How To Find The Perfect Shelter As A Squatter

A lot of different ways to go about this;

1. Underbridge Shelters - Not an excellent way to go, and excellent way to have whatever possessions you mayhave left stolen as you sleep. Also one of the first places some LEO’s will look if you are on the lam and they suspect you (or the perp they are looking for) are homeless or posing as one.

2. Slums - Many sizable towns and cities have slums (of various sizes) where you might be able to find or erect shelters out of the view of normal pedestrians and whatnot. A thorough examination of the area will tell you if it is frequently used by surrounding residents. Inspect for trails, large amounts of trash at "party sites", etc., and if you still want to build for living purposes, make sure to set up shelter as far from government owned places as possible. Construct a debris shelter because they are much harder to spot for what they are and disturb your shelter area as little as possible. Fires for cooking and heat should be used during the day and made as small and as smokeless as possible.

3. Abandoned Uncompleted Buildings - Every town and city has their share of abandoned and condemned homes. Inspect them during the day for visibility from neighbors and use from kids and the drug element. Other homeless folks can be just as vicious and territorial as the druggies so watch your step. If you choose to shack up with other homeless wonders, expect to be picked up every once in a while or tossed out in the street as some towns will periodically have a "shakedown" to rid themselves of squatters "godless and verministic" presence. You may be lucky to find an abandoned home that was out of sight in the back of a large residential area bordering on a farmer’s field. Some are never visited, still some of its plumbing intact, and a workable jet pump (well water!) that quickly converted to manual use. Some abandoned homes may still have septic system (can be in bad shape) still connected to the toilet (bucket flush). To avoid being seen at night, seal off rooms windows so that you might use a light of some sort. If your light is from fire, take the necessary precautions and make sure the room has ventilation. Go outside and walk around the house to make sure there is no visible light escaping, and cover up where it does.

4. Sewers, Storm Drains, etc- NOT! Trust me on this one, are sometimes inconvenience… They come in all shapes and sizes, and while going from point A to point B may be okay, you don’t want to live in the freakin’ things. Your sense of smell will be shot in short order and if you’re in them during a large rainstorm you’re gonna swear you are being flushed down a toilet. Let's not forget the opportunities contract all sorts of wonderful diseases/maladies as well as have your cuts & scrapes horribly infected. Rabies anyone? Excellent way to get yourself killed and when you come out everyone in a five-block radius is going to notice you (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean). Hard to remain unobtrusive if everyone thinks you’re a CHUD.

5. Junkyards and Industrial Parks - You can find access to cubbyholes all over most industrial parks, just make sure that a place you choose isn't patrolled by security guards at night. Just don't sleep in the open in case late night janitors are around. Abandoned sites work well too. Some careful observation of the area will let you know if others are using it too.

Most factories have hundreds of places you could curl up in for the night.

6. Alleys, Park Benches, etc. - Very risky. Police harassment aside, can you say rolled, beaten, generally abused, and pissed on, etc ad nauseum? As survivalists I KNOW you can do better than that…

Man, there're just so many places you can use - it's the precautions you take or don't take that'll burn you. Don't go into or out of your sleep hole openly like you're going in & out of your house. Try to let as few people as possible observe you anywhere near your spot. Come and go at night and the early morning hours.

All in all, expect to move around a lot… If you can find a spot and say "looks good", chances are, and someone else can too. Keep an eye on an area you like and soon enough you'll find out all sorts of useful things- other bums using it, gangs that party around it, etc.