Survival Lessons from the Homeless

today we're gonna take a look at the homeless not necessarily the problem of homelessness because that's a major problem here in in America in fact there are six hundred and ten thousand people there right now are homeless according to statistics and the numbers growing but one of the things to realize is that a lot of these people don't necessarily suffer from mental illness or drug and alcohol abuse many of them were just a paycheck away from losing everything and they lost their job eleven percent of those that are homeless are victims of domestic violence one of the big things though that I want to address first and foremost because an shtf situation doesn't mean that it's nationwide it could be a personal shtf they could be something that you have to deal with that really no one else around you does but I think the first thing to consider is your friends and family and your community have you built relationships that if you ever get in a really bad situation that you're gonna have somewhere to go you know a lot of times we look at the bug-out you're out in the woods and you're surviving but really that's just a glorified refugee and I've said that in one of the earlier videos you know bugging out is not something that you want to find yourself doing even if you are well-prepared you're out on the elements are vulnerable and that's the same thing with the homeless population here in America and around the world so what we're going to do though is is take tips in case there's ever a massive civil unrest in case there you know is a natural disaster that comes through or things that as normal middle-class everyday people we could face those situations and it not be any fault of our own so of course first thing is is to have the support group behind you if you ever get in trouble you have a place to go if you're bugging out you need a destination not just to be out wandering around in the woods second thing is if you find yourself homeless you know it doesn't mean that you need to live just under a bridge you could have a motor home a lot of people just choose to live in motor homes but a lot of the homeless do as well living in vehicles that is a major thing that people do all across the country in fact that's going to be a subject coming up of things that we want to talk about is living in your vehicle and then of course having a good tent or a good shelter now the first thing I would consider as far as low budget is having a good tarp these are light they're handing they're easy to you know kind of stow away in a pack and this will keep you from the elements it'll keep you safe you know from rain and snow and everything else and maybe having some cordage to go along with it to go into those islands of course then we get into homeless shelters there are shelters refugee shelters that pop up especially in you know a survival type situation with environmental disaster and so a lot of places will open up they pull out cots they have food that they serve and we have homeless shelters all across our city and they're all across America these places will can be a safe haven for a certain time you know to kind of go in and get your thoughts together take a good hot shower and take care of your personal hygiene now one problem that happens a lot in shelters is that sometimes there are people there that can be very aggressive compat n't and that is one problem that a lot of shelters face I know that we've tried to help a number of people and we would mention taking them to the shelter and they said well I got kicked out of that shelter for fighting and that is really something that goes on a lot so shelters especially with large groups may not be the best option but it's definitely something to check into and if that's not an option you know you may find yourself being out out with others that are homeless one big thing is to really kind of make sure that you attach to some kind of group now you may have your family but wherever there are other homeless people they're going to know the best places to camp the best places to kind of avoid any kind of problem with law enforcement or city officials and so that might be a good option one thing I would say and this is something that the homeless have recommended is to go into the camp during the day get to know a few people kind of build up some trust and then that way you know you'll be welcome to show up at night a lot of times there's a lot of distrust and so going ahead and trying to befriend some of them you know might be a good option and whether this is the homeless or just other people like yourself definitely it's going to be high tension high stress and so it's important to be able to kind of you know find your place and of course being in a large group also keeps you from other people coming in and attacking or stealing your stuff now one thing about attacks is is to avoid confrontation I mean that's very important to kind of keep a low profile and you know not let tempers flare and kind of just avoid situations the big thing is if you get injured you could really need medical help and not be able to receive it and a small cut can turn into infection and a lot of problems later on down the road so it's one of the things about just keeping an even temper and just again avoiding confrontation now one thing of course if you have a tent that is one of the best ways if you're just camping out but a lot of times a lot of the homeless will build their own sometimes very elaborate type shelters but cardboard is a big thing that a lot of homeless use it is a natural insulator and you can even use it to put up under your clothes to keep them insulated there been a lot of abandoned houses that have been found where homeless were living there and they would staple or put cardboard all over the walls to insulate the room during the winter time and so cardboard is a big friend for people that are homeless of course it's not suitable for the elements so you'll