Basic survival: Level 3

Will you make it if all services in your town are shut down? When no help is coming and The End Of The World As We Know It is a reality? This is my third post introducing my view on Basic Survival. I divide survival scenarios into three different levels based on severity and how wide spread it is.

1. Basic Survival: Level 1 - Here, it's just you and maybe your group needing to survive until help arrives.
2. Basic Survival: Level 2 - You and the surrounding community need to survive for several days before help arrives or normal life can be restored.
3. Basic Survival: Level 3 (This post) - This is the END. Life will never be the same. The World As We Know It is history. You and everybody else is forced to survive without the infrastructure that we all depend so much on.

What can cause a Level 3 survival scenario? Many different things! A quick google search gives this list - 10 Possible Causes Of The End The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). What causes it is not really important for this post, even though there will be a big difference between surviving a nuclear war and a climate change disaster. Some of the basics are still the same and that is what I will focus on in this post. To survive TEOTWAWKI you need what I like to call the three Ss - Support, Skills, and Supplies.

Support

First and foremost is Support. You are unlikely to survive on your own. Many movies glorify the lone wolf hero that saves the day. In reality, the lone wolf is much less likely to make it. There are scenarios where it is advantageous to be alone. If you need to evade and escape for example. But in the long run, you need support and that means being part of a group. Only the most serious preppers will already be part of such a group before something happens. For most people, this will be a group that forms out of necessity and will include whoever is available at the time. If possible it is important that the group includes people with different skill sets, and that leads to the second of the Ss - Skills.

Skills

What are your skills? What do you bring to a group that is valuable in a survival scenario like this? Many professional skills that we use every day for work might not be very useful. Think through what you can do. Maybe you are good at gardening and know how to grow vegetables. Maybe you're a hunter or used to be a soldier. Maybe you're really good at cooking. Many skills different skills will be needed. I would like in my group a doctor, a farmer, a mechanic, a soldier and a really good cook that can take whatever we have and make it taste wonderful.
Maybe you should acquire a new skill. Take an evening class or take up a new hobby. Whatever you do, don't think you know something just because you watched a video about it on youtube. A skill is not a skill unless you practice it, preferably under real conditions. It's easy to make a fire with dry wood, good tinder, and a match. Try out in the woods when it's raining and all your matches got wet! The more skills you have the better but no one can know everything and you will still be better off in a group, no matter who you are.

Supplies

This S, is often in survival contexts talked about as the 3 Bs - Beans, Bullets, and Band-aids.

Beans

We all need food and the more you can have stored the longer before you need to grow your own. The best scenario is if you already grow most of your own food and have access to hunting and fishing close by. Most of us do not live like that and will need to consider where we go if something serious happens. Do you have a bug-out location and a plan on how to get there from your home? Maybe you know someone that already lives in a good location. Maybe you can be a part of their group and come help them? If you need to travel you will not be able to carry very much so best is to store most supplies at your bug-out location. If you are serious you will need a full years worth of supplies. Only then will you know that it's possible to grow more food before you run out regardless of when in the year the world ends!

Bullets

Bullets and guns usually play a very central roll in most movies depicting an end of the world scenario. I have not mentioned guns before in any of my survival guides simply because I do not think it is important for survival until you came to a level 3 scenario. Now it is important. It is very difficult to hunt without a gun and is also critical in defending yourself and your supplies. Guns and ammunition are also very difficult to make so it needs to be stored beforehand and in a true end of the world scenario, you cannot have too many guns nor too many bullets. Make sure you know how to use any gun you have and also know how to care for it so that it will last as long as possible.

Band-aids

Band-aids represent medical supplies. Many medical supplies are hard to improvise and therefore it is a good idea to have a good, well stocked medical kit. And, as I've said before, learn how to use it! Band-aids also for me represent other supplies that are hard to make or improvise. Rope, batteries, clothes, and shoes are just the first I thought of. Think of what you need or want to live comfortably. I think it is wise to not only think of needs here. Think also of wants. What makes you happy? If you like chewing gum - then get some gum and store it! If you love listening to music an mp3 player loaded with your favorite music and a way to charge it could help you stay sane in a world that has gone crazy.

This is a very brief overview of what I think you will need to survive the end of the world. There are so much more that could be said but this is not a complete guide. It is only intended to be a very basic guide to survival.

Summary

Level 3 scenario:
Support
Skills
Supplies
And a good bit of luck would be helpful!

Level 2 scenario:
Store 3 or more days of Water and Food.
Get and learn how to use a First-aid kid,
a radio and some basic tools.

Level 1 scenario:
Signal for help.
Stay warm.

Thanks for reading.