Learning From The Past.

There is a lot we can learn from the past, in fact if our governments were to learn from the past, this world would be a far better place to live in than it is at present.
Survivalists & preppers tend to forget that "Bugging Out" was invented hundreds of years ago, the scenarios made up on forums like this one have already been enacted. Hundreds of years ago English people & others from Europe travelled to the New World in search of a better life, a better way of living. Many of these people were indentured servants & had to endure 4 to 7 years of labour working for someone in the New World to pay for their passage. After they had done their time, they were free to seek out land of their own to settle.
Others payed for their own passage & travelled through dangerous countryside to find somewhere to set up a cabin, produce their own food & raise a family. Here is a quote regarding one such family:

"I noticed particularly, one family of about 12 in number. The man
carried an axe and a gun on his shoulders. The Wife, the rim of a spinning
wheel in one hand, and a loaf of bread in the other. Several little boys and
girls, each with a bundle, according to their size Two poor horses, each
heavily loaded with some poor necessities. On the top of the baggage of one,
was an infant rocked to sleep in a kind of wicker cage, lashed securely to the horse. A cow formed one of the company , and she was destined to bear her proportion of service - a bed cord was wound around her horns and a bag of meal on her back. They were not only patient, but cheerful and pleased with themselves with the expectation of seeing happy days beyond the mountains"
Diary of Presbyterian Rev. David McClure.
18th century.

Not only did these people have to travel to find somewhere to settle, carrying all their belongings with them, but during the settling of their land & there after they were in constant danger of being attacked by natives & by other marauders. Isn't this very similar to the scenarios that we set for ourselves on this forum?

In most countries of the world, including England, Europe, America & Australia, there are many 18th century Living History groups which interpret this part of history, participating in Historical Trekking where whole families learn the primitive & period living skills & research the Trail Foods that were carried plus learning what foods were grown in settlers gardens & how they protected themselves from raiders. If you have one of these groups or clubs anywhere near where you live, I recommend that you pay them a visit & check out their activities. The people who belong to these groups & clubs in city or country stand a better chance of survival in a shtf situation than anyone else.
Some group addresses can be found at the following link, also there are people from all over who may be able to tell you where to find a group in your area.
Keith.
http://eighteenthcenturylivinghistory.freeforums.org/

The following video was made to promote our group some years ago. The link to our group has changed since this was made, but this video will give you some insight as to our activities & those of other groups like ours.

 

I am very interested in "living history" camps, I have been to one or two but these were very small because there was a bigger event going on somewhere further afield, i'm going to see if I can visit some more this year.
as far as living after an event, if someone is trying to live the same lifestyle they did before the event then they are in for a world of hurt, what i say is K.I.S.S.-keep it stupidly simple, the more complicated you try to make it the more difficult you are making it for yourself.
the main thing will be putting food on the table(and finding a source of drinkable water) as far as I am concerned anything else is secondry.

 

I agree, though I do like a certain level of comfort, ease of living. I think that those that start off with all modern gear & gadgets will eventually end up living a stone age lifestyle as some things run out & others malfunction. Those that start off with pre 1900s gear etc, are not likely to drop below that level. Others may not see this as comfort, but a stone age lifestyle is a whole new level of discomfort
Keith.

 

I think we will revert to some sort of pre industrialisation type lifestyle, possibly 17th or 18th century-the British industrial revolution started around 1750 so somewhere prior to that.
of course things will get more primitive the quicker that stuff breaks down or wears out and without any new ones being produced we will have to learn to adapt or go without such things, although this could be much later as stuff is used up, maybe a problem for those that come after us rather than a problem for us.
a QUICK collapse may be best as it is over quickly and will leave more stuff lying around for a reduced amount of survivors, but a SLOW collapse may leave more survivors but any stuff that is left lying about will get used up more quickly.

 

I agree, but those of us who already have 18th century technology, are not likely to lose it. Very hardy stuff. But how many people do you think would know primitive fire lighting methods? How many will know how to make decent footwear? They could learn, & some will, but it won't be as easy to learn then as it is now. So many crafts & skills go into such a lifestyle.
Keith.

 

if you can power it up then fine, use it whilst you still can, but at some point it will probably not be possible, maybe a few people can use some form of solar power, personally i'm going for the simple life.

 

of course you are
some people have obviously never heard of the phrase" those that ignore the lessons of the past as destined to repeat them"!!