Survival lessons from the homeless

-------------------------------------------------Revised 02/25/2021
(C) Copyright 2012-2021 by HappyPreppers.com. All rights reserved. The site happily targets concerned
citizens who are self-reliant survivalists, preppers and homesteaders with original content on survival following
societal collapse. You may link to our site, but you may not reproduce any part of our content, or store our
content in any retrieval system to represent it as your own. Further, you may not transmit content in any other
form or by any means, including (but not limited to) electronic, photocopy, mechanical, or recording without
written consent. HappyPreppers.com makes no warranties.

HappyPreppers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com,
amazonsupply.com, or myhabit.com.

This pre pping article on how to survive homelessness has been archived by waybackmachine.org and captured as
many as 59 times between July 19, 2017 and February 25, 2021. This helps protect our copyright.

Do NOT copy. Linking is okay.

sitemap
privacy policy

Hand Warmers

Emergency thermal bivvy bag

Prepper Deal Alerts Check
our daily deals for prepping
gear and food storage.

Coghlan's Folding Stove

Thermal underwear men

Thermal underwear women

Solid fuel cubes

Prepper's Financial Guide

Wise Foods Five Day Survival
Backpack

Lifestraw Water Filter Bottle

B ulk t oothbrushes dea;l

Rothco daypack

Rothco B o mber Backpack

Above are survival lessons from the Homeless to help you with a
personal SHTF scenario.

Happy endings...
As many as half a million Americans are homeless and you can
learn from them now by studying homelessness and putting
together a homeless survival kit before you need it.

More prepping articles....

Prepare to live happily ever after with us at happypreppers.com - the emergency
preparedness Web site of prepping, survival, homesteading, and self-reliance.

Bike Pannier

Skateboard Lock

Sampsonite Low Profile
backpack

Hot water bottles

AM/FM Radio

Never underestimate the importance of socks to a homeless person. It's not
easy to wash socks when you're homeless.

#8: Stay in Communicado!
Communications is a key component of any survival plan, which
means it applies to a homeless survival plan.

A portable AM/FM radio. A small AM/FM radio can serve as
news and entertainment and keep your cellphone usage
down. Get batteries for cheap at the Dollar stores. It's
lighter and more practical than a survival radio unless you
have a car.

Cell phone. Homeless who have a cellphone fair better than
those without one. A cell phone is a lifeline to family and
friends; medical help; homeless housing or social services; a
hot meal; navigation; music and entertainment; an odd job
and your former life! Using Craiglist can get you free stuff.
Social media can help you feel connected with society and
you can also get the news.

ou may wonder how can homeless people afford cell

phones?

Prepaid phone. One option is a pre-paid flip phone.
Call, text and browse the web with the AT&T Prepaid
Cingular Flip 2 phone. It has large buttons for easy
dialing, while the large display simplifies menu
navigation and online browsing. This Cingular flip phone
has 4GB of internal storage for saving photos from the 2-
megapixel camera and a convenient external display for
viewing the time.
Government issued phone. You can also find out how
to get a government-issued phone that includes a
limited amount of free minutes and texts. The average
cellphone bill at more than $100, this could be out of
reach for many. There are some programs for free cell
phones for the homeless. Search now for any programs
in your area. For example:

Texas
Canada

Laptop. A laptop is more powerful as a connection to get
back into housed or employed society. It can better help you
access homeless resources and be able to job to put
together a resume. A lucky few can earn a living from a
laptop writing or designing. Consider being a homeless
blogger or creating YouTube videos about homelessness. The
lucky few earn passive income from a laptop and you can
too. If you learn now you might be able to avoid
homelessness altogether while you couch surf with family
and friends. Of course you could use a community center or
library computer if you can borrow an address, but your
productivity will be limited to 2-hour increments and the
hours of the center. What's more, you need a library card to
operate the computer and that requires an address.

#9: Get mobile with a bicycle or skateboard.
Your mobility as a homeless person increases with use of a
skateboard or bicycle; however, it will also be a target of theft.

Skateboard. A skateboard is transportation, but it can also
be entertainment. In Monterey California, a homeless man
earns his living entertaining tourists at the peer with his
skateboarding dog. Don't risk performing tricks which could
cause you injury and further your problems. You can deter
theft with a skateboard lock. Just add cable, combo lock and
perhaps some tamper resistant hardware. The one pictured
right also includes a built-in bottle opener. You'll find some
school-style backpacks equipped for your skateboard.

Bicycle. A bicycle can expand your horizons as a homeless
person to help you "Get out of Dodge" but it can also limit
you as you'll have to secure it outside of a homeless shelter
or your campsite.

Add pannier bags to your bicycle. A w aterproof pannier
for your bicycle can add extra storage to your mobile
lifestyle.

#10: Have Survival Street Smarts.
Being homeless will require street smarts some of which you can
learn from happypreppers.com:

Know how to use a backpack for defense.
U nderstand survival psychology and use your mind to survive.
Learn about flight or flight response.

