Urban Survival Skills To Keep Your Ass Alive

survive2thrive.ne ^ | 7/14/11 | Steve

[Kartographer]

Even if you are fortunate enough to have a retreat out in the country getting to your safe haven maybe impossible during upheaval. Roads blocked by wrecked and fuelless vehicles will stop most bugouters in their tracks. Maybe you were born lucky and can make it out safely before the balloon bursts, then what? People in rural areas, will start shooting if threatened by mobs of refugees fleeing the city. Don’t expect to be welcomed with arms outstretched. Most country folks don’t trust outsiders; you will likely be greeted with a load of buckshot and not the cup of fresh coffee and meaningful conversation you hoped for.

[SVTCobra03]

Rural survival communities will welcome those with certain skill sets - doctors, nurses, mechanics, etc.

[little jeremiah]

I assume you have a way to desalinate water? Solar?

[TheOldLady]

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[Bloody Sam Roberts]

roads that are sort of cliffy on one side and straight up on the other.

Thermopylae!

Molon Labe!

[Jet Jaguar]

Ping

[Maverick68]

bump

[little jeremiah]

There is one road through the valley I live in. Cliffy stuff on one end, the other end is a tunnel under a mountain. There are a couple of very windy - hairpin turns - roads in, but so easy to fix and IIRC one is already “fixed” by mother nature.

I love it.

[j_tull]

Interesting info. Good thing for the author that spelling and grammar won’t count for anything in the post-Apocalyptic world.

[Travis McGee]

I agree, bugging out via road is probably going to be worse that “bugging in” when you hit all the roadblocks, ambushes etc.

But a viable bugout solution could involve general aviation, ranging from a Cessna at the local FPO or even an ultrlight launched from a road.

Or a sailboat, in my case. FUJIMO. You Jack, I’m moving out.

[Travis McGee]

You gotta find it first. The oceans are real, real big.

[Travis McGee]

If this happens, people will sit around the campfire reminiscing about the good old days.

“I miss showers the most. Fresh water, just coming down in buckets, as long as you wanted! Shampoo! More fresh water!”

“I miss air conditioning the most.”

“I miss my refrigerator. Just FULL of great food, whatever you want, just stick it in the microwave!”

[Travis McGee]

Yep, once the agro machine shuts down for lack of POL and fertilizer, there will be a massive die-off.

We won’t go from Agri-business to Amish without a LOT of pain and megadeath.

[Travis McGee]

IN my third novel Foreign Enemies and Traitors, at the beginning, the protagonist is trying to smuggle Brazilian coffee and Japanese solar panels into a collapsed Gulf Coast.

[Travis McGee]

Pirates won’t have gasoline to go dashing around oceans looking for random sailboats. It would be easier for them to wander the land looking for dropped gold coins.

[familyop]

"People have no clue how disgusting life becomes if (when) the sewage system and water systems don’t work."

I've been there in more than one way. It's possible to be healthy without those things (especially for those trained) but still time consuming to get good water and clean up properly. I've said on occasions in the past, "It's nice to have a shower point!" Well, now it's good to have a great water system.

[Travis McGee]

Most yachts today do carry a 12 volt reverse osmosis watermaker. The tech is 30 years old and fully developed.

There is also rain. And in a custom-built steel boat, gi-normous fresh water ballast tanks.

[Travis McGee]

See 111.

[11Bush]

I have also told them that I would turn them away at gunpoint if they show up at my residence begging.

Don't be too hasty. Slaves will have value, and that is what anyone who expects to live at my expense will be. Slaves.

I explained to my SIL and BIL that if they show up at my door and I do not shoot them outright, they will be expected to do the toil and dirty work at my discretion. In other words, slaves. If they do not meet my expectations, they will be killed. I don't expect to see them if it all goes to hell.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Here’s the problem I see with most plans that involve fleeing - I think the “bug out” plans of most will be foiled by those fleeing just before them. Blocking a road, even a highway, is just a chainsaw away.

Exactly. That's the main reason I have decided to hunker down, stockpile and fortify. Almost there.....almost.

[Lurker]

"you stock up, I'll know where I will find food". I was shocked.

You should have told him right then and there that if he showed up empty handed you'd shoot him right on your doorstep. I've done it.