SHTF Skills ?

Nun-chuck skills, computer hacking skills, liger-drawing skills...

Here are some others possible:
swimming, martial arts, hiking, minimalist camping, medical skills , dental skills, basic primative woodworking, map reading, languages, pharmacological knowledge, chemistry, sailing or basic seamanship, etc.

Know everything. If the S truly HTF, then that would invariably mean that life as we know it stops--no modern technology or anything. Learn to construct wind-powere Air conditioners and flush toilets, and you will become king of the hill. That, and be able to shoot anything that moves dead between the eyes ...quick drawn.....while blindfolded. If you can do that, you will become next King of the World, regardless of if the SHTF.

Nuclear, biological and chemical decontamination skills. Learn to live in a 'moon suit' for 3 or so days. Great fun.

Tether ball skills and Bow Hunting skills, too, Winston

I would think that maintaining relationships with neighbors and family (each individual adding unique strengths, expertise and skills) so that you could pull together and form a community of sorts would be beneficial.

Kinda cuts down on having to learn everything yourself, and there would be added safety in numbers.

This will never happen, but it's interesting fodder for internet topics.

I'd suggest getting reprints of various army field manuals. They are invaluble for some of these tasks.

The Army Survival Manual gives a list and pictures of various edible and poisonous plants and identifying characteristics. It also gives instructions on determining the edibility of an unknown plant.
Discusses traps and hunting animals as well.

Rabbit breeding
Bicycle repair

Moonshinin' (i.e., ethanol manufacturing).

I always laugh at the SHTF & TEOTWAWKI threads. The average person can't hike with a small day pack for more than a couple miles, yet people honestly think they can load up the truck, run out to Wyoming, and live off the land and rebuild society all on their own.

In a true SHTF situation, the massive power plants would run for maybe a day. That's it. A day. No power, no phones. Water would run out in a matter of a few days, depending on where you're at, and the local reserves.

Most people don't even know how to properly purify water!

Me? I'd be dead in about a week simply cause I never have more than a few days worth of food on hand at any given time.

Sure there's a few Davey Crockettes out there that could pull it off, but they are few and far.

Yeah, my reply was a bit snippy. (I'm at work so I'm a bit snippy. Heh)

I do daydream on these threads, and the zombie threads, and the which caliber for (insert large carnivorous mutant creature here) threads.

I just get to snickering when the tone becomes so serious and people get to arguing over the best equipment/techniques/strategy to take when the big comet hits new york, or whatever the scenerio is. As I said, most people would forget to purify their water and then die from the runs in a matter of days!

But it's okay to daydream...

Canning. Tanning. Medicinal plants. Soap making.

I'd have to back to gigolo-ing for a living.

Know how to barter and have the goods to barter with at hand. Ammo reloading skills, equipment, and supplies would be a *really* good place to start. Medical skills, carpentry, basic mechanics, anything not depending on electronics and computers.

I know lots of Mountain Man re-enactors that could give lots of suggestions and tips on how to live without electricity and all our modern inconveniences. I've seen some pretty nifty stuff at those rendezvous made entirely from scratch by hand. Real men shoot muzzle loaders, in the rain, with powder they've made themselves!

All the above said, I have no desire to return to 18th century technology. I'd much rather stick around to rebuild the infrastructure than retreating from society. It would be handy to be able to survive comfortably in the meantime, though. Kinda like being ready for an ice storm(frequent in this area). The last one we had here in Arkansas put the electricity out for 6 or 8 weeks in some areas. Good thing I have a wood stove, a good supply of food and a generator. Firearms were never called for, as the neighbors were all friendly already. I even shared my generator with the gal next door to keep her pipes from freezing. All she needed was power for her thermostat and (gas)furnace blower a couple hours a day.

That's what I really see happening in any reasonable situation, neighborhoods and communities pulling together to help each other out. No reason to bug out from that scenario.

Note: This doesn't count in case of INVASION BY SPACE ALIENS COME TO KILL US AND ENSLAVE OUR WIMMENFOLK!!!! (Sorry, didn't mean to run amok, it's not like me at all, really.)

Jack of all trades

My opinion, the best bet is to be a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. Keep things together and running, if not pretty. Basic survival skills, no not eating nuts and twigs, but real skills, providing water, small game hunting, canning, keeping an out house from smelling for 500 yds., butchering, etc. will be the most useful.

Don't know about you but my plan is to become either a pirate, or a highwayman (not the biker type). More the "stand and deliver" type.

