Urban survival refers to one’s capability to endure a prolonged catastrophic event within a crowded urban setting by deploying essential skills and strategies. It entails achieving self-sufficiency in an environment characterized by a high population density, without any reliance on governmental assistance.
Surviving in an urban and dense environment may actually be more challenging than surviving alone in the wilderness, surprisingly. This is because, during a crisis or emergency, there will be numerous threats approaching from different directions, and every individual in the city would be competing for valuable resources, meaning you would not be fighting alone in such a situation.
When an emergency occurs, the availability of resources such as food, water, and shelter will be limited, and you and others will be competing for them. Having prepared and undergone training significantly improves your chances of survival. To ensure your own and your family’s well-being, it is important to possess the knowledge and skills to locate and secure these essential resources before others do.
No matter where you live, it is important to be prepared and stay calm in the face of a crisis, whether you are in a city or a less populated area. It is possible for a crisis or emergency situation to occur while you are visiting, so it is crucial to know how to handle the situation and ensure your survival. These crises can last for an extended period of time, such as days, weeks, or even months. The example of the COVID-19 pandemic from the recent year demonstrates this, as it spread globally, resulting in the closure of airports, schools, businesses, and the implementation of lockdowns by various countries.
In order to survive in an urban environment, what are the three key elements that need to be implemented?
- Preparation – Having organized action plans and emergency supplies when a disaster or an emergency strikes.
- Resources – Being able to find and use resources available in your proximity.
- Mindset – Staying calm and having the right mindset to survive any given situation.
Awareness to the Surroundings and Resources Nearby
Being aware of your surroundings and the location of important resources is always wise. In the event of a disaster in an urban setting, it is crucial to be prepared to react quickly without any delay. As such, if you reside in a city or happen to be in an urban environment, familiarize yourself with the area and its geography. Additionally, consider diversifying your daily commute by exploring alternative routes to your workplace and back home. This will enable you to discover shortcuts or lesser-known paths that may prove beneficial during emergencies.
When you are walking or driving, be on the lookout for essential resources needed for survival, particularly water. Carry a sillcock key with you, as this tool enables you to open the spigot typically located outside of many commercial, residential, and even some industrial buildings, providing you with access to water.
6 Principles to Urban Survival
Urban survival relies on the implementation and utilization of six distinct principles.
- Planning,
- Preparation,
- Training,
- Protection,
- Communication and
- Safe Haven
By utilizing this knowledge, you can equip yourself for any unexpected incident that might take place in the urban setting.
Let us analyze these, one step at a time.
Planning
The success of any project requires careful planning, as it provides direction, defined objectives, and documentation of progress. Without a plan, these essential elements are absent.
Goal setting is crucial as it serves as the essential element for achieving a favorable outcome. Specifically, the objective at hand entails being equipped, educated, and ready to navigate through various urban survival scenarios.
In order to enhance the likelihood of survival, it is essential to have a urban survival plan comprising five crucial components: Preparation, Training, Security, Protection, and Safe Haven. Each of these main sections has its own set of imperative goals that must be achieved.
To cater to your specific and distinctive circumstances, you will have to create two broad sets of plans. The initial plan involves establishing the necessary resources to equip yourself for an urban emergency and ensure your survival.
The second stage of the planning process involves creating a set of smaller plans to ensure that all members of your family are knowledgeable about the appropriate actions to take in the event of an unfavorable occurrence. It is recommended to have at least four different operational plans, namely a plan for natural disasters, a plan for evacuating the area, a plan for fires, and a plan for dealing with home invasions or robberies.
Each of these plans possesses unique components that differentiate them from each other. Nevertheless, they all share a fundamental element in common… the agreement of everyone involved. This implies that all individuals will have a significantly higher likelihood of enduring any unforeseen circumstances.
Preparation
Preparing is crucial for success in all areas of life, and it particularly holds true in survival circumstances as it can determine whether one lives or dies. When it comes to preparing for an urban survival event, this aspect is often the most challenging.
We have become very used to having all our needs easily accessible, including food, water, electricity, transportation, security, and more. It’s convenient to delay preparing for unforeseen circumstances. Yet, in an urban survival situation, these essential items might be unavailable for a long time. It’s tempting to believe it won’t happen to us or in our area.
