaking and entering, passing bad checks and unlawful flight from authorities, according to court records in Kalamazoo County.

The Utah arrest warrant says Knapp was charged with theft in 2000 in California. Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Utah authorities are calling Knapp armed and "possibly dangerous if cornered." He is using remote cabins for sustenance and warmth during winter -- "burning up all their firewood, eating all their food," Iron County Detective Jody Edwards has said.

In summer, the suspect retreats to makeshift camps deep in the forest. "This guy is probably about as true a survivalist as Davy Crockett," Wingert said.

Knapp "dropped off everybody's radar in 2003 and nobody has heard from him since," he added. "He just dropped off the face of the earth."

"That's wonderful that they know him," cabin owner Bruce Stucki said Tuesday. "Now they need to get him in custody." While there have been no violent confrontations, detectives have called him a time bomb. Over the years, he has left some cabins tidy and clean, while others he has practically destroyed, even defecating in a pan on the floor in one home.

Lately, he has been leaving the cabins in disarray and riddled with bullets after defacing religious icons, and a recent note left behind in one cabin warned, "Get off my mountain."

In a Jan. 27 court filing, Kane County authorities said Knapp had left behind even more threatening notes aimed at law enforcement. "Hey Sheriff ... Gonna put you in the ground!" one note said.

From the beginning, the suspect's lore grew, leading to theories that he might have been two separate men on the FBI's most-wanted list or possibly a castaway from the nearby compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect run by jailed leader Warren Jeffs.

They now have a name, but the man remains in the mist. "He's scaring the daylights out of cabin owners. Now everyone's packing guns," said Jud Hendrickson, a 62-year-old mortgage adviser from nearby St. George who keeps a trailer in the area. "We feel like we're being subject to terrorism by this guy."

Wyoming Republican state legislator David Miller has introduced a bill to prepare his state for a doomsday scenario in which the nation's economy and social structure completely collapse. This story previously made national news.

The short article states:

"Things happen quickly sometimes — look at Libya , look at Egypt , look at those situations," Miller told the Star-Tribune. "We wouldn't have time to meet as a legislature or even in a special session to do anything to respond."

Miller's bill seeks to create a state-run continuity force that would study and prepare Wyoming for potential national or worldwide catastrophes. One specific component of the bill calls for the state to look into the possibility of issuing its own currency in the event the U.S. dollar collapses.

"If we continue down this course, this is the way any society ends up — with a valueless currency," Miller told the Star-Tribune.

Miller's original bill would have appropriated $32,000 for the task force, but the state's Joint Appropriations Committee has already cut the number in half. Six other states have attempted a similar currency creation effort in recent years — and all have failed. While Miller's bill may sound a bit extreme, there have been genuine concerns about the devaluation of U.S. currency in recent years. Last year, the International Monetary Fund predicted that China 's economy would overtake that of the U.S. in five years.

But there have been accusations that certain businesses are preying on fears of economic insecurity by plugging cash for gold programs, resulting in individuals selling their precious metals for less than market value.

The Star-Tribune notes that Wyoming 's Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it does not include the so-called doomsday scenario. Miller's bill calls for coordination between Wyoming 's Homeland Security along with the state attorney general and National Guard adjutant general.

The doomsday bill is sure to inspire criticism and even ridicule from some corners, but Miller says his priority is Wyoming . "I don't represent people in Illinois or New Jersey ," he said. "I represent people in Wyoming . And I want them to be protected from any catastrophic events that may beset the rest of the country."

UrbanMan’s comments: I would think that rather than worrying about establishing another fiat currency, the commerce of using gold and silver plus barter will take care of most of the problems. It would behoove the Wyoming State government to put some of their surplus cash into physical gold and silver.

Another thing would be the preparation for refugee traffic by other states mainly on the Interstate highways and not necessarily coming from adjacent states but through these adjacent states. Interstate 80 from Utah; Interstate 25 from Colorado; I-80 from Nebraska; I-90 from South Dakota; and I-25 from Montana are the main lines of communications of high speed avenues of approach.

Some pre-SHTF coordination meetings with a like minded state legislators and possibly tentative support agreements with Montana , South and North Dakota and Nebraska as well as probably Utah and Colorado , could determine what type of mutual support not only in commerce but in security and defense would be possibly.

While Wyoming has several coal fired electrical plants as well as a smaller garbage fueled plants. Wyoming coal mines are the most productive and numerous in the nation. There are five in-Wyoming or adjacent Hydroelectric plants generating a total of 600,000 plus kilowatt hours.

