Outdoor Survival for the Homeless - Recently Updated Pages

Hygiene and waste control

Navigaiter — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:59:01 CDT

Keeping clean is easy if you live near the sea on a warm day -- bathe in the salt water with your clothes on and you not only will clean your body, you'll rinse the dirt out of your clothes and they'll dry in a few hours as you repose in the sun.

Hotel swimming pools offer a pleasant cleaning experience. Enter the hotel grounds wearing your swimsuit under your street clothes. Take them off in the restroom and wrap them in your towel and go swim in the chrystalline chlorinated water. It'll kill every single bacteria cell on your entire body and and in your hair and you'll feel great. You are helping the hotel by looking good in the middle of fat dumb tourists.

Key West Florida

Navigaiter — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:49:02 CDT

Advantages of Key West:

Warm, winter temperatures in the seventies.
Good Salvation Army Services and Thrift Store.
Good Soup Kitchen daily.
Free and easy Caribbean lifestyle is friendly to all.
County-owned free bunk house.
Lush foliage, charming old town architecture
Night life goes until four a.m. with music and drink
Small but big dynamic city of thirty thousand has everything

Living in your car

Navigaiter — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:29:44 CDT

After being a Bicycle Camper for a year, I moved up in the world; I bought a car with the rent money I saved.

I slept in my $350 1969 Ford LTD for about six months. I did not live in it, I slept in it. There is a big difference. It was neat and clean, uncluttered with junk. It looked good during the day wherever it was parked. I was out and about during the day and only came "home" at night to sleep.

I invited a female homeless friend to share my car and sleep on the back seat while I slept on the front. It was good to have company. But she had a mental thing about collecting newspapers, she had to do it and I had to order her out and she didn't take her damn papers, I had to throw them away for her. Some homeless are mentally ill of some type and degree. Except for me, of course.

The resort city of Key West has or had a law that stated it was illegal to "sleep" in a vehicle outside of a camp ground. That law was illegal because the city had no homeless shelter for the homeless to use to avoid breaking that sleeping law. It was illegal also because it was selectively enforced against a class of people, homeless citizens. The cops did not search cars in driveways for people sleeping in them, only cars and vans parked in public areas. One night a homeowner called the police on my and I was given a ticket for having no place to sleep but my car. I'm a Navy veteran, been to Viet Nam, and I earned the right to sleep where I have to sleep.

I decided not to pay the fine but to make them waste money on me by taking me to trial and by paying my room and board while I was in their stinking jail. They gave me a lawyer, a kid fresh outa law school with no balls and no smarts. They called him a public defender, ha ha, he was just a public negotiator at best. I told the punk I was not asleep when the cops found me, I had heard them drive up, so they cannot charge me with sleeping in the car, how simple can it get? The public defender refused to defend me on the basis of the facts, he was just going to go into court and not say anything about the facts. He worked for and was paid by the Florida court system. He was going to do what they wanted, not defend me. The judicial system in Key West Florida was totally absurd.

We picked a jury. One asked the judge, "Are we to understand this man is going on trial for sleeping in his car?"

"Yes." the judge answered. It sounded silly to waste court time and money for what should be a non-crime. Three jurors didn't bother to show up for the trial the next day. The prosecutors, hating homelessness because the town bigshots think that it hurts tourist profits for them, gave me ANOTHER court date. I didn't care, I was hurting them in the pocket book. A few weeks later they quietly dropped my case all together, nul prossed it, in legalese. I guess the cops and the courts must've wasted a few thousand dollars on my horrible "sleeping crime," for nothing. Too bad. My heart is breaking.

If you're in trouble for sleeping where you have to sleep, take it to trial. Make them pay for their illegal discrimination against who they think are the least powerful class, the homeless. Capitalism is trying to make a persecuted example out of the ones who don't play their stinking money game. Make it expensive for them. Power! Support the RIGHT to outdoor living. Street is neat and could be sweet if we fought back.

Bicycle Camper

Navigaiter — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:26:31 CDT

Bicycle Camping is a minimalist form of outdoor survival, and enjoyment even, which includes the huge benefit of having transportation that doesn't burn up your shoe leather or your leg muscles and all of your energy.

