Urban Survival Skills

Part I: Do You Know How to Tie a Knot?

It Could Save Your Life: Crucial Knots & Their Applications

Knots are essential to survival in the outdoors and in emergency situations, and for sailing. Knowing which knots to tie and how to properly perform these actions can mean the difference between security and safety or death.

Knowing how to tie a knot can help you to create a rope ladder to climb down the side of a skyscraper. It can also enable you to create a stretcher or secure materials. Whether you need to create a makeshift shelter or to secure your rations and essentials in a tree to keep them safe from bears, knowing how to tie a knot will allow you to survive longer in tough situations. Below are just a few knots that can help you to survive in an urban environment or in the wilderness.

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Water Collection, Purification, & Storage in an Urban Environment

In the event of a catastrophe, whether natural or man-made, water is perhaps one of the most crucial elements lacking in an urban setting. Earthquakes can disrupt water mains, or water treatment plants can be shut down or destroyed, leaving us with only the water we have in bottles and storage. Careful planning and forethought can help you maintain a sufficient supply of water when natural sources such as streams and lakes are unavailable.

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Fire Pit Construction

The Essentials to Safer & Longer Lasting Fires

Fires are essential for surviving in almost any environment. Fire is required to purify water, cook food, create warmth, signal for help, and protection from wildlife. Therefore it is essential to learn the various methods of constructing fires.

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Zombie Survival – A Universal Metaphor

How did zombies become so prevalent in the survivalist community?

Roughly a year ago my best friend insisted I read World War Z by Max Brooks. At first, I was very reluctant. Zombie genre stuff just wasn’t me. After some prodding, I came around and picked up a copy…

A chapter into it and I could not put the book down; I was hooked. Soon after, I plowed through several other related titles. What really got me infatuated with Zombie Apocalypse fiction was the similarity between real-world scenarios and what various writers like Max Brooks and JL Bourne were churning out. I realized why so many people in and around survival communities often had an interest in Zombie books and would say goofy expressions like, “When the Zombies come.” I now understand that for them, and now for me, Zombies have become a metaphor.

If you simply replace Zombie with economic collapse, pandemic, or natural disaster you could still have virtually the same story. This is why Zombie Fiction makes such a compelling metaphor for modern-day survival, and especially Urban Survival. It does not matter if we are talking about undead hordes or rioting mobs, the basics are all the same. It has become a way for two people to express the same fundamental idea about two seemingly different issues of survival.

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Creating Emergency Weather Alerts

Millions of people lose property every year and some lose life to severe weather every year. Weather can be one of the most destructive and dangerous forces in nature. To make matters worse, it can turn on a dime. When it does, will you be informed? Being notified of such conditions can be the thing that saves your life! Whether it is Floods, Lightening, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, or Tornadoes, when bad weather is on it’s way, you need to know.

Creating alerts of emergency weather, that you receive via email or your phone, is a simple way to stay up to the minute on potentially hazardous conditions in your area or in an area you may be traveling to. Along with the option to receive daily forecasts, Weather.com gives you choices of how often and which types of violent weather conditions you want to stay on top of. Setup takes all of 5 minutes or less. One of the nice features is the ability to log back into your account later and edit how often and what kind of alerts your receive.

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