Mountain man - Better Model for a Survival Situation

[Jamie6.5]

Well..... I can do all the above mentioned items, except welding, which would not work in most SHTF situations anyway. Both my son and daughter are learning from me.

The fact that you're teaching it is probably even more important than knowing it.

But it surprises me how few people under 40 know any of this stuff. And the number drops off even more for the under 30 crowd.

 

[Mistman]

That's where rural living gives you a leg up on the urban masses. You can't rely on anyone but yourself to get stuff done. My water line blew out a few weeks ago, right in the middle of that last cold spell we had. Who ya gonna call? Yeah, right. I put the line in myself, along w/the well, pump house and wiring. It's over 300 ft from the house down the hill along the driveway. Found the leak, used a pick and shovel (under the edge of the driveway) to get to the pipe. It didn't burst just blew apart at a junction. We were out of water for about 24 hours (have many gallons in reserve for drinking and flushing) before I got the line repaired. No big deal, just another winter in the woods. Stuff like that happens, on a regular basis. My shop has all the tools listed above in another thread and I most definitely know how to use them. I quartered an elk last weekend, packed it home (not that far) and will be butchering it tomorrow. Relied on nothing but my feet and a game cart.

Got chickens, we garden and can, cut wood, build fences, you know, all those things country people do. Kids born and raised out here know how to do all that stuff too. I'm not saying we're 100% ready if something should happen but we've got the knowledge and means and the self sufficient attitude to at least be a leg up on the competition. We'll figure things out as we go, you have to as no one knows what's going to happen in a particular situation until your living it.

I would say 80%+ of the people I work with won't make it in a bad situation and they have no concerns about anything other than where to find the best micro beer, tee time, vacations, good movies, etc... to them this is all crazy talk.

 

[Martini_Up]

This looks to be boiling down to urban vs rural comparison.

 

[Gator Monroe]

This looks to be boiling down to urban vs rural comparison.

If it all came down the numbers of folks not making it past 1 year is staggering , almost inconceivable , WW2 movie " The Pianist" is a good example of how bad it can get if things are drawn out ...

 

[Colts4me]

Just opinion again but it seems to me people can't see the change in the social structue due to the net. No longer do they have the face to face civility that helps them work together, no they learn their communication from a screen. The screen in front of you is one of your worst enemies while trying to be your best friend. It's an addiction like a pysco drug and when it's taken away what would folks do? Can they revert to being mountain men again? No once the crutch is gone they fall hard.

Survival will be not just learning from the past but knowing the future. You have to see whats' comming, you have to look around you and understand the world you are in.

 

[thorborg]

Well..... I can do all the above mentioned items, except welding, which would not work in most SHTF situations anyway. Both my son and daughter are learning from me.

While in the service a friends wife needed to go home to bear his child. This caused a two week cross country trip from Virginia to Northern California to bring their possessions home. An overloaded car, we had to jack it up and shove 2X4's into the springs to keep the tires from rubbing the fender wells. It was the summer of 1970 Some where in the corn fields mid west I welded a broken generator bracket on a overloaded Falcon Futura using jumper cables, the car battery, and a coat hanger for a welding rod. (and a jump start form a passer by)
While not a pretty sight it held for three states till we got to my friends home in eureka!
That same trip, in the middle of the rockies, we broke a universal joint, the drive line was jammed in to the transmission swinging violently ripped off the mufflers and beat one of the bearing rings out of round. My friend (car owner ) hitch hiked 60 miles to town and bought new universal joint and was placed in jail for hitch hiking. mean while some hippies stopped to help and wrapped a chain around the drive line and got it pulled out of the transmission. then left as they could do no more. the next after noon my friend showed up after convincing the buss driver on which the police put him on to get rid of him, to stop on a steep hill no less to let him off.
I remover the rubbers and rollers from the cups, built a fire lined by rocks in the direction of the fast winds and heated the bent bearing ring, using a tire iron, small hammer and a rock I could beat the cold cup into place.. Though not able to install the retainer on that side I was able to resemble the roller bearings from the other end with grease from the wheel bearings and reinstalled the axil. It too lasted from the top of the Rockies to Eureka albeit almost got busted in Vagas because we were really loud without mufflers and first gear seamed to be jammed. We made it to his home with all his possessions in time for his new son to be born.
All three times my friend was ready to give up, left on his own would have abandoned his car and possessions.
If you are a true survivor, never say it cant be done or your lost before you get started.
That trip we also blew the top of the radiator off, but that's another story.

 

[Jba]

next time you blow a u joint use pennys as bearings and drive the 6 miles. it may cost you 10 cents, butt what the he$$

 

[Mistman]

I've not read them yet but I'm really intrigued by the books 'One Minute After' and 'One Year After'. Fictional accounts based on the best information available regarding EMP strikes, whether natural or man made. From the little bit I've gleaned it's some pretty sobering stuff, like 90% of the population in danger of becoming incapable of survival. Think about what it would mean to have NO FUNCTIONING ELECTRONIC DEVICES what so ever. You wouldn't even be able to start and drive most cars. No pumps, no vehicles, no communication, probably even most generators wouldn't work if you could find a device to power up. Who knows how to run steam engines? Who's got an old hit and miss and a bunch of belts? Who knows how to declutter an engine to make it run? EMP's are scarier to me than a lot of other disasters that could befall us. The only thing I have w/out an electronic ignition anymore is my tractor but I know where some older motors/vehicles are and how to get them running.

Faraday cage...........

 

[P7M13]

This looks to be boiling down to urban vs rural comparison.

Not really. It boils down to mind sets: survivor or food.