The Homeless Survival Guide

please let me say this as respectfully as possible. I have seen a few posts on here about how someone can not have this or that, and be homeless. Frankly some of the worlds smartest hackers and most knowledgeable computer security experts were homeless for quite some time - during which they had this knowledge. Anyone ever hear of Kevin Mitnick? Maybe Lamo? Regardless these people were homeless for a time. Lamo travelled the country. Any computer guru would love to know him. Anyone interested in IT or social engineering would love to meet Mitnick --- for years after mitnicks arrest ATM machines would show up randomly hacked with the words "Free Mitnick" among other machines. They carried laptops. I myself helped teach Unix and Linux at the Cisco Academy I attended. Unfortunately my epilepsy caused me to have seizures which shattered my memory, which I only now am picking back up. I am still very intelligent, just not in that area (RF comms and Satcomms is more my area now...but only for fun) and I am well on my way to homelessness...technically I am, bouncing from house to house, always afraid I will be in the extreme, on the street. The point here is that there ARE intelligent, capable people on the street and if they keep their laptop so they have some measure of intellectual stimulation what is so wrong with that? It may get them out of their hole some day. The more of society you give up the farther you fall.

On another note --- the free house the guy is talking about on the video is called microhousing, yes you can do this for incredibly cheap, and some do it in the city too. Also another similar option....and similarly priced option is living on a yacht. Yes I said it folks. I have one picked out actually if it doesn't get sold, it costs 8,500 dollars for a 35 foot center cockpit diesel engined monohull sailing yacht. These things can be lived on (comfortably) and cross oceans, taking you to wherever you want to go. Oh...yeah...the living can be just as free as a microhouse except more lavish. Slip fees are 400 bucks for the nicest one in texas...bill gates type houses everywhere, spa, pool, yacht club. It's all possible peeps, don't give up. I'm not. oh yes, you can anchor off the coast for free if you have a small boat to get to shore. Power can be derived the same way as a microhouse. Nehoo....getting off topic.

I would like to see more about what to do if you may be homeless soon and DO have a few items such as a tent but no car (epilepsy here, cant drive).

ALSO ONE ITEM I DIDNT SEE BUT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE.
A ham radio. Get your ham license for 15 bucks if you can scrape the money together. Then scrape some more and get a cheap puxing 777 or similar no name asian brand from ebay for 30 -50 bucks. These have much better range than a frs radio and are free to use. There is always a local ham on the radio and if your life is truly threatened you have the right as a ham op to use ANY FREQUENCY be it fire, police, military, cia, anything, to save your life or that of another. I keep the local police and sheriffs frequencies on mine in a memory bank with input frequencies and pl tones so I have it if I need it. Also there is the option of a cell phone, they will always dial 911 --- but why do that when you can have the same in a direct line, and the entertainment of talking to friends. You can even have them (other hams) pass traffic (messages) to someone a long way away. In any case this has been a life saver for me. I was able to procure extracting from a very bad situation at one time using this, when I had no cell phone. I can stress enough though that communications are vital. Look at any disaster and comms is one of the first things to be set up. Also a ham radio on 2 meters can give you weather usually (if you get one of the radios i just mentioned). Yes it is a bit of money, but it's an investment. I have 2 handhelds on different bands and they work wonders.

A thread on homeless survival in the woods would be useful. Also i think a bike would be useful if you can get one.

This is helpful if you're just trying to think about stocking up on tips guide2homelessness.blogspot.com...

Homeless on the cheap.

This is an article I wrote in response to a homeless man's predicament.

Living without work,

I wrote this article several years ago.

Hawklover

Just wanted to give my thanks to Lloyd for creating this guide. I'm going to be ringing in the New Year homeless. To be honest, I have never been homeless, but I did spend 3+ months living out of a backpack while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Not exactly the same thing, I know, but I do feel like I am at least somewhat prepared for the lifestyle. I do still have some of my equipment (backpack, tent, little propane burner)... I don't have my sleeping bag anymore though, which is the biggest downer, because it was lightweight and could be compressed down to almost nothing. I've got 2 blankets and layers of clothes. Thankfully this winter has been very mild so far in PA, but I hate the cold so my biggest issue will be keeping warm.

My plans are to camp out in a little wooded area right outside of town. I plan on burying food in plastic containers and such so I don't have to haul the stuff around all the time. I was thinking about burying my pack as well, so I can travel light during the day, but to be honest, I'm terrified that someone might find it and I'd be left with nothing.

