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Rural, to me (at least around here) is an area that is zoned AG160 (agricultural 160) by the counties in this state. That is the requirement that you must own at least 160 acre plot of ground to build a home on it. This is often the zoning in the most arid western counties of the state. Guarantees no trashy neighbors with barking dogs and other obnoxious noise pollution (at least that you can hear much).
I casually polled some of the folks I work with over the last couple of weeks, and some of the contractors that come in, in conversation, just talking about jobs they'd held or what they do as a hobby or in their spare time. There are a couple of theads that got me thinking about this in the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would do some low-key investigating.
Some garden, mostly flowers, some do minor repair around the house or work on their car. Most did photography, couple of painters, (art not house), some cooked up to and including making homemade james and jellies.
Mostly because I live in Montana, most of the men either fish or hunt or both. A couple came from ranching backgrounds, but left as soon as they could for college. However, also because I live in Montana, several had emergency kits in their cars, most of the guys and some of the women have firearms, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the folks I talked to had at least a months worth of food, (although most of it was because of hunting or fishing and was in freezers that need electricity , but on the other hand, in Montana, for a good part of the year it's colder outside the freezer than in, so natural refridgeration is available).
All in all, from a general skill point of view, most had some to very good computer skills, about 1/2 would camp, (usually in an RV with range/heat/shower/generator), but out of a group of around 30 people, I only found 2 that had some valuable primitive skills. One was a carpenter/woodworker, one had some serious mechanical skills and could work gearing and other systems for lifting or waterwheels or whatever.
What that means is that if there was an event and I had to try and make a tribe out of the folks I talked to, nearly all of them would be dead weight until I could teach them to do something that would be of value to a group trying to survive.
Only one even had basic CPR/First Aid training
If you want to plan to live in a tribe/clan/commune in the event of a major event, now would probably be a good time to start trying to find somebody that actually has some valuable skills, because most of those folks we see every day, don't.
Now, Most of the folks I talked to are in their 30's-40's, none was under 33, 4 were in their 50's, one in their 60's. Just a cross section of the folks I work with daily.
Kind of sad really, but from a practical standpoint, scary for the survival of the species if an event did happen.
BTW, I recently read a statistic that stated that if the world population were to revert to a hunter/gatherer model, based on pure numbers and acreage required to do so, only 6.75 percent of the world's population would feasibly survive, but noted in that statistic, it admits that it does not take into consideration the sterile/semi sterile acreage of deserts, tall mountain ranges, tundra and the fact that many of the animals typically eaten by our ancestors are pretty much gone so the actual numbers would be much lower. IOW we've too vastly outgrown our nest to return to that type of living in any situation that isn't uncontained desperation. That tidbit is FWIW.
I've always reckoned that if TSHTF the survival rate would be somewhere around 5-10%, that's because most people don't garden, buy ALL their food from Supermarkets and very few have lived without electricity, central heating and mains water.
Rural, to me (at least around here) is an area that is zoned AG160 (agricultural 160) by the counties in this state. That is the requirement that you must own at least 160 acre plot of ground to build a home on it. This is often the zoning in the most arid western counties of the state. Guarantees no trashy neighbors with barking dogs and other obnoxious noise pollution (at least that you can hear much).
Totally agree. Us 'old geezers' are always shouted down by the youth...I have seen ppl in their 50s and 60s (none in their 70s, yet) immersed in this stuff. Who knows but they might be playing Candy Crush, or looking for the game score, or just trying to look cool but most of the older ones are not texting or posting on Facebook. I have a little flip phone, a Tracfone that takes minute cards from Wallyworld, and my grandkids text me on it...always nice to hear . When it comes to the wife (also a flip phone, but with a service plan) the conversation is always speaking, not text (same with my brother, and BIL). We also use CB and Ham radio, which is in all the trucks and cars, plus a unit in our kitchen.
Yup. that's always the way it goes. But the real problem I see with groups is, what I mentioned in my post above, is the group splitting up...only now, the rest of the group knows where your retreat is, or where your supplies are, how many and what kind. Talk about "zombies" - who needs to worry about them, when your former best friends and fellow preppers come after you! Better to stick with the folks you've known for years, somebody with a stake in it, 'skin in the game' as they say - a spouse, close family member, or long-term trusted friend. I won't be joining any "groups"!
Most younger folks do seem to live in their own little virtual world. I believe that they would be hard pressed indeed if the grid fell apart. Most have no understanding of the natural world around them. Once all the stores were looted and standing empty, these addicts to the cell phone would have no idea how to forage for food, take down a game animal or even find a reliable supply of water. I consider my cell phone to be more of a nuisance than a convenience. I am forever losing it and in the rural area where I live there are many blank spots with no cell reception at all. Mostly I talk to my friends in person, not by typing at them.
Membership in a group might be a hazard for the short term, but I'm thinking long term after all the supplies have run out - which eventually they will, no matter how much you've got stashed away. The stores have stood empty for a long time, there's no gas or electricity, no medical treatment, no nothing. If people were forced to revert to a hunter-gatherer life style, I'm with AK-Cathy. Most would never make it. I have spent weeks at a time, camping alone in Colorado's rugged San Juan Mountains. If things fell apart, I would be strongly tempted to head for the hills on my horse. Without having a nice little stash of food from the grocery store, life would be hard to put it mildly. There's plenty of elk in the San Juans, and we are too far from the huge population centers for many people to attempt to flee to this region. Even if they did, they'd die off like flies due to complete ignorance of the environment here. Could a city dweller or a local do it alone even if they knew and understood the region well?
