Survival
Lessons to be learned on surviving the Apocalypse
Inspired by Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds - 1978
So if I may I shall commence,
Despite this being a fantastic piece of radio drama that if you have never listened to I suggest you do as it is possibly a SteamPunk masterpiece if you need reassurance of this look for a picture of Thunder Child or listen to the track Brave New World.
Well on surviving the Apocalypse do you run or do you stay?
Well firstly if you run with the crowd and risk being trampled to death or the prospect of the same doom being at the location of where the masses being worse than where you have just fled from, Or the prospect of there not being transport out of the area or just ending up in a mass refugee camp where crime and disease spread quickly.
If you do decide to leave take only what you will need most of the masses will be carrying every thing they can, All you need is basic survival supplies and may be a few items for you to trade, Most people will still be preoccupied with wealth so you will be surprised what items you don't need that can be traded.
Or do you decide to stay where you are?
If you decide to do this what is your location are you in a city/town or a rural location, As far as I can foresee there are advantages to both.
If you are decide to stay in a city it should not be to hard to procure most of the items you will require.
Looting is likely to happen fortunately for the survivalist most looters are going to be going for less useful items:
Alcohol eg. Wine Beer
Electrical goods eg. Televisions Stereos Computers
Prescription/Controlled substances
Although you to are probably going to have to loot to survive unless you have been planing for this for years?
And there is every chance that you are going to want some of the items every one else will be after weather it is fore trade or for personal usage.
May I suggest that you at least think about what you will need I will include a short list of items but this is by no means compleat as please remember I have never survived the Apocalypse my self and that the only experience I have is from military survival training and talking to relatives that lived in Nazi occupied Europe who also had to do what they could to survive.
Water container
Cooking pot (used to sterilise water and any medical tools) can also be used as something to eat from (remember your trying to survive you don't want to waste time having to wash two items when you could of just washed one)
Batteries of various sizes (not 100% necessary but if you do have the I'm sure they will be useful (even as sling shot ammunition if nothing else)
Chocolate Bar (not essential at all and I’m not saying to get as much as you can but one bar of chocolate carefully put away is a very special thing. When its cold and wet and you yourself are wet through to the bone you will be amazed at the healing properties of a square of chocolate, Also it has amazing calming affects on some one suffering from shock. Lastly can you imagine what it would be like to receive a piece of chocolate on your birth day wen you have not had anything like that in months even years?)
A small first aid kit containing:
crape bandages
triangular bandage
gauze
eye pad
saline solution
antiseptic cream
safety pins
tweezers
scalpel blades / razor blades
Needle and Thread
Band-Aids
plastic bag (or waxed/oiled canvas) to put all the items in to before putting it into stronger belt pack to keep every thing dry.
This should all fit in to a small pouch or bag and should also be carried every where with you.
Some form of high energy food dry muesli is a good example of this also some fruit provided that that your Apocalypse has not been because of some kind of chemical /biological fall out. This is possibly also there irradiated fruit and vegetables come in to there own as they will keep for ages. Also I suggest getting your hands on tined items not only do these keep forever providing the tin is not dented or damaged but once empty can be used for many uses or melted down and used to craft tools and other items you may need (if you don't keep up-to-date with your Tetanus shots be weary of rust )
Also deciding to stay in a city or large town will give you more places to hide.
Now have you decided to survive in a rural location.
Ah well firstly let me say this is not going to be a walk in the park, It is going to require lots of hard work but lets face it now lives distractions are gone so all you have to do now is survive. You will need shelter hopefully you are near a building of some sort if so this is half the battle.
And if you have found a building hopefully it has some form of garden attached to it if so you need to set to work on building your self some sort of functioning allotment that will be able to provide you with food in the coming weeks months and years,
Also in this type of location you should be able to forage and trap for food.
One piece of advice if you come across another garden or allotment don't just rush in and help your self!