need to have something over it and that's where the tarp can really come in to play and the priority is shelter that is number one you have three hours and extreme conditions that you can live and so definitely make sure that you have that covered secondly is clothing and wearing three layers of clothes whether it's your next to your body you want to wear something soft something that you can just very comfortable every day and then you need something to insulate and then at the end you need a shale and this keeps you from rain weather cold wind things like that those are the three basics for clothing now during the summer and spring of course obviously you don't need as much but you don't know how long you may be homeless and it's good to have those things available one thing great is there's a lot of places like Goodwill Salvation Army and different places that you can go and buy clothes really inexpensively and a lot of times they will give those clothes out and so having a good pair of clothes is important if you get soaking wet you need to be able to have something to dry off now one of the most important parts and this comes from the homeless as far as you know people asking what is it that you would really want to have is socks a socks are not necessarily donated as often as other articles of clothes and so one thing I would recommend right now is that if you like to give the shelters or goodwill or whatever giving socks would be a great way to kind of help those that are really in need but for you definitely have extra socks good solid socks and your shoes your boots whatever you're gonna wear your Footwear is important now one thing about keeping warm is you may not have those layers and you can supplement with plastic bags with cardboard and other things to be able to insulate your body so that's just a tip and that comes from a lot of the homeless if you've been in fast-food restaurants or you've been in gas stations that serve food there's usually extra napkins if you're gonna purchase something you know whether it's a drink or whatever you can pick up a few extra napkins maybe a little salt and those kind of things that are just free but here's the thing guys don't abuse it because we don't want to be stealing things that's one thing about being prepared it the more you're prepared the more that you can stay in line with who you really are and that's really important you know you don't want to be stealing someone else's pack because you don't have the supplies you need we used to serve in a food pantry and while we weren't necessarily serving homeless which they did come in it was mainly people just really low income that needed a boost and we dealt with a lot of people during that time you know and I'll tell you guys they come from every walk of life now as far as sleeping in the outdoors a couple of tips that were brought up by the homeless is to take a water bottle put hot water in it and put it next to your body while you're sleeping and this will give you some extra warmth even people have used urine in bottles and they could use that for a little while to keep them warm so you know you really have to improvise to survive when it comes down to these things and of course water is a very important part of survival and you know being able to get water now in an urban situation typically there's fresh water and so you'll be able to get some kind of water but having a good water filter could really be key and the further out you get from the city the more that's going to be important so having a water source but yet having good clean water because if you get sick it's gonna really limit you in what you can do and in a stressful situation that's one thing you want to try to avoid but now having a dog is also a good option for homeless there are many homeless that do have dogs as pets and companions these dogs are great because they keep you warm at night and they are companionship and plus they are somewhat of a protection and keeps people from sneaking up on you because you have your dog to warn you of course you've got to feed that dog but sometimes you get more compassion because of the dog having the right gear in your pack is essential to survival but not having it overloaded one thing that you can do is to take the essential things that you need and really we've talked about this a number of times where items that have multiple uses such as bandanas plastic bags you know paper clips safety pins things like that which you can do to improvise to stay alive and so that's one thing it doesn't take up as much room either if there are things that you can do for multiple uses also when you're starting to pull items out of your pack make sure that you put them back once you finish using them and keep your gear in one place one thing about the homeless is they always have to be ready to move at a moment's notice and so you have all your gear in one place if you have it strung out everywhere you could lose it now speaking of losing your pack a lot of people will use their backpack too you know as a pillow or to wrap it up you know inside their arms in case while they're asleep the pack gets stolen and typically that's everything you own in that pack but also having a really good solid pack is important go ahead and get your pack make sure it's something that you know it's going to last it's worth spending a little extra money for that pack another thing that's important to have in your pack are first aid items now really just your basic band-aids antibiotic ointment you know gauze things like that they can just get you through because again a small infection can turn into a lot of problems later and so having good first aid it is important if you can have a trauma kit that's even better but again you've got to stay lean and trim to be able to move quickly and now when it comes to food of course in an urban environment especially with restaurants around you know there's a lot of people that go through the trash cans