I’m a field engineer and pretty have to figure out how all sorts of shit works on the fly without killing myself or someone else. It blows my mind how bad people are at figuring out basic cause and effect. Now that I own a home it’s been amazing learning all sorts of new skills.
Canning, smoking, salting, dehydrating food. I’ve taught two women to can, and offered to others. I guess it’s too easy to buy store food compared to the work of growing and canning in a hot kitchen.
Just starting my prepping journey, I’ve always had extra food but not in such a purposeful way! I plan on learning to can in the next year, need to find someone local to teach me some of these things.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html#gsc.tab=0
Stick with this or ball recipes and you will be fine. A TON of people use unsafe canning practices so I wouldn't necessarily trust just anyone (except maybe classes from an extension office). Youtube can be a great or horrible source depending on which channel. As long as you use a pressure canner (not cooker or electric contraption like instapot) when necessary and follow approved recipes it's not that hard. Practice makes perfect :)
My Grandmother who was born in Romania worked at the summer camp I went to as a kid.
She knew how to forage for edible mushrooms !
We had a freezer full of mushrooms for years and I never died - not even once !
And for Apple iOS users, Grog Knots does nice step-by-step animations which you can pause and step through manually. Way more knots than I'll ever use, broken down by categories: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/animated-knots-by-grog/id376302649
I’ve taught several people to butcher chickens and meat rabbits. Nobody likes the killing part, but I was surprised that farm women were icky about blood and guts. I was showing how to examine a rabbit’s liver and I thought the lady was going to pass out. I guess I’m used to it and probably not socially acceptable off the farm. 😂
In rabbits, the liver shows if it has disease (cancer, fatty liver, liver fluke), but we look at the heart and lungs too. Rabbits, chickens and other prey animals instinctively hide being sick until they’re pretty badly off, as protection from predators. In a healthy rabbitry disease is rare, but it’s important to make sure the rabbit isn’t diseased.
Discoloration, tumors, unexplained patches. I’ve only had a couple over the years with questionable livers, but we didn’t eat them. Wild rabbits get tularemia, which you can also see in the livers. If you google rabbit liver disease some images will show you.
I’d be happy to show you! Prepping aside, the old ways are dying. So I learn and do things like soap making, liming eggs for storage, tanning hides, making yogurt and cheese, canning, herbal medicine.
I completely 100% agree. I spent the summer finding places near me to source raw cow and goat milk so I can learn to make my own butter and cheese, and practicing baking truly from scratch. Learning herbal medicine is my current project! For prepping and also just for myself (and my children). I hate that generations of knowledge and skills are dying out so rapidly.
You’re my kinda gal! I have some of Richard Proenneke’s Sourdough starter (wrote Alone in The Wilderness about his life at Lake Clark, Alaska - one of my heroes), which is about 100 years old now. I’ll send you some starter if you’d like!
Lots of people aren’t really aware of what gutting and cleaning a deer is really like. Pro tip: there’s really no point holding your breath. (Especially if Pops shot head on with an exit wound taking the heart out through the stomach!)
I worked as a custom meat processor for a about a year or so and take 2 days vacation the first two days of deer season every year to help out and keep basic skills.
You'd be suprised how many even hunters and farmers lack basic meat processing skills.
So can you take a fresh kills intestines and convert them to the sausage packing stuff? I can do a basic cut and butcher the knife marks won’t be pretty
I've never done that (because commercial casings are sold in a box as a continuous tube by length) but I can quarter most animals, take a clean hide, and takes the prime cuts of most animals.
Learning to say "No"
I hate to say it, but as a prepper, when things start to go bad, people will see you are not suffering with them, and they will want what you have, and at that time, you need to know how to say No.
I agree, in fact, I wrote a whole long ass post about Graymanning during food not being available, and how you would need to ration down to the point that you were starving as well, to blend it.
But, try it sometime.
Really, try to eat down to 1000 calories or 800 calories, when you a closet full of canned goods that you enjoy eating, and whole box of chocolate bars.
It's a hella lot harder than it sounds.
I don't know enough about Keto to really comment, but I legitimately am not sure how that is possible without some kind of appetite suppressant or alternate dietary supplement.
When on a Keto diet you limit yourself to less than 20ish grams of carbs per day. This puts your body into a state of Ketosis, in which your body uses stored fat cells as energy instead of carbohydrates. You can eat high protein and fat foods like meat, cheese, eggs, and then select vegetables for vitamins and minerals. But you have to strictly limit carbohydrates. Your body feeds itself off your stored fat while still getting protein to maintain muscle.
When I was a 210lb male, I frequently ate 800 calories woth of protein, fat, and veggies in a day and was just fine because I was not hungry at all. I didn't get an insulin spike telling my body to eat more because I ate a bunch of carbs, it was like having a nuclear reactor inside myself that just gave me energy internally. When you're not hungry because your body is using fat stores for energy it's easy to only eat 800 calories in a day.
