My thoughts intially took me into the realm of `what are the things we need that are absolutely essential to survival?` (or at least something like that). Well, I would make the assumption that most of us know the basic three things Humans need to survive virutally any hostile situation or situation in which they find themselves living in a wilderness of sorts. These three things are, what I call, The Big Three (TBT, I suppose). They are:

– Food
– Water
– Shelter

The Food part is an obvious one: you don’t want to be trudging across improptu dunes, ruined cities, fierce jungle remains and scorched wasteland without a bite to eat- assuming you can find or make something to eat, of course. Even more important is the Water part. You can live for several days without a scrap of food, but you won’t last more than three or four days at most in survival conditions without having about bottleful of water a day at the very least. Shelter is just as important as the last two and, as we Humans are Mammals, you will need somewhere to lie down in relative safety to where you decide to sleep for the night. I would look for places like small caves and buildings (above the Ground floor, mind), provided there are no hostile entities in there.

So, that’s that done. After running that through my mind and after reading some articles in a back issue of the trade magazine New Scientist, I got to thinking about a few more things that would also be needed in a post-apocolyptic situation that would significantly help to make the long days and weeks bearable and even help to cultivate a group of people, eventually into a small community of sorts.

These things would come under the name of The Little Six (TLS, I suppose. Where do I come up with these names?) and they are:

– Medicine
– Social
– Pets
– Homesteading
– Defence
– Tools

Now, Medicine makes a lot of sense, given that it is used to try and make us better when we are ill and to keep us from becoming ill/vaccinating us, so why isn’t it added on to TBT? It’s quite simple, really. We do not `need` Medicine; it’s a luxury in survival and Humans have survived millenia without it, so enough said there.

Social is an interesting one. It sounds rather obvious, but consider that it is more likely that you will be on your own in a survival situation than with others- with death, disease and even just plain personal safety if you’re that screwed. It is not just interesting but it is also significantly important and crucial — but not exactly necessary — part of survival. Having someone else with you, whether they are travelling with you, are part of your tribe or gang (whatever your group is), or even just for the company, helps to keep you content, thinking straight and, most importantly, sane. Try as much as you can to maintain regular social contact with others and even join up with others if you feel that the people you are considering to are safe enough to.

Pets sounds rather odd in this list, doesn’t it? Actually, if the history of Hummanity, our ancient ancestor’s steps in founding civilization and the film Mad Max have taught us anything, it’s that pets are a fundamment to survival in the long run. Ok, maybe I joked about a bit there, but the sentiment still stands. You have to think a little bit about this one: since it’s quite likely that we won’t find other Humans to group up with in the short-term, pets are an acceptable substititue for Humans since at least there is another Mammal tagging along with us. Also, when and if you become part of a community (most likely hunter-gatherers at first), pets like dogs and, more than not, cats are invaluable in stalking and catching prey. If you do consider having a pet, please make sure to domesticate it first, preferably from a young age.

Homesteading (Farming on a small-scale, if it helps) is an obvious one for long-term survival, considering the fact that hunter-gatherer strategies won’t work forever, especially in dense urban environments or in vast areas of wilderness. It has to be taken into account, of course, that if the apocolypse happened due to chemical or nuclear warfare, that the vital nutrients in the soil would be lost. Therefore, at first and for quite awhile, homesteading (small-scale farming) is advisable so as not to waste any resources that could be used to grow crops and possibly even raise livestock. Be aware, that anything grown from the Earth will most likely be detrimental to one’s health, due to poisons in the Earth that will not subside for hundreds of years. In short, apply Horticultural principles and `farm` in a controlled environment- even better, in a controlled environment that can be easily protected and fortified.

Defence is an obvious one for the short-term and, in the face of immediate danger, it makes a hellva lot sense to have ready. However, the difference between having a defence and having a [i]functional[/i] defence is acute. Anyone can grab a weapon out of improv and/or put a few chairs and tables in front of doors/doorways. However, that generally only works as a last resort after the havok of the apocolyptic nightmare has ended. To have a functional defence, you need to be fairly well organised. You should be able to secure vital points (beds, food stores, water, medicine, basic tools etc…), watch over your `ground` without revealing yourself to anyone out of close proximity and have a general line of defence as well as a backup in case of a successful breakthrough. Weapons are useful to have and if it comes to fighting, generally gain you the upper hand. However, constructing fortification like pallisides, pillbox-like structures, barbed wire lines, booby traps and the like work far better as they act as a deterrent, they make your grounds harder to attack and they intimidate weaker groups as well.