go through dumpsters and find food you know it's according to the situation if it is a serious shtf with riots and everything else you know restaurants may not be open but if restaurants are open and if there's food you know be careful what you eat especially stay away from things that are made with dairy or meat because it can spoil and it can make you sick especially vegetables things like that are very safe to eat and try to keep them clean if you can but that's one thing that's important if you're looking for food that's been thrown out now one thing is you can make friends with a manager of a restaurant and at the end of the night when they get ready to throw food out that might be an option but again that has everything to do with the situation and guys one thing about you know shtf is a lot of times you know we look at it as you know going back to the Stone Age and that may well be but anything short of that a lot of times normal life can continue on and you need to be ready to capitalize on it now of course soup kitchens and you know shelters that serve food there's a lot of places that do that on a regular basis and getting to know people that are also homeless or may be out and about can help lead you to those places now personal hygiene is important not only for your health but also just for your appearance the cleaner the more presentable you are the better it will go for you whether you're dealing with law enforcement or with other people and if people see you as more of a normal person they're going to be more out and have more compassion for you you know it's amazing doing a lot of studying for this how many people are homeless and yet work normal jobs there are people that you'll run into on an everyday basis that you think is just a normal person going home every night they may be living in their car they may be living in a tent that's just their job while they're getting back on their feet and so you know the the more presentable you look the more you're able maybe to get some work and to do odd jobs and things like that and so that is really key to surviving you know keeping your teeth brushed you know so clean staying clean keeping your coat clothes clean if you need to go to a laundromat and be able to you know to use that to keep your clothes looking good you know that is an important thing if at all possible now money may be tight and so maybe picking up some baking soda to kind of keep your teeth clean and for deodorant and just you know kind of washing off adding some water to it baking soda can be a little bit abrasive so you need to be careful with it but if that's your only way to keep clean it's definitely something that you can utilize now having the ability to make fire and having the tools you need but you need to be able to cook the bowl your water you know you may need it just for warmth and having a small can you can make a little rocket stove there's a ton of different rocket stove ideas out there whether you're using cans or even bricks that's a great way to do it using small sticks if you're near a park and you can keep that heat to keep yourself warm give you some morale and also some light at night but being able to cook that food is very important so having those you know items available maybe even having some kind of spoon to be able to stir and to eat again we don't really know what kind of situation can't happen you know you may be able to join a health club and be able to take a shower you know keep yourself clean that way plus have some exercise may be that you go into fast food restaurants or gas stations that stay open 24 hours and you can use the bathroom you know you can get into a stall maybe clean up some you know having these places available but if it's total shtf if there's civil unrest if it's an economic or a natural disaster those may not be in the cards but it's something definitely to have in your playbook now guys I know this is a little different way to view things but after I did the video on using survival tips from the Great Depression it really made me think about real world scenarios a lot of times we live in kind of a sheltered run to the store we have our stuff and we can just survive but when it really comes down to it guys we may not have supplies that we can Phil we may find ourselves in situations and there are so many different ones and so again 610 thousand people in the US are homeless and those numbers are growing every day and guys you need to be ready and prepared now that while we have the means to be prepared and make sure that if we find ourselves in that situation that we can take care of ourselves and our families number one guys make sure you secure those relationships with your family with your friends and with your social and civil groups that are out there guys that will go a long way into keeping you you know from being without a home without shelter until you can get back on your feet in a massive survival situation the gloves are off there but at least you'll be more prepared not only physically but mentally and guys that's really what this video is all about guys if you're serious about prepping and survival check out survival dispatch insider it is the best resource for survival and prepping on the web there's many nationwide recognized contributors that are there we upload one video a week exclusive to the insider I'll have a link down below in the description check it out be strong be of good courage god bless america long live the Republic [Music] [Music] [Music] and whether its fleece or something like that to be able to keep you warm and then you need to have okay the Cavs trying to get out come up next comes clothing and you know what now next comes clothing but you may need to get [Music]

Channel: SensiblePrepper

Views: 632,402

Rating: 4.8601656 out of 5

Keywords: Sootch00, Sootch, Survival, SHTF, Emergency, Prepper, Homeless

Id: KIHp0STl1X0

Length: 17min 56sec (1076 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2019