Mastering Urban Survival: Survival Skills You Need to Know in a City Crisis

Famed sociobiologist E.O. Wilson once stated that "the real problem of humanity is that we have paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technologies." Take away the technology via an EMP device. Remove the medieval institutions via the breakdown of government. All you are left to contend with are the paleolithic emotions of a very dangerous creature.

There is no beast more vile, dangerous, and capable of unprecedented violence than a scared human being. Give us an angry grizzly in Montana any day, but if you live in the city you'd better get ready to do battle with your fellow human. They won't play fair and neither should you. They won't respect the privacy of your own home and they will come for everything you hold dear. You are either prepared for the day most people dread or you are not. 

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Situational Awareness in Urban Settings

When the lights go out or the disaster hits, most people will spend the initial minutes, hours, and even days wondering what's going on. We recommend that you spend those initial minutes, hours, and days sizing up the threats around you. There is a primitive in every human being waiting to be unleashed, best know who they are early on in the game. 

You're on the subway when the SHTF, look for those with the least patience and the most immediate physical threat. Start sizing up the situation immediately. While they are looking at their phones, you move calmly to the nearest logical exit point. 

If you are in traffic and you notice every car coming to a stop at the exact same time that your car instantly quits working, don't make small talk. Start walking as the only logical reason every car dies is an EMP. Minutes matter and those first few minutes are your chance to get a head start on society's worst. 

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Self-Defense and Personal Safety

Your immediate concern in the concrete jungle is to escape the masses. In this regard, discretion is the better part of valor. You may have a firearm and you may know how to use it, but it is better to slip out unnoticed. 

If you have to fight, so be it, but if you can avoid it in the early moments of a crisis we recommend that you do so. Remember, people don't think this is a big crisis as of yet. The majority of your gear is at home or in a safe location. Getting to your gear is the priority. 

If you have to fight, it is wise to have multiple options available other than drawing your firearm at the first site of confrontation. Tactical pens, pepper spray, and knives are all great options before letting people know that you are armed with a firearm. Remember, evasion is the first priority. When you draw down on another human, that means you either shoot or you do not. There is no turning back. 

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Water and Food Sourcing in Cities

Now let's say that you've made it out of the crowds and you are back in your city dwelling. The key is to begin your next steps with the end in mind. You could be in this for the long-haul and water and food will become the priority. 

This isn't wilderness survival. You can't go outdoors and track down a deer or find a local stream. You must acquire food and water early in the game. If you don't need it, then great. If you do need it, there are only a few sources from which to grab it. 

Fill bathtubs early in the crisis so that you have a source of water in your own home when the taps run dry. If you have cash on you and there is a store still open, grab the food now. The Red Cross might show up with food at some point, but that's not happening anytime soon, if ever. 

In a city environment, acquire early and acquire often before the rest of humans realize that no one is coming to save the day. Time is not your friend in such a crisis. Any prepper living in such an environment will tell you that once others realize what is happening that the primitive is sure to follow. 

Escape and Evasion in the City

There is going to come a point for every survivalist in the city where getting out of Dodge is now the only logical answer. Maybe that is day one or maybe that is day 7, but a city environment is a horrible place to endure a prolonged crisis because it is infested with humans. 

You've made it to your safe place or home, but the crisis is dragging on and now is the time to escape. Here you have a choice. Do you try to blend in with the masses who may be trying to escape the city as well? Do you try to move under the cover of night? 

In either case, you have to know your city and the escape routes ahead of time. You can walk the route yourself once prior to the crisis and make a video where you can practice the route ahead of time. Whatever you choose, you have to know the route and multiple alternatives as well. 

It is also helpful to have the means to travel when others cannot. The average person will not have a gas mask and the gas masks that we offer can be the difference maker. Being able to move through smoke and chemical fires while others try to wait them out can give you the edge you need to get out early. 

Source: MIRA Safety 

Building Emergency Shelters in Urban Environments

It is highly likely as you seek to navigate your way out of the city that it will be a multi-day affair. This means that you may very well need to create impromptu shelters along the way. Abandoned buildings may very well be your best option if you find them along the way. 