I was also thinking about staying in some foreclosed houses. Maybe getting out to Radio Shack and picking up some of those remote alarm sensors where you put them on the door or the windows and when they seperate (the door is opened) the alarm goes off. Or a motion detector alarm of some sort... Just something to give me a heads up that someone is coming so I can crawl out a window. I looked up the penalties for criminal trespass though and they aren't light... Second degree felonies and stuff merely for trying to keep warm... I don't really want to go to jail, so I'll probably just stick to the woods for now.

Thanks again for the guide!

reply to post by CaptainWooddog


What are your circumstances??? Do you have any family or friends??? Nevermind about the family and friends. If they're like mine... they've got their own set of problems to deal with. Contact LE and ask if they know of any local homeless camps. You need to be near others for support. If you haven't been physically evicted... stay put. I recently heard that somewhere.

Originally posted by shushu
reply to post by CaptainWooddog

 

What are your circumstances??? Do you have any family or friends??? Nevermind about the family and friends. If they're like mine... they've got their own set of problems to deal with. Contact LE and ask if they know of any local homeless camps. You need to be near others for support. If you haven't been physically evicted... stay put. I recently heard that somewhere.

edit on 31-12-2011 by shushu because: (no reason given)

I don't want to really get into the family and friends thing... Let's just say, that some are the most supportive people you could imagine (though truly unable to help) and some are a bunch of backstabbing, lying thieves. Essentially, I'm not being forced to leave, but I'd rather leave than continue to stay in the environment that I am in. Does that make sense? I equate it to someone in an abusive relationship... Sometimes, you just need to get the hell out and worry about everything else afterwards. It's not really all that bad, but that's the closest example I could give.

As for LE.... I try to stay away from them at all possible costs. And as for a homeless camp... There is a homeless camp sort of near where I am planning to stay, however, the only reason I know of it's existence is because I read in the paper how one homeless man is being charged for murder for drowning another homeless man. Personally, I'll take my chances on my own. And like I said, I do have some friends and family who I can depend on. They really can't offer me much, but they can definitely provide a place to stay every now and then and some good conversation.

To be perfectly honest, I might be unlike most people. I am actually looking forward to being homeless. For so much of my life I have been dependant on others and I truly look at becoming homeless as a step forward. Granted, I have nothing, but at least I also have no one holding me back. I have no one that I am beholden to. I'm at zero, but I'm at zero on my own terms.

This is by far my favourite homeless person, and he's homeless by choice.

I've met him in person, and was astounded by his knowledge in chemistry, electricity and also many other areas.

Very wise man...

reply to post by CaptainWooddog


Thanks for your reply. I now have a clearer picture of your situation. Keep us posted as to how things are going... and best of luck. Stay safe.

Also another great thing to do is if your homeless is visiting old iron dumps, there are alot of usable materials you can find there like old knives and spoons.
And if you have a little bit of money you could also visit thrift stores, they have really cheap used clothing there for almost no money.

reply to post by LLoyd45


Apologies upfront for not reading through the entire thread first but since it was created in the beginning of our immentet collaspe I thought I would place into the current radar.

I myself am quite worried codependent to a sheep that loves newport & red koolaid lays potatoe chips. I am disabled....but havent been approved for disability yet. I have a 4 year old and I feel the "quakening" and see crystal clear all the signs of what is ahead. My ultimate reality - Escape America! Not possible without liquidity which I have an oppresive leader.....enough said.

Thoughts on how to cope, live, deal and not feel so defeated?

Originally posted by LLoyd45
I know nobody likes to think of ever being in this situation, but for most people, it's entirely possible with the economy being what it is. This is not the be-all, end-all to street or urban survival, but more like a crash course.

I understand, I just want to add some so the course is more complete.

I was homeless myself for almost a year, and it was hard, but I managed. I missed a lot of things from my previous life like TV, phones, running water, and flushable toilets, but when put in their proper perspective, I realized they were all very inconsequential to my needs for shelter, security, and the all-consuming desire to eat.

I'm facing the same situation unfortunately. Except I've spend years in my room training not for hitting the streets and going into the wilderness (because that is what I consider safer since there are less humans there). The desire to eat is easy to deflect, I just picture my brain messengers at the gate of my safehouse inside my brain standing there shouting I need to eat but ofcourse I know I am not my body but my spirit, ready to go into my soul. But for that to happen in these days I have to go to the wilderness.

Being homeless in a large city, is like living in an urban jungle full of predators (people). You practically need eyes in the back of your head to get by. You'll develop a sixth sense for danger after awhile, or you'll become a victim of a random, or not so random act of violence.

