Important Skills

Rockdoc
Mountain Legend

25 Apr 2011 18:08 #11 by Rockdoc

Replied by Rockdoc on topic Important Skills

AspenValley wrote:
Rockdoc Franz wrote: Basically we are talking about choosing between survival and technological skills. Such a choice is obvious in my book. I'll take survival skills any day. Any fundamental skill, growing food, building a home, knowing how to cook, build a fire, hunt etc. carry far more value when push comes to shove. Even in today's world, knowing how to survive on little allows you to get through the hard times.

I totally agree.

People think they understand the technological world because they can work their gizmos but how many actually understand the underlying technology? I think there are an awful lot of people out there walking around with a totally false sense of competence.

And when it comes to the survival skills you mention, so few people know how to build a home or even cook from scratch these days that we've almost become like that old Star Trek episode where people were living in a world where they had totally forgotten how to provide their own basic necessities.

You totally encapsulate what our future would look like if a catastrophe were to occur that wiped out many specialists. Basically, it is what occurs in all ecological communities. When stressed, the specialists are the first to die off and the generalists survive to live on.
I couldn't agree more with your statement about a false sense of competence. Unless you know how to make the silicon chips that go into a computer, assemble them into relevant circuits, and then add the software to make it all go, you know nothing meaningful about a computer. Wipe out the existing technology and only someone with those requisite skills would be able reintroduce technology in short order.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Local_Historian
Mountain Legend

25 Apr 2011 21:19 #12 by Local_Historian

Replied by Local_Historian on topic Important Skills

I'm a first setter - except the running part. Always have been. Blame my family.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

HEARTLESS
User is blocked

26 Apr 2011 06:27 #13 by HEARTLESS

Replied by HEARTLESS on topic Important Skills

Knowing the old ways is always valuable. Anything that makes one more self reliant is very important.

The silent majority will be silent no more.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Grady
Mountain Legend

26 Apr 2011 07:31 #14 by Grady

Replied by Grady on topic Important Skills

If I may, over on ahwbound.com a survival skills and tips thread has been running for a while. I wouldn’t take everything as gospel but some of the posts might get you thinking about the “what if”.

Link to the thread on ahwbound.com Note: ahwbound is another [url=http://www.communitiesbound.com:19qisj2e]communties bound site[/url]

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Rick
Mountain Legend

26 Apr 2011 12:50 #15 by Rick

Replied by Rick on topic Important Skills

IMO, we have used technology as a substitute for using our brain to it's fullest potential. Without TV, internet,and cell phones, this country would crash and burn. Only those of us who have lived hard times and know how to survive and adapt will make it when the poop hits the fan...and we all know it will eventually.

Guns and bullets got us to where we are now, they will be a very valuable commodity one day when the meltdown begins.

The left is angry because they are now being judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

ComputerBreath
Mountain Legend

27 Apr 2011 11:02 #16 by ComputerBreath

Replied by ComputerBreath on topic Important Skills

I'm curious how many people have a corded phone in their house? I do not have a cell phone...in my mind right now it is just an added expense I can't afford. I have had them in the past, but really do not like being attached to a lead all the time. My home land-line is cordless, but if need be, I do have a corded telephone in my house.

How many people have a flashlight and extra batteries and/or candles to provide light should the power go out? How many people have an alternate way of cooking their food if they can't get propane for the cooking stove or if the electricity goes out?

I remember a lot of times when I was a little girl when the power would go out on the plains of Colorado. My mom had a large candleabra that we put on the dining room table in front of a piece of tin my dad had cut and we would play board games (usually Yahtzee) until it was time for bed or the power came back on. I look upon those times with fondness.

And I find that GPS units, while helpful in cities, are not so helpful in rural areas. Relying on one way of doing anything isn't a smart idea.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

ScienceChic
Mountain Champion

27 Apr 2011 13:03 #17 by ScienceChic

Replied by ScienceChic on topic Important Skills

We have cordless phones in the house, but 2 corded phones in storage in the crawl space in case of emergency. As much as I would love to lose the Qwest land-line, I won't do it. I am dropping Sprint long distance though.

I have never hunted so if everything went south, I'd be missing meat for a while (unless I could barter with others!), but I can grow just about anything. My only problem is that I don't have enough land to grow enough for the whole family - that would be nice. We have a gas grill that's hooked into the house gas line, but what if that went down too? Everyone would buy up all the propane tanks available, use them up, and then be left with no options again. Back to building wood fires, which means cutting down trees and hauling them back home. Can do that, but what a drastic lifestyle change - back to survival as job #1, and no more "going to the office" jobs.

I can't recall the title right this minute, but several years ago friend told me about a book she'd just read that was all about how urban dwellers would mostly starve if our infrastructure were to collapse - they wouldn't find access to enough food if there's nothing in the grocery stores. Rural dwellers and even commercial farmers would have to adjust quickly though, and if it's winter time, yikes. It was a sobering thought at how dependent we have become, and how difficult it would be to cope if a service like a grocery store were to be gone overnight (not saying that the world's coming to an end, just that learning a few more self-reliance skills might not be a bad thing)). It helped spur me to buying into a CSA and getting canning shares and beginning to can again like I did with my parents as a kid on our farm. We stock enough food to last us for 1-2 months, and yes, we have flashlights and candles galore around (I'm addicted to PartyLite!, but we've made our own before too), but no emergency radio, must get that. Thanks for the heads-up on the survival thread on ahwbound, Grady - I'll check that out for sure!

"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

AspenValley
Topic Author
Mountain Legend

27 Apr 2011 13:15 #18 by AspenValley

Replied by AspenValley on topic Important Skills

A book that some of you might enjoy is called "Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology" , written by an MIT graduate who takes a year living in an Amish-like community with no cars, no electricity, no power tools. Very interesting.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.