You have nothing , well not much

[SHOOTALL]

OK you travel by air for a job related meeting. You only have what is allowed for plane travel. You will only be over night. You get off the plane and on the way to your hotel a roit starts around you. Your cab is stoped and you make it out and away before it is set on fire. You are alone and in a strange city . What do you do ?
 I ask this because in most cases we always have some stuff to work with. In some cases we may not and we should talk about that also.
 When you travel how do you dress ? would it draw attention in a case like this ?

[Scibaer]

well the basic rules of survival still apply.
in a hostile and strange place, moving at night would be my recommendation, to acquire the basic needs for sustained life.
in a city or urban area, looking for a general merchandise store would a good start.
you need shelter, food, water, fire to get by, a mode and direction of travel if you are looking to evacuate the area.
if you do not have any or very little in the way of survival gear, you need to get your hands on what you can, and this is where knowledge is more valuable then equipment.

[charles p]

Suppose I took my wife on the trip.  People seem to just give up and leave when she takes over a conversation.  She might be good on defense.  Heck, to avoid an argument with her, I just roll over and play dead.

[SHOOTALL]

I guess I was hoping to expand on how we "GET" the stuff we need . I have seen first hand race roits and flood related roits . Both were in the same area , a small area and getting out in a truck was not easy but doable. Both were before the killing of people was the SOP . Had I been on foot or shooting was the sport of the day it would have been a very different event.
 If you enter a store that has been attacked and start picking up stuff you might get shot or arrested , a real concern. Where would you seek shelter until dark ?

[Scibaer]

No, i think this is a real good topic, something worth discussing further and i hope other chime in with some advice.
ok , following your scenario, you jump from the taxi and head off into the back alleys or side streets.
waiting till dark , to make your excursion to a general store for supplies.
 seeking shelter till dark would involve two basic and opposing principles.
firstly, a defensible location, but more of a lock yourself in, type of thing, so as not to have to fight off any would be attackers and draw attention to yourself.
conversely, you could hole up in a location that others may not want to enter, a bombed out house, sewer, burned down car or something like that.
 i think it is safer to hole up in a location that others have already picked over and see as a waste of time and energy. in a urban area, dumpsters or burned down buildings, and the sewer systems come to mind right off. these locations are temporary, and only need to support you until nightfall.
and, i am a believer in the 'keep moving' doctrine. im not one for having something you need to defend, too risky. i think the scavenge, nomad mentality works better then putting all your stores in one location and having to stay put and defend it.
i took a short walk in my neighborhood earlier, and i saw a few locations ( a broke down car, and under a porch )  that would work for a shelter until it got dark.
in a riot type situation, getting arrested is not high on my worry list, the local law enforcement should have their hands full.
but again, its how you use what you have, with a single tub of Vasoline , i can start 100 fires with dryer lint or some other cotton material.

[mcwoodduck]

Well depends on if you check luggage or not.
Checking luggage I would have a pocket knife.
I would have a couple hundred in $ to get a hotel.
And depending on where the riot was.  My first instinct would be to A- head back to the Air port.  Good security and nothing there looters will want.
Or B- head for the tourist section of town, again pretty good security and for some reason riots never head there.  the stay in the bad sections of town. on the outskirts of the airport or the tourist section.  So you should not be too far off in moving.
C- Walk to the police line with my hands held high.

[Victor3]

 One thing I always have with me is a multi-level AAA powered LED flashlight on my keychain with a lithium battery in it. Lowest setting will last ~20 hrs, high is brighter than an old 2 D cell Maglight (but will only last ~1hr on high). Being a night owl, I use it much more often than my knife. Would be useful for crawling in and out of that sewer and any number of other things.

 A handgun not likely being an option, first thing I'd look for is a big stick or hunk of pipe I could use for self defense.

[Hit or Miss]

I guess it depends on whether you are talking full on collapse or just localized rioting.  For localized rioting the goal is going to be getting out of the area and into somewhere safe.  Stealth will be the key in getting away from the cab, melt into the crowd and work your way to the fringe where you can egress from there.  I think a person would be very lucky to get away from that type of scenario.  Mob violence and all.

In a full on collapse I think the mob would be more interested in taking what you have, not beating you to death.  Let them have the suitcase and move on.  You will need to secure food and water along with shelter, depending on the weather.  A nice club and a shank would be handy too!  In this day and age a person should be traveling with a TSA approved  BOB or GHB anyway.  It should include survival items that will travel in a plane without getting you in trouble, carry on would be my choice.  To me this would be a worst-nightmare situation, trapped in a city without proper defensive gear.  That's why I avoid flying at all costs.