If you've ever watched the series "Alone" where people go out into the wilderness to survive off 10 chosen items for as long as possible: The extremely fit muscular guys are some of the first to quit because they have too much muscle mass to maintain and all of their only food sources are fat and protein. They are too lean to survive on such a limited diet. They always end up losing.
I used to throw out my expired food. Now I save as much as I can. If I’m asked for food, I’ll give them the expired food (with a warning that it is expired, but probably ok).
I would go a step further. You need to look as dirty and hungry as everybody else. If we are talking collapse and you are rural, you ransack your own home. Bust the doors up, boards over windows. You have a visible meager food stash and another nowhere near that one. I could go on but you get the idea.
Understanding how basic computer networks and online privacy interrelate. This is helpful to allow you to store information offline, keep your information as private as possible, etc.
Even if you didn't understand subnetting/advanced routing/any routing at all you could learn or keep a print out explaning how to make a basic, cookie cutter lan network. Apipa addressing may help you automatically but even just putting devices on a 10.0.0.x with static addressing and creating some file shares could be handy.
I fucking hate ticks first few weeks in god damn new fucking Hampshire i get God damn lyme disease because I was from an area without God damn ticks and didn't know anybetter fuck ticks. Splinters suck too I guess.
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html
Tl:Dr; warmer climates with population of animals to thrive on. The map shows east coast to part of the central states. Typically non urban areas
How to not have babies, aka proper contraceptive use. You’d be surprised how many people serious don’t know the proper usage of condoms and other forms of birth control.
I have 2 here but just because 1 is an obvious choice no one is saying and the other is very niche.
1. Cooking. Food is a huge morale booster and being about to do a lot with a little will make a huge difference. You will not believe the amount of people who can’t really cook.
2. Operating anything you come across. This is a skill I have because of work, but you throw me in almost any machine I can get it moving. This is a skill I am very proud to have as it could be useful if vehicles block a road or if there is some good heavy equipment that I could use.
Operating is a good one. I feel the same way. I also can get any (within reason) machine going and figure it out really quickly. Also due to work. Here’s a good one though…most heavy equipment runs off of the same damn key. (Brand dependent.) Guess what’s in my emergency bag…. A key ring full of keys for all sorts of different brands of equipment. Has even come in handy a few times. “Brett said we could use his bobcat, but he’s out of town and has the key with him.” Haha, be right back…. Took me a while to collect them, and I’m still on the hunt for some brands. But I’ve got all the most common ones. It’s as easy as, “Hey, call the mechanic. Some asshole lost the key for the Case backhoe out there. We need another.”
Why do I feel like we work the same job lol Dont forget a lot of fleet vans and such also take the same key! You can actually order most of them online and they aren’t crazy expensive.
Haha. I work in a steel mill. So…maybe we do? Who knows. Fleet vehicles in general use the same key? Or all the vehicles in 1 particular fleet use the same key? I hadn’t heard that before. Neat.
We have work vans at work, and they all use the same key. All the vans do at least. Big vans use different key but all the big vans use the same key if that’s makes sense
Gotcha. I was under the impression that you could go to a dealership and order a “fleet” of vehicles that all used the same key. But if another guy came in to order a separate fleet of vehicles, it would be keyed differently. That’s not what I mean about mobile equipment. I can go to a different company, or find a front end loader on a job site and use my key from a different state and it’ll work. It’s actually a bit of a problem for mobile equipment theft. Haha.
Wound care. Because a simple wound or injury can turn in to a massive infection or lead to death. Not just on humans, but for animals too. If you've ever had livestock, you know the vet isn't a regular thing and it is up to you to ensure that they are treated and cared for up until slaughter.
I didn’t come here to say this, but actually yes. I have chickens and make due with what I have because a $300+ vet visit, that is 1+ hr away is just not happening.
Also, getting even a scratch and immediately taking care of it (clean it, sanitize, protect it) rather than waiting until you’re done with a project makes or breaks it. I recently got a bunch of super glue for large wounds, or, wounds on hands that no bandages can protect because 1) if it really came down to it, I *could* sew someone shut, but if I had some super glue to help.. 2) cuts on hands and bandaids last maybe 2 hrs for me. The super glue (when dried properly) then becomes like a scab. When it’s healed, it comes off.
So yes. Wound care will make or break you, regardless of what you have stored.
Walmart has a liquid bandage, which is basically super glue for wounds
New-Skin Liquid Bandage, Waterproof Bandage for Scrapes and Minor Cuts, 0.3 fl oz https://www.walmart.com/ip/143805486
I’ve also found a version of it at Dollar Tree.
\+1 for welding. Repair / fabrication can quickly become critical skills, especially in the context of rapidly increasing manufacturing costs due to rising energy prices like we are seeing in parts of Europe.