And last but not least, is the factor of Tools. To be more specific, Tools encompass the general utensils and hardware that enable both individuals and groups to become more efficient at everyday tasks and maintenance. They can be anything from cooking utensils and bowls and pots, to wrenches, hammers, saws and wielding torches. Each serves it’s own purpose and each must be cared for if they are to last. It is also important to growing groups that they train and hone their skills with the tools in their possession and that they learn how craft their own as accurately as possible with resources they have. It must also be remembered that any discoveries made, whether minor or major in importance, about how a specific tool or set of tools can be used should be recorded in someway, so that techniques can be developed with them.

And that is pretty much it for The Big Three and The Little Six. While this is not a completely comprehensive list and is subject to much debate, it definitely lists at least most of the topics that should be considered when trying to survive in a harsh environment and how to help advance your community along into becoming self-sufficient and strong.

Hope that helps.

First Aid, for anyone who is not aware of it, is a set of common-sense practices and applied basic medical knowledge, that can be used to treat and possibly improve the situation of someone who is in need of medical help during or in case of arrival of a doctor to treat and take care of the person in need. However, just to be clear, First Aid is “common-sense practices and applied basic medical knowledge”; in other words, it’s not a proper solution or most effective way of treating and help heal someone that requires significant medical attention.

Image taken from http://www.cityu.edu.hk/

First Aid is an interesting little thing to know about and to be able to do, as it can be used in wide variety of situations where sophisticated and complex medical equipment is not available. Historically, it was used by various sorts of people — usually soldiers — to aid in improving the condition of a injured person or at least try to prevent their condition from worsining. Interestingly, the concept and overall application of First Aid was first started by the Knights Hospitalliers (who are they?) for mid-battle operations and immediately aftwerwards for any in need of attention. Since then, up to the modern day, it has developed into full-blown profession and even multi-tiered qualification that people can do and gain.

First Aid is extremely useful, as it can help to ease pain and even save lives- which it has been responsible for countless times. It’s not extremely hard or difficult to learn and includes many of the everyday things that your Mum or Dad — or whoever else — did to try and lessen the pain and/or prevent infection of those scrapes and cuts and burns you might have gotten as you grew up. You’ve probably seen at your workplace or school or college — or whatever else — something called a First Aid Kit. All that these kits contain are various items that can be used in several given situations that require minor medical help, such as bandages and dressing, antispetic or alchohol-based rubbing solutions, wipes and other useful items.

A comercially available First-Aid kit. Image taken from http://www.peninsularedcross.org/

You can learn First-Aid from a book, pamphlet, a professional trainer or even family and friends, as well as on the go. All it takes is common sense and a little know-how for slightly more serious injuries. You cna use pre-made items for the aid, or even improvised materials. With this in mind, however, it is important to remember that you will not become a doctor overnight just by learning how to apply to a bandage or wipe clean a cut. First Aid is used almost exclusviely for injuries and not wounds and more-than-mild illnesses, which means that when a serious case of medical help and care is needed, First Aid can only help so far.

To put this into perspective: let’s say that while you were chopping up ingredients for a salad or whatnot and managed to accidentally cut yourself with the knife, you would use probably rinse the cut under some cold water and then apply a plaster or bandage on it, right? Well, that’s First Aid right therem. If you were to be doing something a bit more dangerous, such as window cleaning for instance, then if you were to fall and fracture or break something, then you would need the help of a doctor to help treat it and advise you on what to do to help it heal.

Some examples of First Aid training. Image taken from http://kyspeaks.com/

Now, to put this in the Wasteland perspective: about 7/10, you’ll be needing to apply or recieve First Aid due to recieving some sort of injury out there, probably from catching your skin on something sharp or burning yourself when trying to cook with some improvised utentsils. In a more serious case, where someone might have gotten into a fight or possibly even grazed by a bullet or something similar to that, you’ll probably need to do a bit more to help em’ out such as checking out the damage, cleaning the injuries and affected areas, stich up the cuts and such and most likely apply dressing as well. And when it’s you who’s gotten themselves in a state, be thankful for the First Aider’s help, as the nearest doctor will realistically be a good way away from you or might not even exist!

