There are way too many options for bug out bags that it can be a little overwhelming choosing one unless you have experience with other packs for other applications.  There are many very complication breaks downs of what to look for so we are going to keep choosing a bug out bag simple.

Volume: At Least 3500 cubic inches – I have tried to put together a good bug out bag time and time again with lessor backs and it just isn’t enough space for multiple days of supplies

Color- Something low key- civilian outdoor colors are terrible for not being seen, example: I own an osprey that I use for recreational backpacking and I kid you not its neon orange red and black..in an urban survival situation you want to make sure both you and your BOB can hide if need be.

Fit:  Spend the money and get a pack that is fully adjustable.  Many people don’t know what its like to carry around a 50 plus lb bag for days at a time but trying to do so with a poorly fitting pack will kill your back.  ITS WORTH IT

Config: Lots of pockets is better! BOB don’t really need to hold large singular items so its best to use a bag that does your gear sorting for you, its really difficult to access your gear if its all in one big pouch and what you need is right in the middle.

Frame: This is a source of much debate and I will just claim my side right now.  CHOOSE AN EXTERNAL FRAME PACK.  External frames tend to hold more better.  That osprey I mentioned earlier is a great example.  Its an internal frame contoured pack and almost the same volume as my current bug our bag but it only holds about 60% of what i need due to its odd contoured shape.  My external framed BOB is a nice square main compartment with no odd curves keeping me from storing straight objects like tent poles, a shotgun, or even a shovel.  These external frames are great for additional use, from clipping other gear to them with MOLE or carabiners to being able to modify them for use as a sled in the snow…seriously they are way better, yes you will look like a boy scout but you will be better prepared

Now that you have a good guideline to what to look for in a bug out bag let me warn you of what to avoid: Almost everything you find easily in a retail setting branded as “Tactical” is a piece of junk, avoid it like the plague, they don’t work better, no one things you are cooler, and girls wont want to date you more..so forget about it.  Go for quality and fit before anything else.

Tomorrow I will be reviewing my BOB, until then all 3 of you will just have to wait to see what I use…I know the suspense is killing you.

There is a good chance that if you are an urban survivalist you live above the street level somewhere.  I live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a place downtown.  I am very aware that the possibilities of my one exit being blocked, especially after an earthquake are high.

If need be I can jump out of my lowest floor, but with a loaded pack it might be a bit tricky, with a few dogs it will be even trickier.  If you live even higher you may need a little help.

There are a few options out there to help you escape a high rise.  You can stock up on rope, they even make these parachute type things for super high rises, but if you are practical or don’t know how to tie a good knot you should consider buying an Emergency Ladder.

Bold Industries makes emergency ladders that are good for emergency escapes up to the 6th floor, above that you are on your own for conventional collapsible ladders (but you still have that rope right?).  These ladders are a great additional to your emergency plan especially if you have children or someone who may not be willing or able to jump from a window or shimmy down a rope.  Emergency ladders are not for static use but can be used for emergencies and practice runs of your escape plans.  Regardless of what brand you buy these ladders are a great buy, most of the ones that are any good range from 30-60 bucks (the higher the floor the more money you need to spend), which is a small price to pay for a safe easy way to get out of your home in a hurry.

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Even in a lessor emergency the chances that you wont be able to drive your fancy car out of town are high.  As I have mentioned before, I for example live about 3 feet about the water line so Ill assume after a good quake that my car may be under water.  Often times even at the suggestion of a hurricane or flood people jam the roads for hours trying to inch their cars out of town.

We know that urban survivalist don’t have much space ( thanks to living in apartments) and maybe don’t have a dedicated bug out vehicle (thanks to the high cost of living in said apartment).  But we still have the need to get to our bug out location with at least out bug out bags.

I have recommended that you have a first stage bug out location somewhere with in a days walking distance, this is usually far enough to get you out of immediate harm in a normal type disaster situation.  One of the ways to hedge your bet getting where ever you are going in build a bug out bicycle.  Yes you heard me

We already know this: bike are run to ride, keep you fit and can make you look super cool if you are in with that whole crowd.   If you are in shape, even with a loaded pack you can easily ride a bike 2-3 times rather than you can walk in a days time.

