Some combination of the two, I think.

This forum has been an unparalleled resource for short-term survival thinking, and I certainly wouldn't change that.

Of course, it has the same drawback for us long-timers as any other forum... after awhile, it repeats a lot. That's necessary for those new to the site, but, without an influx of really new ideas, it means that there's less and less pulling long-timers back. You get the fourth discussion of hiking staffs, the third on woodburning stoves, the seventeenth on firestarting, the forty-sixth on sizes of tins, and the three hundred fifty-seventh listing of someone's PSK contents.

So, we participate less, and the newer people participate more. Maybe that's a good thing... but the character of the forum may change, too.

Liz,

I wouldn't think we'd generally be in a good position to judge what skills you should pick up. I'd suggest doing the mental exercise of running your protagonist/"heroine" through the sort of scenarios you were talking about, or others, and see what skills seem appropriate.

I've been driving (ad nauseum) for decades, but on this side of the pond that's sort of taken for granted. I can (and do, by preference) drive a manual/stick shift, but they're getting harder to come by here- might not be that much survival value in it.

I can also sail a boat, navigate tolerably well, and ride a horse- but I've often thought that I really should be able to ride a motorcycle as well. I'm completely at home backpacking, and doing map-and-compass work where there are no trails, but I couldn't land an airplane. I have fair experience with shooting, a few martial arts, even fencing, but, to my shame, the only Morse code I know is S-O-S. My command of other languages is abysmal, and I don't even have a passport. Even though I "batched it" for some years, my cooking skills are primitive at best, with the exception of maybe two or three simple dishes- I have baked decent bread a few times, but it took longer to clean up the kitchen afterwards than it took to grow the wheat. When I had to eat my own cooking I ended up a lot thinner. Speaking of which, my attempts at gardening have been about 25 percent successful- as a subsistance farmer, there's little doubt I'd starve. I've never plowed- er, ploughed, a field, or practiced animal husbandry much beyond feeding the cat. I can sew by hand, but not by machine. My one attempt at finger-weaving was an embarrassment, and I've never spun yarn or thread, or laid rope, for that matter. I've done blacksmithing and leatherwork, but I'm just now learning a little plumbing. I've never been a parent, was pretty much brought up as an only child, and would have only the vaguest idea how to take care of kids, much less infants, and far less teach them anything. I worked as a mechanic of sorts, and can do a fair amount of mechanical repair, but I have no machine-shop experience, or carpentry, or welding. I can start a fire with (real) flint and steel, but I'm not comfortable with a chainsaw- though I have used one.

And so it goes. Your list is going to be very much your own. List your strengths, and I'm sure the gaps will come to mind.

Like anything, Ham Radio can be quite expensive, especially if you're the type that always has to have two of the newest, latest, greatest toys (one for everyday use, the other to impress visitors <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) but it can be quite cheap too. If you're reasonably technical you should be able to pass the basic exam with self-study. Technically, you don't need to buy a radio; I didn't when I first got my Ham ticket. (I've since bought two - a Yaesu FT-817 and a Yaesu FT-1500, plus a magnetic mounted VHF antenna for my car.) But if money is tight, you should be able to pick up some pretty decent 2nd-hand ("pre-loved") equipment at swap fests; if money is really tight, you could even do without (just getting to know fellow hams will probably give you some useful contacts who are of like mind when it comes to being prepared <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

Of course, it TEOTWAWKI comes, being busted for operating an unlicensed Ham rig is probably going to be the least of your worries <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Having the skill to fix the radio if it's busted, though, could be a lifesaver. (Remember the book "Alive" by Piers Paul Read? One of the survivors on the plane was an electronics engineering student, IIRC, who made several attempts to fix the aircraft HF transmitter but was unable to do so. There might have been many more survivors if he'd had a Ham radio study guide with him.)