Hello All,

I've been thinking a lot about survival lately. Maybe because of all that has happened in the last few years, 9/11, along with the war, threat of terrorism, etc... Then the positive things, my family, just celebrated my 1 year anniversary, we are talking about children, my career, buying some land, building a house, all that great stuff. However when I speak of or think of survival, I am a total novice. My father was not much of a hunter, so I never really learned good hunting skills (though I am adept in weapons, maintenance of them, caching, etc..). I have been a city boy most of my life with occasional trips out into the wild (so too speak?). But if today there was a catastrophe (either man made or natural) I am not sure if my family would be able to survive, as a matter of fact I believe not without some assistance of some kind. This weighs heavy on my mind as I feel each one of us should be self sufficient in some way or another. So I decided that my New Years Resolution was going to be learning all that I can about survival, living in the woods, etc... So here are my prileminary thoughts, and please any ideas, thoughts, suggestions would be greatly appreciated, hence why I am posting here.

1. Books. Being an avid reader that would be my first choice. However in this field I am not sure how much practical knowledge can be assimilated from just reading?
2. Survival Courses/Field Craft. Those offered by say "Tom Brown" and others. Are these worth the money and time?
3. After this I am not sure where to go. Any advice would be very welcome.

I mentioned before that we are looking at land and looking to build a house. Setting my home up for a more self sufficient dwelling has always been a task I have wanted to do. However here is another area that practical application totality escapes me. I know of say wind mills, solar power, generator, wells, etc... Though I know nothing really about how to go about this, costs, etc...

Having an underground shelter on my property, seperate from my home is another idea or mine. Feedback on this and the other topics would be appreciated. Thanks, Eric

if you're looking for a book, i would highly recommend The SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman. it focuses mostly on wilderness survival, but there's a small part in the back about urban disasters. i thought it was very good.

Survival in an urban / suburban after a major impact disaster is going to be a community effort. Along these lines you might want to look into joining your local volunteer fire / ambulance / sherrif / SAR / CERT / HAM-ARES / CB association. Any of these options will also provide you with invaluable training in one or more surival areas. My prefrence after 9/11/02 was to get my Amateur radio lisence (HAM) and then my EMT-B training and registration. I am now active in the ARES and the ambulance service in town. So during a wide-spread emergency I will be running trauma duty followed by comms for the local shelter. This assures me a place in the recovery effort and therefore some priority call on the recovery supplies.

OTOH, Survival in a rural area after a stranding type incident (downed plane, lost during a hike, walking home after escaping the rioting hords etc) will be a fairly solitary event with the skills resembling primitive backpacking. The understanding and gear learned becomming a HAM / EMT will serve you well in this environment as well if you manage to be able to survive long enough to use them. In this type of incident (the original focus of this group) you must be prepared and equipped with whatever is in your pockets when you find yourself suddenly on your own. Hence the prevalent focus on assembling a selection of gear for EDC (Every Day Carry) such as a PSK (Personal - Pocket Survival Kit) and a FAK (First Aid Kit). A quick search of Doug's kits from the front page followed by a search of this forum on any or all of the above TLA's (Three Letter Acronym) will provide a wealth of information about what gear you might want to carry.

If you assemble a PSK, FAK, and a few other EDC items that you think would provide for the ability to establish the three primaries - WDF (Warm Dry Fed) you should then spend many hours / days / weeks exercising that belief. Take yourself out of work on a Friday with only your EDC and try to walk home. Then in the rain. Then in the Snow. Then out in the woods. Then for a week in the woods. If you can surive a week in the woods with only your EDC and not freeze, break any bones, die of dehydration etc then you probably have the correct set of EDC by the standards of many on this board.

BTW, By the above test, how many here are really prepared? How many have carried out this test? - Not I. Guess I should try.

When it comes to self sufficient dwellings there is a wealth of information at RMSG.org Rocky mountain survival group. Everything from solar and wind to growing grain and herbal remedies and alternative architecture and hydro-power. A book you might find interesting on this topic is "five acres to freedom" about homesteading.

Welcome to the forum.

For short term, survival situations just spend a lot of time in the archives on this site. Any number of situations has been discussed, second guessed, debated, rehashed and so on and so forth.

For homesteading information (which is really beyond the scope of this forum) I'd recommend a subscription to Backwoods Home Journal. Also check out these books: Five Acres and Independence by M.G.Kains, Farming For Self Sufficiency and The Guide to Self Sufficiency, both by John Seymour and The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon. Any or all of these are great primers on the subject. The Seymour books are out of print but can be had used online fairly cheaply.

You might also want to check out www.mrsolar.com or www.homepower.com for ideas about .....well I'm sure you can figure it out.

Ed

I suggest you do take a survival course. I know a lot of people who took Tom Browns course and learned quite a bit. For someone that has little to no real life wilderness survival knowledge this would be a good start. It gives you a chance to learn and do.

Also, I reccomend preparing survival kit(s) and first aid kits to carry on your person and in your vehicle and "bug-out" bags for your house. Also, you should look at what you carry on you everyday and where you go everyday. Do you carry a flashlight, knife, ect? Can you or do you work somewhere where you can carry these things?
Maybe going on camping trips every once in a while can help you to realize what you could do better.

Eric,

Welcome!

Read away but be sure to make time to actually do things - skills usually come with knowledge plus practice. Prioritize this to the best of your ability. For example - realistically, how long are you going to be living and working right where you are? Whatever you're concerned about, will you stay there and ride it out, or are some sorts of evacuation plans required? (There are many facets to that decision - personal survival is only one facet).

Hmmm. I'll stop here for now - perhaps you could re-post your question after you've had some time to digest things that have previously been written here?

Regards,

Tom

There is a website called River Cottage that looks at the process of becoming self-sufficient food-wise, with the emphasis on smallholding. Not sure if its what you're looking for, but it makes an interesting read.

The website supports several books on the subject, all written by a guy called Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I'm in the process of reading "The Rivercottage Cook book" which is less of a cook book and more of a guide to producing your own food. From vegetables and fruit all the way to chickens, sheep and cattle! It's very UK biased though.

Good luck with your New Year's resolution - I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

Try Paladin press, I've ordered MANY of their titles and have had many hours of enjoyable and educational reading and very few disappointments. Anything by Ragnar Benson is well worth reading/study.

Good luck,

Troy