Hey guys...
I'm a bit intrigued by the survivalist thought process! The more hours I spend pondering the "time" spent living off the land the more I realize how unprepared I am if I was put in a position to do so!
I'm pondering, not so much by choice... but because its something thats been placed on my frontal lobe, gotta point up to the big guy for that one. I'm not particularly sure why, I just have a feeling I need to have an intimate understanding of roughing it, for the long term.
I've been thinking timelines:
1 month, No problem... if a home is available... piece of cake. Food, water... take a vacation.
2 months... 2 months for a semi-urban location to me means a mad max type envrionment. Those without the skills to surivive will simply "take."
1 year. Food? Water? Shelter? Tools wearing out... For sure a need to not be "Roughing it" but to be living through it.
Life time. Axes, Saws, Knives... metal bits... no way to stock a pantry for that long. More "nomadic" because the shear volume of wood... to keep warm in a home would strip the land bare for miles in a lifetimes worth of work!
I've been playing the what ifs... Without the background knowledge of the topics that I'm creating! I havent ever cut down a tree with an axe, nor dig a well with a shovel, raise a barn... milk a cow, or anything that would give me a foundation to feel prepared!
I do know, that in a survival situation, a garden will need to be tended to... without a tractor... or a horse. A hoe doesnt stay sharp forever... handles break, files wear out!
My "Consumption" lifestyle hasnt been pressed to need to be creative in these areas, My current line of thought being a to aquire the tools needed to get the job done. Probably brought on by my time spent under cars... but to a point that doesnt work in a survival type environment! You cant carry multiples of everything needed to farm, repair, rebuild... all on your person! You cant assume that you'll be near home, or that home is even there. You cant stockpile in one place alone... yet you may have no way to get to the outpost except by foot!
So many questions... So few to easily answer!
To get to the point! (Did I ramble at all?) I'm wondering what kind of "tools" do "we" need to survive, at a reasonably comfortable level... Our Founding Fathers did a great job without electricity. Many works of art were done without access to running water...
From what I can come up with:
A way to fell a tree: Axe (Saw may be hard to sharpen.)
To access water: A larger than normal well. One with both pipes for electrical pumps and manual.
To Garden: Shovels, Hoes ( Not that kind of hoes...) and rakes.
To mend: A way to spin cotton, or other fibrous plants into a thread... a way to weave cloth, MANY needles!
To protect: Firearms... need projectiles. Projectiles are like batteries, hard to aquire when needed! Swords... Dont think so. I think the best protection, is to not be noticed!
Clothing? Pioneers liked leather, hikers dont like cotton... hard to figure out!
I hope, to never need the skills I'm talking about... but if "we" ever do... we'll need them badly!
Food, Water, Shelter... easier said than done from what I can tell! TIME is the enemy! TIME wears the tools, the moral, and US out!
Thanks for listening to my rant...
I'm a bit intrigued by the survivalist thought process! The more hours I spend pondering the "time" spent living off the land the more I realize how unprepared I am if I was put in a position to do so!
I'm pondering, not so much by choice... but because its something thats been placed on my frontal lobe, gotta point up to the big guy for that one. I'm not particularly sure why, I just have a feeling I need to have an intimate understanding of roughing it, for the long term.
I've been thinking timelines:
1 month, No problem... if a home is available... piece of cake. Food, water... take a vacation.
2 months... 2 months for a semi-urban location to me means a mad max type envrionment. Those without the skills to surivive will simply "take."
1 year. Food? Water? Shelter? Tools wearing out... For sure a need to not be "Roughing it" but to be living through it.
Life time. Axes, Saws, Knives... metal bits... no way to stock a pantry for that long. More "nomadic" because the shear volume of wood... to keep warm in a home would strip the land bare for miles in a lifetimes worth of work!
I've been playing the what ifs... Without the background knowledge of the topics that I'm creating! I havent ever cut down a tree with an axe, nor dig a well with a shovel, raise a barn... milk a cow, or anything that would give me a foundation to feel prepared!
I do know, that in a survival situation, a garden will need to be tended to... without a tractor... or a horse. A hoe doesnt stay sharp forever... handles break, files wear out!
My "Consumption" lifestyle hasnt been pressed to need to be creative in these areas, My current line of thought being a to aquire the tools needed to get the job done. Probably brought on by my time spent under cars... but to a point that doesnt work in a survival type environment! You cant carry multiples of everything needed to farm, repair, rebuild... all on your person! You cant assume that you'll be near home, or that home is even there. You cant stockpile in one place alone... yet you may have no way to get to the outpost except by foot!
So many questions... So few to easily answer!
To get to the point! (Did I ramble at all?) I'm wondering what kind of "tools" do "we" need to survive, at a reasonably comfortable level... Our Founding Fathers did a great job without electricity. Many works of art were done without access to running water...
From what I can come up with:
A way to fell a tree: Axe (Saw may be hard to sharpen.)
To access water: A larger than normal well. One with both pipes for electrical pumps and manual.
To Garden: Shovels, Hoes ( Not that kind of hoes...) and rakes.
To mend: A way to spin cotton, or other fibrous plants into a thread... a way to weave cloth, MANY needles!
To protect: Firearms... need projectiles. Projectiles are like batteries, hard to aquire when needed! Swords... Dont think so. I think the best protection, is to not be noticed!
Clothing? Pioneers liked leather, hikers dont like cotton... hard to figure out!
I hope, to never need the skills I'm talking about... but if "we" ever do... we'll need them badly!
Food, Water, Shelter... easier said than done from what I can tell! TIME is the enemy! TIME wears the tools, the moral, and US out!
Thanks for listening to my rant...
