You Survive in the City?
Yes you can. I myself live in a not-so-large city and I know exactly what to do in case something happens. Granted, the fact that I live inside a house and not in an apartment building makes things a lot easier for me, but do not despair.
But have no fear ol’ Dan F. Sullivan (who’s not so old at all) will tell you how to prep in an urban setting to live better tonight. There’re plenty of things you can do to prepare whatever disaster scenario you may have to face.
First things’ first… They say cities are death traps, and for good reason. The head count is high. There’s no place to grow food. They will get filled with garbage, which will quickly lead to all sorts of disease.
So the first thing to consider is to bug out. Now, you probably read that most folks who live in small towns or on farms get ready to bug in… and you may have to as well, but it’s more likely you’ll have to evacuate.
I’m not saying you will, but ask yourself some questions: where will you find food and water? What happens if your neighborhood becomes paralyzed with terrorists or rioters or law enforcement? Now you’re stuck.
Instead of risking to get trapped like a rat inside your own home, you should make bug out plans.
First thing’s first… you need a place to go. Several, actually. And if you can, why not have a BOL in every cardinal direction, because you won’t know which route you’ll be forced to take to evacuate.
You don’t need a large property with a river on it, or anything like that. Not that you wouldn’t want one. But what you can do is buy some land in the outskirts of the city, to start a garden (and eat organic fresh veggies you grow yourself) and build a cabin or at least a shade that you can crash into when SHTF.
Sure, you won’t be able to stay indefinitely in it but it’s better than nothing. Plus, the land is going to be cheap for you to buy due to the location.
Besides having such a place, one other thing you can do is make sure you can sleep at your relatives, whether they live in the same city or state with you or not. The more “BOLs” you have the better.
Second, keep in mind you might not be able to evacuate right from the get go. If you don’t do it soon enough, you might be forced to wait a few days before you try.
So what does that mean? Stockpile and make plans to be as quiet as a mouse in your apartment. You’ll need an urban bug out bag (like I advise here). Nothing fancy, just a backpack filled with essentials that will assist you in your evacuation. A sawyer mini filter, a small first aid kit, a mutli-tool, an emergency radio, clothes, emergency blankets, fire starters etc. etc. etc.
I could give you a whole list of things to add but you can find plenty such lists online.
What if you want to actually survive in the city?
Then you’d better move from an apartment building to a house that also has some land attached to it. You’ll need a cellar or a basement, a garden, a rainwater harvesting system, and you need strong home defenses.
Rioters have no shame in vandalizing and looting from whatever buildings they can find. They’ll have no problem breaking into your house so long as they see someone’s there. They’ll also have no problem breaking into your apartment if they’re already in the building.
The more people are around you, the more careful you need to be about your preps. This includes:
• having self-defense weapons
• having a home invasion plan (you need to strengthen your doors and windows)
• a safe room
• getting creative when hiding your stockpile around the house
• fighting the food storage enemies (because if you lose your stockpile, good luck finding food and water in the city – it’s going to be very hard)
• and so on
Last but not least you need discipline. If you’re in a small town, you’ll be able to relax because you’ll be far away from what’s happening, but inside the city, you’ll be lucky to get a good night’s sleep. You need perfect discipline if you’re going to survive, when it comes to keeping quiet inside your home. You don’t want anyone to know you’re there and that includes your neighbors.
Final Verdict: Can You Survive in the City?
Of course you can. As preppers, we always like to look at worst case scenarios, and that doesn’t always work in our favor. People of Brussels had to stay indoors for 4 or 5 days when a terrorist was loose in the city, and the Army brought in tanks to patrol the streets. They were all fine.
So please, prepare to both bug in AND out regardless of where you’re located, because you just can’t anticipate what will happen to you. Disasters come in all shapes and sizes and most of the ones we’re seeing these days are nothing like we read on survival blogs.