Some Points to Ponder

Was talking with a friend this weekend about Cataclysm events. He thought that the best palce to move in case of a polar shift would be to the center of the continent. Somewhere high on a mountain. I kept my peace on this and I'll tell you why in a minute.

Then, he said in case of a toxic atmosphere he'd keep gas masks, etc on hand. I kept my peace.

One point after another he made, and all of them were wrong. The best tool in your arsenal is your mind. With that you can literally accomplish anything.

So I have a few things for you to ponder over.

If the world goes through a rapid polar shift, where will you be safe? The answer is absolutely nowhere. You'll be just as safe on the coast as on a mountain. If the Earth's mantle shifts, new mountains will be created, old ones destroyed and the seas will be rearranged. The danger won't be in the tsunami that follows a massive underwater quake, but the pathfinding of that water after a geological upheaval. So long as you keep your head WHILE it happens, you can probably react fast enough to survive.

While it's good to have a chemical mask laying about, if your area becoms so toxic as to require the use of one for survival, think ahead. You can put it on, but eventually, it will fail. The seal will fail, the filter will fail, etc... You're going to have to take it off at some point. Where? Do YOU have an airtight scrubbing closet at your house? The appropriate course of action in such a situation would be to clear the area and get upwind.

In the end, please commit the following to memory as it will save your life in every situation and help you in everyday life with the simplest of tasks. If you have a problem, use the following.

1. Ascertain your situation.
2. List goals.
3. Evaluate your assets.
4. Create a plan.
5. Execute decisively.
6. Respond to 'hitches' in your plan fluidly.

An example of this would be:

1. All dogs in the city are acting as if they'r infected with Rabies *large city scenario*. This has occurred over a 48 hour span. Officials have declared a state of emergency and have called for evacuation.
2. I want to keep my family safe. I want to find out what's going on. I can't leave the house due to a medically immobilized family member.
3. I'm at the house. I have my tools, my vehicles, food for two weeks, three if I ration, bottled water.
4. My windows are shatter proof. Crazy dogs can't get in. I'll keep my own dog under quarantine in the garage until we find out what's going on. Probably best to find some kind of armor in the event that there is bad joojoo and I have to leave my house. I have puncture-proof gloves from work, a welding hood, and an old set of chainmail armor from the renaissance festival... To find out what's going on I will listen to the radio while we have poiwer, and the hand-held if it goes out. Alternatively I can armor myself and seek out the local authorities. I will nail plywood accross the inner-windows of my house and bar the doors, just in case.
5. Execute the plan. Board the windows, bar the doors, cage the dog, watch TV.
6. Turns out the rabies virus has gone airborn though has not infected humans yet. That's a hitch in the plan as there is a dog in the garage. Re-evaluate and continue.

You'd be surprised how many people leave out one of these steps. The important one is to CORRECTLY assess your situation. Don't go overboard, don't underestimate. IF you don't know, fear the worst and plan accordingly. If you DO want to go overboard you'll probably make that last item on the list alot easier. Preparing for the worst usually preps you for when plans must change or go awry.

Anyone see a flaw here? I know it's common sense to some people, but not to everyone. ALECER Can you think of a situation this wouldn't work in?

What you're saying makes sense (other than the mention of rapid immediate polar shift, which I don't think is a viable hypothesis).

Many of the survivalist threads I see here seem centered around the assumption that the authors will always be 'on top' of the situation. A real 'worst case' scenario is the exact opposite! Survival skill depends on soldiering through, when it seems like everything is stacked against you, when all your plans are out the window, and adapting as best you can.

Almost by definition, that's not something you can 'prepare' for.

Sure you can. This is how.

Change yourself.

One of the biggest things I've learned in my life is this: When you come to the fork in the road, TAKE IT.

What that means is that indecision is worse than the wrong decision. Even deciding to do nothing is a decision. But sitting around and doing nothing to help your situation is the wrong place to stop. Every day you go to work, every decision you make, stay braced for that wrench in the gears. Try to think fluidly, keep your mind shifting over various points of your project, keep your thoughts on the task at hand, but leave a bit of your brain behind to oversee the big picture. Deal with people as if you know what your doing even if you're lost in the sauce. Doing something and doing it DECISIVELY can be the difference between life and death, between eating and starving. They are also excellent leadership qualities. If you can't decide on a course of action, find someone who can and be their subordinate. Carry out their orders as best you can. Be decisive. Learn to analyze quickly. Keep your mind running at peak efficiency by playing end-game scenarios at all times. That will help you stay fluid during moments of panic when alot of people freeze up or make bad judgements.

1. Ascertain your situation.
2. List goals.
3. Evaluate your assets.
4. Create a plan.
5. Execute decisively.
6. Respond to 'hitches' in your plan fluidly.

