Surviving in the City


INTRODUCTION

While we all want to do our best to prepare for a coming crisis, and many of us realize the city is perhaps the worst place to live, very few people are really prepared to pack up the old Winnebago and head for the hills. Most Americans, whether they're aware or not, are going to stay in the cities.

This is not a hasty decision for most people. Most of us depend on the city for our livelihood, and we can be better prepared by continuing to live in the city, earn a good income, and make preparations for exiting the city at the appropriate time or by staying in the city and living off existing supplies.

This special report explains some of the most critical dangers of living in a city and presents some solutions to surviving them. If you are one of the people who has decided to stay in the city, you'll benefit greatly from this information.

CITIES ARE ARTIFICIAL

Every city is an artificial construct. Cities formed as people came together to conduct business, participate in social interaction, and benefit from efficiencies in public services (such as schools, sewers, water, etc.) and a common defense. Yet cities cannot survive alone. They need resources from the country; most notably, food, water and electricity. While electricity and water can sometimes be created or found within city limits, the acreage requirements of food dictate that no city could possibly feed its own people.

Read that last phrase carefully: No city can feed its own people. Not one. Cities are, by their very nature, dependent on the importation of food. The advent of just-in-time delivery systems to our grocery stores means that most cities would run out of food within a week if supplies were for some reason disrupted.

Remember, cities are not self-sufficient. Although they may seem to be in 2005, they have for a long time been entirely dependent on the American farmer for their support, something almost all Americans take for granted (except the farmer, of course.)

RISKS IN THE CITY

The city presents some serious risks during a crisis. The four most serious ones are:
1. the collapse of social order (riots),
2. the failure of the water treatment and delivery systems,
3. the depletion of food supplies and
4. the failure of the power grid.

While not every situation will appear in every city, every situation will most certainly appear in some cities. Will that include yours? We’ll tackle these one at a time:

1. The Collapse of Social Order
“Social order” is a delicate thing, and it exists as a psychological barrier that could easily collapse under the right conditions. We all saw this during the L. A. Riots following the Rodney King trial verdict as citizens of L. A. set fire to their own town, yanked people from vehicles and beat them literally to death, and even fired guns at firemen attempting to save their buildings! More recently we were all witness to the looting, violence and total breakdown of society following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

What allowed this to happen? Simple: the simultaneous melting away of the psychological barrier of “order.” Once people realized 911 couldn’t handle the load, or was offline, that the local police were helpless or had simply abandoned their posts, “Law and Order” ceased to exist in their minds. They then conducted their lives in the way they always wanted to, but couldn’t because of the police. That is, they ran out to the local stores and just took whatever they wanted (looting). They took our their racial frustration on innocent victims who happened to be driving through the area, and they let loose on a path of destruction that only stopped when men with rifles (the National Guard) were called in to settle things down. In other words, only the threat of immediate death stopped the looting and violence. Rifles work wonders.

Imagine store owners lying prone on the roofs of their stores with AK-47's, firing at anyone who approached. This is exactly what happened in Los Angeles. But worse, imagine the lawless horde firing at the rescue copters trying to bring in supplies to the desperate masses.

The National Guard eventually got things under control. This event was isolated, however, to one city. Imagine a hundred cities experiencing the same thing. Will the National Guard be able to handle the load? Not likely. What about local police? They aren’t fools; if things look bad enough, they’ll grab their families and head for the hills, just like they did in New Orleans. No pension is worth getting killed for. A few U. S. cities could be transformed into literal war zones overnight. It would require all-out martial law and military force to have any chance whatsoever of bringing order to these streets. And the reality is that there are not enough military in the USA to secure all of the cities if this happens.

This collapse of social order is perhaps the greatest risk of staying in the city during a crisis. What, exactly, would cause this collapse of social order? Lack of three things: food, water, and money. When people run out of food, some will begin ransacking their neighborhood, searching for something to eat. (Remember that in a city, a “neighbor” does not mean the same thing as a “neighbor” in the country. They are not necessarily your friends.) It won’t take long, then, for violence to take over in some cities. While certain regions will certainly manage to keep things under control and people will form lines at the local (depleted) Red Cross shelter, other cities will see an explosion of violence. Imagine the gang-infested regions of L. A., Chicago, New York, St. Louis & New Orleans. Do you think those people are going to stand in line and wait? They already have guns; now they finally get to use them. Pent-up racial tensions & hostilities will simply serve as justification for shooting people of the same or other color in order to get their food.

Even if the food somehow gets into the cities, lack of money (due to the government not sending out checks) could cause the same thing. Eventually, lack of money results in looting and mass theft. As the stealing balloons, it also results in a collapse of social order. Water; the same thing (but faster). The collapse of social order is also very dangerous because it doesn’t require any “actual” collapse of the power grid, telecommunications, transportation or banking. Social order is a psychological artifact. It is a frame of mind, and any global panic can quickly remove the mental barrier that right now keeps people basically “lawful.”

THE FAILURE OF WATER TREATMENT AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Will the water treatment facilities fail during a crisis? Many will. Some won’t. The problem lies in figuring out whether yours will. Certainly, they depend on electricity, and testing conducted on some plants has already revealed weaknesses in the system.

In one such test, the water treatment plant released a fatal dose of fluoride into the water system when tested. The computers thought they were 99 years behind in releasing minute doses of fluoride, so they made up the difference. If you happened to be downstream, drinking that water, you were dead. Fluoride, no matter what misinformed dentists tell you, is actually a fatal poison. A major crisis likely to demonstrate this fact in more than one city.

The most important question here, though, is about what will happen when the water stops flowing (or if it is flowing, but it’s not drinkable). As you are probably aware, while people can live without food for long periods of time (2-3 weeks), water is needed on a daily basis. You can go 2-3 days without it, at most, but beyond that, you'll quickly turn to dust.

That means people will do anything to get water, because to not have it means death. And guess where it’s going to be the most difficult to actually get water? You guessed it: in the cities. During the first day of the water crisis, many people still won't figure out what's going on. They’ll figure it’s a temporary breakage of a water main and the government will get it fixed within hours. As those hours stretch into the next day, these people will get very worried.

By the second day, more and more people will realize the water isn't coming. At that point, you could easily see a breakdown of social order, as described in the previous section (as you can see, these things all tend to cause each other.). People will begin their “search for water,” and the first place they’re likely to go is where they always go for liquids: the grocery store, the local Wal-Mart, the 7-11. The shelves will be cleaned out rather quickly.

Beyond that (because those liquids aren’t going to last long), you're going to see people engaged in a mass-exodus from the cities. They’ll take the gas they have left in their tanks and they'll leave the city in search of water. Some will go to “Grandma’s house” out in the country where they might at least find a pond or stream to drink from. Others will simply go on an expanded looting mission, stopping at any house they see and asking the residents (with a gun in their face, likely) if they have any water to “donate.”

