Survivor Library or... How to Survive Without Modern Technology
POSTED BY: 6stringJoker
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 20:55
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I think when people imagine the rugged frontier farmers they imagine them completely self-sufficient. But even those people needed trade with the larger technologies around them - for plow tips, wheel hubs, bits, rings, yoke fittings ... knives, cloth, lanterns ... and so on.
The only people who were TRULY self-sufficient - and only after they had years of cultural survival knowledge taught to them by other people - were people who could make all that they needed from whatever was at hand - plants and stone. And from that they could hunt animals for food, hide for clothes, and sinew and hide to make other tools, like firestarters, slings, bows and arrows, etc.
HAS IT NOT OCCURRED TO YOU BY NOW THAT IF YOU HAVE TO RESORT TO LOGICAL FALLACIES AND TROLLING YOUR SO-CALLED ARGUMENTS ARE LIES?
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I remember going over this with Byte. At the time, she was posting that since her family could scratch up enough veggies from a small plot of land, they were self-sufficient.
But even think about building a house .... where do you get the planks, the nails, the window-glass? And even if you can sew, where do you get the cloth? Spinning and weaving took up a helluva a lot of time "back in the day"! My guess is that you need at least 100 adults, each with their own specialties: carding/ spinning/ weaving; animal husbandry and primitive vet medicine; agronomy and basic pest management; herbals and first aid; smithing and ore refining; weapons-making; food preservation, brewing and fermenting; construction etc etc just to live at medieval-level.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
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"to live at medieval-level" ... What about my computer?
Food for thought from the Survivor Library:
"Once the fuel runs out the cars and trucks stop do you know how to build a
carriage to put behind a horse? Do you know how to make the tackle with
which to attach the carriage TO the horse?"
After the Fall of Civ: a good topic for sci-fantasy discussions & especially for
serious survivalists. Q: Is Civilization down for the count?
Can it recover in 1,000 years or maybe 100?
We don't know; beasts of burden would be in high demand.
If you're a veteran of camping-hunting-farming, you'd go to the head of the
Class in your neighborhood since not many people are. A community's sur-
vival would depend on keeping the Outdoorsmen alive & well. Even moreso,
the Farmers in rural areas.
Answer to question above: We used to have a team of work horses. I remem-
ber how the harness was made. I'm not strong enough to work the leather
now, but could show others what to do.
Wagons could be made from wood + metallic parts salvaged from junk yards.
It'd take years for everyone to change from automobiles to wagons.
Indeed, a very valuable item would be the Gyro-Captain's mini-Copter
(Mad Max II).
Here in EDC, most of the farming is orchards. Still, there are olde family
farms out along the back roads where some families still grow their own
food. I suggest also that a good many pot farms would be converted to
grains & vegies. Not much calories in pot.
The 25-30 million people who live in CA cities ... I guess a few could
move back to the land & help their friends-relatives who still farm.
What will the vast majority of them do when the markets run out of
food completely?? Riots & mini-wars, I guess.
Nevermind.
Getting back to the horse & wagon. Wagons can be built. Light weight,
man-powered kind. Because you have a major shortage of horses.
Wiki: "In 2005, there were about 9 million horses in the USA." Horses,
mules, oxen would be used ...
Dog teams. No dogs. Costs a small fortune to feed a dog team.
Time: If I have a mare just back from the stud farm, presumably pregnant,
her foal will drop in 11 months; I can start to train 'em at 2 or 3 years
... but I wouldn't give 'em a work load until they were 4. I'm not a gun
person; I'd have to hire an armed guard to protect my mares & foals.
I sure hope we have enough fuel for the motorcycle until there are
plenty of horses.
I suppose if you really want to know what it takes to get back onto
the Land, find an olde hippy or 2 who actually did it back when. Find
one who's talkative & knows some skills. Might be hard to find ... the
ones I knew only lasted about a year on the land; then came back to
town & got a job. Farming: it's best if you're born into it.
My son-in-law bought 5 acres for independence about 15-16 years ago.
He didn't make it. See, he was tryin' to work full time & my dau working
part time ... they didn't have time to create a farm. Neither of them knew
a lot about it, & she did not share his vision, prefering a job in town.
I have read a few After-the-fall-of-Civilization stories.
But I never tried to plot one or thought of it analytically.
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
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Always have an exit plan.
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Blackout risks rising as AI, reindustrialization push strain grid
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5388348-trump-energy-report-grid
-risk/
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