Bicycle Camping Advantages are MARSA:

Mobility, you get around town easily, you're not restricted to a few blocks
Activity, you do more when you can go more places almost effortlessly. It easier to be at the right place at the right time when you're not walking.
Relaxation, bike pedaling isn't as tiresome as walking and it's good but easy exercise. You don't have to lug bags around, you can put the stuff you'll need that day in your bike basket and roll it around.
Security, you're off the sidewalk and you're moving, people can't hassle you. Your tiny amount of stuff in the bike basket won't get messed-with if you cover it with old newspapers or dirty rags.
Accessibility to resources which most homeless don't use such as outlying motel pools and restaurant restrooms where the proprietors aren't set to go off hair-trigger against you if they think you're homeless. You can get away from the inner city or other homeless hangouts and experience more respect and actually pass yourself off as a middle class exercise bicyclist.

So leave that shopping cart behind and go minimalist. Here's what you need to start:

A hideout. Spend your days searching for one. It'll be your place to hide and sleep and keep your stuff:
Plastic bag with your stash of clothes and toiletries
Canned food with a fork and knife and can opener
Bug spray maybe
Bedding and plastic sheeting for rain cover and ground moisture barrier sheet.

That's all! This kit will have to fit in a waterproof bag no bigger than a pillowcase. It has to be small so you can hide it. It's your home base, hide it well.

The good news is that with a bike you can pedal out of town every evening to where the bushes are and the night doesn't have a thousand eyes and you can relax and ponder your gift of serenity and enjoy being out of the rat race and make the rats jealous.

Best Street Bike

Don't get a racing bike. Don't get a bike with gears unless you have a lot of hills to struggle up. Gears are the mechanical weak point of a bike and you want your bike to be sturdy and reliable.
Get a cruiser bike with fat tires and a coaster brake, not flimsy hand brakes.
Get a big soft cruiser saddle so your butt won't go numb after ten minute riding a thin cheap saddle.
Get a cargo basket that mounts over the back wheel. Baskets mounted on the front wheel slow down the steering response when they are loaded and can cause you to fall over. Heavy front baskets keep the front wheel from lifting up when it goes over any obstacle and instead the front wheel jirks sideways and spills you and your stuff. Put the basket on the back, leave your front forks lightweight and free.
Get a lock. Duh. The stealing of bikes is a cottage industry, here in Key West Florida at least. Drunks go around selling them for twenty-five dollars, the price of one drunk session. Stolen bikes are cheaper than legal bikes but unless it's been spray-painted and otherwise altered so its owner can't recognize it, you could get hurt if the owner sees you on it. Everybody hates low-life bike thieves same as they used to hate horse thieves.
Buy a legal used bike from a normal citizen or a new coaster-brake cruiser bike from K-Mart for less than a hundred.
New bikes light up the eyes of bike thieves so don't get one if you can help it.

You're ready to enjoy the end of rent slavery. Don't hang out at your hide out or you'll announce your presence and someone will mess with you and your stuff. Get away early and stay away til dark. Develop an interesting daily schedule and route and life will become good again, like it was before the bad stuff happened and the homelessness began. With the rent money you save you may buy an old car and sleep more comfortably, see Living in your car.

You are an average good person -- Respect! Power!

Legal Issues

Navigaiter — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:41:36 CDT

This is copied from the "living in your car page" since it's a legal story.

I decided not to pay the fine for "sleeping in a vehicle" but to make them waste money on me by taking me to trial and by paying my room and board while I was in their stinking jail. They gave me a lawyer, a kid fresh outa law school with no balls and no smarts. They called him a public defender, ha ha, he was just a public negotiator at best. I told the punk I was not asleep when the cops found me, I had heard them drive up, so they cannot charge me with sleeping in the car, how simple can it get? The public defender refused to defend me on the basis of the facts, he was just going to go into court and not say anything about the facts. He worked for and was paid by the Florida court system. He was going to do what they wanted, not defend me. It was totally absurd.