You have no way of knowing if this belongs to anyone in the area especially as if you are harvesting food form someone else patch you may be met with force, Just imagine how you would feel if you looked out on your hard farmed crops and some one was just helping them selves to it.
Try looking around 1st even try buildings around the area, Look for signs of life. It may be that it is free for the taking or that the owner is willing to trade with you or even that you have just found your self an ally.
If you have not found a shelter a wooden frame with 8cm of fern covering it on all sides will keep out the rain try and build it with a pitched roof so that the rain dose not collect and seep through.
You can use plastic or waxed/oiled sheets to collect the run off water for drinking and washing.
Or if your feeling that it is to open in the area you are using you can dig a subterranean living space.
Make sure if you decide to do this that you properly support the ceiling and entrance to avoid collapse, I would suggest that you use more supports than you think necessary as this would be better than having a cave in and being buried in your new home.
It may also be beneficial to line the ceiling with a water prof layer to stop ground water seeping in.
Also if you plan to do this it is going to be hard physical labour and it is best to try not to side tracked from your task. You will be surprised how much digging you can actually do in a few hours of intrenching.
And once you have your shelter there will be plenty of time for you to think about other things and what you plan to do in the future and at least you will have a shelter to sit in to keep out of the elements while you are forging your plans for rebuilding the world.
If you have access to tools (maybe you where lucky enough to come across a run down barn or an abandoned car or workshop you could choose to build a platform in the tree tops of a small copes/wood as this would be an excellent place to be for gathering food and setting traps.
If you are lucky you may come across some abandoned livestock,
If this is the case you can turn this to your advantage by using the live stock, Cows sheep and goats and all be milked and only require grass and water. You can also spin wool from sheep and goats.
Also you will have a supply of meat.
Meat can be hung for weeks even months and still be perfectly fine to consume.
Also if you have access to running water you can store row/cooked meat (and other perishable items) in water tight containers secured with string in the running water.
Another storage technique is to bury items in well wrapped packets under soil and turf .
Old Microwave ovens also make very good cold storage devises as do buckets of water.
Inspired by Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds - 1978
So if I may I shall commence,
Despite this being a fantastic piece of radio drama that if you have never listened to I suggest you do as it is possibly a SteamPunk masterpiece if you need reassurance of this look for a picture of Thunder Child or listen to the track Brave New World.
Well on surviving the Apocalypse do you run or do you stay?
Well firstly if you run with the crowd and risk being trampled to death or the prospect of the same doom being at the location of where the masses being worse than where you have just fled from, Or the prospect of there not being transport out of the area or just ending up in a mass refugee camp where crime and disease spread quickly.
If you do decide to leave take only what you will need most of the masses will be carrying every thing they can, All you need is basic survival supplies and may be a few items for you to trade, Most people will still be preoccupied with wealth so you will be surprised what items you don't need that can be traded.
Or do you decide to stay where you are?
If you decide to do this what is your location are you in a city/town or a rural location, As far as I can foresee there are advantages to both.
If you are decide to stay in a city it should not be to hard to procure most of the items you will require.
Looting is likely to happen fortunately for the survivalist most looters are going to be going for less useful items:
Alcohol eg. Wine Beer
Electrical goods eg. Televisions Stereos Computers
Prescription/Controlled substances
Although you to are probably going to have to loot to survive unless you have been planing for this for years?
And there is every chance that you are going to want some of the items every one else will be after weather it is fore trade or for personal usage.
May I suggest that you at least think about what you will need I will include a short list of items but this is by no means compleat as please remember I have never survived the Apocalypse my self and that the only experience I have is from military survival training and talking to relatives that lived in Nazi occupied Europe who also had to do what they could to survive.
