Good Basic Advice for Anyone Traveling

Personnel Recovery Directorate deals with 'what-if' factor
United States Army Africa Additionally, they'll give travelers a small survival kit and a personal locator beacon. Travelers are urged to get a small but complete first aid kit from ...
<http://www.usaraf.army.mil/NEWS/NEWS_110801_PRD_SURVIVAL.html>

I would hope that one could travel in relative safety in North America without completing basic SERE training.....Never go anywhere without an appropriate FAK.

1. I never lost anything in Africa so I don't want/need/desire to go back.

2. I really don't want to go anywhere I "need" my SERE course for - at least not in the course of daily life.

3. Do not travel to places where rape, torture, mutilation by machete, mob mentality and death for being there are deemed normal everyday events. (Note, this includes parts of DC, LA, Chicago and NJ)

Thank you very much, but no thanks, think I'll stay where I speak the language, know the customs, and don't have to keep my head on a swivel 24/7.

JBMat you left out parts of Detroit.

Explanation for everything that happens on The Dark Continent: "TIA" (This Is Africa).

I am curious about the survival and first aid kits. This article does not provide any detail.

Jeanette Isabelle

I doubt they would differ in any significant details from the kits one would assemble using the guidance provided on this site or many other competent authorities - adjusted for local conditions, of course.

When I went to Belize, I needed my survival gear (including FAK) to fit in a relatively small fanny pack. Something that small was the only realistic option, given the way we went about doing things - spontaneous kayak adventures, spur of the moment bike rides, etc.

Building a proper FAK for travel is not rocket science. This site provides a lot of good advice for a FAK, and then you modify a little for local conditions. Regardless of how well equipped you are, you're probably going to be lacking. You have to have the knowledge to improvise.

Also, I find myself taking fewer risks when I travel. For example, in the U.S., I might kayak out a half a mile and then jump into the water. Heck no, I'm not doing that in another country.

Some tangential thoughts:

I assume this is an exaggeration since it is coming from a fellow forum member. We are always prepared, after all, for anything from power outage to alien invasion. But I have come across people who were actually afraid to go to not just the especially bad areas of these locations, but these locations themselves. (As many of you know, DC, LA, Chicago, etc. can be quite safe and comfortable.) I wonder whether it was because they grew up in small towns, and they just never picked up the sort of common sense that any inner urban 10-year-old would have. As a consequence, they can't tell safe from unsafe, and everything looks scary to them.

If this theory is correct, is there a way to teach urban survival skills? Some guide books offer rigid advice that borders on the ridiculous, or so I've heard. This sort of "common sense" seems to be more fluid and dynamic, and cannot be codified easily and distilled into words or rules. The biggest asset seems to be how to tell when something isn't right. To me this seems like a skill that has to be acquired from experience and exposure. Maybe the "computer" for this skill really works at the subconscious or intuitive level. In other words, just as a city slicker can easily get into trouble in the outdoors because he can't recognize dangerous weather changes, can't start a fire, etc., so an outdoorsman can get into trouble in the city.

So what do you guys think? Teachable skills or not?

Da Bing

Yes, urban survival skills are teachable. I don't think the method for learning urban survival skills is all that much different than learning nature survival skills. For each, a limited amount of knowledge can be obtained from reading a computer screen or from listening to a lecture. Both urban survival and nature survival require a substantial amount of "street knowledge" that can only be obtaining from just doing it.

You guys are giving me an inferiority complex. I live in NJ. Sure, I don't go prancing naked around Newark or Camden, but there's a lot of places in between that are nice and safe.

What, you mean to tell me The Sopranos doesn't depict the life of the average Jersey resident?

Bada Bing

That Acronym For Survival is just silly sounding I much prefer the Stop Acronym.

