What would you do in a situation that meant you'd have to survive off the land and start a colony of your own?

I’d move in with Coloma :-)

I would thrive. The only reason I don’t do it now is I have to earn enough money to pay taxes. And in order to do that, I have to maintain a veneer of being civilized.

I was in girl scouts, i’ll make it :)

Like @WestRiverrat, I would probably thrive. I’m well-prepared and well-trained for such events (not too mention well-armed, which is an often overlooked necessity) and I think I’d do just fine. god forbid anything like that ever happens though

I am Appalachian. I will be fine.

I suspect that noone one this thread will answer “I’ll suck it up and die liked the other 98%”.

Sarcasm intended.

I’m sure i’d be just fine. So long as I have my hair straighterners & lip gloss that is. Because without those “essentials”.............well let’s just say the shit’s going to fly buster. Oh yeah!!

@Kayak8, hell yeah, me too.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard…..I’m moving near you. :)

Even if it wasn’t the economy….it could be any natural or manmade disaster.

I think that we have become too dependent on technology…I agree. If the grid were to be knocked out by increased solar activity (as Nasa scientists predict)...how would we live?
Everything we do is somehow connected to the grid. We are also facing some fairly difficult earth changes that may affect our food supply.

And perhaps nothing will happen and we will all be okay. But the idea that we are losing a lot of the trades/crafts that allowed us to be more self-sufficient is a shame. Most of these self-sufficient methods are also “greener”. There is a movement to go back to basics in some communities and I find this hopeful. In any case, I think it’s important to be prepared (with our own food, water, fuel). I’ve been through too many natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, blackouts, power outtages) not to know that you have to have things on hand.

It may sound like a silly question to ask….and has precipitated a lot of off-the-cuff ha-ha answers…but when you see people fighting over a loaf of bread and a bottle of water…your perspective changes. When you have been trapped in a hotel with hundreds of screaming people and mattresses are flying outside and shattering windows…it’s not so funny anymore. I’ve been there.

Sounds like fun. Let’s do it!

@DarlingRhadamanthus The skills needed to survive in those situations are only being lost in the ‘civilized’ world. There are enough cultures and peoples that still know how to live off the land that humanity could survive. It just would not be ‘our’ humanity.

Gather all the jellies in the world and restart from there. :)

@DarlingRhadamanthus and @WestRiverrat, yep. Homesteading skills are a formerly dying art that are making a resurgence with both the modern “green living” movement and fears of the economy (and social order) going tits-up. I’ve studied most of the Fox Fire books as well as other, older “simple living” manuals to prepare myself for the off-chance that the world may change dramatically.

I can make a fire. I can use a compass and read a map. I can identify edible plants. I’m certified in wilderness first aid. I can handle myself with a gun. I can fish. I can build a shelter. Etc, etc.
But, I think the biggest challenge of surviving in the situation described would be dealing with the frenzied and chaotic mobs of people who’ve never had to fend for themselves or live off the grid. I would head for the most remote location within the relative vicinity of my home in a big hurry.

@WestRiverrat….I’m aware that a lot of cultures still live off the land. I am talking about cultures that are Westernized, digitized and IPod-ized. There is so much (and has been so much in the past that were part of our self-sufficiency) that has been lost. And the constant media bombardment of having the “newest this” and “newest that” has bred a culture that cannot sew a button on a shirt (throw it away) or buiild a fire (use the microwave.)

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard…You are absolutely on the right track..FoxFire books are priceless. Well done, FPCB.

Yup, my dad always has that in the back of his mind. Keep your car full of gas, keep lots of wood and canned foods in stock, leave the radio where it is and never move it. He’s prepared. It’d be interesting to see how quickly my meanie neighbors change their mind about us when the economy really crashes.

I have a group of friends that have talked about this. Amongst us we’ve got weapons to defend ourselves, hunters, gatherers and growers of crops and animals. We’d get by ok based on the fact a good number of us have skills that can be traded and can make products to be bartered. We will need a medical doctor though. Ahem.

I’d thrive. Give me two days and I’ll have enough shelter to start making a home base.
I have gasoline, food, water, clothes, radio communication and ammo.

I think I would be OK. I live in a rural area. I might have to go some distance to get fresh water or find someone with a well. I would want some of you young strong jellys to help with the wood chopping. I can build a fire and cook game, I have done it before.

I feel that I’d do rather well in such a situation. I’m fascinated with survival and the lack of knowledge that Americans have towards it. People are no longer hunters or gatherers, they’re consumers. That’s all that people seem to know nowdays….I feel that people forgetting the old ways and being unprepared for a disaster will be the downfall of western civilization.

I’d google “survival.” Oh shit….

@jsammons is it just Americans who have a lack of survival knowledge?
Why do you think that?

Read “The Lord of the Flies!”

If it weren’t for the fact that practically every island is owned now (and thus, you can’t live anywhere to escape society without being charged for trespassing), I wouldn’t be here typing this. Guess the rest.