Buying and a standard mountain bike with saddle bags is a cheap, you can buy one used for a few hundred bucks and if properly maintained it can be the last bike you ever buy.  I am a bike enthusiast and I have bikes built around frames that are 50 years old that I ride all the time with no problems.

Riding a bike in an emergency can get you through the traffic faster, enable you to take back roads, hell even fire trails.  they are easy to secure and store and are fun to own.

So if you cant buy a war machine unimog, and you live in the middle of the city like I do, go out and buy your self a bike and know that you just increased your chances of getting out of the city significantly.

Its also worth mentioning that bicycles work great as a primary mode of transportation, they dont need fule or power, you can ride one 20 miles in a day easy and they can cost next to nothing comparted to the leased bmw you already drive that you cant afford.  Busted.

Since apperently this week is all about being homless while the rest of the world is still ok we are going to continue the weeks posting with a good wiki on how to live in your car.

Sleeping in your car is a great way to maintain a higher level of saftey for you and your belongings while you look for a more permenent solution however in many places sleeping or living in your car is actually illegal.  Since the step by step is actually kind of long I am going to link to it rather than post it internally.

HOW TO LIVE IN YOUR CAR STEP BY STEP WIKI

HOW TO LIVE IN YOUR CAR STEP BY STEP WIKI

HOW TO LIVE IN YOUR CAR STEP BY STEP WIKI

Zombie attacks aside, the chances of being forced into a personal survival situation (over a large scale emergency) grow higher and higher with joblessness on the rise.  Although its good to be prepared for the worst, it is also good to be prepared for the realistically most common situation.

When dealing with a personal emergency like job loss or homelessness a different type of urban survival skills are needed.  Many of these skills are totally different than the worst case preparedness we talk about with big disasters.  Preparing for a personal emergency is less about safety and self sufficiency as it is maintaining a low profile and a perception of normalcy.  The most successful homeless people I know are ones who have maintained ‘normal’ people resources.

Many survivalist will tell you money will be worthless, load up on guns etc.. Well in your personal emergency this is not true.  Save your money, the banking system is still here, don’t invest in lots of guns, besides when you don’t have a house you are almost always by default breaking some kind of law that will land you in jail.  Lets play out a scenario thats basically realistic:

You have just lost your job, you have 7k in the bank or appox 2 months of savings, job prospects are not good and you have made the decision to leave your apartment in order to save money.  Instead of wasting your money buying time, the best thing you can do if you are going to leave your home is do make the decision early, saving you money and giving you more time to prepare.  Where I live in California, you can stop paying rent and not be evicted for months, if that’s the case where you live go ahead and save your rent money and spend it on preparing.

Spend your money on:

• Basic, good quality sleeping bag, pack and ultra light tent – Cost $600
• A good knife – Keep its size legal or you will go to jail – Cost $100
• PO Box – You cant get a job with out a mailing address, DO NOT FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH- Cost $200 per year
• Pre Paid Cell Phone- you cant get a job with out a phone number- Cost $20 per month – $240 per year
• Gym Membership- stay fit, stay clean, have a locker to lock your stuff in- Cost $40 per month $480 per year
• Out door clothing- buy a few good pairs of shoes, good outer wear etc, all can be bought at the army surplus store for cheap- Cost $500
• If you have a car that you intend to live in its a good idea to make sure its in good running shape so insure you don’t have to abandon it later due to repair costs.

Food is available everywhere for free,  I have had a lot of exposure to the homeless population and I have not seen many starving.  Right now I could walk two blocks and get a free meal no questions asked. Internet access is also available everywhere now, as long as you are not super smelly and have an ID you can use a computer to help communicate with the world and look for a job.

If you add the above costs you end up spending a little over 2 grand in supplies leaving you with 5k to address your food and fuel budget if necessary, leaving you with $400 per month to spend for a calender year.  If you cut these costs by not driving, selling your car and buying a buss pass etc you can live off your 7k savings easily for two years.

