Would you survive?

[Kiid]

society has failed and there is no money left in the world and no government. Would you survive? What would you do for food what would you do? O.o

[monk]

society has failed and there is no money left in the world.

You've been to England, then?

[Pix]

From the sound of it I think my rural upbringing, including on a marginally successful farm (that had to make do with very little supplemented by some hunting, fishing, foraging, all of which I've learned to do even if I personally learned to hunt later), among other things would finally see some real use in this world. That, and learning to navigate the somewhat anarchic world of runaways & gangs as well as mixing for awhile among some survivalists would help me deal with the social sitch as well.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. But I'd stay out of the cities without good reason and try hooking up with people I knew in a rural community (the family farm is another possibility but I imagine in your scenerio the fundies would bring back the Dark Ages fast so that might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire and would thus think carefully about it and preferably get some gossip from travelers about what I might expect there).

Just out of curiosity, what inspired this question? :confused:

[dfiant]

do you need something other than protein to survive?

[EvenOlderButWiser]

Im a born survivor

ObW
X

[jamiebfd]

I sometimes wonder how COOL it would be to have to devolve back to being a hunter gatherer. The food would be fresher, more rewarding and totaly worth it lol.
If the government falls apart...doesnt mean society will.
Im sure people will still keep that human nature and either kill each other or help each other.
After all theres billions of us. =lots of food lol
So last resort.....canibalism :p

[Lalo]

I have a one year supply of stored food plus emergency supplies as well as water storage. If any sort of catastrophe occurs, like Pix, I would be getting away from the city.

No...this doesn't make me crazy...or a doomsdayer or any such thing. I work in Quality Control and part of my work involves developing an emergency response plan and a plan to shelter-in-place. After investigating it and educating myself, it actually makes a lot of sense and also is a recommendation for all private citizens from the US government.

Due to changes in our society in the past 50 years, most people operate without significant food storage. This is a huge change from the past. As society developed, one of the great strengths of most groups was the ability to store food. Root cellars, and food preservation methods like canning, dehydrating, smoking, curing and pickling actually allowed our society to develop and expand. It makes perfect sense.

I have a storage pantry stocked with canned and dehydrated foods for emergencies. I rotate the foods out and actually use them so that nothing goes to waste. Our household can support 4 people without power and completely independently for a full year.

[jimcrackcorn]

I'd plant a garden first, then eat my neighbors until the garden starts producing. A big butt may look sexy right now, but when your hungry,,, well,,,, it takes on a whole new look at that point (yum).

Count your lucky stars - none of you are my neighbors!!!!!

Just kidding, I'd probably be the hungriest old dog in the neighborhood.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I can and dehydrate a lot of my own food. I most likely could make a flour substitute from acorns - I have the basic knowledge. Right now we are on the lower end of the food cycle, but its spring and planting season is upon us.

I have a garden, been doing that for oh 15 years now? While I raise just a few vegetables at this time, leaving things like wheat, corn, oats to the big farms - I do have the tools and skills and currently the space to enlarge my 'farm' area to include such staples.

I get my eggs from the 'chicken lady' down the road. I won't say I buy the occasional chicken from her because that is against FDA regulations. I will say that I have exchanged things like zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes for eggs (and chickens)

In my teens I lived with my father who 'went back to nature' and we lived without things like running water (well it ran if you ran out to the well and ran back with buckets of water), no electricity and heating and cooking with a wood burning cook stove. We raised chickens, pigs, goats, ducks, geese, rabbits for food. My father was 'strict' Organic, meaning no pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers. We raised corn and other grains by hand (no tractor involved) to feed the chickens, ducks, small critters. Yes it is hard word, no I wouldn't want to do it, but I can and have sufficient knowledge to keep a small flock of chickens for eggs (mostly) and a few friers.

I apply organic gardening methods to my veg garden.

I know how to hunt with firearms and with a bow. I used a 60# longbow for many years. Back on the 'farm' I also learned how to hit a moving target while on a moving horse with my then 40# short bow for small game. Its tricky.

I'm uncertain if I can use a bow now. My left arm is far weaker than in decades pass. The last time I tried My left hand sort of lost its grip when I pulled back. I would have to relearn how to lock my arm and hand on a bow and figure out a way to keep the left arm from shaking so much when a 60# bow. I most likely can still use a 40# bow with little to no problem. Of course that takes large game (like deer) off the menu.

I know how to dress a carcass (gut and skin). Chicken through deer. I also have the basic idea on how to tan/preserve a hide - it may take me a few brains and a few skins before I get it sorted enough to have usable hides.

I have other "useless" skills, such as I know how to make lye with ashes, water and an egg - I also know how to render fat and mix that lye to make soap. I could make simple 'soft' candles from rendered fats.

I know how to spin fibers into thread both by bare hands and on a spinning wheel - Yes that last is a totally useless skill since I don't have a spinning wheel. But I had the chance to learn and thought it would be cool. Yeah I'm a nerd.

I have taken raw wood and converted it to usable charcoal. From there I know exactly how to make a sand and charcoal water filter. Did that a bit more often than I care to admit. My father wanted to use charcoal for his car stove. Oh yeah, he built a little wood burning stove for his car because the heater went out on the car. He decided that charcoal burnt cleaner and hotter instead of wood. Guess who got to convert hard wood into charcoal.

I have oil lamps and about a year's worth of lamp oil - if I'm not careful - if I ration it longer. I have at least 5 years supply of wicks and know what native species around here would render the best fiber for making more wick. I also know how to get oil out of olives, walnuts, acorns that would do as an albeit sooty, but decent lamp oil.

I know how to take raw materials and make arrows. I used to make them as a pastime, including using 'found' feathers and pine and willow branches. I most likely could make a bow - never actually tried it, but I know enough of the basics that I could manage a simple long bow.

I know how to make white lightening - corn alcohol. I learned back in Kentucky from a very wise man who made his own moonshine for decades. Yes illegally. I know enough to refine that down to fuel grade alcohol.

I have doctoring skills. I successfully removed a bullet from a patient (Yes illegally) He didn't die - well he died later from too much lead on the brain since he couldn't seem to keep from being shot at . I know enough CPR to keep a person alive, I know how to sew and I have a few suture kits around here. I know how to set a broken bone properly and how to splint. If push came to shove and I had the plaster and cloth/gauze, I could make a cast.

I might be able to keep you from dying from general infections without antibiotics. Its iffy, depending on how back and what form of infection and what herbs/plants are available.

I could probably do a 'minor' amputation on a human being and the patient survive. never did it, but my knowledge of basic anatomy and the many carcasses I have dressed gives me a basic enough idea on the subject. Not saying I would want to... but if it was necessary I most likely could.

I have a lot of hand powered tools. Such as a crank driven drill, hand saws, hand planes and the like. If the power went away today I could make most anything from wood - a bit crudely in most areas, but suitable and strong, even without nails.

I know wind and water power. I have the skills to make a working waterwheel that could be used to lift water or used to power machinery directly. I might be able to make an alternator/DC generator if push comes to shove I know the basics - never tried it. But mechanical use of power - sure that is well within my skill set.

I did the whole 'Only with the cloths on your back and a knife' survival thing in the woods as a 'kid'. I didn't like it much, but I have enough skills and knowledge of what plants can be eaten in survival that I can stay alive in a temperate area. I'm most likely screwed in the tropics, desert or frozen waste land setting.

[Nick9]

hmm, I didn't know Bear Grylls was gay... I learn something new everyday