This random thought about my Grandma popped into my head the other day...she used to keep a man's hat in the back window of her car.

When I was young, this confused me, and so I asked my Mom "why?" Mom said that it was so a would-be bad guy who was looking for an easy target would think twice, because there might be a man coming back to the car. You see, Grandma lived in a big city (big for this state) and at that time was a widow.

So she kept that hat there all the time, and had no issues with BGs.

Then I remember when I was a wee lad. Mom and Dad and Grandma and I were eating at our favorite pizza place. A tornado passed within a couple of miles of where we were and the power went out. My grandma was the only one who had a flashlight...kept it in her purse, and she gave it to me to hold! I remember they started bringing taper candles around to the tables, but I felt better because of that flashlight.

Until recently, I never would have thought of things like this as "being prepared". But it seems that I might have some preparedness in my genes. So, my hat is off to Grandma...for the example she probably didn't know she was setting for me.

Dad of course stocked what he considered important items...mostly toilet paper. After he passed, I don't think my wife and I had to buy any for two months!

It's funny, what we consider "equipping", previous generations considered "common sense".

And there has been a huge disconnect in the last 50 years.

My grand parents had a cellar full of canned goods, a couple cord of wood always cut, almost everyone carried a pocket knife, the list goes on & on.

Technology has severly limited the last two generations of how to be prepared to take care of themselves.

I'm not saying that I want to go back to their world, but we should know how to do this stuff in case we had to for a couple weeks, months or even years while the U.S. tries to recover from the next terriorist attack.

Or we can sit around & whine until FEMA shows up.

I figure one great ETS Grandma story deserevs another, so here goes:
MInd you, this all falls under the rubric of "Family history" so very little of it can be proven with surviving records, but still, it's what I grew up with.

My mom's family (specifially, my mom's mom's family) were classic White Russians: well to do middle class ukranians who supported the Czar and spoke French at home because Russian was considered to vulgar a language to use around polite company. But this was before WW I.

After 1917, things changed. Subtly at first, as many of the men had been drafted to fight the Germans and Austro-Hungarians (which is where my Dad's family comes from but that's for another time). But as the Revolution got into full swing, things started falling apart socially: Bolshiveks would roam the streets, sacking houses at random for food, fuel, blankets to keep warm, whatever. Anyone who resisted was "treated poorly" in her own words. They weren't friendly folk, anyway.

My great grandfather was in denial: "The Czar will last forever" was his all-purpose comfort phrase. He believed in the paper rubles he'd kept in three suitcases under the bed.

His wife (my great grandmother Katarina) saw the writing on the wall, however, and figured out a dual plan of action. In the short term: the Bolshiveks had to be dealt with, but since there were no weapons in the house (the Czar frowned on Jews--or anyone else--owning guns) she had to be more subtle. She saw what was happening to her neighbors and did the opposite. On the few occasions the Bolshiveks came to her house, she invited them in and treated them like they were her guests. She fed them, gave them what should could spare for clothing and blankets, and they invariably thanked her and left without a fuss.

The longer term was trickier--get out of the country, which they did in 1926. Her husband refused to accept the fact that rubels were losing their value by the day even in Russia to say nothing of the outside world, but she managed to sneak a big chunk of cash out of the house as fast as it came it and bought gold, jewelry, gems, silver coins, whatever could be taken across the border to be used to grease the wheels of bureaucracy to her family.

As a result, when the family arrived at Ellis Island, my great grandmother had all the family valuables (and a family who'd gotten through the revolution unscathed) while my great grandfather had brought he three big suitcases filled with pretty but worthless paper.

I've no clue how true the story is but it's what I keep in mind as I do my own ETS planning.

That's becuase our grandparents and greatgrandparents could remember things.

WWII. Rationing. The Dustbowl. The Depression. The first time they saw an airplane. The first time they saw a car. The 1918 flu. Learning to ride becuase it was horseshoes or thier shoes, and money was tight. Radio's being the big media. Getting a refridgerator. Getting electricity. Getting an icebox. Getting the phone. Getting hot water. Getting piped water, if they were terrifically rural. Coaler-fired boilers on steamers.

