Urbancraft Part I - Recon

Great thread, nice to see a look at survival in a realm most people spend their lives in.
 
Good write up. keep em comming.

thats one thing i got in my bob , is small things to barder good will with... you can sure learn a lot from homeless guys... if you need to survive in an urban or even suburban enviroment , some are masters of that field craft. thats where i got a lotta the stuff i keep in my survival pouch for shelter building. i was homeless for just a few months. i learned a whole lot in that time.

So respect and keep situational awareness and you'll be ok most the time. but having a few buddys is what kept me alive.
 
This is an excellent writeup mistwalker I hope there is more to come...I think if it could be arranged that it would be really informative to find a homeless person who for the most part seems like a normal guy and ask how he survives and if he has any tips to offer!
 
A very interesting thread, Mistwalker, and a type of survival situation that most of us don't really think about. Thanks for sharing!

mistwalker said:
Dumpsters are one option for obtaining food.
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One note here, do be careful when dumpster diving for food. I worked at one place a number of years ago which threw out a lot of out-of-date food, and then doused it with bleach to discourage 2-legged "scavangers" :eek:

(I never saw the point of spending money for bleach to discourage people taking what you didn't want anyway, but I wasn't in charge) :rolleyes:

and any place that actually looks like a viable shelter structure and that could serve as one has likely already been claimed.
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Another possible shelter alternative, at least in the short term, is a church. I was on a bicycle camping trip with some friends a during college once, and after riding our bikes 80+ miles one day the only campground in the area refused us becuase we were too "young". After a bit of scrambling for alternatives it was getting dark, so we stopped at a local church and asked the pastor/minister if we could set up our tents behind the church. He told up to bring our bikes and gear inside and use his sunday school classroom for the night. I'm sure it helped that we were relativly clean cut and respectful. So, we got a dry, warm, and safe shelter for the night. This is probably more viable in more rural areas and is probably not good for more than one night, but its worth considering if you find yourself temporarily without shelter (especially on a cold and/or wet night).
 
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Dumpster diving is viable for the homeless because in most places that can get free healthcare. During some type of disaster, all of the edibles are already going to be gone because the homeless, who always have their fingers on the pulse of the street, will have taken everything edible and some of which is inedible and unpalatable.

I wrote a bit on this a few months ago on the blog:

You have to scroll down to get to Urban Survival Primer I, but it's worth the read. I'm biased, I wrote it. ;)

http://survivallab.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html
 
Cool stuff, Mistwalker! It's not often that you see a post on urban survival that isn't a bunch of theoretical speculation. Actually going out and snapping some photos really makes for a different kind of discussion. We actually have some specific points of real substance to look at. :):thumbup:
 
Thanks guys, I'm glad you've enjoyed the thread. I had wanted to reply to all comments individually but I have my hands full at the moment.

Mr. C, I wasn't referring to all homeless in general...just the predatory scavengers I have dealt with.

Don, thanks, I bookmarked that site to read more later.
 
mistwalker said:
Thanks guys, I'm glad you've enjoyed the thread. I had wanted to reply to all comments individually but I have my hands full at the moment.

Mr. C, I wasn't referring to all homeless in general...just the predatory scavengers I have dealt with.

Don, thanks, I bookmarked that site to read more later.
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I might have worded that a bit stronger then I intended Mist, I was rushing, trying not to get busted at work surfing the forum... :)

I have ment some less then diserable folks too, so I understand what you mean, I just felt that it should be said that any sterotyping can get you into a troublesome place.

Great thread mist, and I hope you and others will add ot it.
 
bladebuster said:
I was actually stopped by mall security in SoCal for taking pictures inside the mall with an SLR.
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I live in a town full of tourist attractions...stopping people from taking pics would be interesting to say the least. The way I see it I'm constantly on some-body's camera...turn about is fair play :)


swimmerdude1127 said:
Very cool.... makes you realize the value of simple everyday luxuries
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we do tend to take a lot for granted...until it's not there anymore.


CanisMajor said:
Cool thread, thanks for putting in the time/effort to show us.

Canis
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Thanks man, it's my current area of personal study, thought I might as well share if anyone else was interested. Writing it all out is a like a study aid for me.
 
Dylside said:
Great thread Mist!
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Thanks man, glad you liked!


rksoon said:
Good start, friend. :thumbup:
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Thanks Russell


MrCoffee said:
I might have worded that a bit stronger then I intended Mist, I was rushing, trying not to get busted at work surfing the forum... :)

I have ment some less then diserable folks too, so I understand what you mean, I just felt that it should be said that any sterotyping can get you into a troublesome place.

Great thread mist, and I hope you and others will add ot it.
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Thanks Mr. C, no sweat. I've seen the plight of some of the returning vets and been outraged by that too. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was completely stereotyping all on the streets...spent four years there myself in my younger days....I know first hand that there is actually quite a diverse population.
 
So this is in Chattanooga right?! I totally rowed under that bridge! Its a nice bridge and also a nice downtown district just around the aquarium right there. Nice thread. Good job.
 
Very cool thread. Its inspired me to begin looking around my own area with different perspective. I live in the suburbs outside Minneapolis, but spend a fair amount of time in the city. I'm going to start a buy of urban recon.
As far as the dedicated bushcrafters, I hear you. We can chat more about that off-thread. I would just go off on a rant, most likely.
 
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