Seeing I wasn't scared to go to trial, the prosecutors dropped my fine to $75 if I would plead guilty to their non-crime. No, sleeping is free, why would I want to pay the city seventy five bucks every time they cought me sleeping?

We picked a jury. One asked the judge, "Are we to understand this man is going on trial for sleeping in his car?"

"Yes." the judge answered. It sounded silly to waste court time and money for what should be a non-crime. Three jurors didn't bother to show up for the trial the next day. The prosecutors, hating homelessness because the town bigshots think that it hurts tourist profits for them, gave me ANOTHER court date. I didn't care, I was hurting them in the pocket book. A few weeks later they quietly dropped my case all together, nul prossed it, in legalese. I guess the cops and the courts must've wasted a few thousand dollars on my horrible "sleeping crime," for nothing. Too bad. My heart is breaking.

First Aid

security_six — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:33:53 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Cooking

security_six — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:33:33 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Foul Weather

security_six — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:32:28 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Home

Phil.Owen — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:29:17 CST

I have some disjointed files right now. Below is a basic section I wrote in a few minutes to send to Rob as an example. Since he liked it, I'm going to keep it and add to it. I still a gear list to upload, and still need to write the part on snow and slush conditions. Feel free to suggest or add additional topics, I have a checklist of items to cover I will upload later. Remember, this is going to be a document going out to the homeless community, with the goal of helping them survive better, and even comfortably. I will also cover car camping... at any rate this will evolve into a cohrent document soon enough. I am going to steal some stuff from a US Army survival field manual. This will be cited as such. Military field manuals are public domain. Please leave a note with any changes or additions you make.

Have added "basics" and "gear" sections.

For information on where to get free or cheap supplies, go to this chapter of the Homeless Advocacy Wiki.

Basics

security_six — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:03:37 CST

STAY WARM AND DRY, OR DIE!
Now that I have your attention, please consider the unique situation you are in. I have been on the streets, and have experienced many of the problems that occur with foul weather survival. I have also gone out in foul conditions to test gear and techniques. Am I professional? Nope. No military experience, I haven't climbed Mount Everest, but I do have practical experience.
Right now you are outside, maybe huddling in a doorway, or sitting underneath a tree, cursing the rain that falls around you. It's cold, below freezing even. You have no gear, and can't feel your toes. Yeah, been there, done that.
If you don't correct your dangerous situation, you WILL become a number, a statistic laid out on a cold slab in a morgue. Okay, now keep reading and stay alive.
Given the choice between being warm and wet, or cold and dry, I will choose cold and dry. It is easier to add insulation, then dry a wet blanket in poor conditions.
First, you need a safe and clean location. It can be made dry in a minute. Assess your risks in selecting a place to sleep or a camp. You need a place where you don't take undue risks against criminals or animals. Doorways can be great places, or they can put you at risk from other people. It depends on the neighborhood. I have slept out in downtown Seattle, and didn't enjoy it, but never was really hassled by other people.
If you are choosing a man made structure, look for one that sheltered from the prevailing winds, and rainfall. Make sure that water won't be flowing into where you are sleeping. Getting wet at 2 am is NOT fun. If need, elevate yourself with salvaged pallets. Use cardboard as an insulation, and even a cover in light rain/misty/snow conditions. Cardboard can also be a windbreak if deployed properly.
Once you have established a dry and windless sleeping location, get ready to sleep. Take your shoes off, and put your cellphone, eyeglasses, and any other small things into it. Keep your wallet on your person or in a safe location always under your control. Put your shoes next to you, away from the street to protect them from theft. I've never had my shoes stolen, but once lost a small portable radio with a clock on it to theft. Make sure your shoes will not get wet.
Sleep with socks on. Clean socks have more "loft" that is to say can hold more insulating air than matted dirty socks. Layer socks if needed. Clean feet are happy feet. Dust them with food powder at least twice a day, once in the morning, and once at night. Change your underwear as often as you can. If you have it, wear long underwear at night. Layer your clothing, with lightweight clothes close to your body, and heavier clothes on top. Sleep with gloves and a knit cap on as well.
Make sure you have an insulation layer between you and the ground. Cardboard makes a great insulation. Once you have dressed for the night, get your sleeping bag or blankets out. Keep your feet warm, if needed wear extra socks or slippers. Try and keep a blanket over your feet. If you are using a sleeping bag and blankets, wrap up in the blankets, then put the sleeping bag over them. Using a sleeping bag by itself speaks for itself. Depending on weather your may need to use a tarp, or other cover to keep rain off. Deploy the cover so that rain flows off. If all else fails, wrap yourself in the cover, although this can also direct rain back onto you as it puddles up and you move.
If you are setting camp up in the woods, you have other concerns to meet. What I have described already about getting bedded down in a doorway or other man made structure is a foundation to build on.
In the woods you must build or improve your shelter. Look for a well drained location, never camp on low ground, always on the high ground. Trees can be lightning rods, but also provide some shelter. Use your judgment based on current conditions. High winds, heavy snow loads, or thunderstorms all make a tree less attractive.

