Doomsday boat.

That fascinating link in earlier posts, talking to the guy that survived the civil war in Croatia ( i think ) brought home the importance of medical supplies. He was a trained nurse, and had stocked up on Antibiotics and alcohol( for medicinal and other purposes.)

Made me realise the often forgotten risk of infection.

 

well Cat I"ve spent months in the back country. Used to head out with minimal stuff regularly up in Vermont; I've spent weeks and weeks in the Rockies as well as several months in the Sonoran desert, which you can't do any more because of the illegals and the drug runners.

I've got wilderness survival down. A few things help, but I'd survive anyway, a gun, knife, tent is always nice, rope or wire and fire. Even without I've no doubt I can survive just about anywhere. A way to purify water is kinda a must, if you get Gardie your done. I wouldn't know jack about surviving on a boat, although I'd likely find a way to survive, but on land, no worries.

 

Yes. The 'survive in the woods' thing is all very well but all it takes is a single accident or infected splinter that you can't get over, and you're history. The entire mindset is predicated on the theory that shyt happens to other people and that they can come out of the woods to inherit the leavings of civilisation. This is a fantasy that has no historical support; generally the hunter-gatherer types get exterminated by the better organised farmer/village types over time.

I bought 5 litres of methylated spirits the other day for general cleanup use and paint thinner, perhaps I should lay in some more. Antibiotics are a bit more difficult without a friendly doctor and even then, lots require refrigeration to extend their expiry date.

Big divert from the topic anyway. I still think Bataan comes closest if we're talking about boats. Heavy displacement, timber, simple sail rig that's easily repaired with common materials, able to take the ground for repairs or antifouling etc. Around here one of the big Huon pine cray boat motorsailers would be the way to go for a liveaboard.

PDW

 

This is like a class of 4 year olds talking about going into space. I would do this and I would do that.

None of you know what hunger is or cold or desperation.

This all sounds like American high five crap to me.

Your going to buy this and stock up ---where there is no shops. You drop your knife, now what.

The first 6 month will be hell until most people die. Then you will be more alone.

Honesty and trust will have to return with the consequences being execution.

Colonies, (herd) is the only way.

 

Well being prepared is still a good option, suicide another. I strive for a balance between the two. I have a simple method that I learned from the government. Why buy one when you can buy two or three. Yes, it makes things more expensive, but I save money over time and I have spares. When the **** happens - I even have spare bullets.

 

Come on, Frosty, the Americans in any State besides Jersery or Rhole Island know

more about wildness survival than all the Europeans put together.

It cracked me up when we get some European kid transferred in and they would think they were "hikers", then we'd take them to your typical American forest (20 minutes drive from downtown "Silicon Valley") and they would be overwhelmed. Apparently in Germany and elsewhere they actually 'tidy up' what they call 'forests'(tree farms) and don't have huge piles of fallen impassable wood and all the paths are more or less actual paths.

When I was 'up in the mtns of Colorado (under 9000') we had some kid from Russia, and while he was versed in plain old cold good enough, he was amazed 'normal' people would be living in craggy mountains, and in little houses out of view of the rest of the herd. He thought it was amazing 10-12 year old boys would be out hiking alone without anyone knowing where they might be.

And we actually practiced all that Tom Sawyer or Boy Scout Handbook stuff about building emergency shelters out of trees with just an axe, or just busting branches, etc.


Of course, then you got the more recently arrived "Homies" who will stay in the same inner-city 4 block slum from the time they are born to when they "turn out" and go to prison. Yeah, a actually knew a guy whose first trip past his gang's turf was to State Prison about 60 miles away.

 

Boston... I have no doubts about you making it. None.

I was speaking to the idea of surviving in BC Candada (heat?) on a large power boat. Or, any boat based survival, as compared to land based. There is no contest. Boats take a lot of work. Work you don't have time for if you are looking for water and food (plus heat up north).

Survival on a boat is a recipe for death. Not enough resources and too much work that has nothing to do with obtaining food and water.

Boston? He will be neighbors as well with PAR.

PDW: Where will you get cooking gas, electricity, diesel for the diesel heater, food, water, etc?

 

Heating is not a necessity.. a good Arctic sleeping bag (-50C) is..
Been there done that

 

How many years did you do that for? Was it camping, or survival?