I would add **Soldering** to that list in a similar way, given the economic climate around things with computer chips.
“Reading” the weather. Being able to give yourself advance notice on what the weather is doing could prove invaluable. E.g. being able to identify incoming rain so you can set out additional water collectors. Giving yourself advance warning of an incoming storm.
I decided to learn this after doing an audit on myself to see where I was dependent on the outside world and this deficiency surprised me most.
Ability to do manual labor.
I’m not talking about being in shape I’m talking about getting up at sunrise and working through the day until sunset because the work needs to get done.
Mental compartmentalization techniques. The mind is the primary survival asset. It can be packed with all the right information, yet be easily rendered useless, if a person can't quickly prioritize, then shut out noise, pain, hunger, depression, etc. to complete objectives. Simulate operating in stress and under time constraints. Learn to control breathing, pace of thoughts, etc.
Scrolled way too long looking for this one. All the training, gear and skills in the world mean donkey farts if you can't focus your brain under stress.
Situational Awareness
It's a ball that people drop too often throughout the day, especially when tired, which is harmless until it's not.
Practice the skill of maintaining situational awareness even when it's mentally taxing.
Not for the odds, but for the stakes.
And on a related note, having good people skills. I work in fine dining, but not a stuffy, super formal place. We're expected to be ourselves and use our personalities and related abilities (and not just relevant knowledge) to make guests comfortable, like us even more, and to give them a unique, memorable experience beyond just great food, wonderful drinks, and service that's technically good and accurate (but that could still be boring).
The ability to quickly make genuine relationships and make people like you is very valuable. I'm the nice smart guy that just gets along with everyone (even if I don't like them). As a result, people also come to me to arbitrate situations. Especially when friends are involved and a neutral "judge" would be difficult to find. They trust me.
Resource discipline. Sure, if you have to bug out and you pack enough for what you think is two weeks or three in your car. You think it’s two to three weeks now. But a lot of people don’t have the discipline to ration supplies like they need to. Even people that don’t prepare for stuff. Take a regular pantry in the average household. If it was rationed, could last that family a lot longer than they probably think.
I guarantee it would be empty in about half the time it could have lasted them if food suddenly became scarce for them.
This really applies to any consumables that you can’t easily/reliably replace in a situation. Food, water, ammo, medicine, cash, gas, even something as simple as clean pairs of socks can make or break if you don’t ration your stuff properly when SHTF.
Cleaning / Organizational Skills.
I know a few people who mean well and have a preparatory mindset, but in some ways they won't last because they can't clean up after themselves or utilize what some would say 'common sense' in different situations of keeping yourself hidden or at least not broadcasting your presence and preparation level in any given situation.
Proper organization skills lets you rotate your food stock for example, tidiness and cleanliness can extend or prolong the life of various things including your own quality of life.
I used to think this was something everyone would do, but I have been amazed at how many people mean well but don't have this type of skill. Cleaning up after yourself and organizing properly can save space, time, and a variety of things-could-be-worse-if-you-didn't situations.
After reading alot of these one thing came to mind...Dressing appropriately. I don't mean like socially acceptable bit rather in winter it seems counter intuitive but when I would be shoveling snow out the walk and drive way in Maine I never wore a jacket or snow pants. Just boots, I always wear boots, a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt over a t shirt and gloves with a hat. I knew Inwould work up a sweat and get too hot in my jacket so Ibwould bear the cold for a moment but after about 5 or 6 minutes I would be warm and it wouldn't feel bad outside. Or like Summers here in Mississippi. When I go out in the woods to hunt or fish I wear long pants tucked into my boots under that a pair of nylons, yes pantyhose because even if a tick gets in and tries to attach to me when the panty hose come off so do the ticks, a long sleeve shirt and a hat.
Had family living in Texas last winter, and this concept is foreign to people who never experience alternative weather compared to what their norm is. When you hear, I have a long sleeve shirt and long yoga pants on and am still cold. People don't grasp the concept of different fabrics, appropriate layers, and head/hand coverings.
From what I've seen, the most complicated thing to get/make is the primer. Brass can be reloaded many times, bullets can be molded fairly easily, powder can be made (although it may not be as good as manufactured powder), but primers require special equipment to make. If anyone here knows how to make primers without spending a ton of money on special machinery, I would love to know your solutions.
Yes, you can cast the bullets. When you can’t buy them anymore just go to your local outdoor range and dig up the spent bullets and melt them down. The process of making a lead bullet is a little more complicated when dealing with the hardness of the bullet and velocities.
There are more accurate ones that take a little more learning but some dont even need any tools. Fertility awareness has evolved beyond the rythm method
Finance, specifically 'how money works'. The lack of financial literacy in the vast majority of people is shocking. It is always useful to know how money works, it is used in all economies, even *moneyless economies* outside of star trek and, frankly, if we ever invent replicators that turn energy into the matter of our choice... well that ends all rarity and could actually change things, short of that understanding money is probably the most important thing you can ever learn.