If you have a tent, put a heavy tarp over it, and give yourself some form of insulation between you and the tent floor. Securely fasten your tent, and allow for some ventilation. A battery powered fan to circulate air is a nice touch as well, and will greatly add to your comfort.
If you must build a shelter from scratch remember the lessons so far. High ground, windbreaks, insulation between you and the ground, away from prevailing wind and rain.
Utilize existing natural features as best you can. A patch of bushes can be quickly improved with a tarp and some ingeniuty. Each situation is different. You must use your head and what supplies you have and materials provided by nature. Try not to destroy the area around you, but if you MUST survive, do what you need to. If building a long term camp, be considerate of the land around you. Evergreen limbs, brush, ferns and downed branches provide the ingredients of an improved camp. If you can add some rope and a tarp, a reasonably intelligent person can create a useful shelter.

Gear

security_six — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:02:33 CST

GEAR
A skilled person can survive in the wilds, or in the city with only their wits and no other tools except their mind. It is really difficult and annoying to do so. Humans are a tool making species, and there are plenty of tools out there already, so you should acquire some of them, and learn how to improvise and make others. First and foremost you need something to lug your stuff around in. US military surplus backpacks and duffle bags are great, inexpensive choices. Regardless of your choice of pack, choose one that is sturdy and will hold what you need.
You need a sleeping bag. Blankets are fine, but a sleeping bag is better. Choose one rated for around 20 degrees. Keep in mind this rating does not necessarily mean “warm and toasty” at 20 degrees, but “alive and somewhat warm” at 20 degrees.
Now add a blanket to your kit. Choose wool, or a good fleece. This blanket can mean the difference between “warm and toasty” or just “alive” at low temperatures. A good blanket may also be all you need in really warm weather.
Long underwear. This speaks for itself. It also will keep you warmer in your basic sleeping bag.
Heavy socks, knit cap or “beanie” and heavy gloves. Wear these when sleeping, they will keep your extremities warmer. A scarf may also be a good choice.
Rain coat and pants. 'Nuff said.
A strong tarp. The best ones are the kind with a silver colored top and a brown bottom. Add some stout clothesline and maybe a few bungee cords. An 8' x 10' tarp will meet the needs of most individuals.
A pocketknife. Get one that locks, non locking knives, even a “genuine swiss army” type while maybe good steel, are also dangerous. Stay away from cheap knives. Generally speaking you get what you pay for. If you can acquire a decent “leatherman” style multi tool you will be ahead of the game. A knife with a semi serrated edge is useful. Get a good sharpening stone while you're at it.
Pepper spray. Self defense uses. Be aware of local laws governing the ownership/use of pepper spray or similar devices.
A basic first aid kit. This should include bandages, aspirin (or other suitable pain reliever) safety pins and disinfectant.
A basic toiletry kit, razors, comb, hand sanitizer, tissues, female hygiene if needed, and foot powder.
Flashlight and portable radio with batteries and earphones.

This is a basic kit, to be added to as the individual sees fit.