if we were all that remained of society, could we survive.

[Night Watchman]

I can make a still and booze, so those are my skill sets. To be sure, I've never actually made a still from scratch, but I'm confident I could do it. Also, I have some training being a mechanic...well, thats a slight exageration, but I did a two-week placement at a Garage so I picked up some basic stuff.

My biggest skills would probably be my ability to learn pretty quickly, so I could be like everyone's apprentice boy or something and just learn stuff.

[BigFatCoward]

This claim is worthless without proof.

N

i could come round and lock your ass up, would that help.

how come you havent questioned any of the other skills people have attributed to themselves? if i was going to lie i'd have said i was the commisioner or at least a chief supernintendo.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

1. You couldn't lock her up, I don't think. WTF has she done that could justify it?

2. Claiming a skill is not the same as claiming a profession (and rank!).

3. You're new; a lot of the others claiming certain things have proven those things previously. Or at least given better indications that it could be true, at least, if not proven outright.

[Guest Raidne]

I'm worthless. Sign me up for breeding, at least until we get to the city council/parliamentary procedure stage. But hell, Fran is completely worthless throughout the entire novel, and she makes out okay.

[Eyelesbarrow]

I'm not queasy when it comes to killing animals for dinner. (Yo, Mother Abi!) My mom taught me how to clean a fish and kill a chicken properly and a neighbor used to breed and butcher pigs. I'd probably do some kitchen duty. Just don't make me wash the dishes.

[kungtotte]

Just don't make me wash the dishes.

Didn't Raidne just volunteer? ;)

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Yeah, my "skills" would probably be limited to breeding too, at least to start. I'd like to say I'd learn quickly, and would help out with the construction and/or communications sides of things, but realistically I know that there are others far better suited to such things, and I'd just get in the way.

I'd be one of the day-to-day workers, being told what to do, resenting it to hell, and helping everything proceed. :P

[sologdin]

i'd be happy with breeding as a skill.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Okay my skills are not great for rebuilding human civilization. But, I can learn. That said if it's only board members who survive I'd definately be having a hard time. It would mean I survived but my wife, my children, and my entire extended family didn't (none of them are board members). Would I really want to survive in those circumstances?

[Xray the Enforcer]

I cannot wait for my new, much-more-tangible era of tyranny to begin. :whip:

[Young Wolf]

Given this scenario, the last thing I would do is move my family and I any closer to the rest of you nuts.

[Ixodes]

Given this scenario, the last thing I would do is move my family and I any closer to the rest of you nuts.

Fine. And when your chickens start dying of parasites, why don't you go find some other post-apocalyptic friends to help you. And Raidne won't do any of your dishes. And Sologdin won't breed you. At all.

[mashiara]

I think most of us would survive, if we ever figured out a way to get all of us together and plan our community properly.

I'd like to think that the world will always need teachers so I might be of some use to the new community. If this skill isn't needed right away, I can always claim that I have extensive experience in farming and tending animals. All those hours playing Farmville have to be good for something. :P

[Young Wolf]

Fine. And when your chickens start dying of parasites, why don't you go find some other post-apocalyptic friends to help you. And Raidne won't do any of your dishes. And Sologdin won't breed you. At all.

Why would I need chickens when I would simply conduct raids upon your farm and steal yours?

The no breeding with Solo thing does sting a bit though. May have to reconsider on that point alone.

[The_BlauerDragon]

Well, I've been hunting and fishing since I was 5... I've done a little bit of trapping too. I have taken multiple courses on wilderness survival (they were among my easy "A" classes). I was forced to work construction at age 11, and continued to work in it until age 20 (so I picked up a decent amount of knowledge regarding building things). I have a reasonable amount of experience with raising, tending, diagnosing, medicating, and training animals. I often travel with a mobile pit crew in Offroad racing (so I've picked up a few tidbits of mechanical knowledge). I'm fairly handy with crafts, and have done some basic forge work. I spent a very brief period of my life in the U.S. Army. I'd like to think that I am fairly intelligent, decently educated, and insightful. I have a supreme knack for thinking of things that no-one else would think of (which is sometimes not such a good thing, as there was a good reason that no-one else thought of it). Oh... and 99% of the people that know me think that I am absolutely guano insane and they still love me (so I must be charismatic, or something)!

All of that said, you can definitely sign me up for breeding duty!!! I'll even volunteer to scrub a few dishes here and there.

[Happy Ent]

All those hours playing Farmville have to be good for something. :P

Onion News Network asks: are-violent-video-games-adequately-preparing-our-kids-for-the-apocalypse. (Funny video)

[Trebla]

I think I'd go cannibal in about 3 days. Really, no Apocalypse should go without some zombie flesh eating.

[Laron]

Can we change the premise to a S. M. Sterling-esque "Change" scenario? In a world where firearms and electricity don't work, I would be one of the select few who can reach out and touch someone from some distance. Or at least scare them away when an arrow passes their vital parts -> <-this close.

Otherwise, I know a bit about farming, chemistry, biology, history etc. I would offer stud services, if the wife would let me. If all else fails, I'm sure I would be delicious.

[BigFatCoward]

1. You couldn't lock her up, I don't think. WTF has she done that could justify it?

2. Claiming a skill is not the same as claiming a profession (and rank!).

3. You're new; a lot of the others claiming certain things have proven those things previously. Or at least given better indications that it could be true, at least, if not proven outright.

1. i was joking, i would have thought that was obvious, to anyone who wasn't overly literal.

2. i think it is, but that is just my opinion, and again why would i lie.

3. really, a lot of people on here have claimed various skills, what empiric evidence do you have that any of them are telling the truth, you seen any of the people on here gutting a fish or hunting with a bow? thought not.

[timmet]

16000 people would be nearly impossible to support without any sort of pre-planning. I dont care if we have the best farmers in the world; for the first season the population would be too high for natural resources to support in any single location. The only choice would be to disperse the population or face starvation. Now, if we started with planted fields and prepared food stores it would be a different issue.

Third path: eat the useless. Nutrition + population control in one go.;)

*looks around*

Yard full of pronghorn and rabbits. Deer and elk not far away. Firewood some distance, but the neighbors have horses to pull wagons or sledges. Could bicycle to some awesome fishing lakes.

Guns, bow, crossbow. Good w/ all three. Check. Means of heating and cooking. Check. Self-contained electrical system with deep well and water storage. Two sailboats -- once launched don't need power. Can make sails as required. So the Caribbean is totally fine. Except you'll find that's not great farming or hunting country, and village-scale fishing is more work than you think. We want a river valley with Mediterranean climate.

Can build houses, boats, hunt, fish, dress and preserve animals. Handy with solar heating, water-purifying, wind and manual-driven well pumps, and basic electrical generation & storage systems. I'm shit at farming, so someone else will have to grow stuff & tend the animals. I make really good beer. Will trade it for cheese.

My nomination for a settling place would be Genoa or the Gulf of Lions. Or Croatia! The area around Split is fantastic for fishing, wine, & transport; nearby Slavonia is AAA farming country. Sheltered from the worst weather; moderate climate excellent for growing almost anything. Mountains nearby for varied diet and defense. Built on hills, like Rome, which helps w/ water delivery and waste disposal (gotta keep malaria and water-borne diseases in check.) Oh -- and Split is really amazingly beautiful.

In the US, I think Missouri would be a good place to settle, or Virginia. Good earth, reliable rains, winters short enuf we wouldn't starve. It's a long trek for our Aussie boarders, but the Mad Max films suggest they'll manage alright on their own.