The word survival conjurs up the mental image of a lone man with ragged clothes covered with animal pelts living by his wits and a stone tool he fashioned while braving the wild, teaming with animals, in the wilderness. Keeping warm, watered, and well fed in an apartment in surburbia with no utilities and the roads closed due to local conditions just does not seem as exciting. What would Jerimah Johnson do when the satelitte dish failed to provide international coverage of the sporting event on the far side of the world to his wall sized plasma screen?

Urban or suburban survival is much more likely to happen for most people. Certainly people do travel and enjoy the outdoors but most people are more likely to be at work or home.

My preparedness plans are based on staying in my primary residence in suburbia. There, I said it, out in the open in front of the www. I do not plan on packing up my kids and wife and "living off the fat of the land" as hunter gathers. There is not enough fat left on the land to support that lifestyle. There is not enough wilderness left to run to.

We have stored food and water. We have alternate heating, cooking, and shelter materials. We have hand tools and raw materials to make likely repairs or build anew. We are city folk with hands as soft as a baby bottom with fat waistlines and tender feet. But what sets us apart is we have knowledge and materials. We have made fires using flint and steel, MFS, and vasoline soaked cotton balls in in the backyard before heading to soccer games in the minivan. We have containers, a wagon, and a purifier so we can gather water from the neighborhood pond. We have taken first aid classes so we know how to use those stored medical supplies. The wife looks foward to the new Leatherman Micra that is color coded to match her outfits.

The doves that people hunt in the country are called piegons in the city. Few think about hunting piegons. What would be effective ways of hunting and trapping piegons or squirrels in an urban or surburban setting. Birds can be caught using fishing lines. They swallow the bait and hook. Reel them in and roast a little scwab.

Knowing how to start a fire in the fireplace to keep the house warm is just as important as knowing how to start a fire in the wilderness to keep the debris hut warm. Knowing how to purify water in the drainage ditch beside the road is just as important as knowing how to purify water from the stream in the wilderness.

Many of the skills and techinques are the same and can be used in both locations. If you follow any of the preparedness and survival sites or literature, they are primarily written by men who have made concerted efforts to learn primative skills. They tend to test themselves by going to remote areas. Don't overlook the backyard BBQ as a good place to lay a fire of found sticks and start it with your magneisum striker.