Post-Collapse Scavenging
In Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide, I talked a fair bit about community survival planning. In that discussion, I mentioned the idea of doing asset assessments, in which you would sort of take stock of what’s available in your area in terms of food, water, and other resources.
The focus was on obvious things, such as locking down any area pharmacies to hopefully prevent looters and collecting canned food from school cafeteria kitchens.
Here, let’s look at some supply sources that might not be quite as obvious. None of them are sure things, of course. Could be someone beat you to it or perhaps the supplies weren’t there at the outset of the disaster. But, each of these sources is worthy of consideration.
Also worth noting, we’re talking about scrounging in the wake of a societal collapse sort of event. A simple power outage shouldn’t be seen as carte blanche to start pillaging the countryside.
Water
Just about every building that is equipped with a bathroom will have a water heater somewhere. Gas stations, convenience stores, libraries, office buildings, you name it and it probably has water stored inside. That little boutique craft store on the corner might not have much in the way of survival equipment but it probably has 30 or more gallons of water sitting there, ready to be drained and taken away. And since it isn’t an obvious source for food or supplies, that water is probably still there.
While you’re at it, check for water at any exterior spigots on the building. If it is lacking a handle, you’ll need a sillcock key. These handy tools can be found at many hardware stores. It looks something like a miniature version of the classic four-way tire iron. Use the key just as you would a handle on the spigot. There may not be water pressure, but the pipes might still drain.
Check the fire department for tender vehicles. These are the trucks that carry and deliver water to fire scenes. You might find upwards of 1,000 gallons of water on hand. They are also capable of taking water in from various sources such as ponds, lakes, and even swimming pools and delivering the water through pressurized hoses. If the trucks are operational, they could be used for transporting water to areas of the community in dire need.
All water obtained from these sources should be filtered or purified, just in case. While the water may have been clean when it entered the building, take no chances. A waterborne illness isn’t anything to mess around with.
Food and dry goods
Searching stores and homes is for amateurs. The big stockpiles are found in warehouses and distribution centers. Of course, you might not be the first person to realize that and it could well be that there will be folks already occupying the warehouse when you get there. Use extreme caution when approaching these sources, just in case.
Most retail stores today lack any sort of extensive storage space. Gone are the days of storing product “in back,” for the most part. But, it might still be worthwhile to search the stockrooms in case anything remains there. Some retailers have multiple storage areas. Check behind every “Employees Only” door you find. Tread carefully in areas that were used as cold storage as if the power has been out for a while, the stench might be overpowering.
We often don’t think much about it unless we get stopped at a railroad crossing but quite a bit of retail goods are still transported by rail in the United States. Check any local railyards as well as every inch of track in the area for stopped trains. Go through them car by car.
Vehicles
Cars, trucks, and vans are rife with potential. Start with a detailed search of the interior, including the glove box and under the seats. Don’t forget to check above the visors, inside the armrest, and the door pockets.
Pop the trunk and see what treasures might be hidden there. If the keys are missing and the trunk unlock button isn’t working, check the rear seats. Many newer vehicles are equipped with rear seats that fold down, allowing you to access the trunk. If you’re able to squeeze your way into there, look for a release latch or lever inside the trunk that will pop open the lid.
Assuming the car hasn’t been scavenged yet, you could find a plethora of goodies, from water bottles to spare clothes. This is especially true if there was an evacuation effort and there are vehicles that ended up stranded and then abandoned.
As for the vehicles themselves, many will still have fuel. This can be drained or you could use the vehicle as the fuel container and leave it until needed. Most auto parts stores as well as repair garages have fuel siphons you can use to remove the fuel. Punching a hole in the gas tank to drain the fuel is a dangerous proposition.
Depending upon your needs, there is a lot you can do with an abandoned car. The seat belts can be removed and used as cordage. If you have some basic tools available to you, the hood can be removed and used as part of a shelter or as a sled to pull your gear along in the snow. If you’re building a shelter, use the upholstery and padding from the car seats for insulation.
Left intact, the car can be used as a large dehydrator. Put your jerky, cut fruit and veggies, or other such vittles on cookie sheets and place them on the dash and seats of the car. Roll up the windows, leaving an inch or so open for air flow. You might want to cover the food with light cloths to prevent bugs from landing on it. Check the food from time to time until it is ready.
Keep an eye out for any semi-trailers stuck on the road or parked in lots. Each and every one of them should be searched.
Don’t overlook delivery service vehicles such as UPS, Fed Ex, and even the post office. You probably won’t find a whole lot of food that was headed for delivery the day everything crashed but you might find other useful items. Bear in mind that tampering with the mail is a rather severe offense and I would only suggest doing so in the direst of circumstances. Who knows? You might intercept a shipment of gear and supplies headed to your local survival author’s home.
Janitorial supplies
When searching any business, from hospitals to factories, see if you can find the janitorial supply closet. There, you’ll not only find all manner of cleaning equipment but probably large stashes of toilet paper, soap, paper towel, and other useful items. Check in every restroom in the building, too. While the quality of butt wipe may be on the industrial side rather than comfortable, it will still be better than keeping a stack of old newspapers in the bathroom.
Factories
While you may not be fortunate enough to live near a factory that assembled top notch survival equipment, odds are there are at least a couple of manufacturing facilities in your community. There are all sorts of useful things found in factories, no matter what they make.
Most factories will be filled with tools, both powered and hand operated. In fact, outside of hardware stores and auto repair garages, factories may turn out to be the best source for the tools necessary during the rebuilding process. Depending on what they manufactured, there may be lumber, sheet metal, and other materials that will prove useful. Not to mention fasteners like screws, nuts, and bolts and all sorts of other hardware.
At a minimum, there should be one or two first aid kits on site. Larger operations might even have a room devoted to medical supplies, though more and more factories are doing away with such things in favor of using every inch of floor space for manufacturing and thus profit.
Check in the breakroom, if there is one, and see if the vending machines have escaped being emptied. While you’re there, you might as well check in the employee lockers as well as the office area.
Motels
Scavenging in motels will be sort of like busting open a piñata. There’s no way to know what you’ll find until you get in there. Could be most or even all of the rooms were unoccupied at the time disaster hit and thus all that is there is what you’d typically find in a motel room – sheets, blankets, and pillows of dubious cleanliness, miniature toiletries, and a couple of single serve packets of coffee.
Granted, those coffee packets might be worth their weight in gold after a collapse. Snatch them up, along with any you find behind the front counter and in storage closets. Toiletries may have barter value as well.
Obviously, any luggage found in the rooms should be checked for anything useful. You’ll probably find nothing more exciting than vacation outfits but there could be flashlights, batteries, snacks, bottles of water, perhaps even a pocketknife or two.
A post-collapse community that lacks a proper hospital might be able to use local motels as impromptu medical facilities. Lots of beds and it would be somewhat easy to keep sick patients quarantined if necessary.
This is just a 10,000-foot view, of course. Take the time to inventory your local area and give serious thought as to what might be gleaned from behind closed doors, should the world truly come to an end and you’re forced to scavenge and scrounge.
About the author
Jim Cobb is a well known freelance author on survival and other topics.
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