Again the key here is knowing when you leave your normal expense structure behind before you have spent all your resources on waiting for your situation to change.  If you do these few simple steps you will still be able to act and appear like a regular person with no income at all, greatly increasing your being able to get back to normal soon.  Of course if you have family near by you have more options, but even in the worst situation you can and will be ok.

Bugging out can largely depend on having good transportation, but depending on the situation you may not be able to drive your bug out vehicle, hell you might not even be able to access it. If this is the case you may need to know how to start a car you don’t have the keys for. Obviously I am not suggesting stealing anybody’s anything but as the adage goes “its not stealing if you leave a note”.

This WIRED wiki article will break down how to hot wire a car in a nice step by step covering a few different techniques as well as what wires to cut and what tools you will need.  This is generally geared towards less technical rides, but since you are readying this blog I will assume you own either a trans-am or an old beach cruiser so we should be ok.

Although this skill isn’t something we commonly consider a survival skill I think every urban survivalist should know how to hot wire a cal, even if you just gain a fall back resource to starting your own car when you loose your keys.

CLICK HERE FOR A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOT WIREING YOUR CAR

CLICK HERE FOR A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOT WIREING YOUR CAR

CLICK HERE FOR A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOT WIREING YOUR CAR

I think it goes with out saying that ever bug out bag, every home medicine cabinet and every bug out vehicle, hell every daily driver NEEDS to have some sort of emergency medical kit to address your basic emergency needs. There are countless options available for a whole slew of applications, from simple medical kits used in backpacking type applications all the way up to very expensive field med type bags.

I have spent a lot of time looking for a good multi purpose medical kit to buy and Ive tried to build them from scratch only to realize its not that cost effective or easy to transport. I needed my emergency medial and survival kit to meet three basic criteria:
1. cost effective- no matter what I just dont want to spend 200 + bucks on a medical kit, mostly because I am not made of money, or gold, or expensive candy.
2. self contained- its best for your medical kit to be stand alone, even if you plan on packing it in your bug out bag, this way in a pinch you can grab on small bag and know you have what you need with our sorting through a bunch of loose gear
3. a survival twist-there are plenty of medial kits, but I wanted to make sure in a bare bones capacity that mine had integrated basic survival tools to treat as a super minimal mini bug out bag if need be.

So with thoes requirements in mind I went searching and what I found was the SOL 3  Survival, Medical and Gear Aid. Made by Adventure Medical Kits I found mine at REI for 53 bucks.  According to the AMK site this is what I had bought:

This 3-in-1 kit covers all the basics of outdoor safety. Containing medical supplies, survival tools, and gear repair items, the S.O.L. 3 enables you to survive almost anything that Mother Nature throws at you.

Ok ok ok, I don’t know about the last part, but in the scope of medical and survival gear is as follows:

Bandage Materials
4	Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, 1″ x 3″
2	Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
4	Bandage, Butterfly Closure
1	Bandage, Conforming Gauze, 2″
2	Dressing, Gauze, Non-Sterile, 4″ x 4″
2	Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 2″ x 2″, Pkg./2
2	Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 3″ x 3″, Pkg./2
2	Dressing, Non-Adherent, Sterile, 3″ x 4″
Bleeding
1	Gloves, Nitrile (Pair), Hand Wipe
Blister / Burn
11	Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped
Duct Tape
1	Duct Tape, 2″ x 50″
Gear Repair
3	Cable Ties, 4″
3	Cable Ties, 8″
Instrument
1	EMT Shears, 4″
5	Safety Pins
Medication
2	After Bite Wipe
2	Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
4	Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
Survival Tools
2	Aluminum Foil, Heavy Duty, 3 Sq. Ft.
1	Compass, Button, Liquid Filled
1	Headlamp, 2 watt LED w/ headband
1	Heatsheet Survival Blanket
1	Magnesium Fire Starter, 4.5 mm, w/ Striker
1	Mini Rescue Flash Signal Mirror
1	Mini Rescue Howler Whistle
4	Nylon Cord, #18, Braided, (10 ft. 100lb test)
1	Tinder Quick
Wound Care
3	After Cuts & Scrapes Anethestic/Antiseptic Wipe
1	Povidone Iodine, 3/4 oz
1	Tape, 1/2″ x 10 Yards
1	Tincture of Benzoin Topical Adhesive, Vial
2	Triple Antibiotic Ointment, Single Use

