What are your most practical skills?

[Bouncy Ball]

Let's say peak oil happened sooner than we thought and suddenly we just can't get all the consumer goods we can get now. We aren't necessarily in a do or die situation, but things are just very very hard to come by. Suddenly everyone's world is local. No more 12,000 mile shipping routes.

So, what are your most practical skills that could help you get through it until the world readjusted (and it doesn't have to be peak oil for this scenario, if you don't like that, just make up another reason).

I was trying to think of mine, and here's what I've got so far:

I can knit and sew. Even hand-sewing (in fact, I prefer that).

I can make soap and candles, but obviously you have to have the materials for that. Candlemaking is a pain in the arse, but not hard. Soapmaking is a bit trickier, you have to get the proportions right, but not too bad.

I CAN garden, in a very small space, too, but I'm not overly hot at it.

I can cook decently in a variety of ways.

I know basic and some advanced first aid, and am CPR certified.

I can grow sprouts from seeds.

I can handle firearms quite well.

I'm very resourceful and can be extremely frugal. I can think of uses for things that would be wasted.

Here's what I cannot do:

I don't know how to can/preserve foods or cure meat.

I am SHITTY at orienteering/sense of direction. Really. Super sucky shitty.

I can't start a fire from two sticks, or that flint thing. I've tried and tried (camping). Just cannot do it.

[StopTheMorans]

1. posting copycat threads in the lounge

[Bouncy Ball]

3. True!

And that would REALLY come in handy! LOL

[HereSince1628]

2. When I urinate I always hit the target.

I even know how to raise and lower the toilet seat.

[jpgray]

4. I can do management

I just need to gather around me some labor, and then we'll all be fine.

[achtung_circus]

5. Some skills

woodworking with hand tools- check
cooking- check
raising cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry- check
shoot- check
raise and train horses- check
garden on large scale- check
sleep- check (not sure on the applicability, but)
construction- check


I used to do pretty much all the stuff one would need to survive. Now, I'm nearly fifty and that stuff is hard work.

I've also discovered that camping can involve hot tubs.

[Bouncy Ball]

7. You reminded me.

I know how to slaughter and prepare hogs. Long story how I know that, I won't go into it here.

Where are campsites with hot tubs???

[achtung_circus]

19. The same campsites

that have dining rooms, and canoe rentals and rustic rooms with fireplaces. It's a special kind of camping.

Although I still do the sleeping bag thing too.

[mike_c]

6. I can program in several languages, and I know a dozen or so ways...

...to cook the neighborhood dogs.

[Bouncy Ball]

8. LMAO

Ewwwww.

[bearfan454]

9. Mine are

cooking and hunting.

[Bouncy Ball]

10. Having tasted your yummy

foods, I would have to heartily agree. You're one I'd want around if the shit hit the fan.

[bearfan454]

11. Thank you. n/t

[short bus president]

12. I rock a house party at the drop of a hat AND

beat a biter down with an aluminum bat.

Ooh! And I can catch slow-moving animals.

[Bouncy Ball]

13. Heh.

Stay where you are, ok?

:D

[MissB]

14. Mine are pretty similar to yours

except that I freak at the sight of blood. And I can't do guns.

I had two wonderful grandmas that taught me a lot of the ole' time basics.

A really good book on canning just about anything is Stocking Up. I use it primarily for canning veggies, jam and fruit, but it is a very practical guide for just about any sort of food preservation. It goes through the various methods, and gives instructions on how to do some of the drying stuff without fancy equipment.

If you want to hone your garden skills, consider Square Foot Gardening by Mel something-or-other (Bartholomew?). Great basic gardening book, plus you get to garden in a small space. I have a half an acre, and I still like his method.

I couldn't begin to help with the directional shit. I think you either have it or you don't. The moss grows on the north side of the trees, and the sun rises in the east. That is as good as it gets for some people.

On the campfire thing - the trick is to just not let it go out. A magnifying glass works kinda good on a bright day too, plus it is a neat trick.

[Bouncy Ball]

16. I do the square foot gardening. That's how I learned about

six years ago. It's cool!

My mother had a shitty sense of direction, too. I think it's genetic.

[mcscajun]

15. Cooking ... and shooting.

Now if somebody knows how to (and can stand to) Dress whatever it is I just killed*, we're set.

And I know how to put up foods by drying, canning, and freezing (of course, that last one will be problematic after the Peak Oil 'crash', but then again, so might canning.)

*No, I'm not a hunter -- but I can blow those skeets outta the sky! :)

[Bouncy Ball]

17. You reminded me, I can fish.

And I guess if I HAD to, I could prepare the fish to be cooked and eaten, but I'd rather not.

[mcscajun]

21. Thanks for the reminder! So can I.

And I loathe cleaning fish, too.

