What life skills have you got that you think will be a asset

[TattooedMac]

I will start . . . .

I grew up on a 10 000 acre farm in Rural Western Australia and on the weekends i was gone from first light Sat morning and home that night or Sunday afternoon. I use to go out to my Tree House i made by myself in the bush about 5kms from home. There was a dam nearby and i use to spend most of my time there, killing catching rabbits and birds and freshwater crayfish in the creeks and dams. I also took a chook up there and it laid eggs for me.

Im ex Military, Australian Army, Royal Australian Armoured Corps. My unit was the only Reconnaissance Unit in the Aust Army, which meant we go through our front line, through the enemies front line, the their rear echelon and gather intelligence and then go back through it all to get to our rear echelon and tell our tales. Because of this we were taught to survive. I was one of a handle from our unit to go and do a Survival Course and then one day when i least expected it, got blind folded, and flown out into the middle of the scrub, and then told to get to X . . . .

On top of this, i have been out to Arnhem Land, sacred Aboriginal land, and spent some time out there with a couple of mates and a few Aboriginals and was shown things that i didn't get taught on the survival course. They have such a connection with the land, after being with "Johnny" and friends for a bit, i could see how their race survived 20 000 yrs and in the harsh Australian Outback.

I then myself and the other blokes that did the survival course, which in itself took us 3 weeks taught the basics to our unit, a Troop at a time over a couple of years, so i kept up the expertise until about '95'

So for me, even though i have been out 17yrs, i still have that knowledge, but it was in HOT 40c through the days and very cold at nights, so this will be a challenge for me, being stranded in snow, but i think i have a good set of skills to be able to apply them to the game

[Raphael van Lierop]

I can hack the cheat menu!?

I can split firewood really, really well. Oh, and I can smell eggs frying from like...any distance. Good?

[TattooedMac]

@Raph Thats a start mate. We have a competition at our country show every year, and it involves lighting a fire with a 1kg log of wood, and then boiling a Billy until its on a continuos boil. The trick is, how you chop your wood, and how you stack that wood to create the hottest fire in the smallest amount of time, so your on a winner there . . . . . . .

Hmmm cheat menu Root level access and . . . . . Endless energy ............ Tsk tsk lol

[logang]

I can turn the thermostat up in my house when the game starts giving me the chills, I can pause and use the bathroom when I really have to go.

Um, I can read a map and my land navigation skills are pretty good. I was able to do forced marches for days when I was in the Army, but that doesn't really translate to the game, plus I am older and fatter now so...

[snafukiller]

I grew up in the rocky mountains and we used to go out in the wilderness and play survival when we were kids. My grandfather was a old trapper who had several homesteads and he taught all us kids how to read game sign, run a trap line, set out snares for rabbits or pine martin, and what plants (good and bad) to survive on if ever lost up in the mountains. I think knowing how to read animal signs (tracks, droppings, beds) is very important to survival. Also knowing how to utilize snares and traps could go a long way in a northern environment, mostly in winter.

[thrasher1016]

Well... This is a terrible place to come if you have bad typing skills, but whatever...

- Brought up by a single mother that loved the outdoors and all things winderness; could set up a tent by the time I could ride a bike (4-ish).

- Entered in to a church group known as Royal Rangers, which is similar to the Boy Scouts, but with religious affiliation. The final graduation from the lifelong program - the Gold Medal of Achievement - is equal to the Eagle Scout honor (at last it was vetted).

Spent my entire youth in that program, with a recorded total of more than 513 nights away from home (overnight excursions), hiked an unverifiable-but-possible-to-guess 15,000+ miles on hundreds of trails around the country, including the entire A-T (in three total segments), the Florida Rim, parts of the MTS in NC, most of the peak approaches in the Smokies and the Appalachians, and several others of note.

Canoeing and kayaking were big too, but less than helpful in a snowy environ. such as this game, so I'll ignore those parts...

Completed a total of 34 nights of survival training and solo survival (28 in one survival "final exam") for the program's varios survival merits, awards, etc.

Graduated with the highest award possible in the program, 5th in my church's history, and also with almost three times the necessary merits earned.