7. Stay Positive

nice post.

reply to post by Arrowmancer


Good thread. I don't see a flaw, because you've created a flowchart -- a plan-- that is flexible.

Reminds me of our hurricane plan. It's a list of pre-storm things, which includes notifications to two people on our communications tree to let people know if we are staying in the house or going to the cave. This is a three-page plastic laminated document (I know, I know..... but that's me ) ......... and the point is, we ALWAYS deviate from the plan. After the event, m'Bride and I rework the plan. There's a certain sense of security that comes with having a plan, but it has to be flexible to adjust for the unanticipated, the unknown.

........... and that's just hurricanes. Imagining a TEOTWAWKI event... well, we probably can't imagine.... and I agree, it's foolish to think that our stocks and stores and knowledge and skills make us invulnerable. I tend to think of those things as just giving us a fighting chance.

Agree with you about safe places in a pole shift. I don't personally believe that is in the works, but hell, who knows. If that happens, I don't really think there is much I can do about it, so I choose to not include that in my [compulsive] list of things to worry about. Same goes for large asteroid strike, or similar ELE event. I will concern myself with the things that I might be able to affect.

I am an absolute believer in running mental scenarios. Of your listed items - points in this thread I would count that one highest on the scale of usefulness. Not that they weren't all useful

A person can have a whole house full of "preps" but if they don't know what to do when crunch time hits all those preps will probably be for naught.

My favorite acronym was always S.T.O.P.

Stop
Think
Observe
Plan

Which is what you have to do when the moment strikes no matter how much pre-prep you've done. You literally have to stop and think to keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs.

reply to post by area6


In some crisis situations S.T.O.P. is valid and the best general advice. Unfortunately, life isn't always so neatly cooperative as to allow us time to stop - think - plan. Sometimes nothing short of immediate and decisive action is *required* for survival, or a shot at survival.

The time to plan is *before* the plan is needed. The time to think through a situation might be best accomplished *before* a situation. Statistically, too many people die because they are indecisive or waiting for some cue that will stun them out of their "norming" mental dynamic - Normalcy bias.



[edit on 30/5/10 by Geeky_Bubbe]

reply to post by Geeky_Bubbe


I used the principals of STOP to avoid a head-on collision once. It allowed me to keep my wits, figure out what the other driver was doing, and take the right action in a matter of seconds.

So you can use it for taking immediate decisive action.

There is no substitute for training - especially playing out difficult scenarios, role-playing, etc. But most real world scenarios require thinking on your feet ...

It's like playing Texas Holdem with pennies. There's no real money on the line so the decisions you make are different than the ones you would make if you had a big wad of cash on the table.

A few other points to ponder, and feel free to add to the thread. I wanted it to be about things you don't generally think about but should probably put in writing so people with less sense in a certain arena might use it one day... it's survival after all... *If it's simplistic and idiotic for you, it may not be for other people... I'll give you a few examples...*

1. The human body is probably the most resilient machine on the face of the planet. Compare it to a car. A car can only use certain types of fuel, your body can create fuel out of damn near anything. If you wreck your car, it doesn't heal itself. Your body does. A car won't tell you every little thing that's wrong with it. Your body does. A car won't develop a bigger or smaller engine depending on your situation and environment. Your body will.

The human body can adapt to nearly anything. What your body can't do, your mind can. While your body can adjust to the desert (or the wetlands depending on what you're used to) by regulating water flow, perspiration and chemical content of sweat to assist in evaporative cooling of the skin and body), it can't adjust to sub-zero temperatures. But your mind can make the adjustment for you and let you know to build shelter, get in the warmth, etc... If you get cut, you heal. If you get sick, you have a built-in defense system. If you get a concussion or other head injury, your body will find ways to compensate. Your body IS a machine and it's a very very efficient one. Pay attention to it. Trust it.

2. If there is life, there is water. Somewhere. The more life you see the more likely you are close to water. If stranded in Nature, pay attn to the life around you *location of vegetation, rabbits, deer, etc...*. Water rolls downhill and always seeks the path of least resistance to flow to the ocean or large body of water *even in a thick forest you can see the slope of the ground. Walk around hills and you'll usually find a stream at some point*. Water is rarely silent. If you are listening for it you can usually hear it. Most plants contain water and you can get it out of them if you use your head. You can get water by eating things that have water IN them. But be careful not to eat something poisonous. Basically, unless you're in the desert you should be able to find water fairly easily by using the above information.

