Into The Wild Blue Yonder?

Well, perhaps not the wild blue, but definately yonder. That's right, it's time for this blog to go into full production. I would like to point out that it was not the failing of society as a whole that has caused the proverbial shit to hit the fan, no the real poo flinger was a single individual. No zombies, no economic collapse, just one asshole whose inconsiderate actions has caused my life to completely change. It just goes to show how incredibly fragile ones life can be.

It's not all bad though. I don't have every surviving soul after my stash, not to say there won't be a few. Yes indeed, self defense tactics will most likely be necessary, more on that later. The Societal Structure is still intact, therefore, I have a support structure I can lean on, and I intend to use all resources available to me for the duration. I have a partner, and the two of us have a better chance for survival than either of us by ourselves.

That being said, we're not ready. At least, not as ready as we would like to be. Although I have no doubt that she and I, even seperate and with no gear to speak of, could easily make it alone in a city; even one we are completely unfamiliar with as the situation will be. Currently, we will have clothes, water, eating utensils, and a few odds and ends. Luckily, by happenstance, we do have a ride to our destination, and concequent proving grounds. This is good because we will be at least 1500 miles from our home town. That's where the line ends, however.

After careful consideration, we have decided that the test for our urban survival skills will be the Los Angeles Metropolis. Although I wouldn't want to be caught dead there (no pun intended) during a zombie invasion, it does present a few conveniences, and many more challenges, that we think will be a solid test of our skill, while still providing enough of a comfort zone that we are confident of our survival.

The test itself is simple. We arive in L.A. with a backpack and a bicyle. Spend at least one month homeless. After that, we scrounge up enough cash to find a place to stay, most likely with someone who is already established, find jobs, and rebuild. Once settled as such, our next target is a sail boat, though is not necessarily part of the test.

There is a time limit however, and failure to compete our task in a reasonable amount of time will result in the inevitable loss of a large collection of our personal effects. The time limit is not a set amount of time, but upon ariving, we will be storing any belongings not absolutely, or even remotely, necessary to our survival and daily function. Of course this implies a monthly fee, and with no real income, will be difficult to sustain.

There are other competitors in this survival challenge as well, namely the entire homeless population of L.A. It's a no holds barred race to the finish line, and perhaps away from it for our competitors, and I have no doubt that a good majority of them intend to make our race as difficult as possible.

After we arrive, and settle our storage situation, our first stop is the beach, of course. Perhaps not the best place to spange for food and cigarettes, it does give us a good, safe wall to put our backs to and observe our surroundings. Likelyhood is we will not be sleeping on the beach. It provides little if any visual cover, no shelter, and many potential risks, but there are several resources there that will help us in our journey.

One of the biggest issues in any survival situation is hygene. Ask any survivalist the most important necessities, and they will tell you "Food, Clothing, and Shelter." Perhaps in the woods, 100+ miles from any civilization, they would be right. Urban survival necessitates different basic needs, however, Hygene being the first. You have to remember that in an urban environment, social interaction will be your biggest challenge and source of income. Be that income Food, Money, Cigarettes, New Gear, or Repairs, unless you can manifest these things spontaniously you are going to have to aquire them through social interaction, and Hygene is the biggest obstical you will face. Most public beaches have showers, however, and if none are available, there are many stores nearby which have bathrooms. Beach houses in an urbanized area are very uncommon, and unless on the outskirts of town, most of this realestate is reserved for businesses by city planning, so an urbanized beach is ideal for keeping yourself clean.

The second issue, of course, is self defense. The beach location provides few, though significant, advantages. Firstly, it is a wide open space, providing visibility at great distances, thus giving defenders time to prepare. Second, they are heavily populated, and in an urban environment, you are less likely to be attacked as the amount of potential witnesses increases. Also, many beaches will have temporary storage lockers. Although generally relatively small, it provides a great place to secure a few items you do not wish to carry around, and they are relatively cheap. Lastly, the beach is not flamable, which is important, because I intend to take a flamethrower for self defense.

Yes, you heard right, a flamethrower.