So yeah, First Aid is important in any situation — pretty much all — where there is a risk of some sort of injury occuring from the activites or work being done in that same situation. It’s well worth learning, so, if you can, try and get some know-how on it or even get yourself qualified so that at least you know that you have a firm understanding of it and are able to competently and confidently apply it when the need arises.

A couple of useful links:

Apologies for not posting more frequently, but due to my work schedule and the time I have between this blog and it’s sister blog Wiseass Thinkers, college work, modding and general stuff so I won’t be posting much until the weekends. If you want a quick look at my current thoughts, head over here

However, between Saturday to Monday, I will most definitely be posting up an article. I guess you could call it your 1 or 2 a week, if you want. And yes, I still have ideas about the posts, so don’t you worry- they didn’t invent paper for nothing, you know. (I still write down notes, yes and I’m aware that this is the “information” age…).

So yes, don’t worry, this blog is not dead, but because of time constraints, it’s now going to be more a 1 or 2 days week thing at the weekends than every other day-ish. Right, I’m off and I’d quickly like to thank those who decided to brave it and try out a *gasp* new blog. Appreciated and I hope you had a bit of an insightful experience at least.

Regards,
DexJackson

Something got me thinking today. What would you have if you had a choice of a rifle-type weapon? By this, I mean what would you have in the ensuing weeks and months afterwards if you actually had a choice? Or, maybe if you were hoping for a gun and you settled on a more “realistic” choice for your primary choice of gunpowder-based weaponry? Whatever ever it is that gives you the opportunity to have one, what one would you have?

If I was to go with a Rifle, then I would do so because of the generally greater range of the gun, the fact that it is more likely to hit the target with some experience of shooting, you can get them commonly find them in bolt-action varieties and semi-automatic varities if know someone, as well as the fact that the projectile you fire is a single bullet rather than a spray of metal BB pellets.

If I was to go with the Shotgun, however, then I would do so because of the CQB (Close Quarter Battle) potential it offers for possible hostiles nearby, the spread of the gun being great for large creatures and beasts and scary off others who mean to bring harm to me, the fact that I only have to aim in the general direction rather than at a specific part and… well, that’s it.

With a Rifle, depending on where you live and what the gun laws and import laws were and how easy it was to acquire a firearm, the types you can get can range from single-shot bolt-action, to clipfed bolt-action, even as far as clipfed semi-automatics (although, the latter might have been a tad illegal back then, so…). Ammunition can relatively untaxing to acquire, especially if you can find it at a gun range along with the guns themselves. The bombs have dropped, so I doubt anyone would have taken the damm things with them unless they had prepared for it or sensed it before hand, eh? Just be aware that some ammunition will be easier to get than others. Big .308 rounds and all that are hard to find — so no High-Powered Rifles — whereas smaller ones like .22 can be easier.

Shotguns are pretty much the same, except that pretty much all of them use shells stuffed with BB pellets inside them and that the most common one you’ll come across is a 12-gauge.. Other shotgun varieties exist, but the most common one would be the pump-action for one. Don’t worry about being a movie hero with it either. You’ll most likely punch your arm back and dislocate it if you do. The ammo isn’t that hard to find around the same kind of areas as rifles and can easily identified by some company’s markings of the shells as red pellets for standard shells or green for threats without any armour or plating strapped on. Semi-Automatic ones and Automatic ones are quite a rare find for a civilian weapons, so don’t count on them- and they’d waste a heck of a lot of ammo anyhow.

All sorts of areas, such as hunting, clearing obstacles, use as a tool and self-defense are all factors to consider when choosing from either a Rifle or a Shotgun. Hunting, for example, would be best suited to a Shotgun for the fact that ammo is buckshot with more stopping power and that the pellets disperse at a suitable range for birds in the air or small groups of ground animals. Self-defense, however, would be more suited to a rifle, as being at range with hostile is one of the most important things to incorporate into your defense strategy and you want to ensure that the round has penetrated rather than stopped them, due providing more pain rather than impact.

At any rate, however, those are my thoughts on the question for now. Maybe not the most organised and thought out, but it is at least food for thought, since I’ve left this blog for too long to focus on its sister blog. Anyway, until next time fellow Wastelanders!

