Long Term Wilderness Living/Survival & Choices.

Long Term Wilderness Living/Survival.

After the dust has settled & the survivors have left the cities to live in the bush, they will have to get down to some serious work in order to continue to survive. This also applies to those of us who already live in the bush, because our ties to the city will also be severed. Then, the equipment we have is all we have. There will be no new supplies of anything available to us. If the equipment we have chosen is not sustainable, then we will be in trouble in a very short period of time.

The same can be said of the skills we have at that time. Sure we can learn new skills, but just how much discomfort do you think you will suffer whilst you try to learn these skills? Whether it be making fire or making your own footwear, these skills are not learnt & certainly not mastered overnight, & one of the problems with using modern gear is that it does not teach you anything worthwhile.

My wife & I lived for over 20 years in the bush without electricity or any modern gadgets. We washed our clothes by boiling them in a copper. For light we made tallow candles & grease lamps. We grew our own food & I hunted meat for the table with a flintlock muzzle-loading gun. We started off this way living an 18th century lifestyle & our level of comfort never dropped. IF we had started off using modern equipment, we would have finished up living a Stone Age lifestyle! Yes I have the ability to live a Stone Age lifestyle, I have the primitive skills & it is a very secure feeling knowing this, but I do not want to have to live that way, I like a certain level of comfort.

So my advice is, if you are really serious about being able to survive in the future should it all go pear shaped, take a good long hard look at the gear you have, & ask yourself “is it sustainable”? DO NOT defend your choices of equipment to save face, DO NOT defend your choices because of its monetary cost. We are talking about survival here, our ability to keep living, & our quality of life. Going camping for a weekend or a month is not a good way of reviewing your gear. It is fun, but it is nothing but just that. Fuel stoves, matches, ferocerium rods, canned foods, torches, radios, Bowie type survival knives, etc will not last or will not do a satisfactory job in keeping you alive & within your comfort zone. So start learning the skills that will keep you alive & enable you to live with a certain amount of comfort. Acquire the tools & equipment that will support you through long term wilderness living.

Now having said that, I would like to make it quite clear that I have nothing against modern firearms or modern medical supplies, & I think those life straws for purifying water sound great. BUT, if you are going to carry a modern firearm, keep it for defence only or your limited supply of ammunition is not going to last long if you use it for hunting as well. If you are travelling alone I suggest you carry a bow as well, & not a compound bow. Or if you are only going to carry one gun & no bow, get yourself a flintlock muzzle-loading gun & learn how to use it to its best advantage.
Keith.