[sui generis]

18. Bouncy! We were separated at birf

I can do all that and I can knit like a mofo too AND crochet; I took it up one bizarre year when I thought I had a crush on a real girl. Can also make yarn, thread, and weave.

Plus I can do preserves, can veggies & fruits, pickle stuff, and start a fire with two sticks of wood and a lot of cursing (it really helps). I can wire, plumb, carpenter, and whip up a nutritious meal out of dust bunnies, a cube of bouillion and a wish. Oh and I know how to make akkahol, the good and the bad kind. I can sew up injuries and do basic field surgery if we have enough people to hold down the patient, and I know the seasoning and medicinal uses of just about any plant you can put in front of me.

Stuff I can't do:

I can't find my way out of a paperbag with a bright light at one end.

I would have a hard time killing a critter I'd raised for food.

[Bouncy Ball]

22. Wow.

I'd say you're way ahead of me! For instance, you can MAKE YARN? Weave? Damn!

I can't crochet, but I'm working on getting better at knitting.

I can't wire or plumb but I can do some carpentry.

What is akkahol? Nevermind! I just got it!

I don't know the plant stuff, but I do have books on that! I have the feeling I could do field surgery despite not having attended medical school, because stuff like that does NOT gross me out at all and I've studied up on advanced first aid a hell of a lot (went through a phase where I was really interested in it a while back).

Give the patient some of that akkahol! LOL

Yeah, if I raised chickens, I'd have such a hard time killing one. But Mr. Bouncy would have no qualms, so he'd be the chicken killer.

[Misunderestimator]

I wanna be on your tribe!

I'll get us out of the paperbag... maybe.

[barb162]

20. I can grow things in the yard

I do lots of ornamental gardening along with interplanting blueberries, asparagus,tomatos, apple and peach trees. When things get tough I will pull the ornamentals. One suggestion, start growing fir trees for firewood; they grow fast ( although wood burning pollutes). I have no real answers here. A friend of mine was thinking of going to a commune type environment where a bunch of families get together and depending on skills do this or that so they can survive as a small community. I can cook well (but don't like to). I bet I can be more frugal than you. (Question: how many times can you reuse aluminum foil).

[mcscajun]

23. You can reuse it so long as you don't poke a big hole through it

when it's getting washed.

:)

That's theoretical, of course, as I don't do that. Washing it and reusing it, I mean.

[Bouncy Ball]

24. Oh I can be black-belt hardcore you-can't-believe-it frugal.

LOL, no worries there!

You should always save dryer lint, it can be used for insulation.

[barb162]

32. the word "frugal" doesn't fit re the insulation story: Cheap

Probably should do a thread on being cheap; it will help in the hard times to follow. Any ways to save, reuse, recycle....

I went to a Catholic grammar school with nuns. They made us reuse clean sides of paper. To this day, I can't throw out paper, like fliers, that are clean on one side. I use them for grocery lists, etc. DId you ever see the movie "Marnie" where she's trying to open the safe /take the money and fighting with herself. That would be me trying to throw out a piece of paper that's unmarked on the reverse side.

I am religious about shutting lights and TVs off when I or anyone else leaves a room. There's a lot of things we all can do now to conserve what we have left. If people would just turn the heat in winter a few notches lower and reverse that in summer. Or use fans more instead of AC especially when it cools down a bit at night. Natural gas is running out too and the electric companies are squandering it on peaker plants in the summer.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

39. My grandmother used to use dryer lint for quilt stuffing.

I still have one of her lint stuffed quilts, it's really warm. :)

[politicat]

25. With some salvage materials...

I can turn a standard bicycle or exercycle into a generator.
I can light a fire without matches or other flame sources - I know how to use a bow drill, a flint and a glass.
I'm pretty good at gardening, and I'm a composting whiz.
I know how to turn a propane cyclinder into a methane slurry production cylinder.
I know how to make biodiesel.
I can cook.
I can sew, crochet and weave. I am not great at spinning, but in a pinch, my thread's not hideous.
I have tanned leather once, and could do it again if needed.
I have a very, very good sense of direction and I remember most of my girl schout orienteering and emergency survival training.
I own the Army Special Forces Survival handbook, thus I know how to use maggots to save a wound from gangrene.
I know several methods of purifying water.

I don't know how to raise any animal save a cat. I've never slaughtered anything, and don't know how, though I know the theory.
I've never fired a weapon other than a recurve bow.
I've never cut down a tree for fuel.
I've never had to build my own permanent shelter.
I've never had to dig a well.

We will probably be the junk salvage geeks when the time comes. Or dead.

[Bouncy Ball]

28. And you're reminding me of stuff, too!

I can grow potatoes in a barrel. (Just knock it over at harvest time!)

