And now the end is near.....
By Modestah
@Modestah (11177)
United States
April 10, 2007 11:02am CST
If it were near, or if the proverbial "kah kah" hit the fan, and life as we know it in the world is forever changed - due to war, widespread natural disaster or whatever... and we lived in an "Armageddon" money no longer had a value and all goods were acquired by trade and barter, or by force and theft.
What skills do you possess that could be traded for other goods your family may need for survival?
Do you have any "old time" knowledge? can you make baskets, or frame houses, perhaps spinning and knitting woolens is your handicraft? Do you know how to render fat or tan hides? can you trap for food, and preserve it by natural means?
4 people like this
9 responses
@creematee (2810)
• United States
10 Apr 07
A lot of these "crafts" are a vanishing aren't they? Fortunately, my parents and grandmother taught me a few things. I know how to can fruits and berries. I could can meats and veggies, too, but I'd need a different stove. I can't use a pressure canner on my glass top stove. :)
I know how to sew, and would do it for anyone willing to help cut out the fabrics. (assuming someone was there to weave it!!)
I've learned the art of paper and candle making. I don't know how ink is even made, but we could fold paper airplanes by candle light. LOL! I guess we could use the burnt sticks (charcoal) as pencils to write letters.
MY DH is great at digging and building things, so he could make us an outhouse to use. He LOVES chopping down trees and cutting them up (even with just a saw or axe) so lumber would't be a problem.
This is such a fun topic! Thank you, Modestah!!
3 people like this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
10 Apr 07
I too sew and crochet - I have a good friend who has a spinning wheel (the old kind) and knows how to make her own yarn. I've cooked a turkey on an open fire - short version of that story, stove decided to stop working halfway through Thanksgiving dinner turky and I wasn't about to waste a 25 pound bird, was excellent cooked on some apple tree wood we had.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
10 Apr 07
sounds like you'd be a good one to have around! I have a suspicion we won't be able to use our flat top ELECTRIC stoves at all. Maybe a wood cooking stove would be a handy thing to have.
We could make a solar oven out of cardboard boxes, or dig a hole in the ground and bury our dutch oven on top of some coals. Ever do a pig roast?
@estherlou (5015)
• United States
10 Apr 07
I'd be up a creek without a paddle! I'm a born and bred city girl! I have had a garden and grown vegetables before, so maybe that would count. I've only been fishing one time, so no expertise there. And hunting? I never wanted to kill and eat Bambi. My meat needs to be wrapped in celephane in the grocery store! I guess I could gather eggs. I did learn to make a fire as a girl scout...but boy was that a long time ago! LOL I'd have to make friends with a hunter! I can crochet and knit, but spin the thread to use? Ha! This scenario would be extremely scary for sure.
3 people like this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
10 Apr 07
Don't be too hard on yourself, estherlou. I bet there would be something we could find for you to do. Gather fruits or berries? I would probably trade my skills for a knitted scarf or mittens. I know how, but I don't like to knit!! :)
2 people like this
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
11 Apr 07
What an interesting thought hun, there are so many skills that are being lost now. I guess I'd stand a reasonable chance to survival though, as I can sew, knit, I know how to tan a hide and, I can make a fire and a shelter too. I have a fair idea of what natural foods are ok to eat. However, I have to admit that I have learned most of this from an assortment of sources. My grandparents, books and television programmes. :-)
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
11 Apr 07
that is great! yep, our bandaide society of give it to me now and prepared foods and products has left us virtually skill-free. It is so important for those who still have skills in the old way crafts to pass that knowledge along. I am afraid most of the younger generation really has no interest in learning though. Hopefully enough will so that life can continue.
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
10 Apr 07
Well, I know the end is near but prayerfully I won't be around for the 'junk' when it gets really really bad. I am however prepared and will leave behind help for my loved ones who may still be here.
