Staying in one location after the system fails can be a daunting task. Many think that merely buying more guns and ammunition will solve the problems they will encounter. Some attempt to build a structure capable of surviving a nuclear blast. Whether you are in an urban area or a remote location, you need to carefully plan on keeping yourself and your family safe if you want to survive in one location.

Before I get into all the things that can be done to increase your survival by STAYING, I want to emphasize one key lesson that continuously gets mentioned in every seminar, book, web- link, and video about urban/home survival. That key lesson is ensuring you know what you have and your neighbors do not. Why you ask? Because when it comes to survival, people will do whatever it takes to survive. Once word gets out that you have a stock pile of food and water, they will seek you out. Unless you stored enough for the entire city, you will run out long before you planned. This is especially important for those like myself in a large urban setting. If the people in my neighborhood decide to unite and come after what I have, then there is no way I can prevent it. Mass numbers will overwhelm a simple dwelling each and every time. Ron and Karen Hood produced a video called “Advanced Survival Guide.” This video is in the OKC library system and can be checked out for free. In the segment for Urban Survival, Ron Hood calls it “The Big Mistake.” The mistake of letting his neighbor know what he has stored and plans to store.

The other warning or mistake I will pass along regards keeping too many firearms and ammunition. Defending your home with guns requires much more consideration than one may think. A significant stockpile of firearms and ammunition won’t solve all the problems. My favorite story is of my buddy and his massive collection of guns. He’s all about protecting his property when the system fails. He owns one house, in the middle of a large suburban neighborhood, in the middle of Dallas, Texas. He has so much ammunition and so many firearms, it would take a 1 ton truck to move just those items. I asked him how he planned to defend his home with his guns? He grinned and said, “One magazine at a time.”

Fighting off a hoard of hungry people who know you have food inside, isn’t so simple. You may keep them at bay in the beginning, but as time goes by, they will come after you for your food and supplies. If you find yourself fleeing your property, how many guns do you think you will be able to carry? It’s not the normal people who are just hungry that cause concern; it’s the looters and thugs that will be the challenge. They’ll come after your supplies with more than empty hands. Anything you leave behind when you flee, will be left in the hands of some vicious people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for firearms. Just make sure you can carry them with you.

If I’ve got you scared or at least thinking that staying might not be such a good thing, then you’re on the right track. By no means am I trying to get you to leave your space! But you need to think about all the things that can happen if you stay. Just having enough food and water for your family won’t do you any good if someone takes it from you. A safe full of guns and ammunition can only last so long. When a hungry mob is after your supply of food and water, you need to be prepared to keep them out or escape to a safer area. If you plan on using firearms to protect you and your family, you better make sure every family member knows how to use each and every weapon you own. If you are injured and can’t defend yourself, someone else should know how to do it for you. The LDS Preparedness Manual has an excellent segment on defense and firearms starting on page 278.

http://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManualGeneral.html

Next week I’ll write about things you can do to make a better defense out of the dwelling you plan to stay in. In the meantime, take a look at the link below to gain some interesting insight to water storage. Be sure to notice the author’s thoughts on obtaining water if he has a sick family member.

http://survivethecomingcollapse.com

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Photo credit: niedec