Hey there, once again fellow Wastelanders…

Anyone who’s be living on this planet Earth for a good few years will know that there are people out there who like to mooch off others and live off their backs- whether that be in a “ahh… someone else e’ll do it” or a “I’ll be taking that!” way. Problem is, there’s a lot of these moochers of our hard work and efforts and then the rewards we reap off putting the blood, sweat and tears into making them. Even more so, a fair few of them use violent methods to get what they want, even though they don’t deserve them. So, just put that into the perspective of the Wasteland and the fact that there’ll be no laws holding them back from doing what they want and becomes… discouraging.

In the Wasteland, everyone is out for themselves. Some may be out for the good of the group they are with or for much bigger factions in the Wasteland. Some may be just your average wanderer or lone wolf. But, it is quite likely that some may be out for taking the hard-earned efforts of others and living off the almost broken backs of others. And those people are the Bandits…

Bandits don't look strictly like this, but they're just as dangerous if not more so. Image taken from http://evertb.files.wordpress.com/

Now, we can all imagine the archetypal highwayman on his horse, robbing stagecoaches and shooting those who dare oppose him. The highwayman gets rich, while the wealthy folk get a little less rich in their wallet than in the bank. Thing is, out in the Wasteland, it doesn’t go that way- usually ever. The highwayman will normally be a stinking, filth-ridden, shifty guy, armed with a weapon of some kind – knife, bat, tool, even a gun, ready to kill you as soon as you pose a threat- which could be anything, including almost all, if not all, reflexes or twitches. You’ll be a dirty, ravaged and grizzled wanderer on the prairie, but you may find yourself robbed, beaten, even murdered because of a thug or two wanting to get something for nothing…

Bandits will be the universal enemy to absolutely everyone in the Wasteland who isn’t one themselves or is not in a deal with some of the larger Bandit groups. They are the ones who will be the main criminal element in the Wastes and will normally be pretty much confined to being solo or in small groups of 2-4. A frequent encounter to travellers and caravans, makes them a threat that’s not to be messed with lightly. Many are determined to get those goods and/or supplies off of you and they will do it! They will be armed and ready to ambush you and take your goods and possibly kill you if necessary.

A classic version of an experienced Bandit. Masked, with a heavy leather jacket on and a sawn-off shotgun. Dangerous, eh? Image taken from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/

Due to them being a bit of a threat to the young and/or inexperienced Wastelander, many of those who don’t understand how things work out in the Wastes away from those may find that when they are faced with the proposition of having themselves beaten up by a bunch of the scum, that they join them without question. Without thinking ahead, they will have recruited a poor sap into helping them out and being the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong during a robbery or ambush. We get that kind of thing now with older guys hanging outside schools, waiting to recruit young and naive kids into committing all sorts of crimes. In the Wasteland, however, there are no people to stop this- which results in a high amount of Bandit Jr.s hanging around.

There’s even the off-chance that a Bandit group will grow and possibly even cultivate into a bas*ard, criminal fraternity/society of some sort and will become a real threat to everyone, not just the small camps and individuals dotted about the place, but the larger organisations and societies and clans that exist as well. It will normally take a few dozen to several dozen years, but eventually there will be a Bandit clan of some sort that will be loosely organised and coordinated for large scale criminal activity. Normally though, these guys won’t last that long and will be extremely lucky to last to a stage where they are a real force ot contend with.

This might end up to be you if you're not careful in dangerous, known Bandit areas... Image taken from http://www.globalresearch.ca/

Just a quick note on what to expect with regards to what they’ll be armed with. Pretty much, like any other wanderer in the Wastes, Bandits will be armed with whatever comes to hand, which may end up being guns quite easily due to them stealing them off others and the ammo as well- although it’s unlikely the Bandits will have any spare ammo to reload the gun with after it’s run out. They’ll be clothed in whatever they can find, which again will be stolen and normally be of poor quality, due to damage taken and poor care taken of it. Finally, supplies-wise, anything they can rob off of others is absolutely fine for them and means that they don’t have to do the hunting and foraging and scavenging for the supplies they need- which really makes the point about them, in the end…

Anyway, that’s enough for now. I’ll probably talk more in-depth about these guys later. Probably something to do with how they might form and hold and cultivate a society for their own kind, but for now, I’m off. Until next time, I guess… Unless the bombs hit first…