As a result of all this, if water stops flowing, here are the events you can expect to see in some of the worse-off cities:
* Looting of all the grocery stores by the second or third day (remember New Orleans?)
* Minor outbreaks of violence during the looting. Shop owners, for example, may attempt to defend their shops with firearms (ala L. A. Riots)
* Mass exodus of residents from the city in search of water
* Ransacking of any houses or farms within a gas-tank radius of the city, presumably by desperate people with guns
* Mass traffic jams on the outbound highways as people run out of gas and abandon their vehicles (if bad enough, this could actually block the highways and trap people in the cities) (Remember Hurricane Rita?)
* Mass outbreak of water-borne diseases as people use streams and rivers as both a water fountain and a bathroom. People crapping upstream are going to infect the people drinking downstream. Very few have any kind of water filtration device. That last point is really critical. Once the water flow stops, disease is going to strike.

THE DEPLETION OF FOOD SUPPLIES

The food supplies will likely dwindle quickly as we approach a possible crisis due to people stocking up just in case. Once the crisis actually hits, expect to see breakdowns in the transportation sector that will result in major delays in food delivery. This means food may arrive in sporadic fashion in some cities (if at all).

Once this happens, food suddenly becomes really valuable to people (even though they take it for granted today). And that means any small shipment of food that arrives will be quickly grabbed and eaten or stored. It only takes one week without food to remind people how much they actually need it, so expect the atmosphere to be that of a “near panic” if food is delayed by as little as three days. The level of panic will vary from city to city. Some cities or towns may experience very little difficulty receiving food. Others may face near-starvation circumstances.

Remember, the cities depend entirely on food shipped in from the farms and food processing companies. Also, note that if there’s a water problem as mentioned in the previous section, and the mass exodus begins, the highways may be jammed up at critical locations, causing gridlock for the trucking industry. If we're lucky, some trucks will continue to roll. If we’re not, assume that nothing gets through.

A shortage of food ultimately results in the same behavior as a shortage of water. First, people eat what’s in the pantry, then they loot the grocery stores. After that, with all local supplies depleted and no hope on the horizon, they leave the city and start ransacking nearby homes. Some will hunt in nearby forests, but most city-dwellers don’t know how to hunt. In any case, anyone with the means to leave the city will likely do so soon after their food shortage begins.

THE FAILURE OF THE POWER GRID

Nothing is as suddenly obvious nor has such a gigantic psychological impact as the failure of the power grid. When the electricity stops, almost everybody knows it at the same instant (unless it happens at night).

Naturally, during the first few hours of the power failure, if it occurs, people will assume it’s a temporary situation. Maybe a tree fell on some power lines, or perhaps a transformer blew up somewhere nearby. They'll sit tight and wait for the power to come back on.

What if it doesn’t? Then the city faces a severe problem. Without power, obviously, everything shuts down. Within hours, the looting begins in the more crime-ridden cities (we saw this in New York a few decades ago.). The longer the power stays off, the worse the social disorder.

The loss of power will bring the entire city to a halt. While vehicles may get around for a few more days (using whatever fuel they have left), businesses obviously won't be operating. Houses that depend on electricity for heat will quickly reach Winter temperatures, freezing many occupants to death. While those that depend on electricity for Air Conditioning will just as quickly reach Summer temperatures, resulting in death from heat stroke. Hospitals and police stations may have generators on hand, with a few days worth of fuel, but in short order, that will be depleted, too.

But the water treatment plant will almost certainly be off-line without power, causing all the events mentioned in the water section, above. Let's face it, the power is the worst thing to be without in the city. If you have power, you can survive a food shortage, perhaps even a short water shortage. But without power, all bets are off. If you have a “bug-out” vehicle stocked and ready to go (see below), this might be the time to bail.

SOLUTIONS IN THE CITY

Okay, so you're stuck in the city. You’ve made the decision to stay. You’ve read the problems above, you believe they make sense, and you’re intelligently frightened. What now? You really have two strategies. You can:
* Stay and defend your house
* Bug out (leave the city and head for the hills)

Important! This is not an either/or situation. You can begin by staying in your house and assessing the situation. You'll want to have a “bug-out” vehicle stocked and ready, just in case, if you can afford one, but you may never actually choose to bug out. You’ll have to be the ultimate judge of this. Just remember that when you bug out, you face major risks and disadvantages. Among these:
1. You're severely limited in how much you can carry -
2. You have limited range due to fuel -
3. You expose yourself to social chaos, roadblocks, random violence, etc. -
4. Your house will certainly be looted while you're gone -
5. You run the risk of mechanical breakdowns of your vehicle -
6. You must have a place to go that you know is in better shape than where you currently are.

In general, unless you have a specific, known safe place as your final destination, I don't advise people to bug out. Just “heading for the hills” is a very poor plan. You might not make it. But heading for Grandma’s house or some known, safe place could be a very good plan indeed, depending on whether Grandma is ready, willing and able to accept you!

For these reasons (and more), staying and defending your house is sometimes the only reasonable course of action, even if it seems dangerous. For the most part, looters and people looking for food are going to have plenty of easy victims, so if you show a little willingness to use force to defend your property, you’ll likely send people on to the next house.

That is, until the next house is already empty and you appear to be the last house on the block with any food and water left. If you're in a bad enough area, your neighbors may “gang up” on you and demand your supplies or your life. This is truly a worst-case scenario, and unless you literally have a house full of battle rifles and people trained to use them (and the willingness to shoot your neighbors), you’re sunk. This is why the best situation by far is to keep your neighbors informed and help them get prepared. Then you (both your member and non-member neighbors) can act as a group, defending your neighborhood and sharing the supplies you have with anyone willing to help defend you.

When you have this kind of situation going, your neighbors realize you are their lifeline. You supply them with food and water, and they will help support you because they are, in effect, supporting their own lives. The best situation is when your neighbors and other ward members have their own food and water supplies. That way, they aren’t depleting yours, and they have a strong motivation for getting together with you defend your neighborhood. (More on this below.)

STORING (AND HIDING) YOUR FOOD

Storing food is just as important in the city as in the country, but hiding it is far more important. That’s because in the worst areas, marauders will be going from house to house, demanding your food or your life. If you're dumb enough to put everything you own in the obvious places, you might as well not buy it in the first place. They will find it. To count on having any amount of food left over after the marauders break in, you'll need to hide your food.

One alternative is to plan on defending your home with force. If you have enough gun-wise people in the house, and enough firearms and ammo, you can probably pull this off. But most of us aren’t nearly as experience with firearms as the gang members. A better alternative might be to plan on bringing you supplies to your ward/stake building where all of the Saints can both pool and defend their resources. This of course will depend greatly on your local Bishop and Stake President.

Back to hiding: the best way to hide your food is to bury it. You’ll need airtight containers, long-term food that won't rot and you’ll need to plan ahead. Bury your food at night so nobody will notice, and make sure you don’t leave the map on the refrigerator door! (Better to memorize it!) Try to get the ground to look normal after you're all finished. You’ll want to bury your food as early as possible because it gives the grass time to regroup over the spot. If you’re in an area that snows, you’ll have a great concealment blanket! Most food marauders won't go to the trouble to dig up food, especially if you insist you don't have any.

Best plan: Have some smaller amount of food stashed around the house, letting them find something. Better to give them something and send them on their way. The art of hiding your food is an ancient one. You've got to get creative. Use the walls, the floors, and the structure of the house.

If hiding your food is simply not an available alternative, then try not to advertise it. Keep it put away in your house or garage in as discreet a manner as possible. Don’t make a point of telling people that you have a years supply (or more). Word gets around fast that Bro. Jones has a ton of food in his garage. Boxes of food fit nicely under beds, behind furniture, in the attic, etc.. Be Creative!!

