Why should I let you through the checkpoint?

I'm sure there will be a lot of children who lost their parents...and that is where I will be most important. I do have other skills but someone needs to nurture and care for the children who's parents were turned. Damn zombies!

i raised all three of my children in karate. so they all have self defense skills. my husband is an excellent strategist, great with organizing vast amounts of data, coordinating information so that it's easy to find, a great chess player and animals love this man. cats, dogs, birds, elephants (lol), doesn't matter. he's like tarzan or something. if he had medical training to go with his innate skill with animals, he'd make the best veterinarian. it's amazing to see.

Originally posted by xxcalbier
Dude says theres a EMP your electronics are usless .
Or is every one going to need word or excel in this brave new world?

Yes, but that won't stop people from rummaging up some nice mechanical generators.

Unlike movies, people wouldn't come to your compound to be the "villian" or "antagonist" of your "compound". They would most likely be scared and just want to survive.. Plain and simple. Especially, if it has been months or even years since the calamity. Time would weed out the pillaging, rioting a$$holes.

But, how about you help because you can, and because you are a human too.. ?

Thinking like this, is what most likely caused some form of collapse in the first place, minus natural disaster scenario.

I have an extensive martial arts background, tactical law enforcement training, and my father and I have mechanical, electrical and carpentry knowledge. We lived rurally and hunted, fished etc.. If I could avoid your compound, I most likely would. But that would depend on it's size and needs. If I could help you, or mutually beneficially barter something, I would. If you required nothing of me, and I required nothing of you, I would more than likely pass on through.

Now that I think about it...
the question is why would I want to join a group... when all I know about then is I was stopped at a check point????

"Sorry I was just on my way elsewhere... So look can I be safely escorted though or should I backtrack and go around?"

Originally posted by GrandpaDave
Now that I think about it...
the question is why would I want to join a group... when all I know about then is I was stopped at a check point????

"Sorry I was just on my way elsewhere... So look can I be safely escorted though or should I backtrack and go around?"

Yep. I will be skipping the compound and making my way to you good buddy.

reply to post by GrandpaDave


You know I'm their leader. I was last night anyways.

I spent 18.5 years in the Army, 3 as an armorer and 15.5 as a combat medic. As the medic section chief I supervised field sanitation and medical care for over 800 troops, I also have my wardmaster cert and a 4 year nursing degree, ACLS also.

I competed in USPSA 3 gun and pistol for 4 years earning a class B rating.

I'm also a pretty good cook, especially in a camp situation, my hunting group has me doing all the cooking, and most is over a campfire or in a dutch oven. As an avid hunter I can skin and butcher any animal, I also can preserve the meat and tan the hide.

As a hobby I build furniture using only hand tools. It takes a lot longer, but no power tools are used in the things I build.

reply to post by graceunderpressure


I can weld with car batteries and im a mechanic. I can trap, skin and tan hides and make coats. I can fix anything, im well armed And a good shot. Im a an engineer and a leader. A very smart thinker as well.. and for that reason I will not be a sitting duck in a camp shaped target.

Demoncreeper had an excellent point.

Most people who arrive wont be looking to sign a compact and "join" a community. Most of them will be sick and malnourished, look for aid. They won't be thinking about what they have to contribute.

Sure, most of them will be unarmed. And they won't be able to force themselves in past your checkpoint; probably won't even try. They'll just gather in a clump of hopeless starving people, begging and wailing for help. Human predators will probably show up to harrass and molest them.

That was the original meaning of the word "outlaw": people who lived beyond the fence, beyond the law of the lord's protection. Being outlawed simply meant you were exiled beyond the stockade---"beyond the pale".

Even inside your home at night, you'll be able to hear their screams and smell their stench

Just like the Superdome.

reply to post by graceunderpressure

The tantalizing sound of running water and the aroma of food cooking waft from within the walls.

I cast.... "Magic Missile!"

(Second Line did it for the lulz)

1. Is this the Mad Max where the town had a tanker of oil and the bandits were outside? Or is this more like Beyond Thunderdome, where the bandits were already in the town?

2. What is the price for your protection?

3. Do you have any women?

4. What are your laws?

5. If I am as useless as a bag of lint. Will you turn me away?

My skills are many and my knowledge is vast.

I can farm
I can hunt
I can fish
I can fight
I can build
I can make a fire with primitive means.
I can make traps both to catch and to kill.
I can make tools and weapons from a piece of metal.
I am a hunter gatherer that knows what you need to take care of that fever with nature`s medicine.

