I figured I would test the waters to see what support would be like for this type of forum before I put it in the suggestion box. After all, if there's not enough interest, or already a forum to cover this, it wouldn't make sense to make a new one. However, I've yet to see a forum that matches, and there's a LOT of us out there.

What I propose is a "Survivalists" type forum or, alternately, Research Project. It would cover everything from Wilderness survival to turning one's home into a defendable area. The idea is to educate our members in how to survive Situation X.

What is Situation X?

Basically, Situation X is any scenario where the government and/or local infrastructure is either unable or unwilling to render aid in a severe crisis situation. Anything from Hurricanes to Enemy Occupation to Revolution to Zombie Infestation and everything in between and beyond.

Almost all possible Situation X scenarios have one thing in common: survival largely depends on the level of preparedness on the part of the individual or group.

Personally, I think there's enough intelligent and skilled people on ATS to provide a wealth of information and education to fill an entire forum for years to come. However, if there's no interest in a forum, I'll make a research project on it.

What are your thoughts? Forum? Research Thread? Neither?

My vote is for Forum.

I vote for the forum, i have a lot to learn.

Sorry for the one line post

I'd vote for the forum..it'd be nice to talk to similar minded people.

My supply area is so messy too. I can't figure out how I want to organize it.

I vote yes. Sounds like a cool idea.

Absolutely!!!

I might have some small amount of advise to offer.

Semper

I could go for either. It's a good idea. Survivalist info is valuable.

There's a lot it could encompass, too: everything from foraging for food and trapping, to improvising shelter or building things a little more permanent, to comfort things like rigging solar panels, discussions on how much energy it takes to run certain appliances and how to save, etc.

Yeah, I could totally go for a whole forum on that.

A forum for surviving any possible situation is a must!!!

This would be an excellent tool for this site. Great idea!!!

As someone who regularly reads and participates in survival-related discussion, I'm with thelibra. ATS has a lot to offer, and a lot of curious minds who'd enjoy the discussion. Hell, it might even save their lives someday soon.

DE

I might also be interested ...

I also support this idea. I find these topics to be both useful and facinating. I would tend to lean towards a forum as a project could more easily get lost in the vast sea of information on ATS. A research project would seem more useful for the large number of subtopics involved (shelter, defense, gardening and canning etc). I would also volunteer to help in any way with this project.

TD

(edit to correct spelling)

[edit on 12-10-2006 by toppdogg]

There are some valuable threads on survival on ATS. I keep these two (which have other links) in MyATS:

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'm sure a search would bring up lots of good ones.

here here, that's the second best idea Iv'e heard in the past two weeks. Here's my vote. If this comes to be I will be one of the regular contributors. Ime in the process of finishing my own survival site. don't forget to vote for the automotive forum to. if ya gotta bug out it helps to have a fast way to do that and speed requires knowledge.

Yeah, you could say that about any subject though. There's so much more that an actual forum could do to organize this info into a much more easily found, and updatable format. There's a lot more to survival than just saying "I'm gonna grab an AK and a machette and go to town!"

You need to know all of the following to survive Situation X:

Scale - Is it a Class One (local area, easily contained and dealt with) or a Class 4 (end of civilization as we know it). Is it something you can ride out in safety if you keep your head down and sphincter tight, or does survival depend on you crossing hostile territory before it's too late?

Food and Water - How many calories a day does a human need to get by? How much water? How will you procure more of both in the event it runs out or you are robbed of your reserves? How will you know what you have procured is safe to eat or drink? What level of effect will the seasons have on the availability of food and water?

Tools - What tools do you need to have to ensure basic survival? When you can't just call the local fixit, what will you do? How will you make fire when you have no lighter or matches? What kind of fire should you make in what situation? What tools are essential and which can be improvised? Do you even know the proper way to re-attach a hammer head? How about properly lashing two poles together?

Shelter - How defensible is your home? Do you have a backup shelter in the event that your is overrun? Do you have a long-term safe haven in mind if you have to leave your home for years on end? Are any of these places stocked with tools, supplies, water, etc? What natural defenses does the landscape offer, how can you use them to your advantage, what are the natural dangers to that area? How many people can your shelter support?

People - How many of your neighbors are potential threats, how many are potential allies? Have you and your friends worked out a plan in the event of Situation X, have you considered who you would save and who you would have to let go? What if your shelter can only support 10 people long term and 100 want in? What do you do when someone breaks down and starts sobbing uncontrollably, or worse yet, goes ape and starts killing your fellows? How do you keep up morale, keep your party motivated, keep people working at their duties such as farming or pumping water, etc?

Defense/Offense - - What happens if your group is attacked? Who among you is skilled at what? What weapons would be best for defense, or should you pre-emptively attack? Should you run? Should you dig in? Should you use stealth tactics? What is the best strategy for what situation?

Medical - What do you do if your buddy cuts his hand off and there's no 911 or hospital available? What do you do when the baby gets bit by a snake, or someone gets shot? What if they were poisoned? How would you treat severe pain when you have no pills? Even seemingly innocuous ailments such as diarrhea can be life-threatening if not properly treated in a timely fashion.

Aftermath - How will you "mop" up if the situation is contained? How will you be able to help rebuild civilization if neccessary? Should you attempt to contact civilization at all or wait to be discovered? What about the next generation of people? Is there experience and materials enough to teach the kids if Situation X lasts over the course of a new generation?


Not only are these questions sans answers, but they only touch upon the most basic and immediate of crisis response. I'm sure am leaving plenty out. We have become so complacent that I would be willing to bet that less than 1 in 1000 Americans could answer just these questions in any appreciable and logical fashion. We need a forum for preparedness. We need a way to share our accumulated experience and information with each other, and the Survivalist forum would provide just such a place.

He's right, you know. Are you that one-in-a-thousand (more or less, depending on your country) that has this knowledge? What about for your locale? If you have the information, can you apply it? Can you use the information in any appreciable way? Well, this forum would surely help.

DE

Absolutely. I'd read it. I know there are some survivalist threads out there already. This could be a great place to consolidate info and be of some very real practical benefit.

Great idea. A forum would be ideal, but at least a research project, for sure.

I whole heartedly agree that we need this forum. I would be posting constantly, as this is my current obsession .

Also could I throw in a nomination of making orangetom1999 a moderator for this forum should it come into fruition?

[edit on 12-10-2006 by DropInABucket]

I'd like to see this forum. I studied 'Survival training' for the past couple of years at my campus. We went to the North Georgia mountains and survived off insects, made huts from dead logs and folliage, learned to find water where you least expect it, and learned how to start fires with the most common items (like a piece of chocolate and a empty soda can).

[edit on 12-10-2006 by DJMessiah]

[edit on 12-10-2006 by DJMessiah]

Yeah, I know. I was just pointing these out in case you want to add them to whatever the end result of this thread is.

Like I said, I wasn't voting for or against a forum, and I really think an organized area, whether it's a thread or forum is a great idea. If you check out my posts in the threads I posted, you'll see I'm a bit of a survival nut, myself.

I'm all for a forum on this subject.

CX.

I'm defnitely in. A child of the Cold War, I was brought up with the survivalist doctrine ingrained. I look forward to it.