You need to ask your ancestors to watch your vicinity for danger, if you have smart (great-great)grandparents they will warn you way in advance or even play the ones who made plans to get you.

Street people have an uncanny ability to sense fear and vulnerability in others. If you act like a victim, you'll be a victim. Homeless preople prey on each other as well as those foolish enough to put themselves in vulnerable situations. They're not the only predators out there stalking victims though. It's especially dangerous for females who can easily become victims of sadists and sexual predators.

You are either the predator or victim, what predators are hunting for is the light we all have inside and they usually believe this comes from others and their own is either gone, stolen, or something happened to it and they can't use it. But newbies expose themselves, act vulnerable and then they want their light. The only defense is telling them they have light inside themselves too and they don't need your own.

Don't look for trouble

I thought about not expecting trouble. I don't have anything another would want and I don't want anything from another. Except for some information, which I would be happy to talk about while in the shelter or standing somewhere near a cozy fire.

Mind your own business.

That I find difficult as we are all living on the streets so that is everybodies business. I have thought about making begging like a job and start a corporation who can beg where, letting people move up to the better locations, inventarize dumpsters which have the better food like the overdue stuff etc. you know organize everyone so we can all live in peace on the streets. This would start out small in just one town and spread to others and before you know it there'd be an entire franchise going around the world.

Once the corporation has enough money they can buy some land for tents and showers, to grow and prepare food, get some solar panels in there with a beamer and a large viewing screen so we can all watch offline youtube movies.

Avoid the police.

In the case of police I disconnect my spirit from my physical body and surrender my soul so they know I'm innocent. After the ordeal my soul is no longer in surrender mode ofcourse and my spirit reconnects again. The nice ones I would protect against themselves since I would be a homeless and that is not good, everybody should have a home. So I would remind the officer not to get personal but view the encounter as strictly business, the officer is just doing his or her job in the larger system (continued).

Shelter

So for shelter I was thinking I would start in my town then move to other towns. I would setup shop somewhere and organize the homeless until they have a stretch of land and once they can make it on their own I could go to the next town and organize the homeless there and that way go from country to country. Eventually though I would want to end somewhere in the wilderness, completely free of all the lies of humanity, just alone under the stars. I haven't figured that part out yet, I was thinking about sharing that banana with a gorilla in the Congo, or maybe try to play music for a snake somewhere in Asia, or maybe make hang out with a group of dingo's in Australia, I might even try to roast some fish for Russian bears. I might go for Asia though since they let monkeys just walk in the streets and even feed them plus I'm fascinated by buddhism/hinduism/taoism.

Funny thing once there's no money involved and I'm willing to walk all the way, the sky is the limit and the world just becomes one big zoo.

About wild animals, ofcourse they are not harmful. That's just to keep the people inside cities. In case of rats, just be nice to them, just like in the story of The Rats of Hamelin: www.ratsofhamelin.com... where a guy with a flute plays music for the rats to control them. Ofcourse the only difference is not to try and control them and lure them into a river to make the people of the town believe they are killed but just let them be. The most important thing to understand is humans are just animals too, subspecies of the monkey branch, just more developed. And if an animal is hungry and about to eat you, you should share your food with him/her and hope for the best or take the animal along so it can defend you against the other animals.

Vacant and wooded lots:

How I would do that is have one place which I would try and hide from view with bushes and have 4 paths to it, I would take another path each time I would go out and back. I would also put some bones of dead animals half way the path so people would likely not choose to follow the path. Once found though I'd have to leave and go someplace else.

I would also have some isolation material with me on the journey which I would put garbage bags around and tape it so it would looke like just a garbage bag. I would also never want to live with humans, even if they would invite me in, I might accept money but only after I have begged for it. It would be like a one way ticket to me, where I would leave my physical body behind someplace. I wish it would be a house I earned but that is unlikely for me now but that's ok because I go to a better place anyway, not societies' exits (referring to Christian heaven, or Islam's stasis mode or the buddhist' parinirvana, or hindus moksha or whatever other people once believed was the afterlife). I would take the ancient exit, the one before people made up their own to go on play their games in the afterlife just like they did in society.

Hygiene:

Staying healthy is hard to do when you're homeless, but it's still possible. Some suggestions are:

Brush your teeth regularly. A painful cavity or an abcess can be unbearable and possibly life threatening

You know people have lived for centuries or longer without toothpaste and they survived. One just needs to use one's fingers correctly to make sure there's no food remains, use some water to rinse it off.

Wash frequently. If nothing else, at least wash your hands before you eat. I used to buy baby wipes for this purpose. If you're personable, you can probably befriend a convenience store clerk who will allow you to clean up ocassionally in their wash room.