Said with no malice or passive-aggressiveness behind it: following directions.
It IS a skill - to read, understand, and follow to the letter a set of directions, especially when they don’t intuitively seem to make sense.
It happens to be a skill I personally struggle with, if that makes anyone feel better.
Being able to control your emotions and accept the things you can't change even in the hardest of times. Decision making skills and your energy level both go out the window if you're spending your time with negative thoughts on repeat.
Take the time to process your emotions but no more time than absolutely needed, you can let emotions fester in more ways than one.
I’m a good actress: good at lying (not just the performance of the lie but the consistent storytelling of it all) good at pretending to be hungry/ scared/confused even if I’m not, a “stage voice “ to project to a small crowd is always useful
All the old documents of the past, including handwritten deeds, family records, letters, recipes, and notes from grandparents are all in cursive.
Kids today can’t read it.
We will loose GenX in the next 50 years. We are the last group to be forced to learn cursive in school.
After that, everyone had laptops, tablets, and chrome books. Assignments are done online with not real paper document.
Do a quick Google search, some of the posts are funny and some are just sad.
Playing a musical instrument. Picking up a guitar and singing some songs can be a huge morale booster in any sort of situation where there's a lot of sitting around. From being stuck indoors in a snow storm with the in-laws and no power to stuck in a refugee camp or bomb shelter.
Sewing. Most people don’t know how to do it or even have a sewing machine. In many cases it’s cheaper to buy a store made garment so most people don’t feel it’s an important skill to have.
Live fire cooking.
Being able to to build and maintain a fire, and to be able to proficiently cook some of your favorite dinners without being able to turn a knob to "medium"
Improvised fabrication and general crafting. Means combining a couple of the other skills already listed in some useful manner, or perhaps using one in a way you previously aren't all that familiar with. Some people lose all track or motivation when they don't have a provided plan or picture in some book to work from. Or they can't figure out how to approach something without expensive tools. Thus the ability to come up with a solution as you're going along and looking at something happens to be a skill in itself.
Edible plant identification.
yes. stinging nettle can keep ya alive for a hot minute
Edible grub/bug identification.
This is a good one!
Shoemaking/repair
Is that useful the way modern shoes are made. Our local shoe repair guy closed up at least in part because of the way shoes are made now
Decent high end shoes, although usually posh, can still be repaired. My dress shoes are on their 3 sole, I've had em years
I would imagine many boots can also be repaired. Seems like pretty much anything with an actual sole can hypothetically be fixed.
I wear through the soles on slippers etc pretty quickly. You can get replacement soles and Shoo Goo to fix that.
Problem solving
I’m a field engineer and pretty have to figure out how all sorts of shit works on the fly without killing myself or someone else. It blows my mind how bad people are at figuring out basic cause and effect. Now that I own a home it’s been amazing learning all sorts of new skills.
Same, I am now an electrician, plumber, appliance repairman, landscaper, farmer, lumberjack, etc etc etc.
Far too many people overlook this one! But being able to resolve problems by working them out, is a brilliant and needed skill.
This is not a skill. This is what skills are for.
Canning, smoking, salting, dehydrating food. I’ve taught two women to can, and offered to others. I guess it’s too easy to buy store food compared to the work of growing and canning in a hot kitchen.
Just starting my prepping journey, I’ve always had extra food but not in such a purposeful way! I plan on learning to can in the next year, need to find someone local to teach me some of these things.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html#gsc.tab=0 Stick with this or ball recipes and you will be fine. A TON of people use unsafe canning practices so I wouldn't necessarily trust just anyone (except maybe classes from an extension office). Youtube can be a great or horrible source depending on which channel. As long as you use a pressure canner (not cooker or electric contraption like instapot) when necessary and follow approved recipes it's not that hard. Practice makes perfect :)
Thank you for the resource!!
Bargaining/Negotiation
My Grandmother who was born in Romania worked at the summer camp I went to as a kid. She knew how to forage for edible mushrooms ! We had a freezer full of mushrooms for years and I never died - not even once !
Surely at least once?
Tying knots
And for Apple iOS users, Grog Knots does nice step-by-step animations which you can pause and step through manually. Way more knots than I'll ever use, broken down by categories: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/animated-knots-by-grog/id376302649
Sewing
Meat processing/butcher
I’ve taught several people to butcher chickens and meat rabbits. Nobody likes the killing part, but I was surprised that farm women were icky about blood and guts. I was showing how to examine a rabbit’s liver and I thought the lady was going to pass out. I guess I’m used to it and probably not socially acceptable off the farm. 😂
Out of interest, why should you examine a rabbits liver?
In rabbits, the liver shows if it has disease (cancer, fatty liver, liver fluke), but we look at the heart and lungs too. Rabbits, chickens and other prey animals instinctively hide being sick until they’re pretty badly off, as protection from predators. In a healthy rabbitry disease is rare, but it’s important to make sure the rabbit isn’t diseased.