Water container
Cooking pot (used to sterilise water and any medical tools) can also be used as something to eat from (remember your trying to survive you don't want to waste time having to wash two items when you could of just washed one)
Batteries of various sizes (not 100% necessary but if you do have the I'm sure they will be useful (even as sling shot ammunition if nothing else)
Chocolate Bar (not essential at all and I’m not saying to get as much as you can but one bar of chocolate carefully put away is a very special thing. When its cold and wet and you yourself are wet through to the bone you will be amazed at the healing properties of a square of chocolate, Also it has amazing calming affects on some one suffering from shock. Lastly can you imagine what it would be like to receive a piece of chocolate on your birth day wen you have not had anything like that in months even years?)
A small first aid kit containing:
crape bandages
triangular bandage
gauze
eye pad
saline solution
antiseptic cream
safety pins
tweezers
scalpel blades / razor blades
Needle and Thread
Band-Aids
plastic bag (or waxed/oiled canvas) to put all the items in to before putting it into stronger belt pack to keep every thing dry.
This should all fit in to a small pouch or bag and should also be carried every where with you.
Some form of high energy food dry muesli is a good example of this also some fruit provided that that your Apocalypse has not been because of some kind of chemical /biological fall out. This is possibly also there irradiated fruit and vegetables come in to there own as they will keep for ages. Also I suggest getting your hands on tined items not only do these keep forever providing the tin is not dented or damaged but once empty can be used for many uses or melted down and used to craft tools and other items you may need (if you don't keep up-to-date with your Tetanus shots be weary of rust )
Also deciding to stay in a city or large town will give you more places to hide.
Now have you decided to survive in a rural location.
Ah well firstly let me say this is not going to be a walk in the park, It is going to require lots of hard work but lets face it now lives distractions are gone so all you have to do now is survive. You will need shelter hopefully you are near a building of some sort if so this is half the battle.
And if you have found a building hopefully it has some form of garden attached to it if so you need to set to work on building your self some sort of functioning allotment that will be able to provide you with food in the coming weeks months and years,
Also in this type of location you should be able to forage and trap for food.
One piece of advice if you come across another garden or allotment don't just rush in and help your self!
You have no way of knowing if this belongs to anyone in the area especially as if you are harvesting food form someone else patch you may be met with force, Just imagine how you would feel if you looked out on your hard farmed crops and some one was just helping them selves to it.
Try looking around 1st even try buildings around the area, Look for signs of life. It may be that it is free for the taking or that the owner is willing to trade with you or even that you have just found your self an ally.
If you have not found a shelter a wooden frame with 8cm of fern covering it on all sides will keep out the rain try and build it with a pitched roof so that the rain dose not collect and seep through.
You can use plastic or waxed/oiled sheets to collect the run off water for drinking and washing.
Or if your feeling that it is to open in the area you are using you can dig a subterranean living space.
Make sure if you decide to do this that you properly support the ceiling and entrance to avoid collapse, I would suggest that you use more supports than you think necessary as this would be better than having a cave in and being buried in your new home.
It may also be beneficial to line the ceiling with a water prof layer to stop ground water seeping in.
Also if you plan to do this it is going to be hard physical labour and it is best to try not to side tracked from your task. You will be surprised how much digging you can actually do in a few hours of intrenching.
And once you have your shelter there will be plenty of time for you to think about other things and what you plan to do in the future and at least you will have a shelter to sit in to keep out of the elements while you are forging your plans for rebuilding the world.
If you have access to tools (maybe you where lucky enough to come across a run down barn or an abandoned car or workshop you could choose to build a platform in the tree tops of a small copes/wood as this would be an excellent place to be for gathering food and setting traps.
If you are lucky you may come across some abandoned livestock,
If this is the case you can turn this to your advantage by using the live stock, Cows sheep and goats and all be milked and only require grass and water. You can also spin wool from sheep and goats.
Also you will have a supply of meat.
Meat can be hung for weeks even months and still be perfectly fine to consume.
Also if you have access to running water you can store row/cooked meat (and other perishable items) in water tight containers secured with string in the running water.
Another storage technique is to bury items in well wrapped packets under soil and turf .
Old Microwave ovens also make very good cold storage devises as do buckets of water.