The evolution of the survivalist.

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by fortunateson, Aug 23, 2010.


  1. fortunateson

    fortunateson I hate Illinois Nazis!

    Survival is a life's journey isn't it?
    I've never read Mel Tappan or Kurt Saxon, but I wonder if anyone has described the steps in this journey.

    In that regard, I see it like this:

    101 - Storage - stocking supplies for emergencies

    102 - Substitution - Developing systems of energy/ communication/ water/ food in place of those lost in an emergency

    201 - Homesteading - Developing the ability to live independently and indefinitely.

    301 - Bushcraft - Developing the ability to live in the most primitive conditions with few materials.


    How would you describe your own growth as a survivalist?
     
  2. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    Here's mine...
    1. Info gathering...A LOT of info, reading, learning...
    2. Bushcraft, primitive techniques, in case of going to the hills
    3. Substitution systems...
    4. Storage
    5. Homesteading
     
  3. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I was at 200+, just moved onto the WRONG property and occupied it for 14
    months! Oh well, Try try again!
    Maybe the NEXT time I won't be so particular huh?
    Just TAKE the damn land and let the chips fall on the guy's head that sold me the damned place!
    "Property for Sale":
    4.5 acres (4.13 with the stupid right of way/easements ), no roads in or out, spectacular mountain side view, approx. 270 degrees, 5600 ft altitude, solid freakin' rock! No way to haul water in or to drill a well up there...nothing grows but junipers....lots of loose rock to build with!
    Will trade for good horse and buggy!
    SNORT!
     
  4. Gray Wolf

    Gray Wolf Monkey+++

    Probably the first step is becoming aware that as a society, and as individuals, most of us are woefully unprepared for any kind of disruption to our comfortable way of life. It may be lack of fuel, or electricity, or an act of nature, if anything keeps the groceries from getting to the store, a large percentage of the population is going to starve to death.
    The task of preparing may be too daunting, so most folks don't want to even contemplate the consequences of their apathy.

    After the first step, the pattern shown by Fortunateson seems to be the norm.
     
  5. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    I thought my English was OK...darn!...
    I didn't understand a word you said in your post! .... [beat]
     
  6. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I didn't get to make it to the 201 level.....!
    I almost made it though.
    ( I was joking about the land for sale!)
    Its' a piece of ( how can I say this tactfully?) CRAP!
    As in worthless, useless, and it's what I was sold, but it was NOT what I was shown and paid for.
    I'd be living on my own land in nowhere if I had my choice, but going to jail for trespassing on someone elses' land is another thing....Now I'm looking at a serious problem, a lawsuit as I cut down 45 trees, so they say, to move my trailers in on the wrong property.
    ( due and owing to a crooked real estate agent)
     
  7. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    Geeeze...Are you saying that they tricked and cheated you? You want some poison or explosives recipes? Or some dim mak advice on points...so it looks like natural death? Here no one dares to pull a stunt like that...unless tired of living...you know, houses burn easily...people even more easy! [booze]
     
  8. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    I shy away from the title "Survivalist" and prefer to stay under the radar in the serious preppers. I have spent my whole adult life as a damage control/crisis management professional. I was fortunate to have been raised in a rural environment by folks that lived from the land, off the land, and with the land and if you don't know the difference, it's like LSD; you can't explain it to someone that hasn't done it. I have more stuff than anyone would need but am not emotionally invested in any of it and could walk away with no regrets, if compelled. I have lived in foreign lands with very little for extended periods, I have been "Homeless" here in the States for extended periods. I have never been "Helpless" or a "Victim". I have lost all my possessions, wealth, and associates, on more than one occasion and have recovered and prospered each time. I have managed to prevail in more than a few life and death matters, some by my own strength but all by the grace of God.
     
  9. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    That was a great post. [applaud]
    You do have a lot of "stuff". [drooling]
     
  10. fortunateson

    fortunateson I hate Illinois Nazis!

    So you're saying you were born "fully evolved"?
    That's great.
    Some folks are fortunate to have been raised in the 1800s or similar circumstances. They're fully prepped without having to learn a whole lot.

    Others need to drop the rural superiority act. They are from "farm families" that raise animals and tend crops, but will be equally screwed when the fertilizer and diesel dries up. Glad you're not one of them.
     
  11. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    yea, there's nothing like selling Plasma to buy spam and bread, sleeping in garbage sacks to stay dry, and bathing in truck stops to bring out that rural superiority. Finding work at Labor Finders, if in a city or picking and digging fence post holes or cutting wood, if not, and spending your last buck on a pack of smokes because they have more trade and comfort value that a simple meal. Maybe it comes from growing up in a household where parents try to kill one another and getting passed from one bunch of Uncles and Aunts to another, fixing hand-me-downs and broken toys while maintaining a feirce pride that would never let your younger brothers and sister do without and suddenly "Survival" ain't a god damn game any more and there is no "Evolution" it just ****ing happens and you make it or you don't.
     
  12. fortunateson

    fortunateson I hate Illinois Nazis!

    So you "lived it", Right?
     
  13. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    He already answered that in post 9.
     
  14. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

  15. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned


    Wow, man... [bow][respect]
     
  16. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    my point is simply that you can't learn survival; it is the will to live and the spirit to prevail. Robert Burns ran over a mouse den while plowing a field and wrote " The Best Laid Plans a Mice and Men gain aft aglay..."
    Yea, its nice to prepare for difficult times
    its great to have every contingency covered that you can conceive, but the random factor, the Law of Murphy, the will of Alluh...whatever you want to call it, will sweep you onto the board and only chance will determine which dots stay on top and if they were the ones you placed your chips on. In the mean time; hedge your bets with probability, by all means. Play the odds and prepare for them, but know that a plow may run right through your den at any moment and you will be cast into the maelstrom.
     
  17. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    Yup...If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans! ... :D
     
  18. fortunateson

    fortunateson I hate Illinois Nazis!

    No. I think your point is that you can't learn the will to survive.
    That's all well and good, but has nothing to do with this post.

    Indeed this whole forum is about learning. Whether it's techniques or experience, it's about learning. There are some things I can teach and many things I have yet to learn.
    So here I post something that is supposed to get people thinking about the learning process in an otherwise DEAD forum. Because whether you like it or not, there is a learning curve to the techniques. If not, there would be no military survival schools. RIGHT!?!

    AND SURE ENOUGH someone comes along with the typical "I LIVED IT" cr*ppy attitude. And a "FOUNDING MEMBER" no less. Yeah, that's you SC.

    Well, guess what? We all had cr*p in our lives. Are we going to have a pissing contest about who's life was cr*ppiest? And who learned from the school of hard knocks?

    If you want to turn that into a lesson on "the will to survive", find an appropriate topic and drop the attitude.
     
  19. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    b::. . CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG....?
     
  20. Gray Wolf

    Gray Wolf Monkey+++

    Of course you can learn survival. Will to live and spirit to prevail are only starting points.
    Unless your will to live and spirit to prevail drive you to acquire skills and knowledge,
    those two attributes alone will not do.
    Survival is taught by the school of hard knocks, in the military, and in civilian organizations like the Boy and Girl Scouts. And many other organizations as well.
    I think fortunateson is trying to trace the thought process, the steps one takes on the way to becoming mentally and physically prepared for emergencies. It starts in the mind, and the sheeple that expect the government to come and take care of them will never "get it".
     
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