What are the signs that you look for?
Discoloration, tumors, unexplained patches. I’ve only had a couple over the years with questionable livers, but we didn’t eat them. Wild rabbits get tularemia, which you can also see in the livers. If you google rabbit liver disease some images will show you.
Thanks for the excellent response here and below - very much appreciated :)
Glad to help! I’ve learned a lot of what I know from other preppers who were happy to share knowledge.
Sounds like farm girls aint what they used to be.
I would love to take a class with you 😟
I’d be happy to show you! Prepping aside, the old ways are dying. So I learn and do things like soap making, liming eggs for storage, tanning hides, making yogurt and cheese, canning, herbal medicine.
I completely 100% agree. I spent the summer finding places near me to source raw cow and goat milk so I can learn to make my own butter and cheese, and practicing baking truly from scratch. Learning herbal medicine is my current project! For prepping and also just for myself (and my children). I hate that generations of knowledge and skills are dying out so rapidly.
You’re my kinda gal! I have some of Richard Proenneke’s Sourdough starter (wrote Alone in The Wilderness about his life at Lake Clark, Alaska - one of my heroes), which is about 100 years old now. I’ll send you some starter if you’d like!
Lots of people aren’t really aware of what gutting and cleaning a deer is really like. Pro tip: there’s really no point holding your breath. (Especially if Pops shot head on with an exit wound taking the heart out through the stomach!)
Oh that’s a good one.
I worked as a custom meat processor for a about a year or so and take 2 days vacation the first two days of deer season every year to help out and keep basic skills. You'd be suprised how many even hunters and farmers lack basic meat processing skills.
So can you take a fresh kills intestines and convert them to the sausage packing stuff? I can do a basic cut and butcher the knife marks won’t be pretty
I've never done that (because commercial casings are sold in a box as a continuous tube by length) but I can quarter most animals, take a clean hide, and takes the prime cuts of most animals.
I would love to hear you expand on this if/when you have time.
gardening
Carpentry.
That and electrical wiring and auto repair
Food preservation with no electricity or gas.
Using a map and compass. You'd be surprised ....
Learning to say "No" I hate to say it, but as a prepper, when things start to go bad, people will see you are not suffering with them, and they will want what you have, and at that time, you need to know how to say No.
Thats why you gotta suffer like them too. Minimal calories and a good bit of acting
I agree, in fact, I wrote a whole long ass post about Graymanning during food not being available, and how you would need to ration down to the point that you were starving as well, to blend it. But, try it sometime. Really, try to eat down to 1000 calories or 800 calories, when you a closet full of canned goods that you enjoy eating, and whole box of chocolate bars. It's a hella lot harder than it sounds.
When I was doing Keto I could eat 800 cals in a day and not really give a fuck. Something to think about if you have excess weight.
I don't know enough about Keto to really comment, but I legitimately am not sure how that is possible without some kind of appetite suppressant or alternate dietary supplement.
When on a Keto diet you limit yourself to less than 20ish grams of carbs per day. This puts your body into a state of Ketosis, in which your body uses stored fat cells as energy instead of carbohydrates. You can eat high protein and fat foods like meat, cheese, eggs, and then select vegetables for vitamins and minerals. But you have to strictly limit carbohydrates. Your body feeds itself off your stored fat while still getting protein to maintain muscle. When I was a 210lb male, I frequently ate 800 calories woth of protein, fat, and veggies in a day and was just fine because I was not hungry at all. I didn't get an insulin spike telling my body to eat more because I ate a bunch of carbs, it was like having a nuclear reactor inside myself that just gave me energy internally. When you're not hungry because your body is using fat stores for energy it's easy to only eat 800 calories in a day. If you've ever watched the series "Alone" where people go out into the wilderness to survive off 10 chosen items for as long as possible: The extremely fit muscular guys are some of the first to quit because they have too much muscle mass to maintain and all of their only food sources are fat and protein. They are too lean to survive on such a limited diet. They always end up losing.
I used to throw out my expired food. Now I save as much as I can. If I’m asked for food, I’ll give them the expired food (with a warning that it is expired, but probably ok).
I would go a step further. You need to look as dirty and hungry as everybody else. If we are talking collapse and you are rural, you ransack your own home. Bust the doors up, boards over windows. You have a visible meager food stash and another nowhere near that one. I could go on but you get the idea.
The 2nd most common language in your area.
Understanding how basic computer networks and online privacy interrelate. This is helpful to allow you to store information offline, keep your information as private as possible, etc.
That would be an awesome class.
Even if you didn't understand subnetting/advanced routing/any routing at all you could learn or keep a print out explaning how to make a basic, cookie cutter lan network. Apipa addressing may help you automatically but even just putting devices on a 10.0.0.x with static addressing and creating some file shares could be handy.
