Urban Survival Kit...philosophy

[David075]

(10 December 2012, 19:48)Geordie_Rob Wrote: Scythe13. I reckon a phone, cash & if possible, a small button compass so you know you are heading in right direction rather than in circles while moving through city streets. No weapon for me. If I came to a situation where I needed a weapon, I would offer my phone & cash in exchange for leaving me be.
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I don't think I would be offering anything to be left alone as it don't think it would work well in a SHTF situation but that's just me

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[quote='David075' pid='38309' dateline='1355165687']
[quote='Geordie_Rob' pid='38307' dateline='1355165305']
Scythe13. I reckon a phone, cash & if possible, a small button compass so you know you are heading in right direction rather than in circles while moving through city streets. No weapon for me. If I came to a situation where I needed a weapon, I would offer my phone & cash in exchange for leaving me be.
[/quote
I don't think I would be offering anything to be left alone as it don't think it would work well in a SHTF situation but that's just me

F

[Hrusai]

well when i wrote that i tried to cover all levels of severity, from a simple panic scenario, where you just run, to a full scale riot on the streets. some cities are very large and it could take a fair amount of escape and evasion to get out, im not saying you need any tools at all, or anything except your legs, a normal person of average fitness could make it out with nothing but common sense, but as preppers we should aspire to be ready for scenarios outside the norm.

heres a scenario, unlikely yes, impossible no.

your in a city, said city is being invaded by another countries army, you know the direction of attack, and the opposite direction is an area unfamiliar to you, you bring out your map and make your way toward a harbour, along the way hostile forces are encountered and you must make a high speed detour, using your map you change your route, nearing the harbour a fanatic nob tries to rob you in the panic, you knock him out, you find a boat being readied by its owner and use your barter items to gain a fare on his boat.

in me eyes a survival kit should enable you to survive the maximum amount of scenarios whilst remaining in certain parameters. for an urban environment that would be me survival kit, easy enough to carry everyday and versatile enough to get me out of the majority of situations

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(10 December 2012, 19:54)David075 Wrote:

(10 December 2012, 19:48)Geordie_Rob Wrote: Scythe13. I reckon a phone, cash & if possible, a small button compass so you know you are heading in right direction rather than in circles while moving through city streets. No weapon for me. If I came to a situation where I needed a weapon, I would offer my phone & cash in exchange for leaving me be.
[/quote
I don't think I would be offering anything to be left alone as it don't think it would work well in a SHTF situation but that's just me

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[quote='David075' pid='38309' dateline='1355165687']
[quote='Geordie_Rob' pid='38307' dateline='1355165305']
Scythe13. I reckon a phone, cash & if possible, a small button compass so you know you are heading in right direction rather than in circles while moving through city streets. No weapon for me. If I came to a situation where I needed a weapon, I would offer my phone & cash in exchange for leaving me be.
[/quote
I don't think I would be offering anything to be left alone as it don't think it would work well in a SHTF situation but that's just me

F

damned gremlins!

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gremlinnnnsssss!!!!!

[Geordie_Rob]

I can't see what either of you wrote

[Hrusai]

gremlins mae

well when i wrote that i tried to cover all levels of severity, from a simple panic scenario, where you just run, to a full scale riot on the streets. some cities are very large and it could take a fair amount of escape and evasion to get out, im not saying you need any tools at all, or anything except your legs, a normal person of average fitness could make it out with nothing but common sense, but as preppers we should aspire to be ready for scenarios outside the norm.

heres a scenario, unlikely yes, impossible no.

your in a city, said city is being invaded by another countries army, you know the direction of attack, and the opposite direction is an area unfamiliar to you, you bring out your map and make your way toward a harbour, along the way hostile forces are encountered and you must make a high speed detour, using your map you change your route, nearing the harbour a fanatic nob tries to rob you in the panic, you knock him out, you find a boat being readied by its owner and use your barter items to gain a fare on his boat.

in me eyes a survival kit should enable you to survive the maximum amount of scenarios whilst remaining in certain parameters. for an urban environment that would be me survival kit, easy enough to carry everyday and versatile enough to get me out of the majority of situations

[Highlander]

My answers so far have been once out of the city, because that is what I am more used to,... I am remember my Military training for the likes of patroling in a city enviroment at night,..

The scenario calls for haveing no kit at all,... but hopefully your clothes are at least dark,... not black as black will stand out at night almost as good as white,... not many Military wear black in reality for city patroling

I would leave at night, mobs are not as active, even they need to sleep especialy after a day of looting and boozing.

Hopefully you know your city,... but its possible that you dont, so you need a navigational aid in either the moon or the stars,... [ if they can be seen at all ],... the moon, like the sun `apears to rise in the west and travel east,... hopfully you at least know which direction you need to go,... The north star is the only star in the sky that doesnt move, and is easy to find to the right of the plough`s handle [ most people know that one ],...if you can see either of these then they will help

.....Move slowly,... speed draws attention
.....Move through buildings where possible, not around them
.....traveling through parks is good, its often difficult to notice a man standing against tree trunks.
.....Cities are never black,... even if the lights go out, so stay away from very deep shadow, another reason why parks are good because the shadows are lots/small, and jumbled up disguising your shadow
..... rest a lot and take stock, listen to whats going on around you.