We've lost too much. If it all broke today, we'd be scavanging the carcass of our modern era until there was nothing, and we had slipped back. Where would we stop sliding? 1400? 1600? 1800? We'd hang onto the ability to make gun powder, but someone would have to reinvent the matchlock probably or there would have to be a lot people who could find flints within a few years; that's assuming we can get the niter and sulfer. We'd hang onto distillation, assuming we could get the grain. But medicine, we'd be back to the dark ages except for the knowledge of sterile = good. Most of would find our educations worthless.

I should have studied something useful. Like exploritory history, the kind when you learn how to weave and smith and ride and everything else that a proper Renissance man would have known.

All of these posts have gotten me to thinking. Common sense isn't so common any more. It is too many times seen as something extraordinary, because it is seen as revolutionary or innovative thinking. Technology is great, but it's true...most of us are too dependent on it and have lost some skills that used to be basic. I am guilty of it as much as anyone. I've had our A/C cranked every day of this hot and humid weather in my part of the country. Saying a prayer of thanks every time it clicks on. Could I go out and kill an animal, and prepare it to feed my family? No way...no clue. Because I choose to prepare myself and my equipment to the best of my ability, I'm better off than most people in this country, who choose to depend enitirely on modern technology and take little or no responsibility for their own well being. In an episode of Star Trek TNG, the medical equipment wasn't working and all the doctors and nurses threw up their hands. Crusher wisely knew how to immoblize a broken leg with a splint...but she was the only one.

There was a story game several years ago called "Soft Kill". The plot was that the Japanese figured out a way to wipe out the US computer network...everything in the country. Power plants, sewage treatment, banks, everything was crippled.

Maybe ironraven is right...a few riding lessons might not be such a bad idea.

And let's all hope that none of us have to come up with two plans of how we're going to survive a political situation.

Time to study some old school?

And morse code, and leadership, and horse handling, and how to make a grist mill, heck, how to make a mill stone.


Probably better than learning to ride, just becuase of how few horses there are in the country (and if it hits the fan, I imagine messing with Chris' horses would be an up close and personal introduction to a semi-exotic cartridge :P ), is learning how to smith. Almost all of us have a ton of metal to our names, give or take a bit. I know that in theory, you can make a crossbow out of a leaf spring, but I wouldn't recognize a leaf spring is you dropped it on my foot. But all the wonderful, beautiful, high quality metal, and without smiths, it will just go to waste.

And of course, before you smith, you need to have the tools, which mostly can be improvised. And a forge, so masonry is involved. And fuel, so you have to have a source of wood, a way to cut it, and if you want to do it right, you have to be able to make charcoal. And how to do molds would be a good thing. And maybe plans for a water powered grinding wheel, lathe and drill, so barrels can be turned and blades ground....

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's too hot to think like this. But it's too late not to.

You know who is going to be your "Best buddy" in that type of Long Term survival stuff (where this thread should really go)

That strange guy down the block - who builds strange things - I'm what is known as a Home Shop Machinist - yeah, I have a manual machine shop (and some CNC) in the basement. Can I build a crossbow? Yeah - and have, when I was like 10.. Even designed my own release. Never made a high powered one from a leafspring, but no big deal. Can I build a boiler? Yeah, as long as I can get the raw materials (don't want to trust making tubing myself) - machine a steam engine? I've made small ones, - big ones are just bigger. Build a small to mid sized foundry? In theory, and I've helped, but not actually done it - neighbors would get a tad annoyed. Morse code? Yep Electronics? - well, if I can scrape 15-20 years of rust off my skills, I did it for a living. Iron and Steelworking? That's waht I did during college for my money. Butcher a steer/hog? I guess, as they are not that different than a deer. I'd figure it out. Medicine. Now that would be tough.

Want some tricky onces, that very few people know?

With NO other reference, make a truely flat surface - say, 2ft square, to within .0001"

Generate a reference thread - we all know "20 thread/inch" or whatever, on screws. MAKE a machine to do that - you need to make a threaded rod that is more accurate than the final product - do it - from scratch

Make a right angle

These are all skills that are needed to build a machine society from NOTHING, and all skills that I know folks who can do, starting with no more than your basic hand tools (knife, hammer, saw etc)

BTW learning HOW to do these things is actually fun, and so is actually DOING them

How does a thread that began as me reminiscing about my grandma belong in LTS?? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I was more thinking about Ironraven and my subposts - about having to make things from scratch - and the like - definately LTS - I'm not going to have to worry about butchering animals, shoeing horses, making crossbows, etc except in a VERY long term situation