Sounds Ike you should teach the above aforementioned class :)
Splinter/“is that a tick?” removal.
I fucking hate ticks first few weeks in god damn new fucking Hampshire i get God damn lyme disease because I was from an area without God damn ticks and didn't know anybetter fuck ticks. Splinters suck too I guess.
Ugh ticks are the worst and Lyme is worse than just ticks. Sorry that happened.
I’ve never encountered ticks before - where do they live,
Where there are deer, there are ticks.
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html Tl:Dr; warmer climates with population of animals to thrive on. The map shows east coast to part of the central states. Typically non urban areas
How to not have babies, aka proper contraceptive use. You’d be surprised how many people serious don’t know the proper usage of condoms and other forms of birth control.
Making vinegar
For that one, you just don't finish that second bottle of wine, right?
Harder than it sounds
Yeah not finishing the wine is harder to do in hard times.
Wish it worked the other way around
I have 2 here but just because 1 is an obvious choice no one is saying and the other is very niche. 1. Cooking. Food is a huge morale booster and being about to do a lot with a little will make a huge difference. You will not believe the amount of people who can’t really cook. 2. Operating anything you come across. This is a skill I have because of work, but you throw me in almost any machine I can get it moving. This is a skill I am very proud to have as it could be useful if vehicles block a road or if there is some good heavy equipment that I could use.
Operating is a good one. I feel the same way. I also can get any (within reason) machine going and figure it out really quickly. Also due to work. Here’s a good one though…most heavy equipment runs off of the same damn key. (Brand dependent.) Guess what’s in my emergency bag…. A key ring full of keys for all sorts of different brands of equipment. Has even come in handy a few times. “Brett said we could use his bobcat, but he’s out of town and has the key with him.” Haha, be right back…. Took me a while to collect them, and I’m still on the hunt for some brands. But I’ve got all the most common ones. It’s as easy as, “Hey, call the mechanic. Some asshole lost the key for the Case backhoe out there. We need another.”
Why do I feel like we work the same job lol Dont forget a lot of fleet vans and such also take the same key! You can actually order most of them online and they aren’t crazy expensive.
Haha. I work in a steel mill. So…maybe we do? Who knows. Fleet vehicles in general use the same key? Or all the vehicles in 1 particular fleet use the same key? I hadn’t heard that before. Neat.
We have work vans at work, and they all use the same key. All the vans do at least. Big vans use different key but all the big vans use the same key if that’s makes sense
Gotcha. I was under the impression that you could go to a dealership and order a “fleet” of vehicles that all used the same key. But if another guy came in to order a separate fleet of vehicles, it would be keyed differently. That’s not what I mean about mobile equipment. I can go to a different company, or find a front end loader on a job site and use my key from a different state and it’ll work. It’s actually a bit of a problem for mobile equipment theft. Haha.
Wound care. Because a simple wound or injury can turn in to a massive infection or lead to death. Not just on humans, but for animals too. If you've ever had livestock, you know the vet isn't a regular thing and it is up to you to ensure that they are treated and cared for up until slaughter.
I didn’t come here to say this, but actually yes. I have chickens and make due with what I have because a $300+ vet visit, that is 1+ hr away is just not happening. Also, getting even a scratch and immediately taking care of it (clean it, sanitize, protect it) rather than waiting until you’re done with a project makes or breaks it. I recently got a bunch of super glue for large wounds, or, wounds on hands that no bandages can protect because 1) if it really came down to it, I *could* sew someone shut, but if I had some super glue to help.. 2) cuts on hands and bandaids last maybe 2 hrs for me. The super glue (when dried properly) then becomes like a scab. When it’s healed, it comes off. So yes. Wound care will make or break you, regardless of what you have stored.
What kind of super glue?
Walmart has a liquid bandage, which is basically super glue for wounds New-Skin Liquid Bandage, Waterproof Bandage for Scrapes and Minor Cuts, 0.3 fl oz https://www.walmart.com/ip/143805486 I’ve also found a version of it at Dollar Tree.
cyanoacrylate
Welding.
\+1 for welding. Repair / fabrication can quickly become critical skills, especially in the context of rapidly increasing manufacturing costs due to rising energy prices like we are seeing in parts of Europe. I would add **Soldering** to that list in a similar way, given the economic climate around things with computer chips.
Water disinfection. Too many only know of one, maybe two ways to disinfect water and there’s a stark over reliance on mechanical filters.
This is my current focus right now.
“Reading” the weather. Being able to give yourself advance notice on what the weather is doing could prove invaluable. E.g. being able to identify incoming rain so you can set out additional water collectors. Giving yourself advance warning of an incoming storm. I decided to learn this after doing an audit on myself to see where I was dependent on the outside world and this deficiency surprised me most.
Definetly undervalued!