Disasters have the potential to occur unexpectedly at any time and in any location. Therefore, it is crucial to be prepared. Attempting to prepare at the last moment will ultimately lead to failure. To ensure readiness, it is essential to have sufficient quantities of food, propane for cooking and heating in the absence of electricity, water stored in tubs or rain barrels, personal protection tools, and resources such as ammunition, stored fuel for emergency evacuations, or backup generators.
Training and Practice
As you carefully plan for urban survival, it is important to give serious consideration to various training areas. Courses in situational awareness, personal protection techniques like martial arts and firearms training, acquiring a weapon carrying license, first aid, and physical fitness are strongly advised.
By training in each of these areas, you enhance your preparedness and enhance your ability to handle various aspects of situations that might arise in an urban survival event.
Practice is just as important as receiving training in any of the mentioned areas. In order to stay competent, it is necessary to practice the skills you have learned. Conducting drills is crucial to ensure that everyone is familiar with the established plans. It is essential to practice drills for your in-home plans, including fire safety, home invasion, and getting back home. It cannot be stressed enough how important practice is; it is the ultimate factor in being competent and can ultimately be life-saving.
Protection
Whether it is a widespread catastrophe or a singular personal incident, protection plays a vital role in surviving an adverse urban survival event. Its significance can be observed in three specific aspects: safeguarding yourself, ensuring the safety of your family, and protecting your residence or dwelling, as well as addressing your travel requirements.
Protecting yourself should be your top priority, as it is often overlooked. If you do not prioritize your own safety, you risk being unable to protect your family. Instances of robberies, carjackings, and home invasions can happen unexpectedly, precisely because they are carefully planned. Those who commit these crimes intentionally seek out individuals who are inattentive, distracted, and unprepared, making them vulnerable and easy targets.
In order to prevent and survive natural disaster-related urban survival events, it is crucial to have a strong sense of situational awareness and be prepared to defend oneself. Following these events, chaos usually ensues, often leading to civil unrest and looting. Therefore, during the initial phases of such events, it is extremely important to switch into a mode of operation focused on self-protection.
If you find yourself in the latter situation, it is important to increase your situational awareness skills right away. You should also be prepared to use your first aid training and anticipate using your personal protection skills to ensure your safety. In both the small and large scale urban environment scenarios mentioned earlier, it is crucial to have easy access to your personal protection tools. It is important to be able to access them and be prepared to use them regardless of your location.
When an event requires you to relocate, it is crucial to ensure your safety during the process, an aspect often overlooked by many. In various instances, when an unexpected event takes place, the need to relocate arises. Hence, it is essential to be equipped to safeguard yourself while transitioning to a new location.
Communication
One of the primary concerns for family members is always to know the whereabouts of everyone and ensure their safety. It is a frequent occurrence to hear in news reports about people within a disaster zone or home fire attempting to establish the location of their other family members.
We are extremely lucky today to possess cell phones, which are mobile devices allowing us to communicate from nearly any location. It is clear that cell phones have a crucial role in facilitating communication and enhancing our capacity to locate and access assistance.
Safe Haven
A safe haven is comparable to an exit on an airplane, as the nearest one might be situated behind you. It refers to a place that offers security and protection for both you and your family. Overall, there are two primary safe havens.
The initial option is a designated space within a building or residential space that is specifically arranged to serve as a secure haven for individuals in times of danger, allowing them to safeguard themselves against any potential harm. The latter option refers to any place that you are able to enter and benefit from, granting you a sense of security and shielding you from potential risks originating from the external environment.
The safe room in your house should consist of, at the very least, the following elements: steel-reinforced walls, a door, a large supply of water and food, various personal protection tools, and multiple communication devices. It can be as complex as a room with all these features or as simple as a closet.
The room is equipped with a solid core door, improved hinges, a lockable doorknob, a self-defense tool, a communication device, water, a survival flashlight, and a limited quantity of snacks.
In your house, the first safe room is situated. Depending on the layout of your house, you may have multiple safe rooms. If your house has three stories, for instance, it would be advisable to have at least one safe room on each floor, particularly on the top and bottom floors. It is common for family and friends to be distributed throughout the house. In case of a home invasion or any similar event, it is essential for individuals on the top and bottom floors to have the option of seeking refuge in those areas without having to cross the main floor.
In the event of a severe thunderstorm, ice storm, snowstorm, tornado, or flood, you may not be able to reach your home. Therefore, your office, grandma’s house, your sister’s house, or a friend’s house could serve as a nearby safe haven.
