Raw skills or equipment, discuss

[kyelkhunter3006]

Hey ky, I do understand what you're saying.  And, yes, I think usable skills are very important.  What I'm keying in on is the short run up time.  With only 30 days, I would still focus on obtaining supplies.  As far as what ifs, what if you broke your arm 3 days in?   At least with the supplies, you could easily eat until you heal (kind of hard to rub two sticks together with one arm).   

What if you broke your arm while away from the supplies?  And you can't get back to them?   

We all know we're on the same page.  I have no doubt that any of us could survive and do what we have to do to get it done.

[Dee]

When the Indians gathered acorns they wanted 600 lb per person I have read. If white oak was short, the red oaks took a lot more leaching. I believe it would be easy to starve trying to live on leached out bitter pecans. eddie

eddie, not to argue but the American Indian didn't have a set of scales to weigh anything, and were most likely just as interested in scales as they were a watch. What the Indian did have was an over whelming sense of COMMON SENSE. If they found something that worked, the stayed with it. They were hunter-gathers in the truest sense, and would stock pile, not by the pound, as they had no idea how much a pound was, but by the ability to store as much as was possible, and available.
Part of the reason my people (Cherokee) are so susceptible to Diabetes is that our digestive system was, and is, extremely efficient. The American Indian might go 5 or 6 days without eating, due to availability of food, but when given the chance to eat would gorge themselves, as they did not know when they might eat again.
This digestive system of ours is TOO EFFICIENT for the rich diet that has developed over the last half century and if you go to an Indian clinic as I do, you will see rampant diabetes sitting in the lobby, and no it is not from sitting on their asses and getting a government check. I went thru a 40 minute lecture from my Indian Doctor last Friday, urging me to lose about 25 lbs, and watch my diet.
As American, and I am now not just talking about American Indians, have forgotten how little we really need. The simple things, offer more satisfaction, and gratification. You don't need a tractor to have a garden, and you don't need a long range rifle to kill a deer in Montana. What we need is SKILL, with what we have, instead of more electronic technology that could fail us when we need it.
An example is: the average city kid, or even urban kid could not build a shelter, OR A FIRE, if you handed them a tarp, and an entire box of kitchen matches. Common sense is not all that common anymore. Folks like you and I need to "network" and trade information and skills.

[blind ear]

Dee,

I think they used the woven baskets they stored things in to make thier average "guess".

Diabetes is going up in the entire population and it is suggested that high fructose corn syrup has a lot to do with it. Something about the body not properly recognizeing it and it not causeing a full sensation or something of that nature. High fructose is the most used sweetener for processed foods.

 eddie

[teamnelson]

If you knew you had 30 days, then chances are other folks will as well ... so it will already be on like donkey kong! Good luck stocking up.  This is a 0-60 scenario ... hopefully most of us are at 25-45, and would just need to nudge the pedal a mite.

Skill (ability to use valuable knowledge) will always be more valuable than gear, but I think balance is in order. I would stock up on what I could, and learn what I could in the time remaining. Books are great. Makes me chuckle, I have a hard drive full of prep related manuals, started getting hard copies a few years back while in Djibouti and the power goes out and my bush med manual is inacessible. Yep, not ideal. Now I have a bunch on my ipod which I can charge with a crank charger. Still not ideal - but I can't carry around as many books as I can fit on an 4oz ipod plus a crank radio/usb charger. But that bettery will fail one day ... you see the dilemma? Lots of "gear" oriented folks will find that the "gear" will not be as useful after a year or two; food spoils, parts break, etc. The skill to repair and maintain kicks in, but over that is the skill to create a replacement. But some of that gear sure makes life easier in the shorter run.

I think its a matter of EXPECTATION. What quality of life do you envision when you say survival? The indians didn't imagine eating Sun Dried Tomato Pesto over Penne noodles, like you can buy in 25# containers from the prep stores. I think the best thing you can do in 30 days is push your expectations re: quality of life as far down as you possibly can. Then learn and stock up accordingly. It all boils down to the basics - everything else is called "wealth."

[Dee]

Dee,

I think they used the woven baskets they stored things in to make thier average "guess".

Diabetes is going up in the entire population and it is suggested that high fructose corn syrup has a lot to do with it. Something about the body not properly recognizeing it and it not causeing a full sensation or something of that nature. High fructose is the most used sweetener for processed foods.

 eddie

Did you know that know one has every really done a study on whether hybrid corn or wheat is good for you, and that hybrid corn produces some type of enzyme that will eventually kill cattle if left unchecked? That ought to scare everyone.

[teamnelson]

Dee,
When I was pastoring in Southern Arizona I wandered into the local hippie greenie vegan organic meat-is-murder co-op and looked through their handouts. They are very concerned about human consumption of hybridized wheat/corn. I may not ascribe to all their ideals, but I did take note that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Big food won't of course release any data on that stuff, and preppers are stocking up on it by the ton. Kinda sad to survive the big one but get killed off by your food supply, or introduce birth defects into the drastically reduced gene pool because of frankenfoods. While living in a port in Africa I went a board a flour container ship, pumping tons of processed white flour from hybridized wheat into trucks for delivery to Ethiopia, courtesy of US AID and farm subsidies. I'll be curious to see if anybody reports increased disease or issues on down the road from that gift. Of course I think rice from China is just as tampered with.

I got no stake in the debate - I like my Big Mac just like the next fella, but I don't kid myself.

[joeinwv]

30 days is not enough time to do either sufficiently. Long term you need a skill set, as you can improvise, build, trade, replace everything else.

Goods can be stolen, burned, used up, etc. Knowledge cannot.

A garage full of AA batteries and MRE's will only get you so far.

The army analogy is okay, but I would much rather have a bushcrafter / trapper type with me than an army ranger.

[Scibaer]

give a man a fish , teach a man to fish ..
 its all about the skills.
 equip is no good if you dont know how to use it, but if you understand the basic concepts, you can fashion what you need
knowing bushman skills is far superior to having a kit that you cant replace or do with out

its not alot different then those fellas who build a survival shack out in the woods. now they are tied down, and may possibly need to defend it
 the mobile fella who can scavenge and move across the landscape needs not risk defending  or being tied to a location, when/if that location should be found or other wise compromised

[Hooker]

We can debate this skills and equipment thing to death but I believe that a limited amount of both will suffice.
Even if the major excrement strikes the oscillating rotisserie we will still at our disposal most if not all of man's existing technology.
We wont have to become bushmen , hermits, or fortress dwellers.  I know that sometimes the human being can be quite stupid but as a species it is very smart and very adaptable. We are the most adaptable creature God has created after all we were made in his image. The first 6 months after EOTWAWKI will be rough we will most likely lose  a very large portion of the worlds population. After that humans will start to pull it back together we wont fade quietly in the night and become extinct. Basic skills, equipment, and some stores will see you through.

Pat