To sum up the food storage, you really have three strategies here:
* Store it all in your house and plan on defending it by force.
* Bury it in your yard in case you get overrun by looters.
* Store part of it in your house, and hide the bulk of it.
* Relocate all of it as soon as you recognize a major disaster is in progress

One of the best ways to store food for burying, although it will only last 2-3 years in high-humidity areas, is to purchase 55-gallon good-grade steel drums. You can get them from: Memphis Drum Service, 3299 Tulane, Memphis, Tennessee 38116 (901) 396-6484; (800) 960-3786) The drums are only $16.50, but shipping them is around $30 each. Once you obtain the drums, dump in your grains or other food items. If you purchase bags of food from Walton Feed, this is the perfect way to store it. Don't leave it in the bags unless you're actively eating it. [Note: Plastic barrels do not rust.]

Then sprinkle some diatomaceous earth into the drum. You'll need about two cups to treat a 55-gallon drum, and it must be mixed in well. Diatomaceous earth is made from ground up sea shells, and it kills bugs by getting into their joints. You can get some from: Perma-Guard, Inc. 115 Rio Bravo S. E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87105 (505) 873-3061

This diatomaceous earth is food grade, and on the bag it says, “Fossil Shell Flour.” Their prices are one pound, $4.90; 2 lb., $8.05; 5 lb., 14.70, 10 lb., $18.00; 50 lb., $24.95.

Once you get these drums filled and sealed, you can then bury them in your yard. This is actually a HUGE UNDERTAKING and is a LOT more difficult than it sounds, since you’ll need to dig to a depth of around 5 or 6 feet in order to sufficiently bury these drums. You’re likely to attract a lot of attention unless you do it at night, and you’ll definitely be removing a lot of dirt that you’ll need to find some use for. Because the drums are steel, they will also deteriorate unless you line the outside with plastic (a good idea) and treat the drums with some kind of protectant or oil. (Don't use WD-40.) Even Vaseline would work well, although you would definitely need a lot to coat a 55-gallon drum.

When you’re all done, you should have your protected grains in 55-gallon drums, buried in your yard and protected against the humidity of the surrounding earth. It’s a big effort, but then again, the food inside may save your life. You’ll find it much more efficient to bury several barrels at once; side by side.

In reality it would be faster and easier to simply build a false wall in your garage and seal up your food behind the false wall. Sure, you might loose 2-3 feet of useable space in your garage, but the tradeoff is knowing everything is safe and sound.

STORING EXTRA WATER

Water can be stored in exactly the same way, although you might want to bury the barrel before you actually fill it with water. Make sure you treat your storage water, rotate it or have filters on hand when you get ready to use it.

If you don’t have a yard, or it's not practical to bury your water, you’ll have to store water inside your house. This can get very tricky because water takes up a lot of space and it's very difficult to conceal. It’s best to get containers made for long-term storage, but in a pinch, you can use almost any container: soda bottles, milk jugs (although it's very difficult to rinse the milk out), and even rinsed bleach bottles (in that case, you won’t need to add bleach). But a lot of these containers will deteriorate quickly, and they may break easily. Also, consider what happens if your water may be subjected to freezing. Will your containers survive? Be sure to leave enough air space to handle the expansion.

In order to prepare yourself for the water shortage, assuming you’re going to stay in the city, stock at least six months of water at a minimum two gallons a day per person. That’s nearly 400 gallons of water if you have two people.

Of course, even with the best in-house preparations, you may find yourself depleted of water supplies. In this situation, one of your best defenses is to have a really good water filter (like the Katadyn filter) that can remove parasites and bacteria from the water. You can also treat your water in other ways (iodine, distillation, silver solution, bleach, etc.). Armed with these items, you can safely use stream or river water (or even pond water) for drinking.

WATER WELLS

By far, the best solution for obtaining long-term water supplies is to drill a well. Buy the best-quality hand-pump available (cast-iron pumps available from Lehman’s) and a good cylinder. They will last a lifetime if installed properly. With this setup, you'll have a near-unlimited supply of water.

The total cost of doing this, depending on where you live, ranges from about $4000 - $6000. Is it worth it? If you’ve got the money, I think so. However, many cities simply don’t allow the drilling of wells, so you may not be able to get one drilled even if you want to.

The deeper your well, the more expensive it gets. Most well drilling companies charge by the foot. When water is deeper, you also need a bigger pump and a more powerful cylinder, so the costs tend to really grow the deeper you go. If you can find water at 20', you’re very lucky and it might not cost you even $2000. If you have to go down to 200', it might cost you $7500, and you’re at the depth limit of hand-powered pumps anyway.

HOLLY DEYO NOTE: As point of reference, the general cost of well digging in Colorado as of March 2007, runs $20/foot. This can be a very expensive venture if water is located deeply or worse yet, the drill hole comes up dry. Additionally, in Colorado, you may not drill a well on your property unless you own at least a 35-acre plot or, there is no public water supply available. Both the cost and conditions when you may be allowed to drill can vary throughout the U.S. (and abroad), so be sure to check before counting on being able to do so.

DEFENDING YOUR LIFE AND PROPERTY

Let’s talk about force. No doubt, there are plenty of nice people in this country, and I think that in small towns and rural areas, people are going to find ways to cooperate and get along. I also think, however, that some cities will suffer complete social breakdown and violence will rule. If you happen to be stuck in one of these cities, you’re going to need to use force to defend your house. The section that follows discusses what I consider to be extreme responses to violence in the most dire situations. Hopefully, you won't find yourself in these circumstances, but if you do, the information below may be valuable.

Important: Do not use your lights at night. If you are stocking propane-powered lanterns, solar-powered flashlights, or other unusual supplies, using them at night will announce to everyone within line of sight that you have more than the “usual” supplies. Expect them to come knocking in your door. At most, let a fire burn in the fireplace, but in general, avoid drawing attention to your house.

Defending your house is a crucial element on your stay-in-the-city plan. Make your house your fortress, and hold drills to help other family members practice some of the more common activities such as hiding, defending, evacuating, etc. Some useful items for home defense include:
* A guard dog
* Pepper spray
* Firearms
* Smoke bombs (military-grade)
* Trip wires

Let's go over these: The guard dog is certainly a welcome addition to any family trying to defend their house. Although he probably eats a lot of food, the investment is worth if. Dogs also tend to sleep light, so let them sleep right next to the food storage areas, and make sure you sleep within earshot. If the dog barks, don't consider it an annoyance, consider it an INTRUSION.

Pepper spray is a great alternative to the firearm. It will incapacitate people and certainly give them a painful experience to remember. On the downside (potentially), it might just remind them that next time they come back for food, they better kill you first. So understand the limitations of pepper spray.

Firearms are useful for obvious reasons. In the worst-case scenario, when looting is rampant, you may have to actually shoot someone to protect yourself or your family. If you’re squeamish about pulling the trigger under these circumstances, don't plan to stay in the city. Use the “bug out” plan instead.

Smoke bombs can be useful for covering a planned escape from your house. You can purchase high-volume smoke bombs that will quickly fill up any house with an unbreathable cloud of military-grade white smoke.