It's not a "Real" flame thrower, by any stretch of the imagination, it will really throw flames, however. Enough to scare off most crackheads with a warning shot, and enough to injure, disable, and even kill wouldbe attackers. The idea is simple, take a squirt gun, such as a supersoaker, and cover the orange tip with aluminum foil, but leaving enough of the spickette exposed to maintain a solid stream. Then, attach an electronic lighter to the end such that the flame will cross the trajectory of the stream. Once you have your flame properly calibrated, you will need a triggering device for the lighter. I find guitar strings to work well in this regard, strong enough to maintain structural integrity, and flexible enough to provide easy trigger action. I should note that you want to trigger the ignition seperately from the load ejection trigger. This will provide flexibility that I will cover in more depth later, but I'm sure you can use your imagination. Finally, you want to prevent damage to yourself and the weapon. This can be accomplished by affixing an aluminum coke can around both the nozzle and the lighter, and cut in half to ensure ventilation so the fire can ignite.

After it is built, you simply need to fill it with a charge. Isopropyl or Rubbing Alcohol should be an excellent choice. Firstly, there is less risk of explosion, as the alcohol is less volatile than most flamable chemicals. Its also a very thin liquid, preventing weapon jams. It is vaporous, thus being easy to ignite, and providing the ability to as a pepper spray. That's right. The recipe is easy, simply mix alcohol, salt, and ground red pepper in a container, stir vigorously until all salt is disolved, and there are no clumps of red pepper. Close container and let sit for several hours to several days. The longer the better, so long as it is sealed air tight. When ready, strain through a cloth to remove ground red pepper. The Capsicum resin, I. E. the hot stuff, will remain in the alcohol. This way, you can pepper spray your opponents first, thus proving an attempt to apply non-lethal force, and then, if the assailant persues, you can set them on fire. Be sure that if you go this route, that the alcohol is still flamible before you put it in your squirt gun. Too many dilutants, such as the salt and pepper, or too much exposure to open air, or improper sealing of the storage container can all lead to loss of combustability.

Disclaimer: Have I built one of these? No, but I intend to. It may very well blow up in my face, or yours if you attempt to build one. It may not function when you need to rely on it for self defense. The alcohol may not ignite, the pepper spray may not burn, you may find yourself in a bad situation. It may not be legal. You may get your weapon confiscated, or be arrested, or worse. This is my stance on the matter: DO NOT MAKE ONE!!! This is an untested theoretical device that could potentially be dangerous or lethal even if it is created properly. If you build this device, you take all physical and legal responsibilities, to both yourself and others. I have a tendancy to be a dumbass. If you are a dumbass too, it's not my fault.

Still, it should work. Rubbing Alcohol, Squirt Guns, lighters, guitar strings, and aluminum were not illegal to possess last I checked. Then again, I'm not a cop.

Now that we've covered self defense, the last major issue of urban survival is mobility. Staying in one place for too long draws attention. We have miles of beach at our disposal, and therefore can change locations if one particular place becomes too hot. Further, we can go from relative wilderness to an urban, concreted environment, rich with resources not available in the "Wild" by simply crossing the street. We can select populated sections of the beach and relatively deserted sections of the beach as well. Travel, by foot or by bicycle, is difficult in the sand, but there are streets nearby to make things easier. Further the road directly in front of the beach is a major North/South state highway that can take us to just about every major metropolis in California if we were so inclined.

So that's the game plan. Hygene, Self Defense, Mobility. I'll also be blogging about our experiences there, and possibly interviewing other friendly urban survivalists that we meet, and posting video blogs from time to time as well. Stay tuned. We leave on the 31st!

Mobile Survival

One thing I have noticed in my studies, much to my frustration, is that survival tactics are generally divided into two categories, Mobile for Extraction and Stationary for Extended Stay. The first, of course, being geared towards those who happen to find themselves in a survival situation through act of god, or fate. The second of course, reffers to advice given by the kind of people who have 2 tons of beans in 5 gallon bags under their beads, each labeled by month and year. The first of which, being primarily wilderness survival. The later usually requires a large plot of land, and significant monitary investment.

There is a definite lacking in survival study for those with low income preparation, urban, and in the case of todays topic, Mobile survival. Hopefully, today, I will be able to shed some light on the necessity for these studies. I do not wish to invalidate either of the other categories affore mentioned. Both are necessary to know. However, if wild fires are spreading across the coast of California and you have to make it to the desert on foot before you are devoured in flames, it's not going to matter how many beans you have buried in your back yard, and I don't think you will be terribly worried about how to build a lean-to.

