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1. 1) Re Water, Sawyer has a kit that lets you connect their filter to a plastic 5 gallon water bucket with a hose — for filtering larger amounts than what will fit in the plastic squeeze bags.
   2) Most cities have large rivers running through them. If the water system fails (no electricity to run the pumps that lifts water to the high reservoirs) then you need a way to haul water from the river. A stolen shopping cart might work but it will be stolen by someone else after a while.

   One reason why I like military surplus ALICE packs is that they have a cargo shelf attachment that lets you haul 5 gallon water cans like the ones made by Spectre.
   However, 5 gallons of water weighs 41.65 lbs and would make it hard to respond quickly to a sneak attack so it would be best to use something with wheels , if available. A kid’s play wagon, for example. But wheels only work on unbroken pavement — not out in the woods.

   3) Re cooking, an apartment 5+ stories above ground level and with a balcony has advantages. (You could screen the balcony rail with cloth to hide your presence.) It reduces the concern about cooking odors betraying you and it allows use of a small hibachi grill that burns odorless charcoal (legal in most cases to store in your apartment or in a storage cage in the basement.) Plus the grill could burn twigs picked up from nearby park areas. If you have a hatchet or ax, you could even cut tree branches for drying on the balcony if ground clutter gets picked clean by others.

   If management allowed it, a Coleman stove with an adapter hose to a 20 lb propane tank
   would allow a month or more of cooking depending upon how many BTUs are used per meal.

2. This series has been incredibly informative for me. I work in Dallas and am most likely going to be working here in 10 years, so someone dedicating this much time to getting out of the city has been great for me. I carpool since I live as far away from the city as I can and can only throw a get home bag in the trunk and count that as my means of preparedness. This resource will help me get more prepared in the event that I need to get out of the city fast. You’ve got my vote to win the writing contest.

3. This is an excellent article so far. I am really looking forward to the remaining sections. Thanks so much for posting.

   1. AMEN! to that. Valuable information, very practical and easy to understand.

4. I have used the wine boxes for water storage. You have seen them; the 5 liter cardboard boxes wirh a pull out nozzle. I cut the glue seal at the top that closes the box leaving an undamaged box. Pullout the plastic bag and run tap water into it and empty it a few times to clear out any remaining wine. Then fill the plastic bag with 5 liters of water.

   This is easier than it sounds. Turn the faucet on so that a steady stream of water about 1/4 inch in diameter is flowing. Place the bag in the sink with the nozzle facing up. Position the outlet of the nozzle directly under the stream of wat and press the valve to open it. The water flows right in, suprisingly easily and quickly.

   When the bag is full with 5 liters. (I use my kitchen scale to get this correct. Too little water and you are wasting storage space, too much and the box won’t go together easily.) Put the bag back into the box orienting the nozzle correctly so it can easily be deployed. Place some white glue on the box lid where you pulled it apart and after repositioning the top set it down upside down and the weight of the water is sufficient to press the flaps together until they seal.

   I also paint the boxes. This isn’t necessary but it prevents them from being seen as wine. Also because I put a couple of them in my trunk I don’t want them to be seen and a dark brown makes them less obvious.

   These boxes are excellent. They protect the very tough plastic bladder, they have a convenient carry handle, the weight (about 10 1/2 lbs) is reasonable to carry, they can be carried in a backpack as is or remove the bladder for a makeshift hydration bladder that takes up less room when out of the box. They are cheap, typically you throw them away or recycle them after first use anyway. They store well, you can line them up on a shelf, pack them in a tote, stack them in the corner. They are “almost” bullet proof and they are free.

   Since I travel in a motor home I also reuse the boxes for storage. I use a few to hold magazines, books and papers.

5. Excellent idea on the wine boxes – thanks! Although I’m curious about what you did with all of that wine 😎

6. A very nice article series. I can’t agree enough on the physical fitness aspect of all of this. Let’s be clear on this: if you’re fat, you’re hosed. I’m not trying to be mean or harsh. If you’re fat (and you know whether you are or not, lying to yourself is only hurting yourself here) you’re not walking any distance with any sort of efficiency. Think you’re running from a gun a gun fight? Think again. Outfighting someone? You’re not. Think about your situation, honestly. You can’t run, you can’t fight, you are accustomed to over-consuming calories that are no longer available, and you’re not able to work at the pace of others who aren’t fat. Your cholesterol is likely high, and you may very well have diabetes. Additionally, your knees, feet,
   ankle, and back are breaking down faster than someone your age that is not fat, making you fat more susceptible to stress injuries that will be very common in a new environment. All of these factor you squarely in the catergory of “liability”. LOSE THAT GUT FOLKS! It WILL kill you.

7. I think it’s an illusion to believe that people living in cities don’t have situational awareness. In fact I would say it’s just the opposite. Don’t confuse ignoring, for unaware. I’ve lived in both the country and a large city (few), and I can tell you they take situational awareness to a whole other level.

   1. With the exception of the woods/back country, I would even say that country folks are the ones really lacking in that skill set. Here are a few things that blew my mind moving to the country:

      Women don’t wrap their pocketbooks around the leg of their chair when sitting in public.
      You count money in public
      High ratio of cars unlocked: heck unlocked, engines running and pocketbook/valuables inside
      Friendly with strangers
      Will leave valuables, including pocketbooks and cell phones on a restaurant table, alone, while you getup to do something.

      Now there are reasons that these things happen. I like to say that everyone in the south is nice because everyone is armed. But the above is an example of some very bad, very dangerous and very situationally unaware habits.

      Before you think I’m picking on country folks, keep in mind that nothing is funnier than watching a city person run into a black bear or the first time, or show up for a hike with some kind of flip flops on.

8. Re: situational awareness – I didn’t mean to imply they have no situational awareness, I just don’t believe it’s the kind that would be completely applicable in a survival situation. Most city folks seem to be instinctually aware of what’s going on immediately around them that could impact them and their immediate goals – someone walking into them, a door opening, a traffic jam, etc. The type of situational awareness I was referring to involves a constant awareness and subconscious analysis of potential short-, medium- and long-range threats and how they could impact them. I’ve also seen a lot of 20-somethings walking into doors, lamp posts, etc. because they had their face in their phone instead of watching where they were going 😎

   1. You didn’t imply that, but for those that haven’t lived in one it could be seen that way. What I wrote wasn’t a critical of what you said. It’s really difficult to put a concept as complex as what situational awareness is into a sentence. I just wanted to add a clarification for people that have not lived in a city but might be traveling in/to/through one. It can be a real pain writing sometime.

      1. Understood and thanks for the feedback. I find the comments for these types of articles frequently provide as much if not more information than the article itself.

9. In the anti-Vietnam riots of the Summer of 1967 I was riding a motorcycle across country. I was on I-70 in Ohio near Columbus and needed gas. I could see the black smoke from a couple of fires and since I had seen them before I knew they were part of the riots. But it was midday and I was young, strong and overwhelmingly confident so I pulled off to search for a gas station. The exit just kinda dumped me onto a city street where a few, not many people were milling around. I began to sense the urgency as I searched for a gas station. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement from the sidewalk on my right. A young man, perhaps 14 was preparing to throw a broom stick at me and I watched as he did and it was obvious he was aiming at my front tire. I touched the brake and it was just enough because I watched that stick pass just in front of my tire. It would have been a disaster had it hit and gone into the spokes. I grew up back East in a rough city, I knew the city and it’s risks. There were some signs of course but this happened in a second and could have been serious. I shouldn’t have been there. I know that now, but I allowed circumstances to give me no other choice. I got my gas and got the hell out of ‘Dodge’.

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