Survival????

I had a brief discussion on this topic with Claude. I'm 57 and well remember foraging for mushrooms and wild spring greens when I was a kid.
What we call "survival" today was what our ancestors did on a regular basis and thought nothing of it.
These skills are fast dying out. To this day I still garden and forage for mushrooms and greens, can veggies, freeze and dry fruits and veggies and I don't have to.
Old habits don'cha'know.
How many of you feel you could "make it" for one year using just the tools our great, great grandfathers had?
For instance, suppose you have a couple knives, a long rifle, hawk, maybe an axe, means of starting a fire, could your skills enable you to live for one year off the land?
What about traps? Snares? Deadfalls? Shelter, yadda, yadda, yadda.....other tools??? Thorts anyone?

 

[Ohio Joe]

Maxiball,,, I'm nine years your junior and grew up in the Ohio country doing the same things you just said... I feel I could survive a year, or more with just what our great, great, grandfathers had at their disposal on the frontier... My wife and kids would have a hard time adjusting, but they'd adjust... If we're talking just about ourself, I don't see it as an overwhelming problem... Then again, we'll never know, but it's an interesting question to ponder... One may want to be versed in knapping a flint, and reading sign... They may also want to have some knowledge of what roots and berries are etable so as not to rely solely on a meat diet... There's also the, "manure rag", for lack of a better word that one would have to resign themself to using... There's a lot of adjustments a person would have to make and if your strong willed you should be able to adapt and overcome...

 

[cayugad]

If it was a matter of making sure I had a warm & dry place to sleep, a good enough roof over my head and plenty to eat with just the tools and items you mentioned, I think I could do it. I am not saying there would not be some uncomfortable times and a lot of hard work, but that is what would have been necessary and expected even back then.

Like you, I have knowledge of plants which can be eaten and processed. I have made crude but effective weapons. They were not the best but were able to dispatch small game. There are some areas I would like to read up on, but over all I think I could make do for myself real good.

 

I'm thinking that the winter would be hard on a person depnding upon him/her/self.
Taking a deer with the rifle would help, but there is the problem of storing the meat. I'd imagine that if it were cold enough freezing it would be easy, but it does not stay cold enough long enough in places like N.E. Ohio.
Probably larger game would have to be dried/smoked to keep. I'd be willing to bet a person would be smart to learn to set traps and snares for smaller game animals that run trails at night, i.e. rabbits, 'coon and so on.
Then what about shelter. In the winter a log cabin would be a must if the area sustained enough game to keep a person going thru the cold months.
Roots and berries are not going to be had in the winter, however the cattail root can be pulled up or dug if it isn't frozen solid.
Ever eat cattail? In the spring the head is very good indeed when boiled like corn, the root is very good, and the heads produce large amounts of polen that is easily gathered and substitutes for flour.
It's pretty hard to starve an old hillbilly. :haha:

 

[jtmattison]

I think where you are on the globe would have a lot to do with survival.
I am in southwest Ohio. Could I live off the land here? I don't think so.
Now if I was in my homeland of Alaska I say YES!
I could live off the land there forever.

Huntin

 

[Ohio Joe]

Don't believe I ever ate a cattail? I'm sure you've had the "pa-paw", Ohio's fruit. I always thought they tasted a bit like a banana... A person could spearfish also by carving a barbed bone from an animal and tying it to a good straight stick about 6 to 8 feet long... Hickory nuts would be good for protein, as would walnuts... I think one would want to build a meat house similar to a root seller to store game in. This could be done in the fall, and when the rivers, streams, creeks, froze in the winter, the ice could be put in your meat house... Dried/smoked meats are good idea like you said... I think you would always want to make sure you had enough hides, be them deer, bear, buffalo, whatever large game animals were available in your area to make clothing and blankets from, and whatever else you could extract from these animals such as bear oil, tallow, sinew... Just some more thoughts to ponder... Hey, you would have to be a longhunter for some of this game!

 

[Stumpkiller]

I try to keep my hand in, even though we've grown soft of late. My wife and I used to have a 100 ft x 80 ft garden, a river runs 100 ft from out front door, a square mile of woods used to grow behind the house (now 1/2 that because of development). We ate probably 80% self-produced produce and fish and read meat as I could bring it home. We raised geese, rabbits and chickens. I think we could do a year with no outside help. Currently, were down to about a 40 x 40 ft garden (no corn). I still have a bunch of beer and wine making equipment, so I'd have a marketable trade for a community. Finding wild hops might be tough, but we have a thriving grape arbor with four vines. Barley would be tough to find for malting, have to rely on pototoes and apples until we got that germinating. The hill behind us has sassafras and birch a plenty, though it might be less unposted in hard times. Getting seed stock and canning gaskets or parafin would be a challange if the lights just suddenly went out and the world around us stopped. I would have to clean up the dug well and we'd have to rely on the river a bit in August when the spring normally dries up.

In a survival situation hunting takes up about 2% of your time. Finding wild caffeine would take up most of my time. I have several books on wild edibles of the region (including mushrooms) so I could brush up on my gathering skills. Finding salt would be the toughie.

Probably the hardest thing would be guarding what you have in a world of have nots. You gotta sleep sometime. You'd be sorry you were so mean to cats when you found the mice had ruined the seed corn and grain you had set aside for spring planting.

In a true survival situation, where you woke up in wet clothes and whatever happened to be in your pockets, I may struggle through. I don't take any maintenence medications and I have practiced such things as ropemaking with plant fibers, fire by friction.