Seriously, I can't stress enough the need for first aid training. Your life and the lives of loved ones/neighbors can depend on it.

Others would be bassic survival skills. Water, fire building and extinguishing, fishing, map/compass reading, familiarity with your surroundings, plant/animal identification, etc.

As a former Ski Patroller, one thing most folks don't have is a basic knowledge of OUTDOOR first aid. Some of the scenarios we did in training really made you think. The ability to improvise is a wonderful skill to have. My Patrol textbook is definatly in my SHTF gear. Along with my fairly well stocked first aid bag.

I always laugh at the SHTF & TEOTWAWKI threads. The average person can't hike with a small day pack for more than a couple miles, yet people honestly think they can load up the truck, run out to Wyoming, and live off the land and rebuild society all on their own.

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Where are all the Boy Scouts around here? Any Boy Scout who made it past First Class has got basic SHTF skills. Including the ability to identify edible plants, provide basic first aid, walk 5 miles, etc. Any higher-ranking scout probably has some other really valuable skills, ranging from communications, shooting, basic electronics, navigation, boating, etc. etc.

What about hunters? Anyone who can bag small game, and spend a week in the woods, probably has a good set of basic survival skills.

I hope I'm not chest-beating here, but I 'think' that with a good basic backpacking setup, a .22 rifle and a brick of .22 ammo, access to a creek for water, and even a meager supply of small game (rats included), I believe I could survive for years.

Our scout troop does a "high adventure" every year, which generally means covering 15-50 miles, over a week, with no resupply. With a good knowledge of local edible plants, and the ability to put an animal in the pot (or the jerky bag) and create drinking water, you can resupply as needed.

Others would be bassic survival skills. Water, fire building and extinguishing, fishing, map/compass reading, familiarity with your surroundings, plant/animal identification, etc.

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Exactly right. Basic Boy Scout stuff.

Tin-foil

I think the most useful skill is being able to perform oragami with tinfoil...

Seriuosly, I don't plan on E&E unless forced by some bizarre incident, so I will sit in my house, smoke good cigars, drink plenty of water, eat my food until its gone, then depend on nanny government to fix it all, ALL with my M14s in my lap and my Glock strapped to my leg and the twin .50 cals. mounted on the roof. Wife will be toting 12 ga and S&W 640 and little man will carry all my ammo/reloads (in critical times the wife will have to fend for herself, after all the male of the species must live to carry on the family name).

Most of my neighbors are aware that I am a shooter and reloader, so they all plan to come to my house for defense and trade their skills for protection. (They are all gun wimps...never accepting my frequent invitations to the range to shoot my bullets though my guns at my expense...panzies ). So I plan to become like Boss Hogg, running my little hamlette with an Iron fist until law and order is restored. Once that happens I'll face the music when all my neighbors, who have lived safely under my protection, will sue me for protecting them...

Small engine repair.

Start out on junk/broken lawmowers, take a class, and learn how to repair small 2 and 4 stroke engines.

Why ?

Because people are going to use generators as long as there is fuel, and there will be fuel, ethanol, bio-diesel, what have you.

Being able to convert generators to those fuels, and repair said generators, is a skillset which will be in substantial demand, at the very least.

Also there's likely to be scooters, ATVs and other small-scale vehicles which use comparatively little fuel and adapt well to alternative fuels, in use.

Skills and knowledge take up no space, nor any weight, and are a useful barter even in todays age, half the bikes in my garage were 'bartered' with those very skills.

And in the meantime, you'll save a buck by being able to fix your mower, weedwacker, roto-tiller, etc.. yourself and not have to pay some extortionist like me whatever he pleases to charge you.

-K

Learn to NOT panic - cool heads make better decisions.

Start with Basic Boy/ Girl Scout skills. Plan ahead for your environment and possible situations, i.e. Tornados, Hurricanes, Fire, or Floods.

Have a plan and a backup plan, learn to Adapt, Overcome, Improvise.

Water and Fire are basic needs, once you learn how to get and retain these, learn the rest of the basics.

You will NOT always have batteries - can you use a compass, make a Crystal Radio to hear news...??

Think Outside the box;

for example:

I really miss hubcaps on vehicles for instance. One can get water out of stream, boil to purify, cook in one. The ones off a Willis Jeep , Ford , Chevy Pickup worked fine.

Actually practice skills to keep current. Rotate and refresh stores of supplies.