Old Fashioned Skills Everyone Should Know
You come home from a long day at work. What do you do? Do you change out of your work clothes, and put on a comfy sweater, sweats and some cozy socks. After a little bit of down time you go to the refrigerator, get out some chicken and vegetables and start dinner. Life nowadays is so convenient, everything that we need can be as easy going to the store. But what if things were to change? There are many skills that were once necessary for survival in the past that are not as commonplace as today.
It used to be if you wanted some new clothes, you got out a bolt of fabric and soon you would have a nice new shirt or a warm coat. Now it cam be as easy as sitting on your couch, browsing the internet and in 7-10 days or sooner a package would show up on your doorstep with something new to wear. I think modern conveniences are wonderful and well, so convenient. But when a SHTF scenario appears, will you be able to fend for yourself? Learning how to sew or at the very least mending your clothes could be an invaluable skill. Knowing how to knit, crochet and quilt may seem like hobbies now but they would be very useful in staying comfortable in long term survival situation.
How great would it be if you could just go outside and grab some eggs from your own chickens? Not only will your eggs be fresher and tastier than the store bought variety, but you will still have eggs when there might possibly not be a store to go to. Raising chickens and other livestock is not that complicated once you know how.
Just learning and implementing some of these skills could mean that if the world situation changes, it won't be a huge lifestyle change for you. Now excuse me, I'm going to knit myself a pair of socks.
What old fashioned skills do you have that will help in a survival situation? Share your ideas with us!
Sources: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/26/how-to-raise-backyard-chickens/
Are you liking, following & pinning? Connect with our pages, boards & feeds.
Books and more books! 1.Gardening, (not as easy as it looks) Books help with when and how to plant. 2.Drying food and medicinal stuff, preserving, 3.Books on animal care, especially chickens ,rabbits, goats, ducks and guineas (good for ridding your property of bugs. 4. Smoking meat, #s (pounds) and #s of unIodized salt, especially if you live in the South, it takes more than for those in the far North. 5. Corning meat. 6. Learn how to cut hair, (practice on your kids first). 7.Learning how to make your own medicinal potions, you may be in high demand if the situation last for more than a few weeks. 8.Learn to make your own yogurt, besides use as food it is wonderful for probiotic needs. 8.Making cheese if you have a good supply of milk. 9. Many people need to learn how to cook! I’m serious, many households don’t have measuring spoons. 10. Practice cooking over an open fire. Without air conditioning, cooking in the kitchen will be hard to bear. 11. Brush up on the Piano on a simple key board or whatever musical instrument your mother tortured you with when you were a kid. BTDT!
After you start with food, stuff you eat every day, perhaps MRE’s for a day or two until of you get your feet under you again! (Think tornadoes, fire, hurricanes and earth quakes). Now consider personal hygiene items. Deodorant, (can be used for bee stings and ant bites) nail clippers, shampoo, toothbrushes, hair brushes, good scissors for various uses, razor blades, chap stick, , whatever make-up you consider essential, lotion, etc. various thicknesses of personal hygiene pads. Tampons are great but many women can’t use them after several babies. Speaking of which, baby items and birth control, Cloth and disposable diapers will have many uses including bartering if no baby comes. Over the counter health meds.,athletes foot preparations, Vetericyn is the veterinarian version of wound and burn care, human versions are available but they are the same formula, cold and allergy stuff, and whatever you prefer for upset stomach, electrolyte solutions and /or home recipes for the same. You may want to use the ‘home made’ for everyday because you can control the sugar content. One quart of solution plus 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda will stop vomiting in it’s tracks. No! it doesn’t taste good! Ant-acids and reflux meds., even if you don’t have that problem now, a “Crap Hitting the Fan” situation may create a need. Liquor can be used for barter and sterilizing wounds beside the usual use.
Many people recommend antibiotics, but the FDA has the industry so sewn up that buying ahead to stock pile is impossible, reputable doctors won’t prescribe for more than 6 months for fear of being investigated. Fish antibiotics may have sat in a hot van all day or longer rendering them useless. 11. But you can invest in some books, such as what to do when no help is on the way or books on herbal remedies. Filtered water boiled for 15 minutes kept in a sterilized bottle is handy for eye or wound washes.12. Learn your local plants, which are edible which are poisonous, and which can be used for health problems. Some are not available locally so find a source on line and get a reasonable supply. If you can’t see your self using Butchers Broom for hemorrhoids don’t get a bunch, but you may find some remedies safer and more accessible than prescription meds. Never throw away old Tee Shirts! much better than bought “rags” which are not very absorbent.
Get organized and start working on a small section each week or month, it builds up and needn’t go to waste.
WHEN OIL PRICESS WENT UP, GASOLINE AND THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING WENT UP. NOW OIL PRICES ARE DOWN, BUT NOTHING ELSE HAS GOTTEN CHEAPER. It is easier to go to your stock pile when you are short than getting out at night, etc. Oh! and books, children still need to be educated. Math books, workbooks and reading books teaching reading by phonics. Check out THRIFT STORES and try to avoid the Common Core aligned stuff. People use to teach their children to read from selected verses from the Bible. Consider the sentence structure and vocabulary in the Bible even if you aren’t religious, (Shakespeare and the Bible are the most common sources of common or ‘trite’ sayings) 13. Look for books on “How To Home School”. If we loose the Internet and TV, life will get very stressful for most of us. What will we do for entertainment? Perhaps reading aloud, writing our own stories, singing, or playing harmonica or guitar. Jane Austen wrote her stories for her families entertainment, but now TV has squashed creativity. We can write tunes and words to go along and our thought processes will benefit from the effort. Card games for various age groups. Board games like Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly and Scrabble. (Better include a dictionary if you don’t already have one).Happy Prepping!
P.S.I forgot to mention seeds, tools and clothing for working in the garden and on machinery. Again, try ‘Junque shops’ and Thrift stores.
Thanks for your insight, Sherry!