I'm fascinated by Otzi, the ice man found in a glacier. He was in possession of stone working tools, bronze axe, partially made arrows analgesic medicine, a bag to carry fire and tattoos marking meridians for a prescription for acupuncture pain relief. He represents a very advanced culture with trade, highly skilled artesans, advanced medicine and agriculture. His stomach contained Ibex jerky and einkorn bread.
He was highly skilled and intelligent. Modern humans appeared 300,000 years ago.
We evolved for thousands of years in egalitarian societies. Reciprocal altruism was how it worked. People cooperated. There was no rich and poor. No ruling class/caste. This lasted until about 10,000 years ago. The ice melted just before. Presumably most humans lived south of the main ice sheets. The ice was up to a mile thick. Neanderthals lived alongside us up to around the time the ice melted I think. They may have died out through being less adept at making warm clothes. The first towns appeared and with them came the first ruling elites. There is evidence that at least one of these was overthrown. Some towns persisted without any ruling elite for hundreds of years. We know this because the houses were all the same size, except for the fact that they expanded and shrank as people had kids and then the kids left home. We also know men and women were equal in these towns. This is early Neolithic, when agriculture was taking off.
Otzi lived after all that, about 5,000 years ago. He was found in the mountains where there are still glaciers.
XRS001 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:55 am
You won't see me in anything that makes me stand out. No cammo, no skins. I'm the grey man, mostly quiet....
Same. I do have technical gear - hill walking type stuff, but everyone wears North Face anyway, so who'd notice? My bugout bag is a black one (Kelty Redwing, old model) that looks like a normal fairly traditional one, with pockets on the side, but with a big U-shaped zip for the main compartment (quick access). If I had to bugout or travel during bug-in, I would try to use my push bike if possible.
XRS001 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:55 am
You won't see me in anything that makes me stand out. No cammo, no skins. I'm the grey man, mostly quiet....
Same. I do have technical gear - hill walking type stuff, but everyone wears North Face anyway, so who'd notice? My bugout bag is a black one (Kelty Redwing, old model) that looks like a normal fairly traditional one, with pockets on the side, but with a big U-shaped zip for the main compartment (quick access). If I had to bugout or travel during bug-in, I would try to use my push bike if possible.
Having both lived off-grid in a boat (as a married man) and prior to that I had lived in and "worked" a coppice woodland I have a selection of items which are useful for prepping: Bilhook; Side Axe (Bristol Design), Kent Axe. Knife, tinder box & variety of fire making tools.
I have minimal Bugout gear: 2nd hand Karimore backpack, tarp, double skin hammock & cammo net, sleeping bag & basic foam mat. Camelback,chlorine drops & Wicking cloth filter. 3 days of food. (not MREs) Vac packed powdered coffee & dark chocolate (80%), tinder box. I have a bug out plan with old friends.
I only use a push bike now & it makes the most sense.
I'm fascinated by Otzi, the ice man found in a glacier. He was in possession of stone working tools, bronze axe, partially made arrows analgesic medicine, a bag to carry fire and tattoos marking meridians for a prescription for acupuncture pain relief. He represents a very advanced culture with trade, highly skilled artesans, advanced medicine and agriculture. His stomach contained Ibex jerky and einkorn bread.
He was highly skilled and intelligent. Modern humans appeared 300,000 years ago.
We evolved for thousands of years in egalitarian societies. Reciprocal altruism was how it worked. People cooperated. There was no rich and poor. No ruling class/caste. This lasted until about 10,000 years ago. The ice melted just before. Presumably most humans lived south of the main ice sheets. The ice was up to a mile thick. Neanderthals lived alongside us up to around the time the ice melted I think. They may have died out through being less adept at making warm clothes. The first towns appeared and with them came the first ruling elites. There is evidence that at least one of these was overthrown. Some towns persisted without any ruling elite for hundreds of years. We know this because the houses were all the same size, except for the fact that they expanded and shrank as people had kids and then the kids left home. We also know men and women were equal in these towns. This is early Neolithic, when agriculture was taking off.
Otzi lived after all that, about 5,000 years ago. He was found in the mountains where there are still glaciers.