What do you do with the huge block of ice you wanted to drink in the morning?

Wintering over in Maine both years, I also used an arctic bag because i did not want to tend the wood stove in the middle of the night. I was without heat only from about midnight to 6am. Otherwise, I had the wood stove running continuously. Still, it went well below 0c 32f by morning on most nights.

If not for the continuous use of the woodstove, i would not have been able to drink the water I had. It would be frozen. The 6 hrs without heat was enough to chill it almost to slush, but not freeze it.

So many assumptions...

 

Two years.. (thou didn't use the bag summer times). Had huskies those days so mostly outdoors. Lot of fats in our diet some proteins hardly no carbs. Water from a hole in the ice. No 1 rule for arctic living: Don't sweat

 

The tropics for me..

 

Gas, diesel etc is a luxury not a necessity. I can and have cooked with wood. I have a lot of wood and the nice thing is, it keeps on growing. As it's a lot more work than gas & diesel, I don't use it now. But I could. I've done it before.

Anyway I know my LPG consumption for cooking in this house because I've been using it for the last 10 years and I've got 2 years in cylinders here already. That gives me those 2 years time to sort out something else.

Food & water, I've already got. In fact I have 50 tonnes of fresh water stored. I have a fenced garden, I have a lot of fruit trees. There is abundant (now) wildlife. Neighbours run stock, have different varieties of trees, one even has a small vineyard so we have the basics of an alcohol power economy as lots more land could be put to grapes, beet etc. I know how to build a still and have the tools to do so.

Power might be a medium to long term problem. As I have a generator and fuel it's not a short term one.

You seem to be missing the point I'm trying to make - short of a sea level rise, tsunami or similar that forces me off my property, I'm going nowhere. I think taking to a boat *or* running off into the woods is contra-survival for me. I already have what most of you want to be survivors want to have. Someone would have to take what I have off of me. Good luck with that, I have neighbours that I'm on good terms with and we all look out for each other. Not saying it can't be done but it's less likely IMO than dying in a forest somewhere after you broke your leg. There aren't ravening hordes of lawless and starving people armed to the teeth just up the road to descend on me.

The point I was trying to make was, if you have to take to a boat, one like Bataan's is a good choice because of its characteristics. One like you're building is, IMO, a poor one unless it's strictly to get to somewhere else faster than Bataan could do.

This is the doomsday *boat* thread, remember? It's a silly thread but it's moderately entertaining. Let's not take it all too seriously.

PDW

 

Thing about surviving in North America if society breaks down is that we know how rough our cities can be even in good times. I can just picture "collection" parties heading out to the suburbs armed to the teeth. In which case a nice stationary 50k of clean fresh water, ( a commodity in the post water treatment plant era ) would be a nice find. Even if they did have to waste a few bullets and a day or two getting through the owner. No I'd aim for the remotest place I could and bring very little. In the end you need shelter 1st, water, then food. But avoiding exposure is key to survival. The luxury of petrol fuels will be short lived. Gas deteriorates over time as does diesel. So a year maybe two unless someone is able to hold a fossil fuels production facility against the mob. I guess my pyrolysis system would come in handy right about then but its big and a PITA to have to drag around with me, so I'd probably bury it for future leverage if I needed it.

Personally I'd prefer not to engage in any find and hold strategies. I'd stay low and out of site until, in my wanderings I found an enclave that could use my talents/tools. assuming I could cling to the truck that long. Tools are in the trailer. Thing is even thats a juicy target, might just be better off going light into the sunset untill things quiet down.

Unfortunately the more likely scenario is one in which the climate itself is the enemy. In which case no amount of wilderness survival skills are going to make much difference. I'd have to move gradually north but be particularly mindful of unusual weather events, adequate shelter would be a primary concern, guessing whether to stick or move would be like playing Russian roulette.

 

Whew - I was really worried about the end of the world, but now I know I am only 30 minutes away from 2 years worth of lpg





Hey, is this nav seat any use to you ?

(more pics at http://machinery4sale.weebly.com/captains-nav-chair.html )

 

I love the chairs, I would buy 5 or 6, but not from Australia, the shipping might be a little high.