The Colony

[Gabbyhase]

Has anyone here seen the survival experament on TV called “The Colony”. They took regular people and put them in a warehouse with some supplys and they had to survive on their own. I learned a lot watching that show and if you can get a copy of the series I would reccomend it.
There was another survival experament on TV called “Out Of The Wild” where they dropped off a bunch of volunteers in the middle of Alaska and they had to survive on their own and find their way out of the wild, I also learned a lot watching that series.

One of the things I have done is put a few good survival books in my kit, they may come in handy ???

Gabby

[IceFire]

I saw a few episode of “The Colony”, but stopped watching. Some of those peiple were idiots, and the constant whining by some of the women was driving me nuts, so I quit watching.

Definintely build a “survival library”! Include books on gardening, medicine, dentistry, medicinal herbs, and “how to” books on various subjects such as preserving foods, making cheese, butter, bread, etc., building stuctures such as animal shelters, storage buildings, etc., mechanical/equipment repair, plumbing, and so on. Don’t just buy the books and put them on the shelf for later, though….read them NOW so that you can learn and practice the skills BEFORE you need them.

[Gabbyhase]

@IceFire wrote:

I saw a few episode of “The Colony”, but stopped watching. Some of those peiple were idiots, and the constant whining by some of the women was driving me nuts, so I quit watching.

Definintely build a “survival library”! Include books on gardening, medicine, dentistry, medicinal herbs, and “how to” books on various subjects such as preserving foods, making cheese, butter, bread, etc., building stuctures such as animal shelters, storage buildings, etc., mechanical/equipment repair, plumbing, and so on. Don’t just buy the books and put them on the shelf for later, though….read them NOW so that you can learn and practice the skills BEFORE you need them.

Very good advice. I have read my survival books but I have a learning disability in which I can’t retain most of what I read, so I’ve put them in my survival chest. Most of what I’ve learned is from hands on experience and practicing different things in the field. I seem to remember things a lot better if i do them hands on. I hope that makes sence. I wish I were one of those people who could read a book and retain most of what they read, it sure would make life a lot easier !!!
But you’ve given some very sound advice. It always helps to read and practice things before you need to do them. +1

[D_Loki]

I agree with the thoughts on The Colony, I was looking forward to it but also tired of the winers and arguing. However, it did show reality. Unless you have a pre-determined group together, and you are forced to work with other people you don’t necessarily know, things like what happened in The Colony will happen. Heck the fights they went through can happen even with the most organized group. I think they laid too much importance on the power issue, but it made good television. Food, water, and security should have first and foremost 24/7. This is where I think they failed.

[Slaw901]

I personally am reading and studying various methods of performing jobs that normally require some sort of machine.

I am also looking into metal casting and forging. This is a skill that will always be needed whether it be for tools, hardware or weapons.

Most importantly, I am learning the methods that my elders used for day to day activities. They obviously worked.

[kymber]

Slaw901 – i couldn’t agree with you more! my hubby and i are doing the same – trying to gather all of the old hand-powered tools that we can find and trying to learn the old skills!

i would really like to hear more about how you are developing your metal casting and forging skills – you might even want to start a new topic on that as i am sure that others would be interested too. you are dead right though – it is a skill that will always be needed and what a skill that could be used to trade or barter with in the event of SHTF!

[axe435]

I think you have hit on a really good point… a good portion of being able to survive any situation is the mental portion. One thing the colony was able to do somewhat effectively was isolate those folks… cutting them off and forcing them to deal with each other shows us that in an emergency situation, even a fake one, attitude and perspective is key.

[Slaw901]

@kymber wrote:

i would really like to hear more about how you are developing your metal casting and forging skills – you might even want to start a new topic on that as i am sure that others would be interested too. you are dead right though – it is a skill that will always be needed and what a skill that could be used to trade or barter with in the event of SHTF!

I am still experimenting with different types of homemade foundries and burners. Here is a link that I found quite a bit of info on: http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/links.html” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false

[kymber]

yer the best Slaw – thanks so much!

[Phelan]

I saw the colony. I enjoyed it as entertainment, though I really wanted to strangle a few people on it.

I have a friend that makes swords, trying to convince him to teach me some blacksmithing. He his being hard about it. I offered a barter, we will see.

[Slaw901]

@Phelan wrote:

I saw the colony. I enjoyed it as entertainment, though I really wanted to strangle a few people on it.

I have a friend that makes swords, trying to convince him to teach me some blacksmithing. He his being hard about it. I offered a barter, we will see.

I unfortunately have no mentors but books and the internet.
If he relents can I come too. Please 🙂

[kymber]

Slaw – i’ll make her take you! you can thank me later. bahahahahaha!

[Phelan]

Sure I’ll take you.

Husband is teaching me to sand cast which should come in handy.

[ponymama44]

I learned to sand cast in shop in 8th grade ( that was a lifetime ago). I seem to remember it wasn’t as hard as I thoguht it would be. I also learned to weld and hadn’t done it again until 2 years ago when the hubby was out to sea and I had to replace the water pump. (My frugal Yankee heart won’t let me call a repair man) It took me a few tries with my practice pieces but I remembered all the steps. And trust me, if I can do it, anyone could. So sand casting would be very usefull. More things that I forgot I knew that I can teach my budding builder.

[MossyOak10-41]

Well unfortunately you can not pick the day of your choosing for when the SHTF. You can muster a group together but its impossible to plan for group dynamics or outside contigencies entirely. You may become part of a broader community or regional coalitions eventually and have to deal with all types of people and skill sets. The colony was based on the premise that these complete strangers would be put in the situation each with some discernable skill set. The whinning is part of life, when people get uncomfortable or are threatened they are bound to react different than during drill time. I thought the show was decent, threw out so new ideas and challenges but some of it was cheezy.

I would love to have the flame thrower!

Instead of dissing the show, we should be grateful that it placed our ideology in a position and constructive light and that maybe just maybe it reached a few people to walk up and smell the national guard shoe leather.

Maybe I am off base………..nah………….

[Author]

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