Although this kit fit my needs, it, like almost all less expensive medical kits it is lacking in depth treatment of specific ailments. Depending on where you live and the dangers of exposure that you may face you should always consider beefing up your medical/survival kit with whatever else you need but I suggest keeping your total medical kit in its original packaging making sure it all still fits with whatever additions you have made.

Remember, no matter what kit you end up building, that a true urban survivalist not only has a lot of cool supplies but also knows how to use them. Take the time to unpack and repack your kit on a regular basis, making sure you know what you have, what its for and what needs to be replaced periodically.

Know that none of the turn key kits are 100% complete but the SOL kit is very complete for the money. If I have time tomorrow I will post pictures of my kit and the component breakdown.  I have personally used this kit two times for two different emergency situations in the last 4 months, and in both instances it did what it is supposed to do, providing an easy to use, compact affordable solution to my medical and survival preparation.

Back in the day you were supposed to pack all your critical documents in a waterproof container and keep this in your bug out bag.  Well now a days thanks to the kids with their loud music and internets times have changed.  Thanks to low cost scanners and mass storage devices you can leave the paper at home to burn and pack our your personal information via USB drive.

Keeping the following information on your USB drive and be critical post disaster to establish your identity or access your own sensitive information.  I like to keep the following:

• copy of social security card
• copy of drivers license
• copy of passport
• copy of deed to your home
• copies of critical account numbers
• contact lists, with addresses
• copy of resume
• music (if the drive is big enough)
• photos of friends and family
• anything else you see fit

With allt his critical information in one place you should do two things: Protect the information from the world by password protecting or encrypting, and waterproof/shock proof the drive to endure extreme conditions.

When properly protected a USB drive and endure a lot.  Below is a video outlining how to waterproof your USB drives with common two part epoxy found at any hardware store.  Ive done it. it works, it costs 4 bucks.  Go do it.

Being an urban survivalist means really owning that the change of having to bug out during an emergency are very high. We have these great packs, be them INCH packs or Bug Out Bags packed with gear, but one of the most overlooked items not included in many emergency packs are simple local maps.

Many people assume if they are bugging out of their community that they will know where they are headed, with that in mind let me tell you a story:
Last week two intersections worth of traffic lights went out by the airport where I live.  No accident or panic, hell it wasn’t even rush hour, just mid morning Friday.  With those two intersections down it took me 45 min to travel 4 miles via car. Now lets consider the traffic issues post earthquake, riot, or large storm: having a good topographical map will enable you to either get to your destination on foot or aid you in getting to an alternate route with your bug our vehicle.

I recommend carrying a detailed topo map of your immediate area, no matter how well you know the terrain as well as a larger map that could be used to travel out of state, or across the border.  Thomas brothers guide books are often outdated, many hiking maps only show areas you wont often find your self in, but many wilderness stores including REI have the ability to print custom maps for any area that you choose with many combination of additional information included.

You can also do this your self by buying custom mapping software but for the price its worth just going down to your local wilderness store and spend the small amount of money to get exactly what you need you usually need to ask someone to access this service but its well worth the trouble.  .

Maps take up no space, and can seriously give you an advantage over the general population when leaving the city, plus if you are a nerd like me you may really enjoy studying them just for fun, or just in case

Every once and a while I like to throw practicality to the wind and feature something that I will never own, but that is really bad ass and worth drooling over.

In reality I feel bug out vehicles should be practical and cost effective, but today lets look at the exact opposite to help fuel our gear head fantasies on a otherwise boring Thursday….

I give you the Cougar APV, fitted with CROWS weapon system!! Watch the vid below