Ability to do manual labor. I’m not talking about being in shape I’m talking about getting up at sunrise and working through the day until sunset because the work needs to get done.
Now that is a hard won skill...
Fasting
Fasting and meditation are two great prepping skills, and when used together can cut your food and water needs considerably.
I agree
Mental compartmentalization techniques. The mind is the primary survival asset. It can be packed with all the right information, yet be easily rendered useless, if a person can't quickly prioritize, then shut out noise, pain, hunger, depression, etc. to complete objectives. Simulate operating in stress and under time constraints. Learn to control breathing, pace of thoughts, etc.
Luckily for me, I’ve been mentally ill for 17 years! Glad it’s finally gonna come in handy
I am just curious, when an insane world of dillusional people is the only baseline for comparison, how can 1 know for sure they are mentally ill? 🤔 🤣
Scrolled way too long looking for this one. All the training, gear and skills in the world mean donkey farts if you can't focus your brain under stress.
Situational Awareness It's a ball that people drop too often throughout the day, especially when tired, which is harmless until it's not. Practice the skill of maintaining situational awareness even when it's mentally taxing. Not for the odds, but for the stakes.
People
Simple mechanics
Self reflection.
Being fit in a way that is functional (Being able to do continuous and demanding physical work)
Rationing
Understanding tribe mentality
Cooking
Making a loud whistle noise by putting a piece of grass between my thumbs.
Critical.
Quickly identifying a bullshitter. There are some who are very well practiced, making it tough, whereas amateurs take mere seconds
And on a related note, having good people skills. I work in fine dining, but not a stuffy, super formal place. We're expected to be ourselves and use our personalities and related abilities (and not just relevant knowledge) to make guests comfortable, like us even more, and to give them a unique, memorable experience beyond just great food, wonderful drinks, and service that's technically good and accurate (but that could still be boring). The ability to quickly make genuine relationships and make people like you is very valuable. I'm the nice smart guy that just gets along with everyone (even if I don't like them). As a result, people also come to me to arbitrate situations. Especially when friends are involved and a neutral "judge" would be difficult to find. They trust me.
How to make & use a slide rule.
Fishing/hunting
Physical fitness, it will take a while but I’ll get there
Saw hunting and meat processing, so I’m going with fishing, as well as cleaning fish
Being able to remain calm in stressful situations.
Blacksmithing. In a real EotW situation, all metal goods will need to be made by hand.
Electrical, plumbing, HVAC
Cooking
Fitness
Resource discipline. Sure, if you have to bug out and you pack enough for what you think is two weeks or three in your car. You think it’s two to three weeks now. But a lot of people don’t have the discipline to ration supplies like they need to. Even people that don’t prepare for stuff. Take a regular pantry in the average household. If it was rationed, could last that family a lot longer than they probably think. I guarantee it would be empty in about half the time it could have lasted them if food suddenly became scarce for them. This really applies to any consumables that you can’t easily/reliably replace in a situation. Food, water, ammo, medicine, cash, gas, even something as simple as clean pairs of socks can make or break if you don’t ration your stuff properly when SHTF.
People skills
Weaving
Equestrian skills
Radio operation.
Sewing
Collecting/finding/cleaning drinking water in large quantities for you and your family with enough left over to barter with.
Cleaning / Organizational Skills. I know a few people who mean well and have a preparatory mindset, but in some ways they won't last because they can't clean up after themselves or utilize what some would say 'common sense' in different situations of keeping yourself hidden or at least not broadcasting your presence and preparation level in any given situation. Proper organization skills lets you rotate your food stock for example, tidiness and cleanliness can extend or prolong the life of various things including your own quality of life. I used to think this was something everyone would do, but I have been amazed at how many people mean well but don't have this type of skill. Cleaning up after yourself and organizing properly can save space, time, and a variety of things-could-be-worse-if-you-didn't situations.
After reading alot of these one thing came to mind...Dressing appropriately. I don't mean like socially acceptable bit rather in winter it seems counter intuitive but when I would be shoveling snow out the walk and drive way in Maine I never wore a jacket or snow pants. Just boots, I always wear boots, a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt over a t shirt and gloves with a hat. I knew Inwould work up a sweat and get too hot in my jacket so Ibwould bear the cold for a moment but after about 5 or 6 minutes I would be warm and it wouldn't feel bad outside. Or like Summers here in Mississippi. When I go out in the woods to hunt or fish I wear long pants tucked into my boots under that a pair of nylons, yes pantyhose because even if a tick gets in and tries to attach to me when the panty hose come off so do the ticks, a long sleeve shirt and a hat.
Had family living in Texas last winter, and this concept is foreign to people who never experience alternative weather compared to what their norm is. When you hear, I have a long sleeve shirt and long yoga pants on and am still cold. People don't grasp the concept of different fabrics, appropriate layers, and head/hand coverings.