4 books for survival - Bible, FoxFire Books, Hunter's Manual and North American Wildlife... Bible is pretty self explanitory, FoxFire Books are a series of books showing you how to do anything from make your own soap to build a log cabin from trees you cut yourself. The Hunter's Manual shows you how to hunt, trap, kill, dress, and cook about any animal, fish, or bird in the US. NA Wildlife tells all plant life and what can be safely eaten...
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
10 Apr 07
those foxfire books sound incredible! my son knows the eule(sp?) gibbons' books inside and out...stalking the wild asparagus etc. so I would definitely want him around to tell us what we can and can not eat safely, as well as how to cook the wild foods so as to render them safe to eat.
@misheleen73 (6037)
• United States
11 Apr 07
nope I don't have any such skills. BUT I did make one good decision in life. I married my husband..hehe. He is from Cuba, can make charcoal from scratch, raise crops, raise animals for food, sew, roast pig, hunt, fish, build a home out of materials in the woods, knows how to preserve stuff with salt, heck I could even get drunk if I wanted as he can make homemade mooshine out of corn. So as long as he's alive I would be pretty well taken care of. If he was to die, then I'd have to fling myself from a bridge...lol.
1 person likes this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
11 Apr 07
WOW! Is DH for rent? LOL!!! I know a few ladies that could use, I mean, love him. Hee HEE!
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
11 Apr 07
Heleen
With skills like that he could hire himself out now to teach classes. I was thinking of all the things people stock up on for "just in case" Salt is a commodity we should consider hoarding. Of course, what makes me think we will be in our home with all our goodies we have saved unto ourselves?
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
11 Apr 07
Wow, that is a very interesting question. I haven't thought of that! My fiance would be able to do many things because he has done construction, he is trained by the military so he has many admirable skills. I myself, don't really have any "old time" knowledge, other than raising livestock, chickens, ducks, a little hunting, gardening, childcare, mending clothes, and good old hard work. I am strong and I learn quickly, so, I guess in a situation like that, you had better be very innovative right?
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
11 Apr 07
They do say that necessity is the mother of invention, I believe it. Yes, being readily able to adapt and being innovative is definitely a survival asset. I would think gardening skills and what you raise both in vegetation and livestock would be quite tradeable.
@juls2me2 (2150)
• United States
26 Apr 07
Sorry about that. I was in a bit of a hurry and just wrote my point instead of leading into it. I think about this issue a lot. What would I do for a trade? We take for granted all the freedoms here in the USA, that most people here would be devestated if they actually had to grow food or make their own clothing....let alone just fix their own dinner. Baking a roast or cooking up some eggs...heck even boiling some water....can really throw people through a loop.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11177)
• United States
19 Apr 07
funny, as I was reading your reply I was scratching my head furiously! (just took it out of the bun it was in all day)
you are right, I remember several years back when I first saw frozen breakfast meals...scrambled eggs in a box. I was floored. Now, I see that you can buy individual packets of peeled hardboiled eggs. and I wonder that these items are selling - people are forgetting even the most basic of skills.
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
27 Apr 07
Oh boy, would I be in trouble. I was born and raised in Miami, FL...a very large city. Until I was out of school and moved up to the FL Panhandle and married, I'd never even had my own garden or helped with one. I did enjoy that very much. That would be my main contribution if we didn't have electricity. If we had electricity, I could type for anyone who needed it. Heck, I can even use an old manual typewriter if I had to. My husband is a master plumber, but I bet he could dig a hole and get us set up for an outhouse. If I had material, scissors and a needle and thread, I could sew something to wear...like a very simple over the head sheath-type dress. Hubby would have to wear something like that also after all his clothes wore out. Oh, we both know how to fish, but he has to clean them and I cook them. I hope one of us can remember how to start a fire.
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
10 Apr 07
When I was a teenager, my brother and I would tan hides, churn butter, knit, and can do welding. In college, I helped Homes for Habitat and did a lot of hammering and sanding on a house, which we managed to finish quickly. I still barter when every I can now.
