Opening doors is more than just a metaphor for moving forward. Sometimes, you truly need to open a door. And sometimes that door is locked. You might be surprised at just how often the skill of unlocking doors can come in handy once you have it. I recently lost a key to a cupboard and I haven’t bothered looking for it. I just pick the lock. I’ve even … [Read more...]
10 Gray Man Tips To Help You Blend In During A Crisis
When disaster strikes your city and you are away from home, one of the best things you can do to survive is to become what is called the gray man. No, being a gray man doesn’t mean wearing gray clothing. It primarily means three things: blend in with the crowd, steer clear of confrontation, and avoid being detected by dangerous people. So, how do you … [Read more...]
Top 20 Places to Scavenge for Supplies After SHTF
Some of you might be thinking, "I'm a prepper, I won't have to scavenge for supplies. I already have everything I need." Maybe, maybe not. Even if you've been prepping for years, it's still possible you forgot a few things. But even if you didn't forget anything, you could still end up in a situation where you need something you never thought you'd … [Read more...]
6 Steps to Effective Urban Caching
Survival in an SHTF scenario isn’t just about having supplies. You need to be able to keep those supplies when someone comes to take them. Urban caching is a great way to keep those "emergency only" items secure. The constant stream of looting after every natural disaster highlights just how important it is to keep your most valuable items safe. Having … [Read more...]
The Art of Blending In: 5 Tips From a Counterintelligence Special Agent
One of the main differences between wilderness survival and city survival is that in the city there are far more people to deal with. I've written a little about home security and self defense, but there's something else urban survivalists need to learn about: blending in. There are many reasons blending in could be a useful skill: a disaster hits and … [Read more...]
7 Tips for Avoiding an Urban Terrorist Attack
Although technically a terrorist attack can happen anywhere, it is far more likely to happen in an urban area. In addition, it is more likely to happen at a large gathering such as a concert or sporting event. So whether you live in an urban area or just visit one occasionally to see a singer or sports team, you should learn how to avoid terrorist attacks. … [Read more...]
The 5 C’s of Urban Survival
In case you don't know, the "5 C's of Survivability" is a term coined by survival expert Dave Canterbury from Dual Survival. It's an easy way to remember the things you need to survive in the wilderness. His list includes a cutting tool, combustion, covering, container, cordage. Since they are the most difficult things to reproduce in the wild, you should … [Read more...]
8 Hidden Fresh Water Sources To Tap for Urban Survival
Finding water in the wilderness is actually pretty straightforward. Walk downhill, look for animal tracks that are all heading in the same direction, watch for areas with lots of insects such as mosquitoes, and listen carefully. There are many other ways to gather water in the wilderness, but those are the basics. Gathering water in the city, however, is … [Read more...]
7 Things You Need in Order to Hunker Down During a Disaster
Here's a great article for those who are new to prepping. Unless your home is burning down, getting flooded, or being overrun with looters, or in the path of some other dangerous threat, you're best off hunkering down in your home during a disaster. With any luck, you can just wait it out until things return to normal. But if you're going to hunker down, … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Developing a Better Urban Survival Process
Over the past year, civil unrest has been on the upswing, making urban survival more important than ever. Our cities are bursting at the seams with people. How many are going to be able to make it out safely when all hell breaks loose? Chances are not nearly as many as we think. Most will be faced with the daunting task of surviving in an urban environment. … [Read more...]
13 Ways to Blend in During a Disaster
In any dangerous situation, the last thing you want to do is stand out from the crowd. Attackers, thieves, and other people who would do you harm need little reason to target a person, and often the only reason behind who they target is that the person stood out to them. Instead of being the person who draws the attention of people like this, you’ll want to … [Read more...]
Situational Awareness: 4 Steps To Follow
If a major disaster strikes your town, the disaster itself won't be the only threat to your safety. You'll also have to beware of two types of people: those without food or supplies who are desperate enough to rob anybody, and criminals who are taking advantage of the lack of law enforcement. That's why situational awareness is so important. During … [Read more...]
Urban Survival: Vulture Toolkit
Here's a controversial topic for preppers: If you're trying to survive a disaster in an urban area, should you take things you need from abandoned cars, homes, and buildings? For me, it depends on the situation. If my child has a deadly infection and I need life-saving antibiotics right away, I think it would be okay to break into an abandoned pharmacy and … [Read more...]
How to Open a Locked Door With a Credit Card
Usually, when I share an article or video like this, I get a few sarcastic comments like, "Thanks a lot, now criminals can break into my house!" First of all, as long as you use your deadbolt or have a decent security system in place, criminals won't be able to use this info to break into your house. This method will only get you past a simple lock, and … [Read more...]
11 Amazing Apps for Urban Survivalists
Your Android phone is one of approximately 1.4 billion worldwide according to a Google Nexus conference in 2015. We’ve come way past the point where all a phone could do was make a phone call and send a text: Now, you can turn your cellphone into a full-on survival kit containing everything from a compass to a real radioactivity counter. You should always … [Read more...]
5 Gray Man Secrets I Learned as a Surveillance Operative
The "gray man" concept is something all urban preppers should be familiar with. If you're in a populated area during a crisis of some sort, it's best to blend into the background rather than draw attention to yourself. This should be a no-brainer, but how exactly does one blend into the background? Graywolf Survival wrote an excellent article that … [Read more...]