These buildings often still have doors in place that you can barricade while you sleep and the building itself provides some protection from the outdoor elements. The 2nd floor of a building serves as a great option. It will allow you to hear others making entry on the first floor and provide you the opportunity to escape out a window from that height. 

The top floor may seem like a better option, but you have to reserve the ability to evade. Not to mention if you have to fight it out, it is harder for the attacker to move up in a building than it is to fight down. If you choose a floor too high in the building though, you could find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to make a last stand. 

If a building is not available for a makeshift hideout, then parks and other outdoor city landscaping can provide the cover you need to make it through the pit stop. It won't provide you any cover, but concealment is the name of the game. Just remember that your goal is to evade and get out of the city. 

Finally, it will be helpful to have decontamination and detection equipment available to make sure that you are not setting up camp in a hot radioactive zone in the wake of a nuclear attack. One night spent in such a zone will make all of your other plans irrelevant. 

Source: MIRA Safety 

Medical Preparedness and First Aid Kit

Next let's assume that you will encounter one injury or another along the way. At this point, hospitals are likely to be overwhelmed in a city environment and 911 is no longer an option. As a result, you have to think well beyond basic first aid kits. 

Maintaining your ability to move will be essential and a splint kit should be a part of everyone's equipment. It is easy enough to make a makeshift crutch from items that you would find around the city landscape. If you don't have a splint kit, research how to make one with paracord and stiff objects that you may find laying around. 

When it comes to wound care, you need to be able to address large wounds. Learn how to stitch up a wound and keep it from getting infected. At the end of the day, how you manage medical care should revolve around what allows you to stay on the move and get out of the city in a prolonged crisis. Your ability to stay alive will be determined by your ability to stay away from large gatherings of unknown people. 

Source: MIRA Safety

Networking and Community Building for Urban Survival

On your way out of the city, you are likely to encounter others who are doing the same. It is true that every human being is a ticking time bomb for violence, but this is also your opportunity to look for like-minded people. 

You're not looking for the suburban dad whose every answer to take care of his family was to just put it on the credit card. You're looking for those who were at least somewhat ready for this day the same as you. You are looking for someone who will bring assets to the table and not liabilities. 

Certainly, you have to balance security and trust when forging such relationships. However, having at least one trusted person to watch your back is helpful in this survival situation. Viewing that person with a healthy dose of skepticism is appropriate, but at some point in this journey you will have to trust someone. Choose wisely. 

Fire and Cooking Skills

In general, you are not going to want to start a fire or cook food unless necessary until you get out of the city. It is great to have a portable cooking device if needed, but when you light that sucker up in an abandoned building the glow will be a dead give away as to your presence. 

You'll also want to be careful about starting fires in enclosed places. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a hell of a price to pay because you wanted your SPAM or Vienna sausages warm. If you absolutely have to cook there are different types of approaches you can take to mitigate the risk. 

Starting a fire with small twigs that burn quickly will help mitigate the smoke long-term. There will always be some smoke at the start, but if you can manage past that part, you'll have a window where a hot smokeless fire is burning. It takes practice and we recommend you master this skill prior to giving it a shot in a real scenario. 

Conclusion: Adaptability and Mobility is Key

We'll wrap up this article by reinforcing the idea that how you survive in an urban setting will ultimately be determined by your ability to get out of the city. It's only a matter of time before the paleolithic emotions take over and the city becomes a hellish landscape. 

Early identification of the scenario you face is key as you will have to decide if this is a temporary crisis that you can ride out. If that is not painfully obvious from the start, we recommend that you start to execute your plan to remove yourself from the heavily populated area. 

The statistics are clear that poverty drives violent crime. When the entire population of a city instantly finds themselves in poverty, it is going to get bad in a hurry. As you move through the city, learn to improvise with the resources you find around you. Your resourcefulness will make or break you. 

Assume that your vehicle will not be a viable means of transportation and be ready to move on foot. It's a great idea to identify a family member nearby who lives in a more rural setting. Establish them as a rally point outside of the city for the rest of your family. 

You'll find that primitive living isn't that hard when you escape the urban jungle. Inside the city, things will be primitive alright, but more like Planet of the Apes meets Mad Max. Meanwhile, the people living in places like Montana and Idaho will just call this SHTF moment another day in paradise. Have a plan. Practice often. Stay alive.