Urban Survival Association
Part of the REACT Survival Files training and education programmes
What is the Urban Survival Association?
Our future is hurtling towards us at a rate of 60 minutes an hour, there is no escape, and impact on our lives is inevitable. We all trust that much of that impact will be good and positive; however, we all know that some of it will be negative and potentially dangerous.
The inherent dangers lurking in our urban environment can be just as hostile and intimidating as the deepest darkest jungle or as unforgiving as the driest most barren of deserts.
The Urban Survival Association (USA) is a FREE membership club, founded with the sole intention of providing an open forum for information, advice and discussion, in relation to all matters concerning personal safety and the measures and means we can take to minimise the impact of potentially dangerous and destructive situations and events that can and will intrude into daily life.
We are all different; we all have different strengths and weaknesses, physical ability, mental strength, experience, etc. We live in different countries and neighbourhoods, travel through vastly different areas and work in diverse occupations. As a result, our requirements in relation to providing a secure environment for ourselves, our loved ones and those in our care, will be very individual and unique to each person. However, there are basic principles of situational awareness and threat recognition that apply to all. The only certainty is that the threats we all face are increasing day by day. To think differently is naïve, and sadly, the
Emergency and Survival Preparedness
Too many people do absolutely nothing to prepare themselves or their loved ones to handle an emergency or dangerous situation.
“It just takes too much time and effort, and anyway I’m a nice person living in a nice neighborhood, nothing bad is going to happen to me”.
This is a mantra we hear time and time again.
This false conviction combined with fundamental human lethargy is the biggest obstacle many people face and thinking this way gives us the perfect excuse to put off survival preparation until tomorrow. Or in other words ‘NEVER’. Until of course something happens, by which time it’s often too late. Urban emergency and survival preparedness is more a mental task than a physical one but there is no doubt that you do need to put some effort into your own safety, because when it comes right down to the line there is no one on the planet that is going to look after you as well as you will.
The USA Discussion Forum
“If you have an opinion, please air it”.
“If you have information, please share it”.
The USA Information Source
Books, Videos and Training, at your fingertips.
Emergency and Survival Preparedness… “Who needs it?"
Answer… “We all do!"
Why?... “Because it’s the only way to keep one move ahead of the game of life.”
Why the Knight?
The two founders of the Urban Survival Association wanted a symbol that, in their opinion, epitomised the ethos of their Association, which is to stay safe by keeping ‘one move ahead of the game’. They chose an iconic symbol commonly believed to have originated in India in the 6th century of the ‘Knight Chess Piece’. The horse’s head is the icon that represents the Knights noble steed that carries him into battle on a chess board. The Knight in life was a mounted warrior of noble birth, who after a 20 year apprenticeship as Page and Squire was raised to honourable military rank of Knight, bound to chivalrous conduct, underpinned by skill at arms, bravery and strength. The Knight in chess is one of the most powerful and versatile pieces on the chess board. The Knight can move two cells horizontally and one cell vertically. The Knight can even pass through cells that are occupied by minor and major pieces, the knight does this by jumping over other pieces; this leaping ability enables the Knight to launch surprise attacks on its opponents. The Knight is always at its most effective when placed in the centre of the action on the board, and is often utilised to keep the player one move ahead. The Urban Survival Association aims to equip its members with the tools, like the knight on a chessboard, to keep them one move ahead in the game of life.
About the Founders
Steve Collins CEO of PS5 & REACT Tactical Solutions
Steve Collins has been a professional designer, writer and educationalist for over forty years. In 1986 he established ‘PS5’ which is now an internationally acclaimed specialist security consultancy and training provider, with an in-house facility for the design, production and publication of security related training and educational material.
He has developed highly specialised award winning training programmes, and has become a familiar face worldwide, delivering his training and lecturing to government bodies, law enforcement agencies, universities and the corporate sector on officer and public safety with specific focus on weapons awareness, weapons related crime and personal protection from violence and aggressive behaviour. He is internationally recognised as a teacher of modern combat systems as well as an acknowledged world authority on disguised, improvised and clandestine weapons, methods of attack and weapons concealment.
Darrell Johnson CEO of Shield Security Consultants
In 1978 Darrell became a Royal Marine, after his military career he decided to become a Police officer. Now, with almost 35 years of experience Darrell has vast operational expertise in many international theatres, as well as an immense depth of knowledge and skill base in the delivery of focused specialist training.
For ten years Darrell has operated his own company, specialising in close protection and surveillance as well as tactics and weapons training. He has worked globally as a close protection operative in both high and low level hostile environments. Over this time he has accrued an enormous amount of experience in all aspects of high level security operations and training. Sadly, like many others, he has also experienced the difference between well run operations and those run on a shoe string to ensure maximum profit for some and maximum risk for others.
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