Bushcraft and homesteading skills in WW3

[HorseGuy]

Before we start this discussion I respectfully request that we avoid talking about global politics and instead keep this thread on the subject of bushcraft and homesteading. So I think it would be best to avoid sharing our personal opinions regarding the moral rights or wrongs of what any specific country or politician may be doing. Thank you in advance.

Ok, with that out of the way… We’ve all seen the news headlines lately saying how Europe/NATO is preparing to transition away from the current proxy war with Russia and towards a direct kinetic war with Russia. Hopefully this will never happen but what if it does? How would your bushcraft or homesteading skills be of a benefit to you if we were in a direct war?

Let me give you an example. One of the things which is likely to happen would be widespread electricity blackouts. Whether this would happen permanently for very long periods or just intermittently for a few hours or days at a time, it is something which would be highly likely to happen during in a war. Most normal people would struggle if it came to preparing some wood and starting a fire then using it to boil water for cooking or drinking but with your bushcraft skills it would be a doddle for you.

So how else do you think that your own bushcraft or homesteading skills and tools could be adapted to be a benefit for you and your family in a war time situation?

 

[Tengu]

We are going to die of ennui so anyone who can keep themselves occupied has a chance of survival.

 

[TLM]

I doubt my trekking, camping and general bushcraft skills would be of all that much use. Instead I would fall back to pre-electricity type of living in the countryside. Not necessarily all that far off but still different. I am old enough to have lived in the tail ends of that era so BTDT. If I have to go back living in a tent things are really bad and any skills would not help all that much, OK I would stay alive if food etc. but otherwise that would be a real TEOTWAWKI.

 

[Springchicken]

As we have seen from Ukraine, warfare has changed and will continue to do so as further conflicts are prosecuted.

Are bushcraft skills relevant in a war fought remotely utilising drones? Probably not, though they might inspire greater confidence in those who have some to manage in a new conflict zone. Life without electricity is profoundly inconvenient but liveable; getting around would be more challenging but achievable.

One of humankind's greatest assets is its ability to adapt and change behaviours. A putative World War 3 would bring about a raft of modifications but at a terrible human cost, bushcraft or no bushcraft.

 

[Glow_worm]

I'll be safe from FPV drones because I've got a tactical EDC prybar with bottle opener.

 

[Laurentius]

I wouldn't feel very safe living in my block of flats, rather obvious target for drones. I have a hybrid car, and that is virtually a mobile power station in the event of power cuts.

 

[demented dale]

We are going to die of ennui so anyone who can keep themselves occupied has a chance of survival.

what is ennui?

 

[GreyCat]

Before we start this discussion I respectfully request that we avoid talking about global politics and instead keep this thread on the subject of bushcraft. So I think it would be best to avoid sharing our personal opinions regarding the moral rights or wrongs of what any specific country or politician may be doing. Thank you in advance.

Ok, with that out of the way… We’ve all seen the news headlines lately saying how Europe/NATO is preparing to transition away from the current proxy war with Russia and towards a direct kinetic war with Russia. Hopefully this will never happen but what if it does? How would your bushcraft skills be of benefit to you if we were in a direct war.

Let me give you an example. One of the things which would be likely to happen would be electricity blackouts. Whether these would be permanent for very long periods or just intermittent for a few hours or days at a time it is something which would be highly likely to happen during in a war. Most normal people would struggle if it came to preparing some wood and starting a fire then using it to boil water for cooking or drinking purposes but with your bushcraft skills it would would be a doddle for you to do.

So how else do you think that your own bushcraft skill and tools could be adapted to be of a benefit for you and your family in a war time situation?

Depends on the definition of bushcraft skills. Assuming it includes craft, DIY and homesteading, could be very relevant.

Clearly I am not normal as I lit 2 fires (logburners in different rooms at different times) today- it was cold overnight) plus my other half woke up the coal fired Rayburn this morning, breakfast was cooked on it and a kettle lives on the side staying warm, ready to be popped onto the hotplate to boil. Having a couple of tons of locally mined anthracite in the barn is a comfort, as is the developing garden. Good stock of firelighters and things to ignite them with, long snout refillable zip lighters are favourite.

Being more homesteading oriented is a benefit..... so in that way, "bushcraft" is useful.... as is having an emergency camp stove in a power outages. Different approaches i guess. When does bushcraft merge into basic resilience?

GC

 

[demented dale]

I doubt my trekking, camping and general bushcraft skills would be of all that much use. Instead I would fall back to pre-electricity type of living in the countryside. Not necessarily all that far off but still different. I am old enough to have lived in the tail ends of that era so BTDT. If I have to go back living in a tent things are really bad and any skills would not help all that much, OK I would stay alive if food etc. but otherwise that would be a real TEOTWAWKI.

what does BTDT mean? and please can we all stop using ACs. xxxx

 

[Springchicken]

Ennui is boredom or the mental weariness that results from doing nothing.

 

[slowworm]

what does BTDT mean? and please can we all stop using ACs. xxxx

AC?

BTDT probably means been there done that.

 

[forrestdweller]

Albert Einstein was once asked what weapons humans would use in his opinion in ww3 -- he replied "i don't know, but in ww4 we'll be using clubs and slings again..."