Trip wires are great perimeter defenses. You can buy them from Cheaper Than Dirt (they run a few hundred dollars). They will give you early warning if someone is approaching. You can connect the tripwires to flares, shotgun shells, light sticks or other warning devices. This way, you can have an audible or visible alert, your choice.

In addition to these devices, you can make significant fortification-style improvements to your home. While none of these are very affordable, they certainly help defend your home:
* Replace glass windows with non-breakable Plexiglas
* Add steel bars to the windows
* Replace all outside door locks with heavy-duty deadbolts
* Replace all outside doors with steel doors, preferably without windows
* Remove bushes and other shrubs where people might hide
* Black out the windows entirely to avoid light escaping at night (similar to what residents of London did during the WWII bombing raids)
* Build secret hiding places for food, coins, or even people
* Create escape hatches or passageways
* Rig pepper-spray booby traps

These aren’t as absurd as they might at first sound. Many people living in rough cities already have steel bars covering their windows, and removing extra bushes and shrubs is a well-known tactic for making your home a safer place.

LIGHT

To light your home when there’s no electricity, try the following:
* Use LED flashlights and rechargeable solar-charged batteries. You can buy all these items from the Real Goods catalog
* Use propane-powered lanterns. You can find these in the camping section of your local Wal-Mart. Be sure to purchase extra mantles and store lots of propane.
* Purchase quality oil lamps from Lehman’s and stock up on oil. You can also purchase cheap kerosene lamps from the Sportsman's Guide or Wal-Mart, then simply purchase and store extra kerosene.
* Buy extra candles.
* Purchase lots of olive oil. Not only can you cook with it (and besides, it’s a lot healthier than corn or vegetable oil), olive oil also burns as a clean candle fuel. You can float a wick in a jar half-full of olive oil and light the wick. Viola, a home-made candle. Olive oil is a fantastic item for your storage anyway because even if you purchase all the grains in the world, you’ll still need cooking oil, and you obviously can’t buy powdered cooking oil. Well-stored olive oil can last for thousands of years.

STAYING WARM

Did you know that people won't steal giant logs? Although they may easily steal wood you've already chopped, most people won't have any way of stealing logs. They’re too heavy, and the vehicles won't have any gas left. For this reason, your best bet in regards to stocking fuel for your house is to stock up on UNCUT wood logs.

It takes a lot of extra research to find out how to get them (took me a few weeks of asking around), but you can find a source if you look hard enough. Or you can usually get a permit to go out and cut your own. The effort is worth it, because this will give you a ready-to-go source of heat and fuel that cannot be easily stolen.

The catch, of course, is that you'll need equipment to cut and chop the wood. A chainsaw is REALLY nice in this way, but it requires fuel. Fortunately, chain saws don’t use much fuel, so if you have a way to store as little as 50 gallons or so, you've got enough to power your chainsaw for a few years (at least!). You'll need fuel stabilizers, too, which you can buy at your local Wal-Mart. (Be sure to buy extra chains for your chainsaw, too.)

You’ll also need splitting hardware. You can buy log splitters or just buy an axe, a wedge, and a sledgehammer. Better yet, buy all four so you have a choice of what to use. And remember, wood splits much better when it’s frozen, too, so you might just wait until the cold hits in Winter to start splitting your wood. Only split a little at a time, because you don’t want to end up with a big pile of nicely-split wood sitting out in your yard. It will invite theft from people who don't have any. If you already have trees on your property, you're all set. Cut down about 4-5 cords right now, so they can start drying out, then chop them as you need them.

A “cord” of wood, by the way, is a volume measurement. It’s 8' x 4' x 4', or 128 cubic feet of wood (stacked). Some people that sell wood will try to rip you off, so make sure you know what you're buying. If you purchase logs, it’s better to get a price per linear foot, based on the diameter of the log. For example, you might ask for logs that are an average of 10" in diameter, and you’ll ask how much the charge per linear foot would be. Something in the range of $1 - $2 would be great.

RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBORS

I’ve already mentioned the importance of getting along with your neighbors. It really is crucial to your city-based survival plan. The best situation to be in, as mentioned before, is to have neighbors & other church members who are aware of the issue and who are getting ready for it by stocking their own food, water, and other supplies. Every neighbor & member that becomes self-reliant is one less neighbor or member you’ll have to support.

The range of neighbor situations, from best to worst, is as follows:
* Best case: your neighbor is current Recommend holder, is aware of and both temporally & Spiritually prepared for an emergency with their own supplies and training.
* Good case: your neighbor is aware of a potential crisis, and even though they don't have their own supplies, they’re willing to help defend yours as long as you share
* Bad case: your neighbor is a non-member that didn’t prepare for it, figuring they would just steal from you if things got bad. They are aware of YOUR supplies but don’t have their own.
* Worst case: your neighbor isn’t aware of anything, he is anti-mormon and he’s a violent, angry neighbor just released from prison. He is going to be caught off guard by the ensuing events and will likely attempt to use violence to get what he needs or wants.

Your decision on whether to stay in the city may depend greatly on the quality and quantity of your neighbors. If you do live in a bad neighborhood, do what you can to relocate. If you live in a good neighborhood, do the best you can to educate and inform your neighbors. This might well be the most important missionary work you ever do for your own temporal salvation!

GUN CONTROL IN THE CITIES

No matter how you felt or thought about gun control in the past, it’s time to face disaster-induced reality. The gun-control politicians (and the people who supported them) have placed Americans in a situation where not only can the police not protect us in a timely manner, but we cannot lawfully defend ourselves. Criminals unlawfully have firearms; citizens lawfully don't. Intentionally or otherwise, gun-control supporters have created a situation where an unfortunate number of innocent men, women and children are going to be in danger during a crisis simply because they could not obtain the tools of self-defense.

It also happens that the cities where the rioting will likely be the worst are precisely the cities where firearms are most likely to be banned from lawful ownership (and where criminals may wield near-absolute power for a while.). Perhaps when society recovers from it, we can review the fallacy in the cause / effect logic that keeps people voting for gun-control laws, but in the mean time, millions of people are going to have to resort to breaking the law in order to protect their families. And yes, you too will have to resort to breaking the law if you are to acquire a firearm in an area where guns are entirely banned from private citizens (like New York, Los Angeles, etc.).

After the disaster hits, if the rioting gets really bad, we're going to see local police begging law-abiding citizens for help. Your firearm will be a welcome addition to the force of law and order, believe me. No local cop is going to mind you having a handgun if you're manning a roadblock protecting a neighborhood of families with children. Act responsibly, tell them what you're doing, and they'll probably give you a big thanks. But if you're carrying a gun while you smash a window of the Wal-Mart and walk off with a stereo; well that's a different story. Be prepare to get shot.

See, cops don't mind private ownership nearly as much as we've all been led to believe. I know, I work with law enforcement officers in a small town, and I ask them about topics like this. When the crisis hits, they'll be more than happy to have your cooperation. We're all going to need as many law-abiding gun-toting citizens as possible in order to fend off the criminals and establish some degree of order.

