Knowledge is power

You can live for

3 seconds without knowledge
3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food

Obviously knowledge is the most important prep that you can make. Learn how to do a little bit of everything. Know how to make a fire several different ways. Know how to skin and butcher a deer. Know how to build furniture. Know how to shoot effectively. Know how to grow food. Know how to recognize edible wild plants. Know how to set a broken bone. You get the idea. A jack of all trades will always be able to get by even if he doesn't know the best and most efficient way to do something. The guy that knows everything about something but very little about anything else will be totally lost if he ever gets thrown out of his little world.

The internet is a veritable treasure trove of knowledge. If you want to learn how to do something then it's only a creative google search away. Anyone can become a jack of all trades with just a little work. Do you want to know how to make a homemade wind turbine out of a few junk parts? The information is out there. Do you want to learn how to make a shelter when you're lost in a barren desert? The information is out there. If you want to learn about how to do something then you can find the information that you need.

The information doesn't do you much good if you don't have it before the SHTF. Also, just because you saw some plans to make a home made still 2 years ago doesn't mean that you're going to remember the details down the road. Just assume that you won't be able to get on the internet if there's a major disaster. I like to surf survival message forums a lot. When I see a topic that I find interesting then I look up as much information on the topic as I can. I save some of the viable information and if it's something that I can feasibly try for myself then I try it for myself. If I read about something then I'm bound to forget about it in no time. If I actually do it then it tends to stick with me.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I do the same thing. I research a topic and hard copy (print) out everything. First this allows a library that I can continue to reference and if for some reason my computer goes out I still have the info.
I have used this approach for tools, building ideas and gun making.
January 7, 2008 at 7:17 AM
Ryan said…
Unfortunately people can live a lifetime without knowledge these days. I do agree with your jack of all trades philosphy. Make a list of important skills and work down that list as they are aquired. Use them periodically to maintain sharpness of these skills.
January 7, 2008 at 9:19 PM
Anonymous said…
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
January 26, 2008 at 11:19 AM
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