Urban retreat

the following comes from an old survival book morals will get you and yours dead.

get a map and mark

• all of the stores
• fast food joints
• restaurants
• feed stores
• etc.
• and draw mile circles with your bug-in retreat at the center.
• then list out the things that you need and where it can be obtained.

Where do you get food after the SHTF?

Not

• grocery stores
• walmart
• kmart
• dollar stores
• target
• convenience stores

unless you wish to put your life in the middle of a mob.

scavenge the homes around your retreat and take what you need before the remaining folks do the same thing.

identify where the restaurants and fast food establishments are located around your bug in retreat. mark the locations on a map especially subways which can have a lot of canned goodies. Remember doors on commercial buildings are generally metal and swing out.
tools: a portable torch set, two pry bars, flashlight, carrying bags and protective devices and armed lookouts.

Access the rear of the building (keeps you as well out of sight as possible) and cut the door completely around the door handle (sufficient room to stick you arm through) and see if the door will swing out.

some rear doors will have safety bars across them. locate the safety bar and cut it. open the door and quick search and take all of the food stuff that you can load up including the cokes, water, cookies and chips out front. do not forget the paper towels, napkins and TP.

or if the area is hot with roaming folks, bust out the front door and search the building and take whatever you can.if time is critical. never go hunting without armed guards.

you can do the same thing with restaurants. hardware stores, feed stores.etc.

the food jackpots. use your yellow pages to find and identify all of the food supply houses especially the small distributors such as candy machine vendors that handle candies crackers chips cokes, etc.

know where the candy machines are located around your retreat and keep a hand axe to bust the from open to access the interiors.

many office complexes will have in-house convenience/fast food stores. candy machines and coke machines not to mention the food and drinks stored in offices.

food banks. including at churches. learn where the food banks are and visit them. see what they have stored and determine if a viable target.

vitamin stores. locate and acquire what you need while you can.

remember the hardware store. keep the list of things that you still need and acquire them on your hunts.

Bug-in Retreat

your home is probably not the best location unless all of your neighbors are of a like mind.

Warehouses work great especially with two three or more families that can equip and pay rent. especially if there is a food distributor in the same complex. water storage will be a priority.

Multistory office building especially with a basement and grocery store/snack bar. block all doors. use the desks out of the buildings to blockade the ground floor and any basement entry. the building will have water in the water lines, water heaters and fire piping if sprinklered. water storage becomes a priority. scavenge the building and surrounding buildings for food and water and cokes. multistory buildings have plenty of height to use to fight from. just remember to blockade the ground floor with desks chairs and desks.

you can set up your generator to run on the ground floor by serving it fressh air though a duct from the outside and let it discharge CO on the ground floor to be an additional barrier. remember to have gas masks to cross the ground floor (make sure the masks can handle carbon monoxide)

you can break a few windows and burn some curtains and trash on the first floor and outside to make it look like the building has been looted. you can do this with a warehouse or even your house.

Fuel

• bolt cutter to cut the locks off the propane tank cages.
• scavenge the neighborhood for fuel tanks.
• Puncture the gas tanks on all vehicles remaining and capture the fuel.
• wood desks and other wooden items can be burned for fuel.

Lighting

Something else to remember, post, is that not only is it better for the exterior to 'look' unkempt so it will not seem there is anything to steal but also, no lights visible from outside. So, if you have any means of light at night, make sure they are only used in rooms that can be completely light blocked from the outside. If you have a window that allows light to be seen outside, you may as well have a flashing sign over your house telling looters and thieves that you have some sort of stores.

Learn about light traps, (that is what the military calls them).
It is best if you only use lights in one room at night and you have as little power usage and give off as little smoke in your daily activities as possible. light and smoke can both carry and be seen or smelt for miles.