Possibly, but the mountains are highly unforgiving. Lose your footing on a slope of scree and you may very well break a limb which would prove fatal to a lone wolf. Then there's the other predators in this region - especially bears and mountain lions and there have even been reports of wolf sightings (speaking of lone wolves). How are you going to keep your elk and venison out of their teeth when you have to leave your campsite to gather firewood or forage for edible plants? Heck, how are you going to manage taking down a big game animal and then lugging it to your campsite which may be miles away from where you made your kill? A young, strong man in his twenties might be able to pull off this feat, but most of the rest of us can't. When it comes down to this sort of brute survival, a group will manage far better than a lone wolf.
Skills and the knowledge to use those skills will ensure we survive long after all our stores are gone, I cannot say the same for the youngsters (and many older people too) I see on my travels-head down not looking where they are going fiddling with their mobiles, or the joggers out on the highway in traffic with headphones on music blasting. "heading for the woods" in my area will find someone waist deep in muddy water from the recent rains. I noticed this morning the river has flooded.
I'm in my 50s. I find that many younger (not always) people have no interest in the kinds of things listed by Montana above. We advertised looking for someone to help build our property into a sustainable farm and most of our candidates were in our age range not that this was a bad thing at all. I also sell vintage clothing and most of my customers (late teens through early 40s) have no sewing skills at all. I am constantly surprised by that.
Between me and my husband, there is almost nothing that can't be engineered, built, repaired, cooked, sewn, cleaned, field dressed, grown, caught, identified, driven/flown/sailed, medically understood and treated. We can walk long distance, swim, work as a team, solve problems, physically work long hours. Things a lot of modern people can't do.
Another thing that constantly surprises me is the general lack of curiosity in the world around us. Any time I travel I end up buying a field guide to plants, trees etc. I ask locals, what is this tree? The answer invariably is, "I don't know." or "A tree." Sigh. Everywhere I've lived I know the plants that are considered weeds that are edible and nutritious. I know which plants are medicinal in nature and how they are used.
I can't say that this is the result of our concerns about TEOTWAWKI but rather we both really like understanding how things work, how they are made, their properties, old and new school ways of harnessing energy etc. It's just how we are built.
Between me and my husband, there is almost nothing that can't be engineered, built, repaired, cooked, sewn, cleaned, field dressed, grown, caught, identified, driven/flown/sailed, medically understood and treated. We can walk long distance, swim, work as a team, solve problems, physically work long hours. Things a lot of modern people can't do.
This pretty much describes my wife and myself. We aren't experts in all of those things, but more than competent enough to get by. It's not unusual for the 2 of us to team up and can 2-300 jars of veggies, meats, and fruits in less than a week. It often all ripens during a 2 week period. I don't look down on that stuff; she needs help with the heavier work, and I can always find something new to learn.
If you can partner with your spouse, you have a winning team!
This pretty much describes my wife and myself. We aren't experts in all of those things, but more than competent enough to get by. It's not unusual for the 2 of us to team up and can 2-300 jars of veggies, meats, and fruits in less than a week. It often all ripens during a 2 week period. I don't look down on that stuff; she needs help with the heavier work, and I can always find something new to learn.
If you can partner with your spouse, you have a winning team!
My wife loves to hunt, no patience for fishing. When I cut up meat she will wrap it. She loves her rabbits and will garden.
Hates sewing and while my mother is teaching her to can and make pickles, jams and jellies, her heart really isn't into it.
I do all the smoking/pickling/corning/curing of meat, and most of the canning we do at home. Lucky for me my mother is a real prize winner in this catagory and we supply the stuff to can, she cans it and we both get a share. Works really good, for now anyway.
But the wife doesn't mind living in a spike camp for weeks at a time in some pretty adverse conditions, will do some light maintenance on her vehicles, will haul wood if I chop it, (scared to death of chainsaws and axes ), but she will file and polish my finish work from the blacksmithing.
And as she's a fully qualified nurse that also served as a Corpsman in the Navy and as an Army Nurse, our medical needs are pretty well covered.
You work with what you got and figure out a way to handle what isn't covered.
We've got a template for a successful lone wolf. The Mountain Men of the Rockies, the fur trappers and explorers lived in the mountains by themselves and survived. If a person knew all their skills and had access to a mountainous region with water, game animals, and no population, they could survive.
However, at the same time, extended family groups were living and surviving in the same area at the same time. The native Americans lived in bands of extended family and lived by hunting.
The groups were probably slightly more successful than the lone wolf, because the mountain men went to them for barter. The mountain men also went to the rendezvous to trade furs for flour and necessities, which the native Americans lived without. But still, both models survived.
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, but on the other hand, in Montana, for a good part of the year it's colder outside the freezer than in, so natural refridgeration is available).
but most of the older ones are not texting or posting on Facebook. I have a little flip phone, a Tracfone that takes minute cards from Wallyworld, and my grandkids text me on it...always nice to hear 
. When it comes to the wife (also a flip phone, but with a service plan) the conversation is always speaking, not text (same with my brother, and BIL). We also use CB and Ham radio, which is in all the trucks and cars, plus a unit in our kitchen.
Better to stick with the folks you've known for years, somebody with a stake in it, 'skin in the game' as they say - a spouse, close family member, or long-term trusted friend. I won't be joining any "groups"!
