What if we were forced back to the dark ages?

A Survivalist Nutter

.... I usually have enough food at my disposal for approximately two months. Enough drinking water for a similar amount of time is stored in 20 litre containers in my garage and is changed regularly. I also have the equivalent of two tanks full of diesel (in 20 litre containers) to enable me to travel over 1,000 miles if necessary.....
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That post seems as if its written by some survivalist nutter! :D
 
Coldfusion's provisions pale into insignificance when put against some people's precautions.

We, for instance, have at least 12 tins of Fray Bentos on the shelf in the nuclear shelter at the bottom of the garden....
 
We won't need to mine for ores for a couple of generations - within a couple of months there will be lots of empty houses and office blocks that can be stripped of their copper wiring, water piping, insulation, glass, etc already refined that can be recycled.

There will be enough shoes in abandoned shops and warehouses to last 5 - 10 years, so that we have the time to relearn the skills of proper cobbling. Ditto clothing. When the petrol/diesel runs out we'll go back to good old fashioned real horsepower.

There will be a run on all the libraries for all sorts of books on agrarian subjects, as well as simple things like animal husbandry. Info power generation will become of great value.

What we will lose is fast long-distance communications, so the size of communities will shrink back to what it was before electricity - large villages and small towns will be the norm, and many will protect themselves with walls as in the mediaeval period to protect what they have from roaming bands of have-nots, like the brigands who roamed France in the wake of the lost central control during the 100 Years war.
 
Dog dung + urine + brains [ each animal is supposed to have the required amount of brains to tan its own hide is the story. ]

I visited the outdoor tannery in Fez many years ago on a tour and the guide provided each of us with a handfull of fresh mint to breath through. Boy did we need it. It is a really smelly business. So much so that in olden days tanneries were not allowed inside towns.

The guide delighted in teling us the gruesome process much of which required workers to trample the skins for hours in huge vats. I wondered at the time what happens to the skin on their legs.
 
BrendanS said:
there are many of us on there with complimentary and overlapping skills, though I suspect the real issue would be who thought they were running the show, and stopping the aggressive big buggers that had no such skills, coming in and trying to take over, probably armed. That would mean having a military capacity of our own. MajorC - care to take on this role?
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I live out in the country, am well used to getting the genny connected and going and could make us self sufficient on power, wouldnt take much to set up a methane generator to fuel it eventually. There is a spring at the top of the garden and so water would be pretty easy. Protein, hmm, plenty of bunnies and sheep around, I suspect a few others would have the same idea and they wouldnt last long. Have a shotgun certificate but just a 410 at the mo. Wouldnt be much good for self defence, all it would take would be a hard man with an AK or similar to get to be king of the valley. The garden is big enough to grow a bit of stuff but learning the cycles and how to stop beasties eating it before you, hmm, need a good library as others have said. Internet no use now! Strangely enough nobody has talked about sailing off in our self contained little worlds!
Stu
 
You'd need a fairly long term strategy to just sail off. You'd need to make land at some point to replenish supplies, and all the equipment replacement you took for granted previously would have gone. New sails, grp repairs, who'd do them, and how would you pay for them?
 
BrendanS said:
You'd need a fairly long term strategy to just sail off. You'd need to make land at some point to replenish supplies, and all the equipment replacement you took for granted previously would have gone. New sails, grp repairs, who'd do them, and how would you pay for them?
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Ay, quite right, plus of course the harbour that you would be looking at would probably have guards trying to stop free loaders coming in to share their precious supplies.
Hmm more thought needed!
Stu
 
On the boaty survivalist issue, I recall an illuminating conversation in 1972 with the owner of the Plymouth boatyard where Mayflower Marina now sits, Old Harry B*.

We were sitting on a 'Golden Hind' after a friend's test sail - we were both in the RAF and the Cold War realities of the '4 Minute Warning' were close to the surface of our lives - and I remarked on the score of very well-appointed long distance cruisers sitting on the adjacent moorings. "Oh, those," remarked Harry. "I have a contract on all of them to keep the batteries charged up, the water fresh and each fully victualled, ready to go at the touch of a starter button. They all belong to senior civil servants, people at the MoD, up in London. We seldom see them.

I don't suppose they'll get much time...."

That changed my perspective. After that, my survival plan - should I not have a 'war role' - involved my nearest-and-dearest, a permanently-packed rucsac, a shotgun and my motor bike. My plan, should the signs and portents of deterioration into European nuclear conflict ramp up - and I firmly believed we in the military would see the several 'trigger points' before the general public - was to get down to a port in the South-West ( Plymouth or Dartmouth ), avoiding the grid-locked main roads, and simply take one of those self-sufficient 'escape capsules' out into the Atlantic and beyond.

In all survival situations, it is vital to recognise early what's happening and act before 'the herd'.

:cool:
 
When we've had early warnings of possible viral epidemics/pandemics, my plan was to head out of urban areas at first signs it went human to human airborne. It's never happened, but I was monitoring the signs far more closely than those who don't understand the possible dangers. I'm not a person that would panic early, or start stockpiling, I just have deeper understanding of viral issues than the general public, and the monitoring process. If I start panicking, then run! :)
 
sarabande said:
Coldfusion's provisions pale into insignificance when put against some people's precautions.

We, for instance, have at least 12 tins of Fray Bentos on the shelf in the nuclear shelter at the bottom of the garden....
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Is that on the principle that you'll NEVER be hungry enough to fancy opening one? And that one look at the shelf will quell any hunger pangs there may be?
 
peterb said:
Pulled out some old photos today. One (1947) was of brother and self in scout uniform, showing King's Scout badge. One of the requirements, IIRC, was to catch, kill, skin, cook and eat a rabbit. Would probably be illegal today!
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Actually the Hampshire Scouts are in the Lakes this week for their annual jamboree and have asked for 6 rabbits for their backwoods cooking training. The killing bit is apparently against scouting principles now???
 
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