Get urban survival skills from the homeless:

Find discreet cache locations. Don't talk about your stash,
but do "become an expert at caching your belongings," says
Itstactical.com. Beware that other homeless are also vying
for the same locations and may discover your stash. It's
easier to hide things in the woods than it is to hide them in
the city.

Know where to hang out. Beware of "bum bashers"―the
people who beat on the homeless for no reason. They'll
leave you alone on cold nights where you can find a secluded
location. Sleep out in the open, not in secluded areas on
warm nights, because you won't attract attention from law
enforcement and avoid the bum bashers. Such are the
lessons from a man who was homeless for 2-1/2 years. Read
Homeless: a day in the life of a homeless veteran by Todd
Murphy. It's fiction, but it's based on his experiences.

Homeless Survival lessons
Survival lessons from the homeless

Build your own homeless survival kit!
Are you living paycheck to paycheck and having sleepless nights
about being homeless? Could you survive the streets? The
nights? The hunger? The cold? Build a homeless survival kit to
survive being homeless and broke before you need it, or put
together a survival kit for someone you love who is on the brink
of homelessness.

Learn from the homeless and find out why you need to:

Get a plain looking backpack.
Have a bathing suit.
Be careful of the crunch!

This homeless survival guide for preppers is a special look at how
you might survive if it ever happens to you and your family...

Homeless Survival Guide, Preparedness
If you're about to be homeless (or if you find yourself worrying
about it) do what you can now to invest in key survival items to
make your return to the employed and housed society that much
easier. Build a homeless survival kit!

To give you an overview of the kinds of things you'll need on your
homeless journey, the Wise Foods Five-Day Survival Backpa ck can
give you a head start. It's low profile backpack and has most of
what you need, including a convenient stove and fuel tablets, a
mess kit and just add water foods from Wise. It's a good start.

Build your own homeless survival kit:

#1: Select a low profile backpack.
As a homeless person you must be low-profile and avoid conflict.
One of the best ways to be a homeless grayman is to get a plain
looking backpack for your gear in black, dark grey or neutral colors
like the Rothco Bomber backpack. (Just cut off the red zipper pull.)

Most homeless people carry backpacks. The more low-profile the
backpack the better, so that it's not the target of theft. A low
profile backpack will also help with donations! "Tony says that
owning an expensive backpack actually works against street
donations, as people assume he is too well off to warrant help,"
according to an interview from BusinessInsider.com

More tips about selecting your backpack:

Consider adding a Rothco Daypack. The Rothco Daypack is
around $20. It's a 100% water-resistant cotton canvas
daypack where you can keep your most treasured
possessions when you want to leave your larger gear behind.
It's thin enough that you can put it into a larger backpack.

Going Grayman? If you want to blend in the city,
Samsonite's low profile backpack will help you blend in as a
tourist businessperson. It has room for your laptop and it's
the perfect day bag if you're living in your car.

Find a way to sleep with your backpack. Living in hostels
and homeless shelters requires theft prevention measures.
Hug your backpack like a body pillow. Wrap your legs around
it. Do what you can to make sure the worldly possessions
inside your backpack don't disappear while you're asleep.

Add a black sports duffel bag. The Northstar Sports Duffle
Bag is a durable gear bag at a low price. Select a versatile
duffle gear bag that like carry-on luggage.

#2: Get gear to get a good night's rest.
You'll sleep better at night if you have the right gear, but the
gear you pack shouldn't weigh more than 1/3 of your bodyweight.
Pack carefully and selectively.

Here's how to get a good night's rest:

Invest in a compact all seasons sleeping bag. One of the
most important items in your homeless survival kit is your
sleeping bag.

Consider a bivvy. You can extend the life of your sleeping
bag and stay warmer at night by slipping your sleeping bag
into an emergency thermal bivvy bag.

Get a good night's rest with a travel pillow. A pillow is a
luxury item, but it can help you stay healthy (avoid pink eye
and lice), and get a good night's rest. You could save on
space stuffing your clothing into a pillowcase, but having a
small travel pillow, like the MyPillow GoAnywhere Pillow is
only around $20 and will give you comfort when you need it
most.

Fleece blankets. Fleece is warm and cozy. It's a fabric that
handles moisture relatively well, and a small fleeze blanket
can also double as a pillow if you don't have one.

Hot water bottles. If you can get hot water for tea you can
transfer the warmth to a hot water bottle to keep you cozy
through the night. Remember thought that hot water bottles
can cause burns and you must avoid prolonged direct contact
to skin. What's more, bottles should be replaced after two
years of use, and you should check stopper for wear and tear
damage at regular intervals.

Adopt a Dog. While a dog is a liability and limits your
access to services, investing in a dog also is beneficial for
many reasons:

For a homeless person, a dog offers security in terms of
battery and theft homeless people experience from
their homeless peers.
Additionally, a dog can help you keep warm at night.
Most importantly, a dog can add to donations. People
who donate to homeless are more compassionate when
they see a dog but you'll also have to feed them.

#3: Have a survival weapon.
While law enforcement may hassel you, it's good to have a
survival weapon ready should you find yourself in a bad situation.
Check with local laws about what's not legal. For example, there
are pepper spray laws and state restrictions.