Foraging is a hopeless prospect for many of us, especially townies. My idea of foraging would be raiding the bins behind Greggs or robbing the local allotments*. It still counts.
Hey jen you can find loads of goodies round town lol i mean food not bin diving mind you i like a skip just ask my wife lol , i have been known to turn the car round and go back to check a skip lol ,well why do you think i got the name steptoe lol .
I am not sure if the site is still running but a young guy i thnik it was on a hugh fernley show was doing a map of all the wild fruit trees through britain he was asking people to send him ie as close as possible the name of the road and place the tree is so like cherry lane 3 miles down there is a huge pear tree and so on , we found some huge pear trees right outside the roman remains place and as it was on open land we just went over with out extra long extended telescopic picker hehehe i got over 50lb of big and i do mean big pear some big as your hand .
I am not sure where you are jen but look it up as i say the guy was doing a map of fruit trees and well right near the harry potter studios on waste land there is a 200ft long row of wild plum trees we use to hit that every year , we would get 40lt bucket fulls and we made some lovely wine from them
I think there is an urban harvest in Oxford, mainly apples which are juiced. There are at least 7 community orchards. I know where there are loads of damsons annually and an annual harvest of Chicken of the woods fungi which is tasty and easily dried.
XRS001 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:36 pm
Interesting forum, nice to read through the willingness to share info posts & posts welcoming nooks.
I have been a primitavist for a very long time, at least 20+ years & prepper for about 5. I have taught adults bushcraft from time to time. I lived off grid for 12 years (solar & wind powered). I run a yearly camp for 160 people in a field for 10 days & am in charge of the hot water system in the field, we also compost the waste in the field in a home built dry sanitation composting toilet.
My primary interests are civilisation collapse & long term survival in a changing climate. In my opinion the Climate Emergency will get worse. We are currently in catch up to the impact of 500ppm CO2 in the atmosphere. Planetary warming is well on its way to 2.5°C+ by the end of the century. The few days at 40°C we experienced last summer may be the start of a new trend of unbearably hot summers. Precipitation patterns are changing.
Beyond stockpiling food & water how to we survive the collapse of agriculture? These are the type of discussions I am interested in. I am very happy to share what I know, experiences and what I have tried.
Interesting, welcome.
Regarding the climate, I think your figure of 2.5° is if anything on the low side. 3-4 is possible. Ultimately, 8 is now likely, on a longer timescale. Anything above 1.5 is a disaster for many people.
Regarding civilisation collapse, that could happen even quicker. In my opinion, the UK has been on a downward path since 1979.
XRS001 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:03 pm
I think there is an urban harvest in Oxford, mainly apples which are juiced. There are at least 7 community orchards. I know where there are loads of damsons annually and an annual harvest of Chicken of the woods fungi which is tasty and easily dried.
I love skips
I still don't understand community orchards. There's a local one, but who has harvesting rights?
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought
XRS001 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:05 pm
I was also ignoring Aerosol Masking.
About half a degree I think. Yes, you have to add that to the 1.2 to see where we really are headed.
For anyone not familiar...when we burn FF, we emit dirty particles. All but one typeblock sunlight and cause cooling. As we stop using FF, the dimming/cooling will decrease, so warming will increase. But of course if we don't stop using FF, warming will get a lot more. So basically we caused 1.75° warming and 0.5° temporary cooling. The dimming effect is short term, like a couple of years. CO2 stays up there, heating the planet, for hundreds or thousands of years.
XRS001 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:05 pm
I was also ignoring Aerosol Masking.
About half a degree I think. Yes, you have to add that to the 1.2 to see where we really are headed.
For anyone not familiar...when we burn FF, we emit dirty particles. All but one typeblock sunlight and cause cooling. As we stop using FF, the dimming/cooling will decrease, so warming will increase. But of course if we don't stop using FF, warming will get a lot more. So basically we caused 1.75° warming and 0.5° temporary cooling. The dimming effect is short term, like a couple of years. CO2 stays up there, heating the planet, for hundreds or thousands of years.
Proff Jame E Hansen estimates it takes 1-3 days for the masking to fall out of the atmosphere