Useful Skills
Again, some of these skills could turn out to be extremely useful in a
post-oil world but they are also useful for most homesteaders to
cultivate – a win-win situation!
Join an Auxiliary: Joining the volunteer fire department or the search
and rescue team allows for free training. It's also a good
opportunity to help strengthen the community and make new contacts
which might prove useful.
Hunting, Fishing and Gun Safety: Some people argue that the first
purchases a survivalist should make are a gun and ammo. If we faced a
situation of mass chaos, I don't know how useful a single gun would be
against hordes of desperate people. That said, there are potential
benefits for learning how to use a gun now: in a post-oil world, it
might take much longer for the police to arrive at your house,
communities might have to set up local “militias” like the ones of the
1700's, and of course, and maybe most importantly, guns can be used to
hunt. If you truly need to provide your own food, you may have to
follow the previous practice of eating more produce in the summer and
relying on meat during the winter. Of course, it's important to learn
(and teach) gun safety while learning how to shoot. Fishing is
another related skill that may come in handy for supplementing your
food supply.
Foraging: Learn how to safely supplement your food supply with wild
foods. Find someone who is knowledgeable about mushrooms and go
mushroom hunting. Learn how to use those bucketfuls of nuts that rain
down on your car in the autumn. Don't forget that many wild plants
can be safely used as medicines if you find a knowledgeable guide to
show you.
Gardening: This skill is obvious – you will need to be able to grow
most, if not all, of your food. And most homesteaders start with this
skill. However, the difference here is that you need to consider how
you can garden with little to no inputs. How will you amend the soil
if you are unable to ship topsoil in from the local garden shop? How
will you deal with pests if chemical pesticides and herbicides are not
available? What if grow lights become cost prohibitive? Most
importantly, how will you get seeds if you can't afford to buy from
the nurseries or seeds are just plain unavailable because of high
demand or transportation issues? Next season, see if you can reduce
the amount of materials you need to bring in from elsewhere.
Medical Skills: Basic first aid is essential, even without the concern
of oil depletion. Take a course from the Red Cross and learn first
aid and CPR. Also, how will you handle things if you can't reach a
hospital or if the emergency room is too full to deal with all of the
patients? Read up on birthing a baby or easing a person's passing
from this life. Consider taking a wilderness survival class that can
teach you about making a splint, dealing with a concussion,
recognizing hypothermia, stopping bleeding, and so forth.
Medications may be hard to come by as well. Many medications contain
petrochemicals and so will be cost prohibitive or unavailable.
Medical care itself may be beyond the reach of many (as it is
already). Find a comprehensive medical book such as the Merck Manual
and learn about basic diseases, how to recognize them, and how to
treat them at home if that becomes necessary. Learn how to safely use
herbs in case you can't buy medicine. And practice prevention – eat
healthy, reduce stress, get enough sleep, exercise, and maintain a
healthy weight.
Home medical care also involves knowledgeable sex. Of course, sex
also provides comfort and entertainment if you're stuck at the house
more often! Depending on your religious and/or personal beliefs, be
sure you know how to prevent pregnancies. And if relevant for your
situation, you may want to take something like a Fertility Awareness
class since contraceptives might be harder to come by. Of course,
it's also wise to know how to deal with a pregnancy naturally if need
be, including prenatal nutrition, prenatal self-checks, birth,
breastfeeding, and postpartum issues.
Handyman Skills: Learn how to make simple repairs and how to make
your resources last longer. Do you know the basics of how your
plumbing system works? How the car works? Can you build simple
structures? When faced with a need on your homestead, it would be
very useful to have the ability to use what you already have and
refashion it for a new use. Find a useful, basic series of how-to
manuals and/or let your handy relative share his or her knowledge (and
listen this time). And not to stereotype, but women, be sure your
husband isn't the only one with this basic knowledge – he might not be
available to help and you might be on your own!
Fortunately, the planning and skills necessary for homesteading and
for preparing for a peak-oil world are very similar. It can be
depressing and overwhelming to contemplate the repercussions of a
post-oil world. Instead, I hope you use this knowledge to further
motivate your journey towards self-sufficiency.
You can learn more about peak oil and how to prepare for the possible
consequences at Sharonastyk.com, peakoil.com, hubbertpeak.com, and
theoildrum.com. Carla Emery's book The Encyclopedia of Country
Living provides a great start and overview of skills that are
useful for self-sufficiency.