With that said, I would never just approach your community. For all I know that smell could be other travelers cooking roasting over the fire.

Your community would have to be 100 square meters and have a cow and a sheep per person, and smart farming on the land to be self sustaining. You would also have a problem with human feces, hygiene and contamination when letting in people every now and then. Your "security" would never be good enough, for every one of you there are hundreds more outside the community. The community is like a huge dinner bell. You have at least 60 people in there and everyone is making noise. I prefer to keep silent and move about with ease until I find a place that can sustain me and my wife for 3 years +.

I would never take my wife into that "community" you got there with 57 men and 3 women. In the wild she`s got my back and I got hers. It is still long until winter and we are moving to a better area for hunting and building a small cabin with a fireplace (well concealed).

Besides.. I heard chatter over the radio in the town I just passed. The electrical grid went down when the first comet hit. There is a few bigger ones coming, and they estimate at least one will hit the ocean. You need at least 600 feet elevation to be safe and that community is at about 200 feet (not very far inland). The question is, should I tell the community or leave it to drown? They would be like a horde of sheep to move through the forest. I think I will leave them be. I even heard the leader talking about zombies and jurassic creatures. Sounds like he`s lost his mind, they`re all doomed.

reply to post by graceunderpressure


My answer would be, I am a gardener. I know how to grow stuff. I know what plants need and where they will grow well. I am also a naturalist. I can identify benificial herbs and plants to make medicines. I can turn canned goods into amazing meals. ( I've done it many times LOL). I am also an avid reader and my gray matter is chock full of tidbits of usefull and useless information so I can help you out or engage you in interesting conversation.

reply to post by nenothtu


Poke weed green's boiled twice and rinsed twice make an excellent side dish that accompany cornmeal battered groundhog very nicely! Nobody would ever starve that sits down next to my cook fire. The fare might not be anything that we had on a day to day menu before tshtf but it will be healthy edible tasty and tender. I think thats a decent trade and a very useful skill. A full belly is what will keep everyone going in the long run. All I want in exchange is to be semi sorta safe while Im asleep lol

Originally posted by nenothtu
reply to post by 46ACE

 

If there's a modern military that's still structurally intact, still has it's supply lines for mortars, howitzers, and aircraft, and hunting for these communities, well, I'm not going anywhere near the place with a big ol' bulls-eye on it!

I'm staying in the young brush, and keeping a mylar blanket handy.

"HO' IN THE CAMP!"
Mornin' Mr.... got any coffee ?
All I've got left is these gawddamn LEFTOVER teabags

Originally posted by ColCurious

I'm amazed that there are so many people who could actually contribute usefull skills to survive

Lots of Hunters, Farmers, Craftsmen and Fighters to survive a SHTF scenario

And here I thought we were a species of lawyers and investment bankers

Maybe we aren't doomed to become extinct after all... thats really astonishing.

I think the reason that any members who are lawyers or investment bankers haven't replied is (a ) they know how utterly useless their "skills" would be in a SHTF scenario and (b ) the big bankers especially have probably already set up alternative arrangements...

Referring back to the OP's question, my own skills cover such stuff as woodworking and metalworking -- including gas and arc welding, hammer welding (smithy style) and rivetting if needed -- along with general carpentry skills and basic machine maintenance. I'm only a fair shot with a rifle these days but not totally useless.

Okay, I can also play the guitar and produce a fair tune on a fiddle. A little fun for the long evenings after a hard day's work.

But one thing that seems to be lacking in your hypothetical community is any discussion of sanitation. I mean, it's absolutely basic if you want to have a whole bunch of people all in one place for more than a day. Now, you could go for slit trench latrines but they're not ideal. I know how to set up pretty decent septic systems and that might come in handy if you don't want a community that stinks to high heaven all the time and is a magnet for disease.

And I know how to make a flushing toilet cistern that actually darned well works without some fancy bits of designed-to-fail plastic and that doesn't break down at midnight on a Sunday night! (I can even carve toilet seats from solid wood. Have one at my cottage. Beats the plastic ones any day. )

MIke

able bodied young man, eagle scout, and plenty of experience with traditional agriculture and modern day horticulture. ive also got this purebred rottweiler female of exceptional stock, trained and ready to reproduce. i can also train any current and future dogs.

lemme in?

I'm a good party planner and know how to brew beer, wine and certain other fun time drinks. I can also make sounds like the bloke out of Police Academy so can provide entertainment as well.

Can I come in?

I can be the resident wise ass.

I am very good at that, and not seen it filled yet.