ONE MORE REASON TO MOVE OUT

If you really feel you need a firearm to protect yourself and your family, your best bet may be to move to a city or state where people are a lot more accepting of firearms. You'd be surprised what a difference the locale makes. Check the gun laws in any state you're considering moving to. Obviously, “cowboy” states like Arizona, Texas and Wyoming will have fewer restrictions on firearms (and, interestingly, they have less of a problem with gun violence). States where the population is more dense (like California & New York) tend to have much greater restrictions on private ownership of firearms.

BUGGING OUT

Suppose it’s July 14, 2006, and you’ve changed your mind about this city thing. You happened to be right smack in the middle of one of the worst-hit cities in the country. The looting is getting worse, the power has been out for two weeks, and your water supplies are running low. You still have enough gas in your truck to make it out of town if you can get past the gangs, that is. You’ve decided to BUG OUT!

SOME BASIC POINTERS:

* Don’t try to bug out in a Chevy Geo. You will likely need a big heavy 4x4 truck in order to go off-road and around stalled vehicles
* Get something that can carry at least 1000 pounds of supplies. A big 4x4 pickup will do nicely! Yes, it requires more fuel, but you can carry the fuel as cargo.
* Don’t bug out unless you can have someone ride shotgun, literally. You will need an armed passenger in case you run into not-so-nice people

WHAT TO TAKE

Ahh, the bug-out supply list. All this will fit in your truck. Here’s what you should take if you’re preparing to bug out with two people:
* Your 96 hour kits for each person in the vehicle
* 20 gallons of water
* 40 gallons of extra fuel or more (and a full gas tank)

WHERE TO GO

As mentioned earlier, if you have a designated place of refuge (Grandma’s house, a cabin in the woods, etc.), head straight for it. If not, you’re basically driving anywhere you can go, so try to head for an area that forested and near a creek or river where you can get some water.

CONCLUSION

Choosing to remain in the city is a rational choice for many people in many situations. However, as you have seen from the dangers described here, the further away you can get from the population centers in general, the better your chances of surviving.

Most people, perhaps yourself included, have a difficult time actually accepting that a major disaster is going to be as bad as described in this report. And after all, if you leave the city, sell out, quit your job, move to the country, and then nothing bad happens? You will have disrupted your life, and you may find yourself broke, jobless, and homeless. You COULD assume it will be a mild event, which I suppose is also a credible possibility. In that case, surviving in the city will be quite feasible, especially if you have neighbors that can support your efforts and you don't live in a dangerous city with high racial tensions. However, the very nature of a major disaster means that if only one or two major infrastructure components goes down, the ripple effect will quickly create a much worse scenario. It seems there is very little room for “mild” effects unless they are miniscule. The most likely scenario at this point clearly points to massive disruptions, severe shortages in food and water, loss of power in some areas, and a breakdown of social order in certain areas where the population density is high.

But you can survive anything with good planning, an open mind, and plenty of practice. Why not start now?


www.stevequayle.com

Another great post as usual, ConSigCor. I feel compelled to add another article on an important but often overlooked subject.


Gold and Silver for Survival Purposes


Generally, investors buy gold or silver for one of three purposes: as an investment, as an inflation hedge, or for survival purposes. Investors who buy for investment purposes tend to view gold and silver as commodities, whose prices fluctuate because of supply/demand fundamentals. For example, in 1998 Warren Buffett completed the purchase of 129.7 million ounces of silver. Buffett’s purchase, which became legendary in only a few years, was probably for investment purposes. However, it may have been an inflation hedge; Buffett’s not saying. In fact, Buffett has said very little about his silver investment. One thing is certain, however, it was not for survival purposes.

Investors who fear inflation, either price inflation or monetary inflation (which causes price inflation), buy gold or silver as inflation hedges. During the 1970s, precious metals prices skyrocketed in response to price inflation that reached 13%. During the 70s, popular precious metals investments included everything from 1-oz silver rounds and pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver coins to 100-oz silver bars and 1-oz Krugerrands. When the Federal Reserve got inflation under control in the 1980s, much of the gold and silver bought in the 1970s was sold and the proceeds put back in paper investments.

Investors who buy for survival purposes fear the worst. Those fears include the Federal Reserve printing so many dollars that the dollar will become worthless, which is the history of all paper currencies not redeemable in gold or silver. Fear of a financial meltdown, which would close banks as in Argentina and Paraguay in 2002, is another.

Argentineans and Paraguayans who had to foresight to bailout of the banking systems and covert their assets to gold or silver were protected. Not only did banks close, but also when they reopened depositors were limited to the amount of money they could withdraw. Meanwhile, the Argentinean peso and the Paraguayan guarani sank in value. Shortly after those crises, Brazil defaulted on its international debt and its real sank.

Those are the kinds of situations that investors who buy for survival purposes want to protect against. In doing so, these investors buy gold and silver in forms that can be used for money or to barter for goods and services.

The best forms of silver for survival purposes are pre-1965 U.S. 90% coins and 1-oz silver rounds. The most useful forms of gold would be 1/10-oz Gold Eagles and 1/4-oz Gold Eagles. But, before going forward, it is imperative that we discuss which coins to avoid. That is because hundreds of web pages promote numismatic and collector coins, as well as foreign coins. Such coins are simply wrong for survival purposes.

If the time ever comes that gold and silver coins were again used as money, coins would be worth only their metal content. Numismatic (collector) premiums would disappear. Anyone using gold or silver coins to buy goods or services would not be asked, "What's the mint mark on your coin?" Nor will they be asked, "When was it minted?" The question would be, "What's the gold content?" Hand someone a St. Gaudens and tell him it contains .9675 ounce of gold, and it will be difficult--if not impossible--to convince him to accept it at more than .9675 times the price of gold.

Numismatic premiums are fleeting in normal markets. (See our Old U.S. Gold Coins page; you may also want to read our Myths, Misunderstandings, and Outright Lies page.) Numismatic coins are bad investments for the average investor anytime; for survival purposes, they are simply wrong.

If you ever need to use your gold and silver to buy goods and services, you will want silver coins and small gold coins. Additionally, those coins should have certain characteristics to ensure they are readily accepted. First, survival coins should be stamped in English. Most Americans do not read foreign languages.

Second, the coins should have their gold or silver contents stamped on them; except for the bullion coins, most do not. In an emergency, having the gold content stamped on a coin could go a long way toward causing someone to accept it.

If your furnace goes out in January, the local heating guy may have never seen a gold coin before. If you hand him a $20 St. Gaudens, how does he know it contains a little less than an ounce? If you try to get him to take British Sovereigns, how can you prove they contain .2354 ounce each? Try convincing the guy at the auto parts store that a French 20 franc contains .1867 ounce of gold.

Third, the coins you buy for survival purposes should contain amounts with which Americans are comfortable. We understand one-ounce, 1/2-ounce, 1/4-ounce, and 1/10-ounce coins. Americans do not easily grasp the concept of .2354 ounce or .1867 ounce.

For survival purposes, avoid arcane foreign coins. (Although more British Sovereigns have been minted than any other coin, Sovereigns are not well known in the U.S.) Simply buy the popular modern bullion coins, the best of which are the American Eagles. They come in four sizes: one-ounce, 1/2-ounce, 1/4-ounce, and 1/10-ounce. For more information, visit Modern Gold Bullion Coins. (If you have been told that bullion coins are subject to confiscation and that old U.S. coins and/or foreign coins dated before 1933 are exempt, you really need to read Myths, Misunderstandings, and Outright Lies.)