If you cant see the sky for lights, then have fixed points in your mind,.. ports, football stadiums etc, you know where the motorway is... keep it to your right/left,...

I dont think there is a lot more you could do, rest up during the day, dont go out again untill dark and continue to travel as have been,... it should get easier,....Oh and if the city center is in the direction you want to go,.. make a big detour,..

[Scythe13]

(10 December 2012, 19:48)Geordie_Rob Wrote: Scythe13. I reckon a phone, cash & if possible, a small button compass so you know you are heading in right direction rather than in circles while moving through city streets. No weapon for me. If I came to a situation where I needed a weapon, I would offer my phone & cash in exchange for leaving me be.

Great answer.

I'd rather run than shoot. But totally agree with your logic. Sweet and simple. No need to do more than get away from the area you're in.

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I also agree with David about not needing to offer anything...in all likelihood.


Look at the London bombings, 9/11, the Tsunami in 2005, the tsunami that hit Japan, Superstorm Sandy, Katrina, and the alike. In the first few hours, people were not mugging each other. They were not looting. Hell, even the London riots took a little while (about 1hour and a half) before the looting took place. There was 1 instance of a kid being robbed by other looters!!! Yes, just 1 kid. Not saying it wasn't bad, but it's a RARE occurrence.

All you need is the ability to egress (that means exit) safely. A map will delay me and make me look like I don't know the area. A compass would be helpful, but not really needed, as your only desire is to head out of the area....not really in a specific direction.

Reading by the stars is cool, but again........too complicated, and reliant on low light pollution and clear skies....and it being night, which you said is when you'd move. But if a bomb goes off in the day, you can't use that system, and you wouldn't want to wait around. If a mad gunman is about, you wouldn't want to hang out for a while. If it's a chemical spill in the morning, you're not going to wait it out until a clear night sky arrives, with low light pollution.


The idea of roving gangs and the alike, is HUGELY over rated. If there's a band of looters coming my way.......who gives a crap. I'm not a policeman or carrying anything of value. I'm just a guy walking away or towards them. London riots, NY riots, and the alike. Not many instances of looters killing each other. 9/11 or the London bombings.....same there. No looters or wild gangs killing victims of the catastrophes.

Keep it simple and realistic.

For about 90% of situations, you're unlikely to be catastrophically injured (look at 9/11, people involved, numbers SERIOUSLY injured, or London bombings, or London riots, etc) so you can just walk away from the 'danger zone'...and all you need is to check your family is okay (mobile phone or pay phone), maybe buy some food, water, a trip on a boat to evade an invading army (money/creditcard), and stay safe/protected (handgun).

As David and GR said, you don't even need the gun (but I'm a pussy and would rather have one.......stupid UK gun laws). Complicating some things, simply causes anxiety and pushes an early grave.

Would having some other equipment be nice? No doubt. A map would be good....once you're out of the danger-zone. Star navigation would help once you're out the city area. Prybars would be helpful to pull out nails from a bench (sorry mate, I've always had a gripe with mini-prybars).

You can even go one step further, and just say cash is all you need. Cash and walking.

My principle in this thread was simple.

Get people back to basics and not over complicate EVERYTHING!!!

Can you always stay out of a city? YES, but it would be fricking boring for me and the wife. Can you always stay out of cities you don't know? YES, but it would be fricking boring for me and the wife.....oh, and we would both have much lower paying jobs. Oh wait....I mean, SHE would have a much lower paying job. I've changed career haha.

Truth be told, all the gear and great skills is completely useless in many situations. Am I saying 'don't carry them?' NO!!! I'm not saying that at all. But some things should be kept simple.

I'll use a quick example of keeping things simple.

You've got a car crash infront of you on the road. You see smoke comping from a car. Your natural instinct (if you're a decent human being) is to help the person stuck in the car. You grab your knife to cut the seatbelt, and then remember it has a glass breaker on it. You run over to the car with the unconscious person in it. The first thing you do is........check the door handle. Maybe you can open the door? You can't, it's locked. You break the window, then.....you unlock the door, if it's got the clicky button bits, and open the door. It's much easier to extract a person from an open door, than it is to drag them through a window you've just broken. Are you wasting time checking the door? HELL NO!!!! It takes 1 second to pull a door handle. A total of 3 seconds to pull a door lock up and check the handle to see if the door opens. Dragging a person over broken car window glass (yes it's safety glass, but it's still sharp enough to cut you and the person you're dragging through the window) should be a LAST resort.

People are often blinded by gear. Instead of doing the most obvious thing, they complicate things far beyond what is helpful.

[Skean Dhude]

Not Gremlins it's caused when you try and edit the text you are replying to and take out some of the key bits. When you see this if you then click reply you can read the text.