In the average survival situation one is faced with a detachment from normal resources and is forced to take stock of whatever they may have in their backpack, on their person or in their surroundings and figure out how to take advantage of their limited resources to survive. The urban survivalist is faced with a different, and perhaps even more complicated problem: trudging through the deluge of objects available in our overly consumerist society to identify, locate and utilize those resources which will provide the most efficient and community-sufficient effect. This is no small task.
For anyone who is seeking to either prepare for a future crisis or who just wants to live a more efficient and fruitful life day to day I recommend starting the same way: Clean Up and Clean Out.
When most people first endeavour into anykind of prepardness preparation (ooh, what an odd paradox...) they fall into the trap of being taken in by neat contraptions or fancy gadgets. The urban survivalist suffers from a simmilar obstacle in that many, if not most, of the objects which we surround our selves with are actually of little use to us and actually, all too often, are in fact resource wasters (I will talk about this more in future posts). Fundamentally, the reality is that having more "things" does not mean you have more resources, but rather a more difficult time identifying, locating and utilizing the legitimate resources which you do have. Finally, by organizing and minimizing the things around you it allows you to take better care of your real resources and prevents them from damage or decay from neglect.
So, take it one step at a time and start Cleaning Up and Cleaning Out. I often suggest that the first place you tackle is the garage because it often houses many useful resources, is something that can be organized and purged without too much disruption to your daily life and also tends to provide a more visual sense of accomplishment after the fact. Certainly tools are a category of legitimate resources that many of us possess, sadly very few of us either take care of our tools or organize them into an efficient and functional order. A simple test of this is if someone asks you where the hammer is and you just say "the garage" but when asked for more specifics you are at a loss, you could stand to organize and care for your tools a little better.
Aside from the actual objects (tools, cars, extra freezers, fishing gear etc.) which you store in your garage, do not neglect to take note of the space itself as an important resource. For the average home the garage is the largest covered, uninterrupted space available. This allows for you to work on fabricating large projects, painting/staining out of the elements but with air circulation and other actions which simply could not be reasonably achieved in any other space in your home. To take advantage of this important resource you must keep it free of clutter and accumulation of extraneous junk, as well as organizing the objects which you do decide to store there. Finally, it is important to keep the space clean to reduce the risk of vermin. If you have a clean and well organized garage it is much less likely that mice, rats, spiders etc. will take up home, or if for some reason one or two slip in, it will be much easier to set traps to rid yourself the infestation.
Oh, and since you're in the garage already, don't forget to inventory the contents of your car too. Not just objects like emergency blankets, matches, extra water etc. but aspects of the car itself such as the radio, and the heater. It may seem silly, but to make yourself conciously aware of the fact that your car has a radio and a heater may later be all it takes to remind you to take advantage of these resources in an emergency situation.
After the garage begin taking it a room at a time. Remember now, this is not "spring cleaning" where you just pick up or maybe toss out an old placemat. This is a thorough inventory process, including purging extraneous distractions/clutter. Because of this there is a certain level of meticulousness necessary to fully achieve this goal. If you decide to inventory the resources in your kitchen for example don't just stand in the middle of the room and look around. Instead, go through every cabinet, every drawer, the back of the pantry, under the sink etc. You already (I hope) know whats on your counter tops, its important to be aware of the "hidden" resources you have at your disposal. This process achieves two important goals, making you aware of unnecessary reiterations of objects (having two blenders if you only use one etc.) as well as reminds you of the resources you do have. Finally, even if you do not have multiples, very often purging can still take place. If you own only one blender, but don't use it, that is one more than you need.
To begin with I recommend making a list of resources for each room of your home. How detailed this inventory is depends on how your mind works, some people find it helpful to articulate every single object (eg. 9 knives, 10 forks etc.) at their disposal, where as others find it sufficient to note general (bot specific enough) categories of things (eg. flatware service for 10). Whatever the case, don't neglect to be aware of things which you may take for granted. Just because your fridge is giant and doesn't move from your kitchen, doesn't mean it isn't a noteworthy resource.
Once you have progressed through your home and inventoried each room individually it is a good idea to compile a separate Home Inventory. Unlike the room inventories, which pay attention to a certain level of minutia, the Home Inventory should list major and/or unique resources as well as noting the location of the given resource. For example, "emergency radio" should be noted in the bedroom inventory (eg. Emergency Radio:Sock Drawer) but should also be listed in the Home Inventory (eg. Emergency Radio:Master Bedroom:Sock Drawer). While an individual Room Inventory may be kept only as long as the inventory process is on-going the Home Inventory is something that should be kept and made known to all members of the family. Some recommend posting the Home Inventory around the house, but this runs the risk of a home invader seeing this list and thereby becoming aware of certain hidden and valuable resources in your home. This is something that depends on the nature of the resources listed, but either way I would recommend that at least one copy of the Home Inventory is kept in your fire-proof lockbox/safe to limit the amount of work necessary to keep it updated year to year.
Most rooms will contain unique resources (eg. what you'll find in the kitchen you will not find in the bedroom) however there are a few things that it would be important to include in every room, such as a flashlight or a smoke detector. Even if every room contains such items, it is still important to list them in the Home Inventory with their particular location. It is no help to know that there is a flashlight in the bathroom if you can't find it (especially with the lights out...)
When inventorying your home don't forget to pay attention to non-object resources as well such as garden space, what part of your yard receives lots of sunlight, fruit trees etc. Very often it is these resources that end up being most beneficial to us.
Finally, after we have taken inventory of viable resources in our homes, cars and yards the next step is to make a Community Inventory. The Urban Survivalist should know the location of the closest hospital, fire station, library, city park, church, rec center, museum, etc. These resources will prove vital for both emergencies as well as day to day efficient and community-sufficient living. All too often people rely on spending money, or making things themselves when certain spaces or objects or events already exist in their community, often for free or at least cheaper than one could produce themself.
The last thing to remember when it comes to making an inventory of resources it that the inventory is only as good as it is up to date and the resources are accessable. It may seem imposing to go through the process of inventorying your resources but that is because you've never done it before. Once you've gone through an initial inventory it is easy to amend it in the future. I recommend pulling out the Home Inventory, Car Inventory and Community Inventory once a year and double checking the location and viability of resources listed as well as added any additional resources which have come to be in the mean time.
Happy Inventorying.