If you wash a lot, you'll damage your skins natural ability to heal and kill off all the good bacteria which clean up your skin (eating all the viruses for example). Flesh eating bacteria are just like people who went crazy after being abused by some landlord or lady, but they can be washed out if done correctly. I was thinking about being friendly to owners of recreational places, maybe motels in exchange for doing some cleaning or use my computer skills.

Wear layers of clothing. It will allow you to regulate your body temperature by adding or removing layers depending on the situation. Layers also protect you from serious injury from blows and cuts.

I was thinking about using a wetsuit maybe or use the isolation material, maybe I would go for the walking sleeping bag.

Shoes: Good shoes, that fit well are a necessity. You will be using your feet a great deal, and you don't want to get blisters or open sores if at all possible. If you can't scavenge a serviceable pair, break down and buy a cheap pair that fits.

Funny thing I used to buy really expensive sneakers in the past and sometimes not even wear them. They tore easily (probably so I would go out and buy new ones). I did have some cheaper ones and they lasted longer strangely enough.

Wash your clothes. It's easy to get lice and other pest if you don't.

Actually I would consider lice as my pets, just like in the South Park episode (season 11 Episode 3 Lice Capades) and try and telepathically communicate with them. But if they would become too intelligent (when one of them starts a religion) I would probably just go completely bald and try to shake them off my clothes (butt naked in the woods ofcourse).

Money can be acquired in numerous ways. There's daily labor places, doing odd jobs for locals, recycling, and panhandling, if you have the stomach for it. If you choose the latter, you can do well for yourself, but it comes at the price of your dignity.

The only dangerous thing is one should never ask money for sex. It may mean prison and it would be more difficult to see rape coming your way. But begging is not much of a problem, just remember everyone should be happy, have a home for themselves and no one should be begging for money as there should be enough for everyone. It's everyone's right to ask for money, the service a beggar is providing to the giver is to make the giver feel good. Whoever gave money to a beggar has proof they truly care about others.

Great Thread, took a while to read through, there have been a few years pass since
it started.

I was once amongst the mix, but i picked the wilderness rather than the city.
it was not foreseen, we lived in montana (ex and i) and she wanted to go to school, the school
was in utah, so we kept our house here and stayed with friends in their basement there. They said
it would be fine, they could put up with us for a year. Was that ever short lived, 2 months into it we
came home from work/school (i got a job down there in a auto body shop, still had bills to pay here
and try to survive there as well.) They decided we were no longer welcome. So after a night in
the car, we decided to stick it out and stay no matter what so she could finish school, its only 10
months or so, already in debt for it anyway, we had to pay close to 3K up front, and the rest were
student loans. I could not see wasting the money already spent. It took some convincing to get her
to agree. But we lived in the car at a truck stop until payday, paid our bills here in montana, and figured
out what we had left, which was not much. So we hit the local thrift stores and did some pricing.
We found a great 10 person tent used for $20, some sleeping bags and a few other things and
went looking for a spot to set it up.

If you ever go to Salt Lake area, as you are driving down the interstate going south you will see
the Bass Pro shop. Next to it is a road going up the mountain. If you follow that road for about 14 miles
or so, that is where we called home for the remainder of her school.

We found a spot that was remote but easy to get to in the car, and that was near water, we had a
nice little running stream next to our campsite. Coldest water i have ever been around, even in summer
you could not get into it without shivering. But it was a water source.
We scraped by on food and gas until the next payday, and hit the thrift stores again, picked up some
more supplies, small propane grill, some cooking tools and a cast iron skillet.

Slowly every payday we would pick up a few more things that we needed.
We ended up with a comfe little spot to live. Away from people.
The big drawback was no running water for shower since the stream was way to cold and
winter. On top of a mountain gets real cold in the winter, and it gets cold faster than flat land.

There were some things i learned along the way, and some things i came up with to make life
much better.

First thing, do your self a favor now, and hop on ebay and order a p38. For those that dont know
what they are, here is a link.
www.ebay.com... aebfdd3f6
I found mine in a army surplus down there and have never been without one since.

One of my ideas i came up with, since i worked in a body shop and had access to power during the
day was to rig up lighting, it can get very dark out in the woods at night, and most the time that is ok,
but there are times you need light. So, if you can make a friend that has a car charger, find your
self a used car battery, and stop by a junk yard and buy a used headlight and wire harness/socket.
charge the battery when you can, wire it up and you have lights. Or if you wanted to go a bit further
you could even look into LED lights, i'm sure with a car battery a led light would last a LONG time.