It's good to have plans for a survival weapon:

Tactical pens are discreet yet effective for self defense
Self defen s e keychains are another option to enhance security
Pepper spray is an effect deterr e nt.
Stun guns that are multipurpose flashlights are useful too

#4: Build a simple first aid and hygiene kit.
Be self sufficient on your hygiene and first aid needs.

Find microfiber towels. Microfiber quick dry towels can help
you with your hygiene. Fast drying, they pack condensed in a
size 4 times smaller than a towel of the same size.

Make a mini first aid kit. Get a box of bandaids and
antiseptic wipes and stash them in a small travel pouch or
an altoids tin. Add tweezers

Put together a small hygiene kit. You'll find homeless
essentials for hygiene at the dollar stores to replenish
deodorants, soaps and shampoos, combs, razors,
toothbrushes and toothpaste. Other sites may recommend
you bring baking soda in lieu of toothpaste, but baking soda
isn't something you want to bring along your homeless
journey. It will be a mess in your backpack and it's a bit
abrasive on your teeth. Women should consider tampons to
pads as they're easier to pack.

#5: Don't mess around. Get a mess kit!
Cooking while homeless is possible

Mess kit and utensils. You don't want to be stealing plastic
forks and knives, so having a small utensil set with your
mess kit is essential. You don't need a full camping mess
kit, which could be rather bulky. Backpacker mess kits made
of titanium are lightweight, though expensive, but it includes
the cookstove!

Military Can opener. Everyday carry for many preppers is a
military can opener. Look for cans with a pop top and be sure
to have a military can opener handy. Just in case a good
canned meal comes your way that isn't a pop top.

Get a small camp stove. While you may find yourself
relying on food banks, soup kitchens, and bread lines, you're
better off having a mess kit and a small camping stove to
get you through your homelessness. Food bank meals offered
are usually geared at the low-income families more so than a
homeless population, but you may be able to get some dry
pasta, rice and beans to cook. That's when it's handy to have
a way to cook them. Opt for a small folding stove that burns
twigs and fuel cubes. Solid Fuel Cubes by Esbit is an item
easy to transport for the nights when you can't fuel a little
stove, but it won't be easy to get replacements later down
the road. Canned heat isn't something you want spilling in
your bag. A drawback of the folding camping stove is that
the metal is heavy. The nice thing is that it folds away in
your backpack.

Remember to pack a water filter. Invest in a water bottle
with a filter before you're homeless so you always have clean
drinking water. The Lifestraw water filter has a carabiner so
you can attach it to your gear. Best of all, having a water
bottle handy means you'll save money on bottled water and
be more apt to skip the sugary drinks.

#6: Be careful of the crunch!
Shop for the most wholesome foods available and be careful of
the crunch! Avoid the top foods that can crack teeth...

Resist the donations of crunchy granola bars that come from
well meaning people. For snacks, avoid the nutty chocolate
bars, or biscotti that could crack your teeth and send you to
the Dentist. Opt for the soft breakfast bars or Poptarts
instead.

Skip the enamel sharding hard pretzels and other common
snack foods that crack your teeth. While you're at it, skip the
puffy cheese snacks and tortilla chips that may lodge
between your teeth and cause dental work down the road.

Be mindful of the crunchy croutons lurking in salads along
with too crunchy bacon bits.

Pass on the popcorn too! It's the kernels that crack!

Don't use your teeth to open food packaging. Have nail
clippers handy or a knife.

#7. Pack layers of clothing.
To prepare yourself for a job make sure you have three pairs of
pants and three shirts to make it through a work week, along with
socks and underwear. A pair of black pants and a solid polyblend
shirt is essential as are having black socks, which will help hide
the dirt. Socks are an important survival tool, and a welcome
donation to the homeless. You might alternate with a pair of dark
khaki pants and a black shirt to stay low profile and blend in.
Pack also a fleece jacket for warmth.

Most of your worldly possessions will be your clothes. Layer
clothes to adjust to the time of day, temperature and season.

Here are some ideas from the homeless about your clothes:

Look for shirts pants and jackets with pockets. You'll find
pockets are essential for your key items, like identification, a
small flashlight, a BIC lighter or other everyday carry.

Get a bathing suit. You'll want a bathing suit because
having a suit will enable you to better use public showers.
You may be able to shower at youth hostels, homeless
shelters, public beaches, gyms, pools and even college
universities.Having a bathing suit also will be useful when
you're cleaning your underwear.

Consider thermal underwear. Depending on the weather
conditions in your locale, consider adding a layer of warmth
with thermal underwear.

Skip the heavy overcoats. Since you're bringing clothes in
layers, pack a watertight rain jacket that's lightweights. It
could be the most important clothing you bring.

Look for moisture wicking and wool-blend crew socks.
When your feet are toasty so are you. That's why it's
important to look for wool and wool-blend socks in winter,
which will keep you warm and dry at night. Avoid cotton
socks which retain too much moisture when you perspire.
Having a change of socks will give you opportunity to rotate
to keep your feet clean. Never underestimate the importance
of socks.

Titanium Cook System

Sample Hygiene Kit for Women