Skills to know?

[creativetwinszoo]

So on the topic of prepardness and its many forms~

Housespouse n I were talking the other day about if a dire shtf situation occurred what would be good skills to know?
Say hypothetically there was some sort of major collapse or fallout of gov, military and state that would take some months to years to fix? Aside from being able to use a gun or varied wepon what would be a skill that would be useful to know or would have you likely to invite someone to join your survival group because they know it?

 

[baymule]

I have books about herbal medicine, so knowing what weeds and herbs could be used for medicine would be useful. Making moonshine for extracting the medicinal qualities for a tincture would be a huge bonus. Pass the jug.....hic

 

[baymule]

Dehydrating foods, pull off two window screens, place food between and set in shade or sun, depending on climate.

So a good sense of making do with one had would be a good trait.

 

[baymule]

GARDENING! And knowing how to preserve food for the winter.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Knowing how to butcher would be a necessary skill if you were able to harvest animals.

 

[Britesea]

Something DH and I were talking about just this morning... Communication would be crucial. Being a HAM would be very useful, especially if you knew Morse code, which could be used over long distances even if repeaters were not available.

Other good skills:
Medical Professional
Welder and/or Blacksmith, Farrier
Plumber, Mechanic
Wood Working and other Building techniques (cob, masonry) , Wainwright and Cooper
Basket Making
Spinning, Weaving, Knitting, Crochet, Sewing, and Rope Making, tying Knots of all kinds
Baking using a Clay Oven, knowing how to make and use sourdough
How to use a Compass and Topographical Map
Reloading Ammo and making Black Powder
Fishing
Animal Husbandry, Draft Animal Training
Candle Making, Soap Making
Water Dowser (some actually seem to have the knack)

A lot of these could be learned through the many Historical Recreation groups out there

 

[Marianne]

Britesea listed what I was thinking!

Our oldest son has taken two wilderness survival classes, plus first responder wilderness. He's taken teens through the backwater parts of India where they lived on the land or stayed in small villages where there was no electricity. I was amazed at the stuff I learned from him. The man can make a zillion knots for whatever need you have and can do a lot of things with just a tarp and a length of para cord.

Oh Mer Gerd.. I forgot about the moonshine! I even have a recipe for that. hahahaha Very important stuff. Medicinal, a good barter item and if you need some kind of emergency nasty type surgery, that might be your only pain killer. And don't be stingy.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Water purification. My son took supplies to make water purification systems out of 5 gal spackle buckets when he went on a mission trip to one of the Central America countries. Used varying grades of sand, charcoal, I think some hay or straw as filter media.

Gleaning food from the land. Gardening. Sewing. Tanning leather. Growing your own meat. Processing meat from farm or hunting. Have a self sustaining flock of chickens. Perhaps a few guinea hens.

Make and use a rocket stove.

 

[wyoDreamer]

In my point of view - I have Jesus in my life, just not religion. Hopefully, that will be enough.

 

[Beekissed]

If the freezer goes out, do you lose your harvest? How long could you survive in cold weather without the furnace? Is there enough canned food available at your house right now to make it not only through this year, but through another year of crops before you could grow more? And what will you feed your animals?

This...and I agree, the time to be prepared for simple emergencies is now, as these types of emergencies arise all the time~just common sense to be prepared for such as those. Experience has taught me not to freeze foods here...power can go out for 2 wks at a time and did one summer not too long ago. The 50 CX birds I had in the freezer to can later were all lost to me. Hard work and a lot of money gone in 2 wks time. Now everything gets canned right away, if possible.

Everyone who had generators found out real quick and in a hurry that gas was hard to come by during that time, so generators are not a great solution for some regions.

Now, hardly anyone has enough food canned to get one through a year of eating...few have cellars that big any longer~or cellars at all, nor the jars to put up that kind of food, nor the space to store it. Most don't even have a garden that could provide all of that, so that's not truly going to happen for most people nowadays.

Most don't even have land enough to have livestock on hand to feed them for a year's time, but those that do have livestock....do you have a system setup wherein they can range for most of their food in warmer months? If not, the time to set that up is now and not when an emergency hits.

Are you growing food and canning it up all year? If not, the time is now if you want to have a variety of food that is not dependent upon electricity.

Do you have extra water drawn up and stored, a way to catch rain for watering of stock? Best time to do that is now.

Got a way to heat your home that doesn't depend on the grid? Good time to set up something and get in some wood or fuel that can supplement you through emergencies.

The best time to live like there is no electricity or running water is before there is no electricity or running water. Then you have a system in place, you are used to doing without those conveniences and a temporary emergency due to weather and such isn't a hardship.