I have refurbished Aladdin oil lamps with original parts I ordered from this company:

www.lehmans.com

They sell to the Amish, have all non-electric supplies. Their catalog is fascinating, absolutely. Stuff you haven't seen in years, or maybe not in your lifetime.

I inherited three Aladdin lamps from my grandmother and they were the only company where I could find the parts I was missing. They are BEAUTIFUL.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

26. Let's see

Here's what I can do:


I can hunt and fish.

I can use a gun efficiently as well as knives.

I can garden ok.

I can cook pretty good.


What I can't do:


I can't build worth a shit.

I can't make clothes, sew, knit, etc.



Overall, I think I'd do well enough to survive, but there would definitely be some seriously tough challenges to face. Let's hope something, anything, can be done to head off this coming disaster.

[gollygee]

27. I'm lrarning how to garden

and a friend said she'd teach me how to can this summer.

I can cook.

I've been reading about that too and I'm pretty freaked out.

My dh has lots of useful skills luckily. I need to work on acquiring more.

[Bouncy Ball]

30. What people will have to do is work together.

The way they used to. What one person cannot do, another person can and they help each other.

Very few people (especially nowdays) could totally survive on their own, with no help or bartering with anyone else.

[supernova]

29. Hear are mine

Having been raised in a rural area:

Sewing. I prefer machine sewing if I have to, but I can do hand sewing and can do some decorative sewing like embroidery.

Candle making.

Soap making.

I can dry various herbs and plants for seasoning and potpourri.

I can garden. I'm not fond of it, but I can do it.

I can do canning and freezing things for the winter.

I can change a tire.

I can use a hammer and a nail and a saw

I can make bread

I can start and keep a fire going without burning down the house.

It would be hard, but I could survive. I don't have to subsist on my current easy yuppie lifestyle. :-)

[Abelman]

31. I'm pretty good with a bo staff.

I can also start fires, build shelter, do all those outdoorsy woodsman type things that are not really that good for the environment.

[Goathead]

33. I have good wilderness navigational skills.

I am a denizen of the backcountry, wilderness survival is no problem. I know wild edible and medicinal plants, I can make you dinner from what is growing in your backyard. I have keen vision, 20/15, and have firearms experience. I can carry a 50 lbs. pack over irregular terrain for 20 miles and I won't bitch and moan about it.

[Xithras]

34. Engineering, water purification, hunting

Though I doubt hunting would be a practicable skill when everyone's doing it.

I think I'll probably do pretty well bartering my engineering skills for food. I mean, would YOU trade two pounds of meat for a windmill that will give you electricity for a few hours a day?

Knowing how to build water purifiers will probably be THE hot skill to have though. Here in California just about all of the running water sources are infested with Giardia and other nasties that will make you very sick if you drink them. People without purifiers will be forced to boil every drop of water they use for bathing, cooking, and drinking.

Heck, I could probably get plenty of food just by selling the PLANS for water purifiers when the time comes.

[HEyHEY]

35. Smart assery

[Bouncy Ball]

38. you are the KING of that!

[AlCzervik]

36. i can sew, as long as it's a straight line

i can tile things, floors, counters etc....
i'm a farily good cook and i can make a kick ass cheese cake
i can install light fixtures and some plumbing fixtures

I cannot knit, i wish i could but i've tried many times with no success

[jswordy]

37. Here they are:

Mechanic
Carpenter
Electrician
Farmer/livestock
Farmer/crops
Fisherman

If we suddenly were extremely limited in our range of travel from our place, we would get along OK. I'm a big DIY guy.

[against all enemies]

40. Bow hunting skills, nunchuck skills and computer hacking skills

I know that chicks think these skills are sweet.

[Speck Tater]

41. I can walk into a forest and...

... walk out an hour later with a 20-foot length of stout rope made from what I found growing there.

I can also make good string and twine from natural raw materials, as well as baskets and other woven containers.

Don't ask me why, but working with natural fibers has always been a very Zen activity for me after a busy day of computer programming.

[sui generis]

42. Okay, I want to live in this village after the end of days

I mean, what would we do with those other folks? Peeing in their drinking water, reaping but not sowing, living in their hummer shells, too busy shooting each other, the homos, and anyone not the same skin color to hunt for game, crapping in the garden and burning witches at the stake. We would have Bouncy and some other amazing people here - why would you want to be anywhere else?

They would have an old washed up male prostitute who gives a forgettable blowjob and can't report the news worth a damn, a scoutmaster with a thing for little boys and a lot of hungry righteous ignant bastids with bad hair.

:evilgrin:

[Zomby Woof]

43. I can rub butter on my tummy

And hum the national anthem of Uzbekistan.

You never know when that will come in handy.