As you prepare and plan, it is important to have keys to all these locations on your key chain. Additionally, including this in your natural disaster plan ensures that your family will be aware of your likely whereabouts in the event of any of these occurrences.
Urban Survival Tips
Here, we present a set of urban survival tips to ensure preparedness for any urban crisis.
- Have an exit plan
- Have a contact person
- Arrange rendezvous locations
- Store water
- Get some sleep
- Be cautious
- Think old-school
- Hiding cash
- Grow high-calorie foods
- Keep a full freezer
- Keep a survival bag ready
- Close wounds using superglue
- Avoid people
Have an Exit Plan
It is important to have a strategy for swiftly departing the city in case the situation deteriorates to the point where it becomes unsafe to remain in the house and the urban area. Familiarize yourself with the exit routes and discreetly withdraw without attracting notice. Opt for alternative paths rather than main or official routes, as these are likely to be congested.
Have a Contact Person
In the event of separation, assign a contact person whom you can call and leave a message with. This individual can be either a family member or a close friend.
Arrange Rendezvous Locations
To ensure everyone is able to reunite in the event of being separated from family, loved ones, or close friends, it is important to prearrange designated meeting spots.
Store Water
If you are aware of an impending disaster or emergency, make sure to collect as much water as possible beforehand. Utilize various items such as bathtubs, containers, bottles, jars, and sinks to store the water. Even if the containers are not clean, you can always purify the water.
Get Some Sleep
Having adequate energy and strength is crucial, particularly in emergency situations. Consequently, make an effort to obtain proper rest, and if necessary, consider sleeping in intervals. The aim is to avoid being unfocused as a result of sleep deprivation, which could potentially lead to life-threatening errors.
Be Cautious
In order to avoid drawing attention or attracting unwanted individuals to yourself or your residence, it is essential to exercise caution. It is advisable to refrain from generating any noise or utilizing lights during power outages. Additionally, cooking should be minimized to prevent the aroma from enticing hungry or desperate individuals. Opt for canned food whenever possible, and if cooking becomes necessary, avoid the use of spices.
Think Old-School
Consider the bygone days and how individuals coped without the modern comforts we now enjoy. During emergencies or disasters, some of these conveniences may disappear, forcing us to adapt in a more traditional manner. For instance, hand crank mixers, manual lawnmowers that require pushing, and typewriters operated manually are examples of such alternatives. Hopefully, this clarifies the concept.
Hiding Cash
During an emergency or a disaster, such as an earthquake or hurricane, ATMs might cease functioning. It is advisable to stash some cash in different spots within your home, in the event of an urgent need for money. However, do remember the locations where you concealed it.
Grow High-Calorie Foods
It is advisable to rely on oneself for aid and support, without depending on others. This urban survival tip emphasizes the significance of cultivating one’s own food, which provides an essential resource immediately and exclusively for oneself. Instead of focusing solely on typical vegetables such as tomatoes and cabbages, consider growing high-calorie foods like nuts, corn, beans, and potatoes.
Keep a Full Freezer
If your freezer is completely filled, it will provide not only a stock of meat and food for future use, but also keep the meat frozen for a duration of two days. However, if the freezer is only half-filled, the meat will remain frozen for just one day. If you find yourself lacking sufficient food to fill the freezer, my recommendation is to fill the remaining space with water bottles.
Keep a Survival Bag Ready
It is essential to have a survival bag readily available in your home or carry it along whenever you visit the city. This bag must consist of vital survival equipment, sufficient food for a few days, first aid materials, a water filtration straw to address contaminated water, and additional items.
Close Wounds Using Superglue
The most suitable choice is to utilize a first aid kit for the treatment of your wounds and injuries. If you lack any means to seal wounds, superglue can be used as an alternative. However, it is important to note that it may cause a stinging sensation and can potentially elicit allergic reactions in certain individuals. Nevertheless, our primary objective is to prioritize survival and staying alive.
Avoid People
In situations of personal survival or protecting a loved one, individuals are often willing to go to great lengths. Therefore, it is advisable to prioritize oneself, immediate family, and close friends while avoiding others. One should focus on their own well-being and that of their closest companions without considering anyone else. The objective is to avoid any potential harm, injuries, robbery, or even death. It is now crucial to concentrate on surviving.