Another plus for Gold Eagles: They sell at small mark-ups over the value of their gold content. Generally, Gold Eagles carry lower premiums than foreign coins of comparable sizes. And certainly, Gold Eagles are cheaper than old U.S. gold coins.

Finally, the question arises whether to buy gold or silver. Probably both, but if you are investing $5,000 or less, go exclusively with one-ounce silver rounds or circulated pre-1965 U.S. 90% coins. If you are investing larger amounts, say $20,000 up, you will probably end up with gold and silver.

If conditions were to deteriorate to the point that gold and silver re-emerged as the preferred forms of money, you would want lots of small coins. If you were buying canned food, you would need silver coins because gold coins, even 1/10-ounce ones, would have great value. If you have only silver coins and need something of high value, then you simply trade a larger number of silver coins.

At current prices, an investment in silver results in more than fifty times the bulk and weight than if the same investment were made in gold. Therefore, large investments in silver create storage and handling challenges for some people. If storage and handling is a problem for you, then go exclusively with 1/10-oz Gold Eagles for the first $5,000 or so. Still, try to have some silver coins on hand.

Although we prefer American Gold Eagles for survival purposes, Gold Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, and Kangaroos would serve nearly as well. We recognize that Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, and Kangaroos are foreign coins and that above we advise against foreign coins. However, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, and Kangaroos are bullion coins that have the desired traits for survival purposes. They are stamped in English, come in convenient, well-known sizes, and sell at small premiums over the value of their gold content.

The choice of the form of silver for survival purposes is a toss-up between one-ounce silver rounds and circulated pre-1965 U.S. 90% coins. Rounds have their silver content and purity stamped on them. However, circulated pre-65 U.S. 90% silver coins once served as money and could do so again. Additionally, these coins circulated as recently as the late 1960s, and many Americans remember using them. Yet, pre-65 silver coins do not have their silver content stamped on them, but if the dollar were repudiated people would quickly learn the value of pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver coins.

Gold and Silver for Survival Purposes

Being a resident of the artificial oasis known as Phoenix AZ,quite frankly the idea of loosing water sc ares the hell out of me,This place would go to hell in a handbasket within 48 hours,and the only place to run to is more desert.My solution is an good supply at home and a friends house an hour away with a well and generater.He's ready for me and mine to help him defend it too.

Prescott's got water.
Also, we keep some water, and a lot of people near where we live all have wells (and arsenic problems)

BTW I live in or around Phoenix too.

I think, my family should do OK, as would most of my friends.

ConSigCor,

The information that you have provided in the many forums is invaluable. I have made a determination to remain in the cities. I will go into the details of my decision making process later.

Right now, I wanted to thank you for the good information that you have provided here for us.

I purchased 55 gallon drums of industrial grade bleach. They contained 15% solution. At $6 each they can't be beat. I also have a buddy that buys food grade products in drums and totes.

I've placed 5 gallon buckets of water in my freezer. My freezer works better, and the water doesn't 'spoil' as fast.

So far:
4 55 gallon drums of water (chlorinated for storage) - which will get my family [of 5] through 44 days @ 1 gallon per day per person.

1 Berkey light water purifier ( http://www.berkeywater.com/ ) for pond, lake, runoff, or river water purification (or the neighbors swimmin pool water - night aquisitions of course).

1 Solar charger for the Berkey LEDs and cell phone, lap tops, etc. (if those last two items even have service in a situation).

I have cases of mixed #10 can Freeze dried ( http://www.mountainhouse.com/ ) food rations (with expirations of 2030) of mixed variety (breakfast, dinner, sugar, salt, veggies, etc). And sacks of beans-n-rice.

Still working on adding to the cache every chance I get!!

if you have not already purchased as much ammo and spare parts as you can, then you are already behind the curve.
Don't waste money now on ammo for all the various hunting rifles. Concentrate on the MBR and the AR platforms. Availibility and price are already dicey.

We used to have a semi-annual family exercise. twice a year (in the heat of summer and the cold of winter), om a friday afternoon, we turned off the electricity, gas, and water coming into our home. We turned it back on Sunday evening.

This is a great test of your preparedness. How will you preserve the food in the refrigerator and freezer? How will you cook your meals, flush the toilets, take care of personal hygiene, and keep warm or cool?

when you think you're ready, try this exercise. if there is anything you have overlooked, this exercise will find it.

Onward and upward,
airforce

ConSigCor Great article. I have question about chlorinated water. I have worked in water processing and do not like chlorine. To me it give water a bad taste but as mentioned above it keeps water from going "bad". I wondering if someone could direct me to a site or book that deals with water storage and such. Thanks. BW

BW-

http://waltonfeed.com/self/water.html

Thanks APatriot2. I added the page to my links for further study.
BW

My pleasure, BW!

Airforce! Great Idea! My question is, how do you prevent bad things from happening to your home and equipment?

See,
I have some equipment that would probably be lost forever if the house got to cold... something I dont want to cause on my own (imagine explaining THAT to the insurance company ) How do you prevent computers, TVs, and other things which pre-SHTF still have some usefullness?
In an emergency scenario, these things wouldn't matter anyway...

Also...how do you prevent your pipes from bursting from the water freezing?
Granted, when it comes to food going bad, its no big deal...

All I'm saying is, how do you carry those excercizes out when you really wish to avoid having non-essential (but expensive, and "Necessary" pre-SHTF) equipment break, pipes burst, ect...
Remember,...doing any of this on your own, makes you assume all responsibility. Damages occured to your home from freeze damage, because YOU shut off the power, gas ect...well there is no way your home insurance will pay for damages you basically incurred/welcomed.

How would you save all those things if the gas and power went out for real? The beauty of this exercise is, it forces you to plan ahead.

Water pipes can be insulated--in fact, it's a good idea in winter anyway.

If you don't have a fireplace--and even if you do--keeping your home warm enough , a to survive is a trick. Remember, you don't necessarily have to be comfortable--in fact, I can just about guarantee you won't be--but a little contingency planning can do wonders. For warmth, if nothing else, a small charcoal grill set just inside a window cracked halfway open will provide warmth, and enough ventilation to keep you safe. (You do have smoke and CO alarms, and fire extinguishers, don't you?)

I don't mean to imply this is an easy exercise. It's not. The first few times you do this are learning exercises. You can expect to make several trips to the store (cheating) before you get it right.

The biggest problem we have is preserving food in the refrigerator and freezer. In the winter this is not difficult, but summertime it becomes a problem. Pick up a couple books on preserving food, and you will probably want to invest in a canner and netting for drying foods in the sun.

Of course, you could solve a lot of problems by investing in a generator, which will get you through a weekend exercise quite nicely. But, I think of that as cheating, too.

Onward and upward,
airforce

It's not cheating if you have a solar generator like this one .

One thing I might do for heat, rather than using a grill (awfully dirty, less safe ect), could be a pellet stove, they are used often here in WY as auxiliary/complementary heat.

There are a number of options, including just dressing warmer. It works for Eskimos.

A friend pointed out to me that in some climates, water pipes may well freeze even if they are insulated. If that's the case, go ahead and keep it dripping. Just remember not to turn on any taps, or flush any toilets.

