1- I would be lost without stores, electricity, HVAC and plumbing
2- It would be very rough but I might evenutally adapt
3- I am reasonably resourceful and have some useful skills
4- I’m quite resourceful and have camping / fishing / hunting skills
5- I’m a hardcore prepper / survivalist-- bring it on!
0voters
Inspired by ‘Just in case you haven’t enough to worry about already’ about the possibility of the internet going down. Responses pretty much ranged from ‘good riddance’ to ‘our entire infrastructure is run off the internet-- we’d all be screwed’.
So, the Apocalypse is nigh-- the internet, or the entire power grid, is down-- collapsing our entire modern infrastructure. Maybe (God forbid) WWIII began and ended last week. Maybe zombies.
In any case, let’s say you and your immediate family are healthy and in no immediate danger in your area. No radiation or other poisoning of any natural resources happened nearby, so living off the land is definitely doable. You have some neighbors who are recovering from the shock of whatever catastrophe happened along with you. You have whatever food you had stored in your house. Stores have already been stripped bare. There is no word on when infrastructure will be restored, if ever. You and your neighbors are on your own for the foreseeable future. What’s next? How do you handle it?
I charitably gave myself a ‘4’ rating, but I’m probably between 3 and 4.
I don’t think I’d fare well. I never learned all that much about survival. I don’t live anywhere near a plot of arable land that would be large enough to grow crops to feed us. I’d be a 2, I’d still give it my best shot.
I think I’d be slightly more than a “2”. I’ve done enough gardening of staple crops like potatoes the last few years that I know enough to grow some decent food, but scaling up would be a challenge. I’ve also got some decent carpentry skills, and some of my great-grandfather’s old tools that could be used to build things like log cabins, so I could probably figure out how to make some basic shelters.
But my sister and her husband are pretty heavily into camping and what not, and we have our family cottage not to far away that we could retreat to. We’ve got enough land there that we could probably clear enough trees to plant a decent plot to keep us going. There’s also fish in the lake there, and rumors of deer, but we’d have to learn hunting. There’s also actual farms in the area, so we might be able to barter for food. So I’d be better off than if I were completely alone.
I see somebody already chose “5- hardcore prepper / survivalist”. Please, don’t just vote if you choose that option-- tell me more about your prepper skills, please!
I guess I should have made it one of those polls that display who voted for what…
Yeah, I think you’re undervaluing yourself. You sound like more of a 3 going on 4. Maybe I rated myself too high…
Your question is unclear and between the title and the body seems to be asking two different things. To wit:
How skilled and attitudinally ready am I to survive in a post-apocalypse world?
How prepared logistically am I, and more importantly, how favorable or unfavorable is the location of my residence and everything within a week’s walk of there?
I score ~3.0 on the first axis and about 0.5 on the second axis.
IOW, I am screwed. The success of anyone in that scenario really is limited by the least favorable of those two mostly orthogonal factors. Some folks’ responses will be highly correlated. For many others, not.
As for question 2, I posed a scenario where the area in which you live has not been directly affected by anything dangerous, like bombs / radiation / zombies etc. You are dealing strictly with the aftermath of a collapse of societal infrastructure. If you happen to live in a big city you may be worse off than if you live in the country, so, yes, your situation may be different depending on your current living situation.
Twenty or thirty years ago I would have said I was a 4 as I had friends, family and was in pretty good physical shape. I was kind of scrappy and could get along with all kinds of people.
Now at 64 I would rate myself a 2 at best. Most of my family and friends are either dead or dying, so I have no network to fall back on. At this point I would be a target for people wanting to take advantage of what little resources I have left that would be of use.
I’m with you. I have a variety of skills, including being a fairly good shot with a long gun. I’m a reasonably experienced camper and have a house full of my scouting troop’s supplies. On the downside, I’m not a prepper, or a hunter, and would be flying by the seat of my pants rather than following a plan. I also live in the most densely populated state in the nation, which won’t help.
Yeah, I’m 61, and twenty or thirty years ago I would have been a solid 4 as well. But you’re right, I haven’t really done much real ‘roughing it’ camping in awhile, and though I’m still pretty spry, I’m not in as good shape. So if I’m being honest with myself, I’m probably kidding myself that I gave myself a ‘4’ even now. Still, I think I’m a solid ‘3’, and maybe you’re selling yourself a bit short.
I think in a ‘soft apocalypse’ which is kind of what I’m envisioning, even us older folks will still have plenty of value. By ‘soft apocalypse’ I mean a scenario in which the infrastructure collapses but we’re not smack-dab in the middle of a warzone in which it’s a pure dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest scenario, and we work together on rebuilding some semblance of a society.
ETA: Wow, the poll is leading with ones so far. Really? I think you all are selling yourselves a bit short. Dopers are some of the smartest, most sensible, practical people there are. Sure, we’re all getting older, but we’re still very resourceful, highly skilled, and have a lot to offer the post-apocalypse.
I would be just fine, it would be work, but not very difficult.
Location is everything. Where I am I can, and do pull food from the Pacific Ocean and Columbia River year round. Millions of acres of forest come right down to my house. My yard is visited by deer and elk almost daily. Plenty of fresh water including a year round stream running about 20 yards from my house. I am an avid gardener have grapes, berries, and apples. Well armed with hunting rifles, pistols, and probably enough ammo for the rest of my life. If I run low I have several freinds with the equipment to re-load.
No, I am not a prepper. That is just the area that I live in. I can last as long as my health lasts.
I was torn between 3 and 4; I’m good with firearms and have some basic hunting skills, and compared to the younger generation have better than average mechanical and construction skills, but I’m not rancher-level.
My biggest hurdle is, personally, is if I even want to continue living. But that’s if I’m alone.
Unfortunately, I don’t think skills would have much to do with anything. I’m guessing that 90% or more of Americans have less than a month’s worth of food on hand. Any food that I might be able to grow or catch would very likely be stolen before I could eat it (very likely involving violence). If I could somehow figure that piece out, a winter with no oil or electricity would very likely finish the job.
Hmm, I don’t think I would fare the worst, I have some advantages. I live in a relatively rural location with land enough to grow some food (which I already do). I have an oil tank in the garden and some stocks of gas for cooking. I have lots of wood for burning. I keep a couple of phone banks charged and lots of candles. I have quite a lot of food - frozen and dried. I’m handy with tools and can build makeshift things. I’m not on any medications and am relatively fit.
I’m prepared for an emergency but a collapse would be another matter. The plain fact is that I’m old and in poor health. If I became a refugee I wouldn’t last a month.
One, and that is being optimistic. The problem is not “I would be lost without stores, electricity, HVAC and plumbing”, that would be a nuisance. But I am very short sighted, hard of hearing, and on medication for some minor ailments. Bad omens.
That, I am afraid, is not going to be enough to survive the first hard winter. The non dopers are an overwhelming, crushing majority. Not that this will help them, mind you. But by then it will be too late for me.
It’s the old bit, “I know enough to know how much I don’t know”. I know some stuff, but turning it into practical applications is always harder than you think it is. Plus, there’s the question of time. Sure, I could cut down trees, I could make a basic log cabin, I could plant potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, but can I do all of that in the time I have before I collapse from exhaustion/hunger/disease? Can I do enough of it to survive long enough to do the rest?
The elephant in the room for all these things is the rest of nearby humanity.
IMO @Dallas_Jones’ explanation suggests he’s in the best position so far in this thread. But I/we know nothing of how much human competition is nearby enough to promptly deplete the animal supply, shit in the creeks thereby contaminating his water supply, and show up with guns all hyped up to play Mad Max on his ass.