[Empty Quiver]

Well since I flew I have been disarmed, not even any ferrous metal on my person. I suppose I would run to the nearest police station and cower in fear. I woiuld impress upon the authorities that it was their sacred duty to protect me from the ruffians outside.

If I were close enough to my hotel I suppose I would go there. Depending on the local surroundings I might try to lay in some food and beer and a few magazines. I would then pretty much lay low till the riots were brought under control.

May also join the crowd so to speak. Blend in and try to extricate myself at some opportune moment. This stratagy served me well a few times in my youth when I found I was getting in too deep with the wrong crowd. Was always able to be somewhere else when the flails hit the manure.

[teamnelson]

Some great wisdom here; my daily pack is my BOB, and my carry on, so it's got everything up to TSA restricted items. In this scenario I've got that pack and my ambiguous looking travel clothes. I'll fade into the shadows; make myself look the part of the homeless while I find cover & concealment.

I worked in the dining room at the homeless mission this Christmas; got to chat with a few fellas and check out their BOBs. A sharpened toothbrush?

[SHOOTALL]

A few things i try to have is a 2 aa cell mag light a good weapon . credit card another weapon , a sock with coins or rock can be a weapon.

[Hit or Miss]

One of my favorites, a couple of feet of rope and a good sized master lock!  After all, who might not need a padlock?

[LabRat2k3]

Along that line a good belt with a heavy buckle can come in handy as an improvised weapon, and if it is as long as mine has gotten here lately you will have a pretty good reach . I know that having a weapon can make you feel secure in uncertain times, but in this scenario the odds of you having a one on one encounter are going to be low. More than likely it is going to be you against a pack, so I would think that this would be more of an excape and evade situation. So here are my thoughts. I always try to put comfort ahead of fashion when travling so I should be able to blend in pretty well, not to many folks wear a jacket and tie to a riot. As quickly as I can I am going to move what I deem important (cash, return plane ticket, and any papers that I don't want anyone else to get ahold of)onto my person and ditch my BOB. I feel in this situation a bag will only make you a target, if something is valuable enough for you to put it in a bag and carry it around someone else may like to have it as well and try to take it from you. If you have seen the movie Falling Down and remember the scene about his brief case it is the same concept. Cash will be divided into several small groups and placed in differant pockets. A tweeker is going to want what is in your wallet weither it is all of your money or just $50 he is going to be happy either way because he just scored his next hit. Hopefuly I was able to get my return plane ticket and ID out of the taxi with me, and as stated by someone else my goal will be to reach the airport, where I can make a call to who ever I was going to meet telling them we will try again at a later date, and get out of that town. I have only been in one city where there was a large riot, and it was mostly confined to a 2-3 block radius so once you got clear of that area the rest of the city was running like normal. If that is the case here it is simply a matter of trying to blend in, and slowly move farther from the center of the chaos. That may be easier said than done depending on who is rioting and who you are. No matter the scale of the riot you will need to try and make yourself as unimportant to the masses as possible, and like TN said in most big cities no one gives a second thought to the homeless if you can blend in with those guys you should be able to move around with little problem. So ditch eveything that you can, blend in, get into E&E mode, and you may make it back home to see your loved ones.

[mannyrock]

  This is an interesting thread.

  I worked as a business man in downtown Memphis for 30 years.  When I drove home at night, I had to drive through some really really bad getto neighborhoods, almost third world.  I talked to one of my metro-sexual partners, and asked what he would do if his car broke down in one of those neighborhoods. (He drove a Lexus).  He said he would just lock the doors, call for triple-A, and wait for them to arrive.  I assured him that he would be shot in the head and dragged out of his car long before triple-A ever got there. 

  Here was my solution.  I drove a medium aged Camry, with no frills.  I kept in the trunk my 30 year old torn-up Army jacket, a ragged knit cap,  a pair of gloves, and a hunting knife with a standard 4 inch drop point blade.  I never had to employ the strategy, but my plan was that if the car broke down, I would immediatley ditch my tie and suit coat in the front seat, abandon the vehicle, pop the trunk, and put on the old coat and cap and gloves, all in about 30 seconds.   I would then truck my hunting knife in my belt, with the keeper unsnapped, and just calmly "shuffle" down the street like any homeless person or wino.    Within 6 to 8 blocks, I am sure that I could have found a bar or store of some type, to seek some shelter and call for a ride.  The main thing would be: get off the streets as fast as you possibly can!