 

[Woody girl]

I've just picked up eating for victory, healthy home front cooking on war rations, reproductions of ww11 instruction leaflets.
I use my bushcraft and homesteading skills in everyday life anyway.
today in the charity shop I picked up another box of old candles(12 for 5 shillings on the box) for 75p.
I forage a lot in charity shops!
I have my food foraging skills,
I can knit and sew clothes
I've been collecting old fashoned pre electric kitchenalia, oil lamps, materials and knittig wooletc.
I make most of my own firelighters and have a store of matches lighters and ferro rods. I collect small twigs and branches that I process for the fire.
My offline library is massive, from herbal cures to woodstore, keeping animals, brewing, gardening and easy recipes to cook from my own home grown, from kitchen scraps or foraged food.
I make a lot of my own things.
I've lived "off grid," and on the road in a van, virtually penniless for more years than I care to count so tho things would be hard for me, I know how to live well on very little if needed. Tho I'm not as young and fit as I was then, so might need a bit of help here and there, so I've built up a small circle of people I can ask for the odd bit of help when seriously needed.
Recently upgraded my fak and now studying first aid and herbalism, having begun a small apocrathy garden in one corner of the garden.
I only visit the big town once a month to stock up on luxuries that I could well do without if need be.
I have some hunting and fishing abilities.
Just need to dig a bunker and I'm set.
Only things I might miss.
My flick of a switch electric kettle and hot shower and a good bar of chocolate here and there..
I don't even have a washing machine at present, and I'm coping (just about). Much easier in the summer to dry realy wet stuff!
I've been preparing for this all my life without knowing.
I do worry that most people havnt got a clue how to survive hardships, especially the younger demographic as they are far too used to pushing a button of some sort to get anything, or entertain themselves. They have their heads stuck in their phones whenever they have a spare moment, today, i nearly got mown down by a lad walking along thw path with his head in his phone with no idea I was there.

 

[HillBill]

Bushcraft in WW3?

Learn how to craft digging tools (before it starts preferably)

Use them for intended purposes (before it starts preferably)

So that when it does start, you're a couple hundred meters below the surface.

The rest.. well, thats prepping and survival... maybe it all is, in a WW3 scenario....

Bushcraft is life... Prepping an Survival is about not dying. WW3, the priority is not dying. The aftermath... well, that's where bushcraft and life come into it..

So if you want to know the best 'bushcraft' for WW3... Look into prepping and survival. For without those, the bushcraft side of things wont exist.

 

[Chris]

As an ex-soldier I assume I’d be practicing the bushcraft skill of having grenades dropped on my head by a drone piloted by an 18 year old sitting 500 miles away.

Not the most popular Moot workshop.

 

[Woody girl]

Well, we are being told to prepare for war by the government.
We realy are being feared up.
The doctors are going on strike, for yet more money,flu is gaining a foothold again , and we are being advised to wear masks again, despite all the jibby jabbys we are encouraged to take,( hospitals are on critical life support without that anyway.)
The country is falling apart, so a good war is needed to sort things out. Then all will be fine again. So don't worry.
Bushcraft skills won't be quite as important as smallholding, and old fashoned living skills.
We've also got the puzzle of 3iA altlas, and all the fear factors around that. (Hopi prophecy blue kachina, aliens,etc)
Humans are loosing the plot.!
We just need to stay centred watch, be ready and able to cope, not just physically with practical skills but with the sense and discernment to not get caught up in a the fear and disinformation.
Know where and when you will stand, what your role will be, and keep praying for a path through l this stupid nonsense
I could say more but it would stay from the thread into unwanted territory .
Keep calm, have a cuppa and carry on.

 

[HillBill]

The country is falling apart, so a good war is needed to sort things out. Then all will be fine again. So don't worry.

I'd be curious to know what you mean by a 'good war'. I've been the unfortunate participant in 3 'good wars' ( i assume by good you mean lots of people die, lots of families are bereaved, bombed, made homeless, starved, murdered or executed, civilians and children die daily...) Tell me... what is a good war? Because from my experience, there isn't one, there has never has been one, and there never will be one.. Is it a good war when you only see it on the TV? Or do your family have to die first before its considered good? Do the Irish hate the English for fighting a 'good war'?

 

[HillBill]

Albert Einstein was once asked what weapons humans would use in his opinion in ww3 -- he replied "i don't know, but in ww4 we'll be using clubs and slings again..."

He said sticks and stones, but i agree with the sentiment.

 

[Harold Godwinson]

Like Chris my bushcraft skills would potentially be limited to cam and concealment and I bit of nav while I found myself a hill to die on.

 

[GreyCat]

I'd be curious to know what you mean by a 'good war'. I've been the unfortunate participant in 3 'good wars' ( i assume by good you mean lots of people die, lots of families are bereaved, bombed, made homeless, starved, murdered or executed, civilians and children die daily...) Tell me... what is a good war? Because from my experience, there isn't one, there has never has been one, and there never will be one.. Is it a good war when you only see it on the TV? Or do your family have to die first before its considered good? Do the Irish hate the English for fighting a 'good war'?

I don't want to put words in @Woody girl 's mouth, but the phrase/sentiment "we need a good war to sort things out" is something one hears in various places. I doubt that either @Woody girl or any other sensible person would agree that any war is good for those directly involved/impacted, however the powers that be are getting desperate and they might look at history and think that a war would sort things out.....

Bear in mind, the sort of people who express that sentiment (and mean it) are typically totally unaware of how fragile our infrastrucure is, and also how dependant most people are on it. Nor should you believe everything about how people pulled together and showed a stuff upper lip during WW2.... it's much more nuanced than that. And these days, the privledged class would not share the restrictions such as rationing that war entails, and so they would fail.

More likely is signifcant internal strife due to an act of war such as cutting of undersea communications cables, our food logistics is heavily reliant on the internet and such comms, so that is more of an immediate threat.

Flu- well, things are just getting back to normal, but the govt/media has infantalised (and controlled) folks so much via COVID, they struggle with the concept of "normal" flu and think that anything more than a minor cold is a disaster. Yeah, it's nasty, but persons without a condition which makes them vulnerable should be perfectly able to cope without seeing a doctor or going to a hospital.

GC