3. Military BDU's (Camouflage) serve a higher function than simply covering the anatomy. They contain pockets EVERYWHERE. You can use them as packs, flotation devices, and water bags (Yes, they will do all of this) with proper thought. BDU's only come in long-sleeve for a reason. They protect your skin from burns and help contain your body's moisture. They are VERY good at dispersing body heat. "Blousing" the act of tucking the slacks into the boots or using 'blousing straps' to roll the legs under, just above the boot is NOT for decoration. It is to protect your legs from bug-bites, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, poison ivy/oak, stingers, etc... All that stuff can get in unbloused trouser legs, but not bloused trousers... The belts the military wears with their BDU's are not to keep their pants up, but a tool to be used if necessary. On the sides of BDU slacks are draw-bands that can be snugged up to fit the waist appropriately. The belt has zero function while on the body, but can be used as a tourniquette, latch-sling, rope, harness, grapnel, bag-sinch, WEAPON, personal restraint, and binder *as in binding two pieces of wood together*, among other things. Bootlaces also have many MANY functions. I'd recommend getting you a set of BDU's from your local army-surplus if you don't already have some. They are invaluable for camping or survivalism. But use common sense. Don't get desert-cammies if you're going to be using them in the lush forest. THe point of the camo pattern on BDU's is to break up the human form into the background to make you hard to see. Jet-black at night wills stand out on night-vision or even with the human eye. The camo pattern was carefully chosen for it's ability to blend you into the background. Pick a pattern that's closest to the scenery where you'll be using it.

4. Don't ever think an idea is stupid. It might be for the task at hand, but your idea might also be perfect for another purpose. For example, jumping around with your pack on on a camping trip. Doesn't serve much purpose on a camping trip, but if you were hunting or being hunted, if you took a moment to jump around, you can hear tingling and ringing from things on your body rattling, banging or clinking together. Take a moment to secure them to your body and you're on your way to silent movement. This is why soldiers frequently wear 'silencers' on their dog tags. One black rubber gasket that goes around one tag to prevent it from banging into the other and clinking, thus giving away their position.

5. Red light will not affect your night-vision. You know when you turn off your bedroom light and you have to stand there a minute for your eyes to adjust? Or you get up in the middle of the night to go to the kitchen for that last bite of steak, so you just flash the light on and off again to mark out your path avoiding the obstacles? If you had a flashlight with a red-lense, you could turn it on, walk around, etc, and when you turn it off, your eyes do not have to readjust. An interesting side effect is that red light doesn't register on most people's peripheral vision. Which means if you're in the woods and you stop to read your map with a red-lense light, unless someone's looking in your general direction already, the light usually won't draw their attention. Then when you flick it off you can still see in the forest.

6. Animals have an uncanny sense of 'where to go'. You don't normally hear of a dog 'accidently' running into a fire. If you are standing in the forest and you see everything bolt in the same direction at once, it's probably a good idea to follow. Pay attn to the animals, especially dogs. They can sense earthquakes ten to fifteen minutes before they happen. They can smell cancer, they can sense heart-attacks, and strokes. A good rule of thumb: If your dog won't do it, you shouldn't either. If your dog acts strange, you better pay attention.

YOUR TURN I'm damn interested to see what you guys write.

Out of interest you mention polar shift, now I have read and seen documents and documentaries that polar shifts do indeed happen, but suggest they happen over many years if not centuries. Can anyone point me to reliable evidence of sudden polar shift. Not just any old website stating that polar shift will happen and the only way you can survive if you purchase this link / book.

Some very good points I think. Most of this I already knew from military experience, but there were some I didn't- such as red light probably won't be noticed in someones periperal vision. BTW, MARPAT-modern Marine Corps BDUs, do not have the pullstring on them, so the belt does have a purpose-if you don't wear ones that fit properly. Using your trousers as a floatation device works, you have to tie the ends of the pantlegs then wave them around waist-forward to fill with air, then hold the waist while you dunk them into the water. Had to do that one at the pool in boot camp.

Another good point I think: Don't use a backback that is too darn big! Yes, you may be able to carry more, but its bulk will just slow you down and make you easier to spot. Not what you want if you are being hunted down. If you are just surviving after a natural disaster, in the woods perhaps, and don't have to worry about avoiding people then get as big of one as you can carry and not tire yourself out.

No matter how well prepared you are you still need know-how and willpower to survive

1. Didn't know about the modern BDU's, mine are from the USMC in 2000

2. Sudden pole shift. A) It was used to make a point, I don't give much credibility to the 'overnight' scneario... B) We've never experienced one before, so there's really no telling until it happens. Scientists think they have all the answers and yet we're all still here on Earth, knowing that one day our sun will die and knowing that our survival as a species depends on space travel....

3. More input from you guys! little tips and tricks or huge stuff, doesn't matter. just a random info thread.

4. Do not smoke if you're in the wilderness. For camping, it presents a fire hazard in drier climes... for hunting it presents a sniper or bad guy with the perfect target at night. (When the cherry goes red, it's a headshot.) And if you do succesfully smoke in the wilderness, the smell lingers on you and can be detected even UPWIND.