What's Your Specialty

I'm not good at much, but I can shoot most guns efficiently (favorite is FN Five-seveN USG FDE) and can pick locks relatively quickly and can work with minor electronic, so things like close-range radio jammers, small-scale EMPs, cameras/bugs, a bit of hacking. Really nothing useful for normal legal purposes lol.

 

Wow this thread went sideways so fast I almost forgot what the OP was about. I’m not a master at any5ing, but know the basics of a lot of stuff.always working on upgrading my skills and knowelege

 

I know enough to have made a living at several things, from medical to legal to cooking to maritime to construction and much more. I'm a problem solver and have two skills that have served me well. I can correlate two seemingly unconnected bit of information to come up with an answer. Secondly, I know who to ask if I can't figure it out.

My weakness is agriculture. I'm trying to learn how to grow stuff.

 

I’m pretty good at breaking things then at figuring how to get out of the mess I made. All kidding aside, this describes how my wife sees me. But what does she know?

I’m probably best at critical thinking. Formal training and education followed up by my professional career gave me this.

Agriculture, animal husbandry, preserving food, trapping, hunting and gathering, etc were taught to me by my parents and all my aunts, uncles and grandparents. This is how they lived and how I lived as a kid.

Dad taught me to land navigate by the sun, stars, terrain, map and compass. He also taught me how to shoot. My 22 years in the army didn’t screw my original learning up too badly.

My dad was kind of a “Tim the Tool Man Taylor” in how he learned to fix things. I have some of this in me, but I’m never afraid to try, learn and grow in competence.

Woodworking is a passion, and there is no construction project I won’t tackle. Even though I mostly use power tools, I am learning to use my hand tools I’ve inherited from my dad or came with the old homestead I bought.

Some of the traditional bushcraft skills like starting fire by rubbing sticks together or figuring out which bugs or plants to eat to cure what ails you I’m not so good at. But these are things my wife is an absolute ace at.

The one skill I never learned, that I wish I did, was to fly. My dad was a pilot but gave it up when he was in his young 50s. I just never found the time to get my license. When things get bad in our world, this skill would open up a whole new world to survive and thrive in up here in the northern country.

 

Every one needs a plan. Although I am no expert I suspect keeping up a battle for an extended period against a trained or determined foe will tax you more than you think. Ammo and steel barriers are great, you sound like you might be better prepped for home defence than many, but unless you have enough bodies to accompany you, it is going to be hard. As they say you have to sleep sometime. Even artificial stimulants can only keep you going for so long,

 

I guess I am sunk ... I am a generalist and not a master of anything.

 

As to survival skills, I can be a semi-decent gardener for common/robust vegetables, I'm good with a gun, I've been able to fix most things I've set out to fix, and I'm an expert jerry-rigger. And I can be an @$$hole. Now days, even Satan avoids me when we damned go out for a smoke break. I don't even remember what I said the time that I got Satan to puke. Excuuuuuuuuuse me!

 

Specialty ....wow!!!

Handling U 235.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite

 

A specialty? Figuring things out. Especially diagnostics and repair. I was one of the first to get the ASE L1 certification. Up to the year 2000, only 1% of certified technicians had the L1 cert. I can build stuff so that it is functional, but it will never be "pretty". I don't have that artistic eye. But when it comes to making broken things work again, I would match my skills against anyone.

 

I am fortunate enough to have spent half my life in a more Urban environment, and the other half (so far) Out in the Country, my skills are pretty limited so far (practicing everyday) but they're useful at least in my current environment.

Gardening/Landscaping being the strongest of my skills, I can run a small garden, or a decently sized farm. I can do minor welding (nothing extreme) I can build things out of wood (mostly furniture, or small things).

Other than that, I grew up in a military family, so I'm pretty comfortable around guns, still need more shooting practice before I would consider myself proficient..

~Nomad

 

I am an info junkie and that applies to gathering skills. If I see something that I like I want to know how to do it where other people may want to buy one. I picked up trades that way and have endless "hobby" type skills.

People are all different and that is why s group is many times more effective than one or two. I have my strengths and then there are things that I SUCK at. I have worked on motors from ship sized to cars, big trucks, tractors, bulldozers, and motorcycles. I'm pretty good at that or fixing most any sort of machine...BUT chainsaws, weedeaters, and small mowers don't like me and won't run for me!!!! I like to write but spelling is forever a mystery to me. I love spell check!! I am very organized and can get things done...but am easily frustrated at times by details and small problems.

Knowing your weaknesses and accepting them is as important as knowing your strengths.

 

Good morning Tex Danm,

So true. A group is a "force multiplier".

There is a prepper/survivalist group in northern Virginia where they already have a hunting lodge type of structure ... big ... that can accommodate many families. Even this sophisticated - and rich - group sought to get a physician and nurse to join their club.

Plus, often neglected about a group is that members know others in other groups. How many times have I obtained unneeded SAR materials that I wanted to give to someone who could put the 2 boxes of pubs to good use ?! Also ran into a supply of topo maps of some Gulf Coast areas. They, too, went to waste because I didn't have a contact to send them to.