And, I have to stress again the need for CO monitors. That really is a dumb way to die--but it happens all the time.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Corn stoves are becoming popular here in the midwest. They are cheap to run and the fuel is renewable.

Dressing warm wont keep your tv's, computers and other electronics warm...

While many of these things can, and might well happen, the chance of all happening at once, and over a wide enough area of the Country or World to really matter, is remote.
Good points to remember are to have what you and yours needs for at least a few weeks. No one should be dependent on the Government or the kindness of strangers in any time frame short of a month.
Second, you should have long ago figured out only how, but WHEN you and yours are going to leave a built up area.
Third, remember that no plan survives first contact with adversity. Have a back up plan, and a back up for that one.

If the entire country is affected with all of the most dire scenarios, then all bets are off, and serendipity might well play as important as part in your survival as planning.

Amazing what a few months can do to this theory huh

Prepare...Prepare...Prepare...
Train...Train...Train...
and
Pray...Pray...Pray...

MK

this is really informative ,good job .
another point of interest is the grasshopper and the ant . Some of city poplace will be partying and looting , liquer stores drug stores ect. . They will think it's not gonna last a week and they will be looking for more, once the reality sets in .Hygiene and sanitation will be a problem too.
I believe if you decide to leave the city you should have a place to go that is waiting for you .
Small towns are filling up now, were i live is a short commute to a minor-major city. You can still find fantastic deals on property but the hawkers R here and now you have to really know the area . We just got a place 1/4 acre edge of town fenced,900 sq.ft. shop,720 sq.ft. house ,pens, garden area ,fruit trees and water well .8 grand! Putting in wind , solar and bio-fuel generating house plant . property will generate power to sell back to utility company . Will put in farm-to-market on premises and barter also .
eye do not know if ya'll are aware but Texas has a fresh-water pearls that are quite valuable .
Good income , good field practice and places to cache are plentiful ! ./
i made 1600 in an hour & 1/2 for one pearl . They are depression proof as they will alwys bring money , of some sort .
Great article ,
Thanks again ,

ConSigCor very informative and well thought out thanks for doing your time .
Also,i would add a little about medications try to stock at least three months , 6mths would be even better , supply . Check and see about herbal alternatives . I suggest telling the doc you washed a script anything resonable to have a order refilled , bank of meds . . Some kind of go pill for the first two -to- three days wont hurt;) . If you fill your bathtub/sinks , kiddy pool in living room helps water storage increase .Sleeping in shifts preferably 3/8's . Strong pellet rifle for city game .
You will also have to watch what you throw out as trash as this can give away your supplies and numbers.
If looting starts and you are in a group use looters as cover and gather supplies from designated spots .Try and have a alamo spot in your dwelling that is a last defense place were all go to
obtain a Better "bug out" vehicle if need be .
If you know the area gang colors or markings this can maybe help in a "bug out" !

I think most would be surprised to find that cities are not as impossible to survive in. I have done an E&E exercise in the city and found plenty of potable water not from the city. I found plenty of food growing everywhere including Corn, berries, plums, apples, and there is an abundant supply of protien running around.

Anyone that has ever been in the woods on the first day of hunting season will know there are a lot of people up there. Most people planning to run for the hills don't hunt. Still the rural areas are better for resources but the city is not at all as bad as most might think. You can find the most important things necessary for survival as they are far more readily available in the city. You can provide security and shelter far easier in the city than in the woods. There are pros and cons to both but having actually had to survive in a non permissive zone of the city it's not even close to as artificial as most might think.

I recomend anyone that ever travels to the city to take an Urban E&E class. You will be far more prepared to survive conflict.

also some input for people in apartment complexs would be good . basicly i say try and group up with people in your section , take down walls between enough of units to move as needed .

There is not going to be much grouping of anything in the city or rural areas. I have actually lived through Martial Law during a natural disaster. I have lived in a rural community when there was dwindling resources. If you think people are going to share with you think again. If you don't have your own food your not going to be any better off in the country than the city. People are all the same no matter where you go. At least in the city you can blend in and dissapear while your operating. It's harder than most think to disapear in the woods against technology and Elite teams with trackers.

sad and true BunnyFluffer over the past 5yrs real strong i have seen high-fencing with video cameras every 1/8 mile . It is obvious they are getting prepared for what they keep telling us is not going to happen . The rivers are public and can be legally navigated , well now you can still navigate but be aware of area and people when confronted agree and leave , way better ending !

Right now in 2011, a lot of cities in the US and to a lesser degree Canada have some pretty large abandoned spaces. It is not remarkably difficult for groups to take over abandoned space and put it to use, although in an economic collapse scenario, that means maintaining convoy mobility to the point you can rally up and roll out if the heat is on. I know of a few huge empty warehouse type places here in the Portland area that could fairly quickly be converted to indoor RV parks with power, water, and even natural gas hookups with only minimal work, although toilets would have to run through existing building plumbing which could easily handle it. It would be a simple matter of retrofitting some of the larger restrooms with showers, fixing gate and security systems, and you are in. This is in consideration that one humbling factor for survival in the long term is when the weather turns cold and bad. To put that simply, it is easier to heat buildings than tents.

As for protein running around, I have literally seen more deer in one of the industrial areas of Portland than on my average trip out to the nearby mountains. The deer I stalked hang out in some abandoned and semi-abandoned industrial areas and feed on what I think used to be decorative gardens with berries and some fairly healthy plantlife considering the toxic crap that is probbly around there.

Another thing about cities is just like their original intent, they are transport, shipping and trade hubs, which means supplies get stored in cities, not out in the boonies. Fuel, medical supplies, manufactured goods, that is all what you find in the cities. Nobody makes fuel out in the boonies, it is made in refineries on the edges of cities. Breweries and distilleries can be re-purposed to make ethanol or even methanol fuel, and around cities, you can usually find an employable pool of expertise in technical matters that you don't regulary find in the country.

For example, right now I am going through some changes in my personal motor pool, and living in a major metro area have found it much cheaper and easier to find cost effective experts in getting my rolling stock up to par. Even comparing who can be hired or where to find work on Craigslist in major cities vs country areas tells a lot of the story.

I think whether you are in a pre-shtf situation or post-shtf situation, a lot of your financial success when getting your "life in the boonies" act together is well handled by people who can navigate city life, and then facilitate or do their trade between city and country.

That said, about the ONLY commodity that the city needs from the country is food, not really a whole lot else, except in circumstances where in a pre-SHTF city situation storage costs are so high in the city that you need the country people and space for extra vehicles and supplies that are not cost effective to keep in the city. Then there is also the situation of weapons caches. I personally don't think an apartment dweller in the city should have much more than the basic loadout anyway, partly because apartments are so unsecure.

I personally like living in the city, the more urban the better, and I like being out in the boonies. It is that in-between type of land, the McMansion and strip mall landscape that really turns me off. I personally think it is one of the harder areas to survive in too since resources tend to not be within walking distance.

Whether you are in the city or country, survival surrounds your vehicle. In the country it is usually going to mean your 4X4 truck. Suburbia you can get away with the SUV or minivan.

