How did I miss this at the top of the page?This post is for information and entertainment purposes only.
Defense and Protection:
Sturdy Clothing, camping gear and footwear:
I recall a old test where you were allowed only a knife and a cup to survive for three days.
After three days they went looking for you and you got to tell how you made out, they experts said you can go for years with just the knife and a cup. There are other skills needed to pull it off.
1) To build a shelter (if you don't have a home, or BOL and you're in survival mode) you will need a big knife, Bowie, or hatchet. You could break limbs but honestly breaking big green limbs for the "foundation" while it can be done is a real chore. And you're going to need several blades for different tasks.
In my early twenties, I took a survival course for a few days during the summer in the UP of Michigan. An ax is better than most knives in that environment!
For the last test, I think I had a tin cup, a coffee can with a wire handle, a hatchet, a pocket knife, a lighter, a camping spoon and fork (fit together and folded), plus a few tea bags and instant soup packets. I might've had some twine or wire, too. I don't really remember. Everything had to fit into the coffee can, although the hatchet could stick up.
We weren't worried about water purification. That came several years later.
We were supposed to construct a shelter, build a fire, signal for help . . . there was probably other stuff.
I was with another gal who had done a lot of camping. I think we did okay, but I remember thinking that there was no way I'd want to attempt any of that during a Michigan winter! And the following fall, I added to the winter gear that I usually carried in my car: I took the cold/rain a lot more seriously after that.
I wouldn't want to attempt that test now! I suppose that I remember enough to keep myself alive, but this is why
I stay out of the back country, and I sure wouldn't evacuate there under most circumstances.
Geez, this sounds like one of those lists a kid would make for a YA zombie survival story. It isn't until they run into the crabby ol' codger with a shotgun and bowie knife that they actually stand a chance at surviving.
As been driven home here, mindset, skillset, toolset. Ranks in front of three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food.......God guns n grub, guys n gals..the new five G network.Without this everything else is meaningless.
J/B Weld is an item that I do not want to be without......Get the big tubes....a case if you can afford it....doesn't seem to do bad if you have it sitting on a shelf.
I thought it was 18, off to the store to buy one now....heck I'll buy two and be king.19 Rolls of duct tape!!!!
While in first world countries it's not a big deal any more, but in the old days Dysentery (bloody diarrhea, and severe dehydration) was a big deal. Partly due to drinking bad water. A big deal during the Civil War.We weren't worried about water purification. That came several years later.
I understand the guy had complications but "Into the Wild" learned that lesson in about 6 weeks.Sometimes in the winter with the wind really blowing, temp around 10*, and spitting a little snow as I sit in my warm house I think about people saying they will bug-out to the mountains and live off the land.
I understand the guy had complications but "Into the Wild" learned that lesson in about 6 weeks.
Sometimes in the winter with the wind really blowing, temp around 10*, and spitting a little snow as I sit in my warm house I think about people saying they will bug-out to the mountains and live off the land.
Wow, talk about population control! Who'd drink so-called water from a septic pool?? Grr-oss!The city water system going down with all it's filters. Especially if thy are pulling the water from rivers or septic pools
While in first world countries it's not a big deal any more, but in the old days Dysentery (bloody diarrhea, and severe dehydration) was a big deal. Partly due to drinking bad water. A big deal during the Civil War.
He was a full on narcissist, if the movie is to be believed, I didn't read the book but I think OC may have read it. He wouldn't listen to anyone, including the guy who took him to the edge of the wilderness and commented that a his bag of rice wouldn't last long at all, and the kid argued back that the survival books said it'd be enough... just not enough to survive a harsh winter in Alaska, in a school bus.
And, if I recall correctly, he was on the spectrum, as well.
So many preppers seem to prep to retain the status quo. True prepping is about survival. Survival depends completely on circumstances. Skills are probably more important than things.
I'm old so I'm not willing or able to bug out and my home is as prepped as an old lady can make it. Still, my survival will depend on circumstances i.e. weather, war, nuclear, health, timeframe, community plus a multitude of additional unknowable circumstances. Murphy's law being what it is, the one thing not prepped for is the most likely to bite us in the behind.
At this point in my life I feel the same as you, haven't consulted OC yet but I'm pretty sure he's thinking that bugging in is the way to go, unless war forces us to flee and then who knows.
Naw.....that's not a purse, like my husband, you have a possibles bag or a war bag.me too
and I,m a dude
Right now today there are thousands of unoccupied houses in the USA. In a collapse if I had no place to stay I would find one of those houses.
And this is why, when one does some research, a good many of the houses in Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas started out as basement units!Actually, in extreme cold, the basement is warmer than upstairs in a no heat situation. Not warm, mind you, but warmer.
And how many other homeless will be seeking the same solution?Right now today there are thousands of unoccupied houses in the USA. In a collapse if I had no place to stay I would find one of those houses.
Depends if those houses are in LA county or way off in a very rural area.And how many other homeless will be seeking the same solution?
Actually, in extreme cold, the basement is warmer than upstairs in a no heat situation. Not warm, mind you, but warmer.
I'll take the 3am to noon watch.And in the summers they are cool. Might have problems in high humidity areas.
My basement is finished and huge. Won't go below 60°, won't go above 70, without help. I've tested both. Humidity will be a problem if we get nothing but rain.
All honesty, sleeping out on the deck during the high temp/humid months would be best. Setting watch will be necessary but in that kind of "humanity down" situation you would have one anyway. You HAVE to sleep. No one ever prepares for that vital function
In my early twenties, I took a survival course for a few days during the summer in the UP of Michigan. An ax is better than most knives in that environment!
For the last test, I think I had a tin cup, a coffee can with a wire handle, a hatchet, a pocket knife, a lighter, a camping spoon and fork (fit together and folded), plus a few tea bags and instant soup packets. I might've had some twine or wire, too. I don't really remember. Everything had to fit into the coffee can, although the hatchet could stick up.
We weren't worried about water purification. That came several years later.
We were supposed to construct a shelter, build a fire, signal for help . . . there was probably other stuff.
I was with another gal who had done a lot of camping. I think we did okay, but I remember thinking that there was no way I'd want to attempt any of that during a Michigan winter! And the following fall, I added to the winter gear that I usually carried in my car: I took the cold/rain a lot more seriously after that.
I wouldn't want to attempt that test now! I suppose that I remember enough to keep myself alive, but this is why
I stay out of the back country, and I sure wouldn't evacuate there under most circumstances.
If you're drinking city water (from a tap) and don't know where you're water is coming from.............you may be drinking septic pool water.Wow, talk about population control! Who'd drink so-called water from a septic pool?? Grr-oss!
BFC
I remember that ceremony from my BS days.The Boy Scouts they has a subgroup called the "Order of the Arrow" and the tap out ceremony was impressive and only done at local Boy Scout group camp outs (many troops) and done at dusk just as it was getting dark and they had a huge bonfire that was lit by flaming arrows this was a huge deal to see who was going to get picked its not just kids but adults could be tapped out, had a leader going around tap someone and the brave's came running over the grab them and drag them over to where they would stand with who ever else was on the list for order of the arrow. Later you would be expected to do this test where you are only allowed to have a knife and a cup to survive and clothes on your back for three days.