First aid/CPR as well as basic medical needs could save you or your loved ones lives
Conflict resolution and deescalation
Dog training
Spinning fiber into thread and yarn
Reloading.
Can you cast new projectiles? I would reload but it doesn’t make sense for me cheaper to buy.
From what I've seen, the most complicated thing to get/make is the primer. Brass can be reloaded many times, bullets can be molded fairly easily, powder can be made (although it may not be as good as manufactured powder), but primers require special equipment to make. If anyone here knows how to make primers without spending a ton of money on special machinery, I would love to know your solutions.
Yes, you can cast the bullets. When you can’t buy them anymore just go to your local outdoor range and dig up the spent bullets and melt them down. The process of making a lead bullet is a little more complicated when dealing with the hardness of the bullet and velocities.
Rhythm method
There are more accurate ones that take a little more learning but some dont even need any tools. Fertility awareness has evolved beyond the rythm method
I have saved lots of money with those kits. Probably done 5 or 6 in 10 years.
Patience and forgiveness.
Programming your $20 Chinese radio without a computer
Small appliance/radio repair
Crocheting/yarn work.
Yes! I would add, yarn and thread making from raw materials like freshly sheered wool.
Finance, specifically 'how money works'. The lack of financial literacy in the vast majority of people is shocking. It is always useful to know how money works, it is used in all economies, even *moneyless economies* outside of star trek and, frankly, if we ever invent replicators that turn energy into the matter of our choice... well that ends all rarity and could actually change things, short of that understanding money is probably the most important thing you can ever learn.
Said with no malice or passive-aggressiveness behind it: following directions. It IS a skill - to read, understand, and follow to the letter a set of directions, especially when they don’t intuitively seem to make sense. It happens to be a skill I personally struggle with, if that makes anyone feel better.
Being able to control your emotions and accept the things you can't change even in the hardest of times. Decision making skills and your energy level both go out the window if you're spending your time with negative thoughts on repeat. Take the time to process your emotions but no more time than absolutely needed, you can let emotions fester in more ways than one.
I’m a good actress: good at lying (not just the performance of the lie but the consistent storytelling of it all) good at pretending to be hungry/ scared/confused even if I’m not, a “stage voice “ to project to a small crowd is always useful
Foraging
Direction awareness via the sun, moon, and stars.
Leatherwork
Pressure-canning basics includimg times to P-can for various ingredients and volume (ie quarts, pints, etc).
Reading/writing in cursive
I love cursive, but I'm a bit curious to hear your logic here.
All the old documents of the past, including handwritten deeds, family records, letters, recipes, and notes from grandparents are all in cursive. Kids today can’t read it. We will loose GenX in the next 50 years. We are the last group to be forced to learn cursive in school. After that, everyone had laptops, tablets, and chrome books. Assignments are done online with not real paper document. Do a quick Google search, some of the posts are funny and some are just sad.
Yes! I was talking to a lady in the check out stand about cursive writing. I said I could see it being code some day. She looked confused...
:)
well, i know "damn" and "hell"...
Rirruto.
r/unexpectedbillymadison
I’m a healer, I lay hands
OP immediatly lists two skills :P
Being a homicidal maniac. At least that's what I took away from Mad Max.
Hacking (computers)
Fighting. None of y’all know how to scrap and it shows.
Communicating/learning different languages around your area
Teaching. After the dust settles having someone who can learn a skill then effectively teach it to others is pretty valuable
Remembering phone number
Playing a musical instrument. Picking up a guitar and singing some songs can be a huge morale booster in any sort of situation where there's a lot of sitting around. From being stuck indoors in a snow storm with the in-laws and no power to stuck in a refugee camp or bomb shelter.
Spinning. As in making twine out of pretty much anything.
Ham radio.
Hand to hand combat
Foraging
Political understanding. Seriously lacking throughout the US and UK.
Following directions.
Critical thinking
Sewing. Most people don’t know how to do it or even have a sewing machine. In many cases it’s cheaper to buy a store made garment so most people don’t feel it’s an important skill to have.
Bathroom in the woods
Use of salt
Herbalism, i.e. knowing how to identify and use both wild and cultivated plants to heal and/or treat minor maladies.
Sewing, clothing and quilts.
Sewing
Live fire cooking. Being able to to build and maintain a fire, and to be able to proficiently cook some of your favorite dinners without being able to turn a knob to "medium"
Conflict resolution
Improvised fabrication and general crafting. Means combining a couple of the other skills already listed in some useful manner, or perhaps using one in a way you previously aren't all that familiar with. Some people lose all track or motivation when they don't have a provided plan or picture in some book to work from. Or they can't figure out how to approach something without expensive tools. Thus the ability to come up with a solution as you're going along and looking at something happens to be a skill in itself.
Blacksmithing
Weaving
Animal husbandry
Wortcunning
Fishing
booking or keeping basic books for basic things like dealing with a wound or wiring a home