I would Like to begin this series on urban survival methods keyed on sound, with the two most proximate.

Two weeks ago I wrenched my back turning quickly while walking down a city street at 2:30 a.m. Because of a hanging sign clattering in the breeze, I mistook the sound of a person's sneaker breaking with a heel step for the sound of the toe of a sneaker pushing off the tiny grindstones under their foot. This later sound immediately precedes the slap of the next sneaker if they aren't good runner or another of its grinding kind if they are, in either case giving you a one-stride warning. Such grinding steps begin more audibly on asphalt, less so on concrete, unless the concrete is busted up or gravel covered, in which case its the noisiest running surface in the urban environment.

As it turned, out the brake step came from a person who decided to turn around rather than share the street with me. I have always disliked the squeak of swinging street lights and signs because of the audio confusion, which, in 2000 almost got me done in by two stalkers, who I only heard because the gusting wind abated for a second, long enough for me to hear that I was being run down.

While on our week-long tour of Wyoming, Utah and Montana's wild spaces, Ishmael and Shayne discussed various sound cues for hunting in the primitive environment, with Ishmael demonstrating some of these calls. In researching my primal combat series I will be collecting descriptions over the next year. In the meantime I will try and provide a list of urban sounds.