The state is pretty well situated with water having 22 reservoirs for personal, agricultural and industrial use from any where from 20,000 acre feet of water up to around 300,000 acre feet of water.

So all in all, Wyoming is sitting pretty with resources. The planning aspects of how to manage and protect the state will be huge in the event of a societal or economic collapse.

Collapse in Europe Begins with Greece

There are several reason why the financial situation in Europe impact on the United States:  U.S. banks hold alot of European debt and the burden of a large national debt coupled with runaway government spending on basically itself spells hard times to come. Not necessarily a economic collapse, but a spiraling down of the standard of living and quality of life until there is no reversing it. The video below, although tounge in cheek, explains pretty well what is happening in Greece which of course is a model of what and where the U.S. could be very soon.

Bugging Out? To Where?

Received comment/question on Bugging In/Buggin Out,……”UrbanMan.....I read your blog and several others, and bugging out is all good and well but what if you have no place to bug to??? Is there any history of someone bugging out to some rural location without knowing anyone or having any property there?? How likely will you be accepted in the area? I'm in SoCal (Southern California) and there really aren't too many places to bug to, with water being the biggest issue! Any suggestions?”

UrbanMan’s reply: As far as history of someone bugging out to a rural location, going blind into an area they do not know anyone nor own property,….I have no idea. I would assume there are several cases of people getting stranded and surviving for a short term until recovered. Or the example of criminals hiding out in rural or remote America . But the whole basis for surviving a collapse, and I mean a bonafide collapse where infrastructure including the food supply, monetary system and security mechanisms are highly degraded or totally gone, is planning......again the foundation for your survival is planning. 

Planning begets Preparation. More succintly, Planning identifies the Preparation you need and will help identify essential preps, implied preps and secondary preps. Preparation without planning will most likely be a hit and miss affair.

Planning starts with information. Much like the military developing the battlefield through use of all means of intelligence, the survivalist planner should as well,....
In your case, not having a location to Bug Out to, surely you could approach this problem by identify possible locations based on basic needs:

* A location that it is feasible for you to get to by vehicle and by foot if vehicle transit is no longer an options,.e.g..lack of fuel, threat picture, mechanical problems, etc.

* A location probably devoid of large population centers and not an attractive target for armed gangs.

* Offers cover and concealment, maybe ideally next to large parks or forests where contingency safety is available and possibly animals for food procurement.

* Full year round, natural water source. Running river and streams. ...and lakes possibly. May also offer the chance to procure fish for supplemental food.

My assumption is that you cannot just pick a remote area, totally devoid of population, unless you have the resources (time, money and capability) to prepare a site like this. Most long term survival is simply going to require access to other people,…their skills and resources,….think larger team effort.

From your location in Southern California,.....Northern Minnesota would not be a good choice. Unless you move there pre-collapse. But certainly there are areas on the CA-NV border, and in western and northern Nevada and Arizona that may work for you and be realistic to get to. The idea is to Bug Out before the situation gets bad enough to expotenially increase your safety and security concerns.



You could do some weekend trips to possible locations to scout them out, just like you would if you were moving there for a job. Maybe make contact with locals, use the cover story that you are thinking about re-locating there….get a feel for the population. You probably wouldn't want to move to, say, a high percentage Mormon area if you worship animal Gods,....nor to a Southern Baptist enclave if you are a Muslim.  

Making contact, and multiple contact on subsequent trips, with the locals would also serve to diminsh your standing as a stranger. During a collapse, small rural communities are going to see refugees to some degree and may not so inclined to accept strangers….especially when the density of strangers starts to change the dynamics of the community.

In fact, there is a movement towards rural living and not just from the survivalist perspective. Many people are re-locating to rural America , either through early retirement and life style downsizing or through having businesses such as inter based business where location does not inhibit it’s operation. A article just came out recently about some of the fastest growing rural areas:


Your visits to potential Bug Out locations serve also a route reconnaissance, developing alternative routes and noting danger spots such as choke points or terain that can be affected by bad weather.

If you find a location that you think you can Bug Out to, the next step is to procure maps such as available from US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or many on-line sources. You should rehearse movement and routes to the site, and you may even do preps such as cache emplacement.

I have an acquaintance who lives outside of New York City. He and his wife head into the Adirondack Mountains on vacation to hike and just get away for awhile. They have went out of their way to make and keep contact with many of the locals as their plan is to re-locate (Bug Out) to there as they are becoming less and less strangers and more and more like friends of the locals. The hope to capitalize on this as well as use their Survival skills and resources to secure a place in that community.

Hope this gives you some thoughts. Good luck and prepare well.