There are a number of things that could go wrong in an urban disaster. What if your water filter breaks? What if your garden catches fire? What if your food is stolen? The best survivors always have at least two backup plans. Here are a few suggestions.
Food
Your first priority is food storage. If you have the financial means, buy some freeze dried food or MRE’s from a company like Nitro-Pak. Otherwise, head to Costco or Sam’s Club and get what you can afford. There’s an article on this site called Food Storage – Where to Begin? that teaches you how to fit two weeks of food into one tote.
But what will you do for backup? You could start a survival garden, raise chickens or rabbits, buy some fishing gear, learn how to spot edible wild plants that grow in your city, gather precious metals and other small items that you can trade for food, etc. Whatever you decide, make sure you’ll have at least 3 sources of food available.
Water
Since I don’t have a lot of room, my first plan in case of a water shortage or contamination is to head to a stream near my home and use my Katadyn water microfilter
. However, I am storing as much bottled water as I can. I also have lots of water purification tablets, and eventually I’d like to set up a system for collecting rainwater. For more information, check out the article, The Easiest Way to Purify Water. Again, make sure you have 3 sources.
Fire & Cooking
Don’t just stock up on a bunch of matches and plan on cooking food on your grill. You should have a firesteel
, lighters, and plenty of lighter fluid. You should also have a dutch oven, some canned heat, or even a solar cooker
. There are other options. See Cooking Without Power.
Other Examples
Stocking up on soap? Make sure you also have hand sanitizer. Or consider growing some antibacterial herbs. You could even learn to make soap from animal fat. Collecting candles for light? Make sure you also purchase batteries and flash lights, oil and oil lamps, or even glow sticks. The more options, the better.
If you are forced into an urban survival situation, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Have a backup for your backup.
Source: urbansurvivalsite.com