1855 Survival Ideas for Now

1) always grown your own fruit and vegetables
from Victory Gardens in WWII, to staying alive in the Great Depression, to knowing what is in your food (organic, GMO free, etc.), tasting better (think ripe and not stuck in transport unripe)

2) made your own musical instrument(s)
will definitely make you a better musician (understanding your craft) and an appreciation for the art form and artists.

3) driven a horse drawn carriage or wagon
carriages and wagons can be built from local materials, horses bred and raised. try doing that with a car.

4) saddled a horse
this is about working with another sentient being, cooperatively. definitely useful.

5) used a communal outhouse (digging your own hole does not count)
removes the feelings of being special, privileged or superior. we all poo.

6) gathered wild mushrooms for consumption (not to get high)
could save your life if stuck in the wild. besides, they are wonderful, much more flavor than store bought. as the wrong one makes you sick (or dead), teaches you concentration and the advantages of being careful. last a long time dried.

7) used a cast iron wood burning stove for cooking and baking
the food tastes so much better. speed and convenience does not mean better, only faster in our over stressed out existence.

8) used and maintained a kerosene lantern for light
could you make a modern LED lamp from scratch? any lamp fuel properly stored lasts a very long time. not true of modern batteries. not safe to limit yourself to only one way to perform a necessary task.

9) made and eaten beef, horse or deer jerky (or pemmican)
any hunter knows this one. fresh means will spoil quickly (think recalls, food poisoning, etc.). jerky will last for years, lightweight and easy to carry long distances.

10) walked or rode a horse more than 500 miles without a map
we become too dependent on our gadgets. most 'city' dwellers are lost without a GPS unit guiding their every move. this is an essential skill we have lost.

11) had major surgery without pain killers
pain is part of life. surgery will save your life. not ideal of course, but the ability to handle pain is also an important ability.

12) sutured a wound with available needle and thread
field survival, but safer than an infection, or loss of a limb.

13) used a cap and ball black powder pistol/rifle to survive
yeah, probably only for perfectionist period reenactors. but we could all learn skills to save ourselves or others.

14) used black powder to cauterize a wound or amputation
infection was the number one killer from survivable wounds in most wars, could save your life.

15) joined a posse to hunt down a murderer or thief
this is about our commitment to public safety. should never be about revenge, racism, or hate.

16) made sourdough bread without buying starter
no brainer. homemade sourdough is incredible. ALL homemade bread fresh from the oven is heavenly.

17) drank water from a stream or lake unfiltered
pre giardia this was common. the taste is so good without chlorine (which has saved countless lives in our overcrowded world.)

18) killed, dressed and cooked your own meat
do we have any right to eating meat if we do not face our prey and accept our own ultimate fate? every living thing is both prey and predator.

19) made your own camera and light sensitive materials
could you make a digital camera from scratch? are your drawing skills so good your work could be used to document accurately a person or event? many photographers are returning to 'slow' photography. there is a certain aesthetic and sense of peace we lost when faster/easier won out.

20) spun yarn and wove your own cloth
would you survive running around naked in the snow or desert?

21) made your clothes by hand from the above
see above.

22) washed your clothes in a tub with homemade soap
power failures are a pain, but so are lice, fleas, allergies, fungus infections, etc. this is a life saving essential skill. actually superior, all day in a tub gets clothes WAY cleaner than 20 minutes in a modern washer. we sacrificed yet again because of our need for SPEED.

23) been with someone when they died
our current habit of hiding our old and dying far away to die alone and without respect is a strong reflection of what will happen to us when our time comes. being with someone you know when they die does a lot to assuage our own fears of death. it will happen, not optional.

24) lost someone you knew to violence committed by a stranger
probably not so rare in our modern world as we would have hoped. anger, hate and greed are real now as well.

25) made your own bricks to build a house with
in our search for zero cost heating and cooling we lost the idea that thick (18") walls made of common mud and straw work remarkably well.

26) felled a tree to make furniture or housing using only hand tools
doing anything with hand tools brings a sense of calm that no power tool can. slow down, appreciate the smells, feel, art of doing this yourself. definitely worth it for mental health if for no other reason.

27) ever sent or received a telegram
much easier to set up a telegraph system again after a disaster. learning morse code, not so easy. this may be a wash.

28) ever used whale oil for lubrication or lamp fuel
in this time of mass extinction at our hands, maybe better to use a plant oil. coconut oil works remarkably well.

29) never been in a motorized car
certainly convenient, but how many times have we been held hostage to our morals because we sold out to those holding the fuel pump. then add climate change. a.k.a. how long can you tread water?

30) never used a phone of any kind
a number of people are returning to flip phones because of the need to break their addiction to the constant attention a smart phone provides and demands. there is ALWAYS a side effect to any tech. being constantly on-call to others will lead to an early death. stop, think, consider, before acting. hmm, that might even save lives.

31) can read and write in full handwritten cursive script
(secret code your teenage children will not be able to read). there is a feeling that cannot be described when using pen and ink.

32) kept accounts in a ledger book by hand
this is a funny one. too many people overly trust their spreadsheets and calculators. to the point, where they no longer see horrible costly errors no bookkeeper from then would have missed.

33) had Cholera, Typhus, Yellow Fever, or Tuberculosis
plagues and pandemics are not just a 21st century event. communities that did not learn to work together for the public good, went extinct.

34) cast lead characters to hand set a block of text to print
lead causes brain damage, in children especially. not a skill you should attempt now. printing allowed the first 'social media' to occur and has overthrown governments and businesses. maybe try wood block printing for now.

35) depended on a hand wound pocket watch to tell time
teaches us to slow down. no alarms, must wind daily, in your pocket so you are not constantly checking it.

36) made a dip pen from a twig and used hand made ink
or prepared a goose quill. scratching on rocks with a bit of charcoal from the fire is not the same. this does work and was used by scribes for thousands of years.