Urban Prepper Planning

Bill Masen - February 16, 2021

Scenarios

Urban Prepper Planning 

What sort of planning issues and threat subjects that urban preppers or ordinary preppers need to consider if stuck within a large town or city after TSHTF.

Avoiding Detection by gangs or criminals and avoiding being rounded up by authorities (NEVER BECOME A REFUGEE)

Identifying and Recovering water sources and materials to purify water*

Identifying and recovering food sources ( primarily this will be tinned, freeze dried, dehydrated etc)

Locating and foraging for wild growing NON POLLUTED foods

Developing transit routes to and from place of safety (BOL)

Collecting specialist access keys like storm drain keys, subway maintenance access doors etc

Finding safe places to shelter and cook that won’t give away your position

Mapping CCTV and other surveillance equipment (and plotting ways to avoid it)

Finding B O routes not likely to be used by refugees and displaced persons

Noting where unsafe and unstable building are and unstable or collapse prone paved areas are.

Identify choke points where desperate refugees may congregate

Identify likely locations for official check points and unofficial ambushs

Identify URBAN specific threats such as local gang territory or places with live rail lines, places likely to face flooding

Identify safe locations for shelter if civil unrest triggers large scale riots or out of control arson triggered fire storms

Identifying useable Elevated and Subterranean travel routes (Ariel walkways and underground passages)

Identifying suitable places to set up OP and LPs

Identifying suitable urban locations to hide caches of supplies securely and safely

Identifying areas for future planting of food stuffs

Setting up suitable URBAN comms short range SECURE systems (and concealing antennae)

WATER specific concerns

Urban preppers will need methods of testing water sources in urban locations to see if they have been treated with rust inhibitors, anti-bacterial agents, anti-fungal agents, excess dissolved lead or copper levels, antifreeze agents (alcohol and / or glycol based), excess sodium hypo levels, build ups of explosive hydrogen sulphide gases in water systems, faecal matter levels, typhus or other nasty’s etc””” Boiling does not remove chemical additives or metallic additives.

Understanding how the water network operates

Locating Underground service reservoirs

Sourcing a gate Key (for closing/opening valves on the water network)

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There are books for finding and foraging food in urban areas, or areas on the outskirts of cities. Any plants exposed to high levels vehicle traffic is not ideal, but in an emergency, clean very well. Always be certain of what you gather.

There are also decorative plants like rainbow Swiss Chard that could be grown without many people realizing that it is edible. There are also types of Kale commonly used in fall porch displays that might not attract attention if they weren’t planted to look like they were part of a garden plot. Just plants in odd spots that wouldn’t attract attention.

 

Sorry, meant to add:

With respect to avoiding urban crime, I had a close call in a grocery store parking lot just before the pandemic. I recognized the movement because of training videos of actual knife attacks that I had studied. 

Here’s what happened that raised the alert:

In grocery store parking lot,male approached with smile that didn’t reach his eyes, one hand shielded behind him, and the other hand gesturing (distracting) in front. He was talking about nothing and trying to move closer to my husband. When I pushed the cart between them while giving assailant a predator look of my own, he knew we were on to him, and he left.

From the training videos: Assailant approaches as we experienced in grocery store parking lot. Grabs victim with free hand from front and pulls him in close. Simultaneously, the hand with knife swings round to side of victim’s neck, where assailant commences a rapid stabbing between two critical points: side of neck and armpit. The assailant is able to pivot from the elbow in order to stab both points, repeatedly and in rapid succession. Arteries hit and victim is dead in short order.

The training videos were tough to watch. Real people were seriously wounded, but most didn’t survive. The videos were respectfully made from CCTV footage to teach others what not to do. The biggest lesson was knife attack is one that most don’t survive. Learn to recognize the prelude to such an attack, and avoid.

I also carry 4 Litre milk jugs that are 1/2 filled with water. They can be held by the handle and swung if I have no other recourse. A jacket wrapped around the forearm can be a defensive move if it is necessary to fight, but again avoid and escape from these types of attacks is paramount.

Most people I know who trained as I did or in other forms of martial arts did not cover knife attacks and it is worth learning. Grav Maga does, however, we are talking “jail-house” style attacks. Dojo and real life reactions are sometimes different. 

 

That’s smart to use the shopping cart as an item to distance yourself from the assailant. 

And also good that you took the time to study beforehand different scenarios and what to do. Your brain is pretty smart and is able to go back to those trainings and pull information on what to do.

Even one step better is to physically practice your trainings. The experience you described isn’t something that you could have practiced, but this applies to others like maybe how to get out of a choke hold.

 

Bradical, you are absolutely right – physical practice helps your body to remember how to move and respond.

One of my instructors also taught that we must mentally visualize an assailant with every kick and punch. Never just punch or kick thin air. Always see your opponent. Every time.

Before I trained, one of the events I survived was when someone tried to murder me, three different ways in one evening.

Poison (which I didn’t ingest), then I was drugged (in my beverage) and when I wouldn’t go down fast enough for him, he delivered an upper cut, spun me around and put me into a sleeper hold. The sleeper hold was delivered rapidly and as it was intended and came close to breaking my neck. To this day I can still hear the sound my neck made.

At the time, I had no formal training, but I dropped downward at the right time and prevented him from finishing my neck off. 

I practice, walk a path of non-violence, avoid and escape, will protect someone else, and only if there is no other way out, will defend and accept the responsibility of my actions.

That guy in the grocery store was lucky, usually, I am so bad pushing a shopping cart, I could have run over his toes.

 

It sounds like you’ve gone through some rough stuff. I’m sorry that has happened to you, and am glad you are still around to hang out with us on here. 

Stay safe!

 

No worries, still alive and kicking, Bradical.

Sometimes, when we think of being prepared for man-made or natural disaster, it is for events outside of our normal daily routines.

So, I don’t live in fear. I live in awareness.

Glad to hang out here, too.