 

I'm thinking that the winter would be hard on a person depnding upon him/her/self.Taking a deer with the rifle would help, but there is the problem of storing the meat. I'd imagine that if it were cold enough freezing it would be easy, but it does not stay cold enough long enough in places like N.E. Ohio. Probably larger game would have to be dried/smoked to keep.

Well, I would suggest that you jerk the meat, build a wood rack to hang thin strips of meat on, under this, have a small smokey fire, use green maple or some fruit wood. This adds flavor and keeps the bugs away. If its a more permanent situation, then I'd go with a smoke house, or the very least a smoker. The bones and meat scraps I'd boil to make a soup or stew, or boil down to make boulion. Don't forget to crack the bones for the marrow. Any fat, I'd render down to make fuel for a betty or reed lamp.

When I lived in the hills of South Carolina, we had a spring house to keep things cool. We'd pack snow and cut ice in one of the root cellars to chill things for a while.

I'd be willing to bet a person would be smart to learn to set traps and snares for smaller game animals that run trails at night, i.e. rabbits, 'coon and so on.

Setting snares aren't that difficult, once you know what to look for. But, it can be a surprise when you found you caught something bigger than you expected. Like the time I found a six foot alligator snacking on catfish from my trout line.

Then what about shelter. In the winter a log cabin would be a must if the area sustained enough game to keep a person going thru the cold months.

One can get quite cozy in a sod house or a good size dry hole in the ground.

Roots and berries are not going to be had in the winter, however the cattail root can be pulled up or dug if it isn't frozen solid. Ever eat cattail? In the spring the head is very good indeed when boiled like corn, the root is very good, and the heads produce large amounts of polen that is easily gathered and substitutes for flour.

Catail root ground fine and dried make a good flour. So does acorns, after they have been ground and properly leached to remove the tanic acid. Berries can be turned into a paste and dried.

It's pretty hard to starve an old hillbilly. :haha:

Or an old Coonass! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif :haha:

 

[cayugad]

For those of you interested, this is a book which I recommend..

Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern/Centeral North America it is written by' Lee Allen Peterson

This book covers the area of the country where I live of course, but inside is 370 edible plants that can be located and eaten in the wild. Inside is to scale drawings and in the more common ones, full color pictures. It also tells you 37 poisonous look alike plants that you should not eat or touch . After identification of the plant it tells you which part of the plant can be eaten and how to prepare it.

I started doing this stuff many years ago. I have tried some of the different plants. Some are real good. Some you better be real hungry to eat. Actually as I walk through my woods and look around, if I took a basket I could gather a dinner, it is just easier to go to the refrigerator and pull out something there... ::

 

[oneshot]

It would be very easy around here as far as survival,meat I wouldn't worry about keeping it too long because it would be too easy to get.Now plant,berries,fruits and nuts,just dry them in season.

If you was along a river it would be even better,twice as much as far as food.

Rifle is nice but not needed.I've killed many Squirrel and Rabbits with a stick,Catfish are easy to catch by hand,Carp and Buffalo can be trapped easy.I've seen people catch whole coveys of Quail.I've caught Ducks just to see if I could,turned them loose.Deer are easy to Snare seen it done years ago.

Been catching all kinds of Turtles,easy to keep and taste good.

oneshot

 

[roundball]

I guess a lot of it would depend on just what type and how many tools I had when I started...the biggest concern would be a reliable source of water, shelter, and food probably in that order.
The lattitude of the test location would be a significant factor, and the the time of year that you started the test would also be significant, as it relates to having the time to prepare a long term shelter for severe weather before you needed it.
I admire all the confident responses so far...I'll be honest and say I think it would be tough for me...given a good enough tool supply to begin with and no limitations like hunting seasons, I'd be inclined to try it, but it would probably be very tough

 

[TwoShadows]

I think I've heard of one of you guys before....didn't you also used to feed multitudes with loaves and fishes?....seems I heard you also turned water into wine.....c'mon fella, get real...

 

[oneshot]

TwoShadows Yelp that would be a young man,very likable guy. :: He did all this in the middle of the desert /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

oneshot

 

oneshot: Just how does one build a buffalo trap???
Now buff's is rare here in N.E. Ohio, but I'd be mighty interested in the buf'ler trap. ::
Given that wood is plentyful where I am I think I'd rather go with a log cabin vs. a soddy, and the hole in the ground would be an emergency measure only. One thing to gaurd against in a survival situation would be getting sick and living in a damp hole in the ground would breed all kinds of ailments.
If I were in a survival situation and wanted fish I'd make some black powder grenades and get me some fish pretty quick.
If we are talking a situation where the world takes a manure and we have to fend for ourselves I think we'd all be in a heap of trouble.
But I'm speaking of how our great grandfathers would have lived day to day.
A long time ago a couple gun writers did a little experiement trying to live off the land as a Confederate soldier armed with only a six shot revolver might have had to do after the Civil War and so many of those boys had to make it home with nothing and on foot to boot.
The results were pretty dismal. The revolver was not suitable for taking small game as the sights were rather crude and accuracy at any distance was poor for small game.
I still think that building snares and rabbit traps would be the best way to go especially in the winter when these crittters are active mostly at night.
Acorns are a great source of protein, but only after the tanic acid is leeched out.
Winter foraging would be tough indeed if one did not prepare food when food is more plentiful in the warmer months.
Alaska would be a better place to survive given adequate shelter and plenty of firewood. Game is larger there and keeping meat over the winter would be easier done there.
Interesting comments, but I'm greatful for the I.G.A.