Posted on 08/31/2011 3:47:21 PM PDT by EnglishCon
The One Long Term Survival Tool Everyone Forgets.
OK, the SHTF big time, and it is going to be a very long time until things settle down. You, as a prepper, have your food, medication and fuel stores, your guns and ammo, your water and power needs sorted out and your retreat. You have even arranged allies amongst your neighbours. You are set to ride this thing out until things slowly get back to normal. Your garden is growing, and the odd intruding deer, raccoons and rabbits that fancy a free lunch are making a welcome addition to your meat store.
You have probably forgotten all about the major tool for serious long term survival.
Entertainment. After all, there are not going to be any TV shows or movies for a while. Talk radio is off the air, and the HAM radio is used for contact first, gossip second.
Books are not just for information but, more importantly, entertainment. A musical instrument or two, if you or one of your party are blessed with musical ability. Songs, as anyone who has had to do a route march knows, makes even the most mind numbing tasks bearable. Music in general, as there is nothing more pleasing than listening to music of an evening.
For books, we have a mix. Some paper and ink, mainly the how to manuals and the repair manuals for every piece of machinery we have. At the insistence of my wife, one inclusion I should mention is a good vegetarian cookbook, for the summer months. The ability to trot out into the garden, grab some veggies and make a truly tasty and interesting meal without digging into your meat store is not to be sneezed at, yet, like most preppers, it was a blind spot for me. We have three kindles, and a hand cranked charger that will charge both them and the MP3 player. http://www.survivaldepot.co.uk/product474753_3307984.aspx is dirt cheap, easily repaired if it breaks and takes up almost zero room (as usual, I am not affiliated with this site or product in any way, merely a happy customer). Two of the kindles have yet more manuals on them, with duplication of the vital ones like the Bible, Gray's Anatomy, the Handbook of Medicine, various gardening books and, oddly, several law books. One of the things to be considered in a community after TSHTF is law, which a lot of people don't consider. American readers might want to add the constitution to their list, though I would bet that most preppers can recite that by heart! The third kindle though, is the important one. Stuffed with books, both classics and modern, children’s and adult, fantasy and biography. We already have the habit of reading to each other in the evening, which is surprisingly entertaining, and is a good habit to develop.
Music, well, there is the MP3 player, as mentioned. Three of them, in fact, each with SD card slots. Our entire music library (something I am REALLY going to regret losing when TSHTF, but it is simply too bulky to move) is all on SD cards. A battery powered docking station, with a solar charger, lets more than one person listen at a time. Instrument wise, we have 12 sets of guitar strings – bugging out with a guitar on your back is, shall we say, impractical. I can make a guitar or a dulcimer easy enough, but the strings I cannot make. Drums are easy enough to make and provide a good beat for evening singalongs.
Prepping is for survival. This I understand and approve of. Simply surviving is not living. I have added maybe 3 pounds to your survival preps with this post, but have added a huge amount to your quality of life.
I thought this was going to be about toilet paper and tampons.
I’m counting on Free Republic for my entertainment. We WILL still have Free Republic WTSHTF... won’t we?
But seriously, I’m guessing that when (if) TSHTF I’ll be working so hard that a nice nap in the afternoon will be the only “entertainment” I’ll need!
We have a couple of hundred books. Board games as well.
Fernando Aquirre mentioned this in his Modern Survival Manual. During the 2001 collapse in Argentina, for long periods it was too dangerous to go out. During that time, they read books and watched a lot of old movies on DVD.
(That’s the excuse I give my wife for NOT getting rid of our old videos and DVDs.)
don’t forget board games.
I have my whole music collection, mainly jazz and classical, in iTunes and on my iPod. I don’t know how long the iPod will last but, at 76, I’m not going to worry about that. Music helps me to stay sane these days.
Board games, or simply a pack of cards, should be in every preppers list of important survival tools.
You know the old joke about cards - if you are lost in the middle of the wilderness, sit down, get out your cards and start playing solitaire. You will have someone appear within 5 minutes to tell you to play the black Jack to the red queen!
Seriously, grab one of those hand crank rechargers - they work well and cost 5 bucks plus shipping.
Dang - I LOVE that episode. A little Irony is good for the blood :)
an extra set of eye glasses?
Extra strings for my guitar.....
I don’t really see the need for ‘prepping’ in the U.S., as opposed to Europe, but this all good advice for a family camping trip, too. In Europe, it’s hard to live far enough away from a city to have a decent garden, and forget about hunting. Prepping would be mostly stacking things in the cellar (don’t forget a tin opener.)
LOL, dang you’re good.
Got 6 hens, 1 rooster, adding 2 hens next year. Also 2 cats, 2 great pyrennes, want to add two steer next year as well. Burn your television!
Hey, yeah. An extra set of eyeglasses AND a few pairs of SUNGLASSES.
Oh, and yeah. A can opener, too.
One Copy of “War and Peace” will sustain the entire family.
LOL it seemed appropriate.
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