About SOS.city

SOS.city means Standard of Survival · City Atlas. It is a survival atlas for every city, made by the people, for the people: sourced survival guides and offline kits that work with no power or internet. We are independent: no city, agency or government is behind it, and government agencies are our sources, never our sponsors. (Formerly The Survival Atlas.)

SOS.city is made by the team behind WormHoleHQ, where we tell a true disaster story every day: what happened on one of the worst days people have lived through, and the one rule that would have saved lives.

The films are short. The guides are the long version: how to actually do the thing, with the source named for every number.

Why SOS

SOS became the international distress call in 1906 and came into force in 1908, chosen because ··· ––– ··· is easy to send and hard to mistake. The letters never stood for anything. Standard of Survival is our meaning, and it is the standard we hold every guide to.

What we believe

• The truth works better than fear. We tell real stories with checked facts, and we don’t invent danger to sell you something.
• Old knowledge still counts. People kept water clean, food safe and each other alive long before the grid. Our Field Manual puts those methods next to what agencies such as CDC, EPA and FEMA say today, and gives a plain verdict where they disagree.
• Your knowledge should be yours. In a big disaster the towers go down. The Grid-Down Kit puts what you’d look up online onto your own phone, computer and drive.
• Say what’s ours and what isn’t. Our guides are our own work. The offline library is open content made by others, and we credit every source and licence on our Sources & Licences page.

Get in touch

Questions about an order, a correction to a guide, or an idea for the next one: use our contact page or reply to any of our emails.

SOS.city provides general preparedness information, not medical, legal or engineering advice. In an emergency, follow your local officials and call 911.