Street skills are learnable Not teachable,However there are Two crash courses,Joe Smalltown or Backwoods Bob could take that would Definitely put them in the "Know"!Starting with #1-Get yourself put in Jail for awhile(a week will suffice)You will be tutored by the highest authorities regarding survival on the streets,& When you gradiate(day of release)You will know a Happiness/Relief you've never felt before,& Most of all,you will have attained much knowledge of the streets,including the many variable speech patterns that are a Must have when confronting the other friends or family members of your cell mates.-note(this schooling is not available in Arizona,just ask Sheriff Joe Arpayo)Stick with the Big Cities!#2 Find yourself a Nice shopping cart & decorate it with plastic bags,then live out of it for a month or two,note-(Run over dog poop with your cart,it will keep the predators at bay) & Just observe life All around you,when you've had enough,you will come to the conclusion of knowing the streets,rather well for a Pilgrim!Best of All, These 2 crash courses wont cost you a dime,only time!:)

You contradicted yourself. The older gangster in prison, the taxicab driver, the bum on the corner, they're all teachers of urban survival skills. Traditional learning facilities don't have a monopoly on being able to teach.

I've found this to be pretty universal whether in the woods or the city. In a dicey situation it helps to look calm even when you're panicking inside. Its even more important if others in your group are freaking out.

ireckon,you say Contradiction? stop & think for a moment,the old gangster in prison, 1. the old gangster in prison means you are in prison,A Totally different ballgame all together,you won't be seeing the streets anytime soon,prison vs.jail,two very different animals!,2.-Taxicab driver,If you can even understand him through his accent,he won't have very much to offer you as,most street people can't afford to ride in his cab,he doesn't stick around the mean streets long enough to gain survival knowledge,if anything he only knows where,Not to be!,3.The bum on the corner,he is on the corner because he is bumming money for a fix or alcohol,otherwise he doesn't want the attention of Mr.Policeman,most bums do not like Jail! All the 3 you've mentioned will cost you some money,possibly your Manhood/Life,You won't get any useable info as you won't be trusted,you don't speak street!Spend $1.25 on Bus fare & ride the bus allday long,If the driver is interested in your devulged research,he may allow you to ride allday long,& he might even throw you some tips/advice,as well,The city buses/subway trains are Xlnt sources of info,If you go about it correctly!Git Ohhnnn,Dog!

Settle down, Rich. You got yourself caught inside an impossible vortex. You made the statement above that urban survival skills cannot be taught. I am simply saying that's an incorrect statement and explained why. You're entitled to disagree. You'd be incorrect though. By the way, it's OK to admit you misspoke.

Rich, a request. Type like a normal person and not a haxxor.

Your posts are hard to read with the random caps, lack of spacing and incorrect/random punctuation. I seldom read any of your posts for this reason.

Thanks

Well, let's bring our discussion a little closer to the original post. My nature vs. city question could perhaps be broadened to US vs. some other country. Is it possible to acquire the street smarts for surviving in, say, Mogadishu? If so, how?

Here's another question. Are bad guys all the same across culture, or are the bad guy clues culturally dependent? In other words, when it comes down to surviving a hostile human environment, will your instinct for detecting predators be enough, or are predators from different cultures so different that you'll need a specific predator-o-meter for each place?

Let's take a poll: who has been mugged in two different countries? Do all muggers give off the same vibe?

Da Bing

Many non-verbal cues are culture/ethnic specific and signal different things than a "standard predator-o-meter" would be reliable for. Eye contact, personal space (distance between two people), and touching are three variables which come to mind. I've traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East, and many times have gone unnecessarily into "alert mode" because of these three variables.

Two times I thwarted pickpockets with aggressive and dangerous posturing on my part. One of those times it was a gypsy team in Amsterdam and I picked up a weapon to back them off. Never been mugged (thankfully).

YMMV, but my plan is to use the cues I'm used to when deciding about going on alert, but be conservative with counter-punching. The stranger who stared into my eyes, put his arm around my shoulders, and pulled me close to him in Damascus was trying to sell me a carpet and not mug me. The guy who tried that in New Orleans evidently had something else in mind.

Regretfully, I have some experience in impoverished areas of the world. I currently live in a verifiable "ghetto".

Guidelines can be provided, but only caution, common sense, alertness and the ability to learn can see one through rough "urban" patches. Besides, one of the most dangerous situations I encountered was in a small southern Indiana town. Common sense saw me through that encounter.

Predators are the same, regardless of culture & language. Various "lures" change, but they're all the same.

No, I have chosen to live in safer areas since my service ended. If the Reserves send me overseas again, I'll take my experience with me. However, one doesn't need to go to the above-mentioned cities to find danger. Its in our own towns & cities.

Knowledge and preparedness improve your chances. We all know that.

No, but Snooki does, I'm sure.