In the city though, you have vehicle security issues, so open bed pickups are pretty much out of the question. You can get some use out of camper shells and tonneau covers, but nothing really beats the regular full size van for cost effective practicality. OK, in some cases, smaller vans are good too.

A word on small vans, the real heyday of small practical vans came and went in the 1980s, so whatever you find in the small van market that is survivor friendly is going to be "vintage". That is the old Toyota vans, the ultra rare Mitsubishis, and of course the Volkswagons with their cult following. Vans give you the best combination of lockable cargo space, fuel economy, lower purchase cost and horsepower to weight rations than any other type of vehicle. The other space efficiency issue is with parking. Vans tend to give more space in the vehicle when compared to the length of the vehicle thus better turn radius and the ability to utilize smaller parking spaces. They also give you the better options for hauling trade cargo out to the country areas but you have the limitation of the vans being road use vehicles, not particularly suitable for serious four wheeling, even when you can obtain AWD or true 4X4 variants.

Another thing to consider about the city is relatively easy access to facilities, IE laundry, bathrooms, food. I know here, I can find big box grocery stores with sale prices a hell of a lot cheaper than the small town groceries that are the last stop before heading to the mountains.

For independent inter-city travel and in the city zipping around, nothing beats those fast little cyl hatcback cars, but the downside is they are usually too small to comfortably sleep in, thus really living out of one requires having places to stay with people you know, or throwing money on the hotel rooms.

Here are some survival basics for the city:

Water - Cities tend to pride themselves on the quality of their tapwater, and in 2011, most cities have decent tapwater. Numerous studies show that city tapwater is on average, going to have fewer contaminants than most farmland well water. Why? Well water often has pesticide runoff and minerals that are bad for you in the higher concentrations, and the quality of well water is nearly impossible to keep consistent. Well water around livestock areas commonly has salmonella and other bacteria that live around animal waste.

Food: while food is not produced in many cities, it is processed and prepared in most cities. This includes bread factories, meat processing plants, packaging plants and trans-shipment facilities. Sure, some people call it "looting" but spoilage vs putting stuff to use is also an issue. In non-SHTF scenarios, that's why they have food banks, places that take food which is near spoiling and give it away, and quite often even the food banks throw a lot away. In SHTF, it gets taken out anyway. Newer disaster plans with some of the chain stores around here are to have armed guards at the stores, but also the stores giving away disaster ration packages of supplies which get signed out as charitable giving, thus when things recover, the spoilage material they were giving away anyway is an orderly tax writeoff. I personally think market forces alone will mean food is always available in cities, but of course costs would vary. Farmers don't want food rotting in the field, city people want to eat, farmers probably need (or at least want) fuel and manufactured goods.

Sewage/facilities: These tend to be engineered to remain operational for quite some time, but then that would depend a lot on the scale of any particular disaster. In social breakdown circumstances, a lot of this stuff can be made operational on a pirate scale since it stays turned on for government buildings and the wealthy. Apart from keeping yourself presentable enough to get into downtown buildings and using public restrooms, understand also that many now include showers which are mandated in newer building codes to accommodate bicycle commuters. In suburban areas, making use of these facilities may mean pirating some water main connections going into abandoned buildings, opening up short term utility accounts under assumed identities, or otherwise faking access. These activities have their own risks, but are not necessarily as bad as the risks you run of infection and uncleanliness with remote outpost latrines and outhouses.

Electricity: Cities without power get dark really fast, mainly because the density of construction prevents natural moon and star light from getting through, and even twilight/sunset does not last as long in cities as in the open country (although mountains can influence that). The plus side, cities tend to be home of utility workers and companies with a very high economic incentive for keeping the power turned on. If you do obtain a generator, it is not particularly difficult to obtain modest amounts of fuel that it would need to keep running. Siphoning from unused cars being a big source. Cities also tend to have enough fairly open rooftop space here and there to set up solar panels on a modest scale with nominal off grid capability for hold-outs.

Heat: Fact of the matter is, buildings are easier to heat then tents no matter how you ad it up, even if you have to knock holes in floors, ceilings and walls to retrofit some old buildings with improvised wood burning stoves or dust off old coal based heating systems. If you have electricity in a building, then you can carry electric space heaters into it. Adding insulation or making subdivided rooms inside an existing building is an art form in the Northern cities.

Expert personnel: If you need a neurosurgeon, you are quite likely NOT going to be able to find one in the boonies, in fact, skilled country doctors are so rare now that cities are pretty much where the medical facilities are, with some notable exceptions. That is not to say the country lacks skilled people in some fields of expertise, but the nature of the rural area often limits that to the types of expertise they use on a regular basis. Mechanics, woodcutters, farmers. Not a whole lot beyond that. Cost effective local labor is a matter of argument. I just personally have had better luck hiring semi skilled English speaking general labor in the cities. Other people's mileage varies on that. Another thing, if you want to recruit people for various tasks, you are slightly more likely to be able to recruit them with less effort in the city.

Garbage: Maybe not exactly a militia subject but something to consider. Cities require garbage removal to be tidy, and city managers have known that for hundreds of years now. Country people on the other hand, don't always entirely comprehend the concept. Even without formalized garbage services, people who decide to be clean can be clean, and in cities with limited resources, that means establishing, organizing and enforcing dump lots. These are the abandoned lots and burned out buildings which will become garbage dumps until the main post-SHTF clean-up happens. Real world, the dump-lot would occasionally get re-burned if major haul-offs cannot be arranged. In the country, people tend to burn their trash more often than not, but then there is crap that always tends to get hoarded and piled up because someone thinks it will be useful someday.

Security: Cities are what Tzun Tzu called "heavy ground" meaning that they take a lot of people to really control any given area and in reality multiple groups and individuals control different areas. This also would relate to Machiavelli's concept of principalities, in that the modern city contains numerous "principalities" and anyone who aspires to or has any political power will want to be flexing it in the city. That means power issues over some things which are never much of a question out in the country. That and the normalcy of total strangers commonly being in close proximity to your vehicles and stuff, and the fact that government power usually has strong representation in cities although even that may be localized and time sensitive, IE, even the streets immediately outside of courthouses and police stations can change their character from mundane to sinister after dark. Then you have property and turf issues everywhere, and I mean everywhere, so even parking becomes an issue which can challenge your ownership of your vehicles, let alone occupation of any semi-permanent space which could challenge the ownership of your goods without sufficient resources dedicated to the security issue.

A few tricks that worked for me during prolonged power outages:

In cold weather, the gas was still flowing, I put several pots of water on the stove and boiled them during the cold night - created lasting heat better than just turning on a burner. Close all doors of non essential rooms and have your family all sleep in one room to conserve heat.

I purchased a high wattage inverter and a couple 12 volt batteries to power it. I then created a "jumper cable" from the inverter to an electric outlet at the circuit breaker box. I turned off the main breaker and any other non-essential breakers that would overload the inverter, then plugged the "jumper" from the inverter output into the electric outlet. This provided power from the inverter throughout the house, which then was ditributed to lights and minor appliances. You're limited by the power output of the inverter and how long the batteries can last. Batteries can be recharged using a car - which can also power the inverter directly if needed. (saved my basement from flooding by providing enough power for the sump pump.) Alternatively, a generator can be used to provide power to the house with this method.

If you don't know what you are doing electrically, I don't suggest you try this.