It’s the end of the world as we know it

I can’t really talk about an extinction event on a caveman themed blog without yelling “Don’t look up!” But I think Bruce Willis did too good a job of blowing meteors out of the Terran zeitgeist.

I prefer the Zombie Apocalypse trope because it is so pervasive – although I should clarify that while I do believe in meteors, floods, and the collapse of the Roman Empire, I don’t actually believe in a highly contagious virus that reduces people to flesh-eating monsters.

But the Zombie Apocalypse storyline is perfectly established as a means to explore societal and technology collapse. Whether it is a group of strangers holed up in a shopping mall, or a troop of desperados running around the swamplands of Georgia, the story, ultimately, is about how people come together to survive and rebuild.

It doesn’t have to be an axe-wielding slasher-fest. James Burke’s comparatively highbrow 1978 series, Connections, uses a power cut in Manhattan to explore modern human dependence on technology. He neatly sidesteps the marauding gangs of cannibals and slavers by jumping directly to the big question – imagine you escape the cities and find yourself in an abandoned farm somewhere, isolated and safe. What then?

A good question indeed.

Having a “go-bag” on hand, and a stash of bottled water, tinned food, matches, batteries etc. makes a lot of sense. I was once stuck in a town with no power for two days after an ice storm took out the power lines, damaged roads and felled trees across a large swath of New Jersey. You never know when 24×7 access to restaurants, grocery stores and power will suddenly vanish.

But these are temporary measures to overcome short-term, localized problems. Come the Zombie Apocalypse, no stash of bottled water is going to save the day! If the situation is grim enough, all the 21st century resources will be depleted in time and survivors will be forced to relearn the survival skills of our ancestors.

What are those skills? Can we realistically practice them now, or is it viable to wing it? Will you be a survivor?

Some 15 years ago, I took some primitive skills classes in Upstate New York.

• Fire making
• Flint knapping
• Cordage (making string)
• Tracking.

I know just enough to know that I don’t know much! At the start of an apocalypse, it will be basic survival; getting somewhere out the way, making or finding shelter, fire lighting, foraging. That list will grow quickly; storing and preserving foods, making tools (bows, blades, cordage, containers…)

The good news is that there are a lot of classes out there teaching these skills – and a lot of experts are sharing their knowledge on YouTube. Check out Will Lord for example. While I am not opposed to modern survival technology, if we are truly preparing for a worst case scenario then we have to cope with the naturally available resources. Than means relearning the primitive skills of our ancestors.

Sounds to me like a lot more fun than playing video games of an evening…