Post apocalyptic gears

This depends on your situation. If you are living in a house in the country, then you can afford to have a supply of natural fibre materials such as we have in our home. We also have looms to weave our own cloth. If you don't have a loom, it is easy enough to make a basic loom. My wife made most of my clothing, though I did make my leather leggings, my moccasins, & my legging garters. I also made my own breechcloth which is a good alternative to wearing breeches or trousers.

If you are living an 18th century lifestyle & living in a primitive shelter, then you can still make your own clothes. This is the point to my posts on long term wilderness living. If you start off with mostly modern equipment & no primitive or traditional skills, then you will likely eventually be living a stone age lifestyle. If you start off with pre 19th century technology & skills, then you are unlikely to ever drop below this comfort level.

18th century clothing tends to last longer, because it has less stress points. Clothing & everything else in the 18th century was made to last, unlike modern items which have a built-in redundancy. By making your own clothing before the SHTF, then (A) you know how to make these items, & (B) you are wearing the pattern on your person for future construction. This is why 18th century Living Historians believe they have the best chance of survival in a TEOTWAWKI situation. Not only have we made most of our (if not all) clothing & equipment, but we also participate in Historical Trekking, so this off the grid survival situation is nothing new to us, or our families. Besides being experienced, trained & prepared, we also enjoy participating in this 18th century activity, whether someone doing it alone, with their family & friends, or a part of a Living History group. These groups & people exist worldwide.

There are of course many personas to choose from in Living History, if you intend to participate for the purpose of learning how to survive in a post SHTF situation, then you need to choose a persona that will give you an advantage. The best personas for survival are: Woodsrunner. This includes women as well as men, i.e. woodsmen & woods-women. It also includes woodland Indians (native, white & black) & Indian influenced woodsmen. You can also be part of a militia, which will include some military training. With these personas of course goes the particular clothing they wear, & the special equipment they carry & use. Women can wear men's clothing, it is more practicle, though some woods-women such as Anne Bailey were also know to wear a mix of men's & women's clothing.

Do not confuse Living History with Historical Reenactment. I Living Historian can be a reenactor & visa versa, but where Reenactment is a public display activity & mostly military, Living History is only public when: it is part of a museum display; part of a living history village, or the group or individual has been asked to be a part of another activity to add to the interest. Other than that we are completely private.


If you are interested, check out these links: http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/getting-started.html
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/search?q=clothing
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/search?q=woodswomen
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/interpreting-woodsman.html
http://mysurvivalforum.com/categories/all-things-primitive.64/