One of my favorite techniques for any kind of Mobile Survival is "On-the-Move Foraging". The basic idea is you collect edible food while heading towards your destination. This will limit the scope of food you can collect, for example you won't be setting any snares/deadfalls or doing much fishing, but it will keep you fed, and you will arive at you destination much more quickly. Another issue, is this only works while on foot. It's hard to pick plants at 60mph. Also, you have to be able to recognize the plants readily and easily, so if you are not familiar with the edible plants of the area you are in, you will also need refference materials. For these refference materials, you want something small, lightweight, and easily acessable and weather proof. Enter Edible Wild Plants Identification Playin Cards. Multipurpose playing cards/Plant Identification flash cards, you can flip through these whilest trapsing your way to wherever you want to go. By stopping to collect wild plants, you are getting your rest breaks while doing something constructive, and saving energy because you don't have to wander around looking for the food you need.

Another thing to take into consideration is with Mobile Survivability is navigation. I can't stress enough the necessity for a Portable GPS system. Prefferably a rechargable one. Making a wrong turn could add hours or days to your trip, or if worst comes to worst, you could even miss that all important next gas stop and find yourself in a much more serious situation. You're going to want something that does both topographical and street maps, and does not require that it be connected to the vehicle if you have to ditch it and head out on foot.

Choice of transportation is also important. For short term survival situations, the Airwalk Express and a 3-day-BOB will probably suffice, but if you expect to be in a bad place for an extended period of time, you're going to want better transportation than that. Bicycles are great. They are completely silent, light weight, and require no fuel. You can take them almost anywhere on almost any surface. Horses also make for excellent transportation, though do require fuel, and can't be taken on many surfaces. You can however, carry a lot more on a horse than a bicycle.

Though they do require fuel, a motor vehicle has one distinctive advantage over a non-motor vehicle. Motor Vehicles generate electricity which can be stored and harnessed for purposes other than transportation. And there are several distinct types of vehicles that are custom tailored to many different purposes. For example, You can carry a lot more stuff in a truck, but a car can sleep more people. A van beats both classes in both categories, but is far less fuel efficient. Depending on your needs, you can select a vehicle that will extend your survivability rating emensely, and also help keep you more comfortable on your journey to your next destination.

When surviving with motor vehicles, fuel is still your primary concern. The key here is flexibility. If our recent gas crunch isn't concern enough, wait til the dollar crashes. Because fuel is an international product, it's based on international averages. When the dollar fails, fuel will soar to previously unimaginable prices, and most families will be limited to transportation that requires no fuel at all. Ethanol, however, because it can not only be completely locally produced in every area of the US, and even at home, should remain relitively stable. And simply the ability to use more than one type of fuel gives you many more options. FlexTek and FFI both provide reputable E85 conversion kits that can be used on most major vehicles. Ethanol stills can be manufactured from scrap, and even be made to be portable. When TEOTWAWKI comes, if you know how to make fuel, you have a very powerful bartering chip, and a marketable skill set when civilization begins to rebuild. What's more, the Ethanol you make can be used for a lot of other things as well. It can be applied to wounds as a local Anticeptic, you can use it in a multi-fuel stove, or even drink it and get drunk! (Though I don't recommend this last one, you could go blind. Also, this only works with home made ethanol, as the storebought kind has finishing addatives to remove excess water, and probably to prevent people from drinking it.)

These are just a few of the things that need to be taken into consideration when planning for mobile survivability, and you are not going to find them in any survival handbook. As I find more problems and solutions, I will continue this thread.

Better than Never

Here is a prime example of why I plan for urban survival, rather than your standard survivalist. This is my expectation of the next survival situation short of an act of god. Granted, this is published by a Republican Christian who probably has an agenda and expects the failure of Obama's plan. I have high hopes for our future. I hope our president succeeds. That being said, any failure at all will probably have catastrophic effects on the economy and do twice the damage of the Bush Regime. This doesn't make the actions our president is taking any less necessary.



The second half of the video I don't necessarily agree with. Most of the items mentioned can be found or made, and are too heavy to really carry around. Half of the items are already found in an ordinary household, and volume vs. nutritional value of military rations is poor. Your mileage may vary pending his suggestions, but I hope at least you will see the necessity to begin preparing. If my monetary situation were any better that what it is now, i would have begun long ago, but I still have some pretty big buys ahead of me.

Good luck. God save us all.