Another thing i learned, and i'm not so sure i should be sharing this, but when you are down and out
the simple things most dont even think about make a huge difference in your outlook on life.
Things as simple as a soda every now and then make a huge difference. There were many times
where $0.50 for a soda was out of our budget. Until i was talking to a guy who was down on his luck
as well and he told me a trick. I am not going to say this is something you should do, but look up
'soda machine hacking' on youtube. It works. Granted its not the best thing to do, but some times
it's the little things that keep you from blowing a cork at the world. Its good knowledge to have.

for winter in the woods, pick a low spot to set your tent up if you have one. use the natural
surroundings to block the wind. When you find your self in snow, use it to your advantage,
try to cover as much of the tent with snow as you can without causing it to implode on its self.
This serves a few uses, one it is a great insulator, will help keep the cold wind out, and two it
helps camaflodge your tent. you can even pick up a cheap white sheet to cover the top
to make it blend in more.

There are many tricks i learned surviving in the woods in those 10 months, but the most important
is enjoy what you do have. Sure , we were broke, homeless for the most part, we had a house
it was just 500 miles away. Go into it with the mind set of camping, but dont loose your edge and
not be aware of things.

reply to post by LLoyd45


Thanks Lloyd (is it Lloyd Bridges, or Christopher Lloyd? Just kidding), a definitive must-read

I do not regret those 10 moths at all. I have been down and out before, so i was
kind of mentaly prepared for what was to come.

There were some good times up in those hills. Read a LOT of books, watched many
animals, we had deer, elk, a bear and a raccoon and several other critters to keep us
company.
The Racoon was quite special, after about a week or so of being there, this big racoon
would come around to the edge of the camp area and watch us, after a few weeks more
it would get closer, then closer.. before long it would come to within a few feet of us, we would
talk to it and watch it, it would try to steal our food, so we had to be sure to keep everything out
of its reach. (Do not leave food in your tent if you are ever in the wilderness. mistake number one
that many make, this time we ended up with a racoon, but it could of just as easily been that bear.

But, after a few months we would hear this sound, grunting, at night, from different directions,
it was a unusual grunt, not one i knew, One evening we were sitting there and out of no where
the racoon came up to where i was sitting and stood there, less than a few inches from my feet.
so i sat there real still and after a few min, i saw baby racoons coming to me. She had a litter , there
were 5 of them, cute little buggers. They were great fun to watch until it got to cold and they didnt come
out as much.

sorry this is so sporadic, health has me down today, not doing great have to go lay down a bit, but will
check back on this link and write more later.

Reply to post by LLoyd45

Brilliant topic coverage! Most people may not survive being homeless, it just goes to show what sort of society we have build, developed and where its headed for those poor is frightening.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

i am not homeless but on the flip side, i am sick of paying rent (i refuse to ever buy a home - to me, that's a scam. who takes a loan for 30 years? come on now, seriously) and "dream" about living rent free...only way to do it is to live homeless or...ta da! live out of a van.

check out some of these guys doing just that on youtube (you will have to type in their channel names as listed below in the search box):

LivingTheVanLife
BugOutVehicles
kylepounds
adamgross56

ideally my dream life is to have a productive job while i live out of a van or a car. this way (even if i have to make payments, on a new car, it would still come down to as little as 300 a month for a generic american vehicle) i can save all the money i make and spend as i like plus i get to recover most of it once i sell the car off if i decide to leave town or just to upgrade in a few years.

some of the stories here about homelessness are incredible. another channel on youtube that deals directly with the homeless is here:

invisiblepeopletv

rightfully so, the channel itself is called "invisible people" because in capitalism, you have to ignore the homeless as if they are not there.

Thank you so much for providing such in-depth information! I know it's going to come in handy for me some day because I _do_, unfortunately, foresee that I will be homeless within the next year or two. I am all ready planning for such an eventuality and have been slowly collecting things I will need to survive. I plan on reading this thread over and over because it's so well informed and is coming right from the source.

Hi here I registered on this site to give a tip for those who are homeless. If you are unable to get to a shower but want to keep from smelling, here's a way to do it. Get a small spray bottle. You can find these at Hobby Lobby and art supply stores for a couple of dollars. Fill the bottle with 91% isopropyl alcohol (or 70% if you can't find 91% in your area) and spray your arm pits daily with it. This will kill off the bacteria that feeds on the sebum in your arm pits which causes the bad odor. If it's hot outside twice a day might be better. If your arm pits are already smell then you will need to wash hem with soap and water first as the alcohol won't get rid of the smell.