useful skills

[patandchickens]

So, out of curiosity, what do you think are the 3-5 most useful skills you have (in terms of being prepared to cope with power loss, national emergency, Great Depression II, whatever); and what are the 3-5 skills that you would most like to acquire to be even better prepared?

For me, I'd say: HAVE: adequate level of skill in cooking, gardening, sewing; reasonable experience building and repairing mostly-wooden stuff using hand tools; and I think a fair flair for finding ways to make most anything out of most anything else, within reason.

COULD USE: knowledge (I have none) of how to repair/alter small electric motors; knowledge of how to make/modify small electric generating systems (again, I lack Clue One); much better skills/fitness for felling and sawing/chopping up trees; and better skills at gettin' people to like me enough to not be the first person voted off the island so to speak <g>

How 'bout you?

Pat

 

[user251]

i have the ability to "do it yourself" which i think is priceless these days, i can use common sense which is also rare or so it seems, i can fish and hunt for food, and adapt to the situation which came from military training. i would like to be more skilled in using hand tools like planes, hand saws etc. i would like to know more about herbal remedies and would like to know how to make shine, cause us ole boys need us a drink now and again.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm with you, Pat. I have the basic homesteader skills as well. I also have a good bit of medical experience, so that would come in handy.

I think my greatest skill, in a time when everyone has to do without the basic necessities of life, is the fact that I used to live that way and know what to expect and how to deal with it.

I know how to rig up a gravity shower, how to wash hair and body in one pan of water, how to go to bed with the chickens and get up with them as well~to save lamp oil, how to work all day in the rain or sun without wilting like a flower, how to do a little of everything to survive...all these little things would come in handy when the chips are down. Just the simple ability to be content when you don't have what you used to have and the ability to adapt under any situation. Not a skill, really, but a great thing to possess, nonetheless.

 

[poppycat]

My best skill is confidence that I can and will make it.

Also, I can cook darned near anything over an open fire. I bet I could even can in a water bath over a campfire. I can also build said fire and light it with a flint.

I know which plants are edible, which are not.

I can garden.

I can fix a lot of stuff.

I can live without the stuff I can't fix.

I think attitude is EVERYTHING. If you give up, you won't make it. If you can keep your spirits up and keep plugging along, you'll do ok.

 

[Cassandra]

Hrm...

HAVE:
1.) I am very resourceful. (can cook a decent meal with a few basic ingredients, can look at a pile of junk of figure out useful things to make with it.)
2.) I can fish & gather food (including skinnin' & guttin')
3.) I know basic first aid (wound care & minor illness, etc. including natural and home remedies.)
4.) I don't mind getting dirty and staying dirty! (Reminded of a girl who asked me last week how on earth we took a bath after hurricane Gustav left us without power... it was only out for two days!)
5.) I can use basic tools (hammer, screw driver, knife) and understand the concept of basic machines (wheel, lever, pulley)

NEED:
1.) I would like to be able to hunt and make use of all animal parts... make clothing from their hides and threads from their sinew.
2.) I would like to be able to propogate plants without having to go buy seeds or transplants.
3.) I need to move to a place where the weather is more moderate all year round, because I really hate to be too hot or too cold.

Cassandra

 

[poppycat]

Oops what skills would make me better prepared?

I wish I could butcher animals without gagging/sobbing. Same goes for hunting.

I also get really irritable when I'm hungry. Probably not the best in a survival scenario.

I can't sew to save my life.

 

[Cassandra]

P. S. Pat, if we are ever in a disaster together, I promise not to let everyone else eat you (first.)

Cassandra

 

[Beekissed]

MY most useful skill, of course, is that I have a very slow metabolism and have plenty of fuel stored on my person...heck, I could last a few months without eating a bite!

But then....I would constantly have to defend my buxom behind against all you hungry, skinny folks!

 

[punkin]

I can hunt and fish. I could butcher if I really, really, really had to.

I can save my own seeds and grow most anything.

I can preserve what I grow.

I can cook over an open flame.

I could ration myself.

I'm not afraid of hard work or getting dirty.


I would like to have basic carpentry skills, engine repair skills, sewing skills and be able to butcher an animal I have become aquainted with.

 

[Cassandra]

MY most useful skill, of course, is that I have a very slow metabolism and have plenty of fuel stored on my person...heck, I could last a few months without eating a bite!

But then....I would constantly have to defend my buxom behind against all you hungry, skinny folks!

I'm with you, Beekissed. Don't have to worry about starving to death right off the bat.

Cassandra