- Left high school and joined the U.S. Air Force as a Special Operations Weather Team candidate, passed basic, initials, Hell Week, selection, and entered the pipeline shortly after the start of the 2004 New Year. Spent nearly 3.5 years in the SOWT (CWX) pipeline, came out with high marks in medium-range engagement and bladed combat (I HEART KNIVES), and passed SERE with flying colors, thanks much to the training I'd had as a child!

Blah, blah, blah....

Was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 where I was dropped into the mountains (far NE of Kabul) not far from our FOB. Myself and our JTG's medic were both wounded on the touchdown, and within an hour of landfall, we were under small arms fire from above, seeing as we had moved to lower ground to attempt to find shelter...

Made it out just fine, was treated and shipped back to the coast, then home (because they weren't sure whither the femur had set correctly).

The Air Force decided to retrain me, and I chose Intelligence, wherein I finished my newest enlistment and then took a discharge option they gave me.

- I am now a civilian, but none the less prepared - if a little out of shape! - for the rigors of life off the grid, even though most of my life revolves around the grid and it's power...

I am a volunteer at the local VA, and work with the Wounded Warrior's Foundation, as well as several charities and companies that teach survival and defense tactics to those that wish to learn and teach their families.

That's me, sorta!

Thanks - T

[thrasher1016]

OH YEAH!

I Left out:

- HUGE mountain biker and bike riding enthusiast; Big into downhill, freeride, trials, north shore, and all-mountain...

- Developed a great deal of that love (built on what I'd started to ride in FL) riding in Colorado, mainlay around Denver and the resorts.

- Also made it a mission to climb as many fourteeners as I could, and even had to shelter in place on Gray's Peak during a freak snowstorm! (Bagged 21 of the 64 total Fourteeners while I lived there, and I want to get more!)

Thanks - T

[Don Reba]

Well, I'm pretty good at reverse-engineering stuff, so should I find myself in a bind, I could always edit the save file. Real-life skill use right there.

[TattooedMac]

Well, I'm pretty good at reverse-engineering stuff, so should I find myself in a bind, I could always edit the save file. Real-life skill use right there.

Like that, thinking outside the box

[robdoar]

I can tie my boots all by myself.

[logang]

I can tie my boots all by myself.

Still working on that one myself

[anomrabbit]

I'd like to think I'm good at reading maps. I used to be able to do a teensy bit of orienteering, too.

But now I live in the southern hemisphere, not too far south of the equator. Sometimes the sun is to the north of the center of the sky, and sometimes it's south, and I'm now easily discombobulated.

No North Star, either, so I'm useless for direction 24 hours a day.

When I return to the US I'd like to learn useful things like fire-making so I can go camping more.

[Don Reba]

When I return to the US I'd like to learn useful things like fire-making so I can go camping more.

For fire-making in non-post-disaster conditions, why not simply use a lighter? No skill required.

[logang]

even in post disaster, lighters still work.

[anomrabbit]

When I return to the US I'd like to learn useful things like fire-making so I can go camping more.

For fire-making in non-post-disaster conditions, why not simply use a lighter? No skill required.

I don't smoke, so I've never had a lighter on me regularly. I do keep matches with me somewhat regularly now, because the power here has a habit of going out only when it's already dark.

[robdoar]

I love lighters. I stopped carrying matches years ago. A mini-bic will light 10 times as many fires, and takes up the same volume.

That being said, Lighters will run out of fuel, eventually. I always have, at a minimum, 3 different ways to make fire.

Another thing to remember is flame ≠ fire. You need to carry reliable tinder.

[thrasher1016]

Yeah, you could be carrying actual liquid fuel, and if you don't respect the three stages of firemaking (AND the weather), it won't amount to jack, and you'll be cold, having just wasted that fuel by being careless. Don't ask me how I know...

I keep Zippos because, Zippo, and a few Bics around too, with a brace of wateproof strike-anywhere matches in a Pelican case in my car survival bag as well as my bug-out bag, and a butane torch in my car's "food box" (oil, etc for the running of the vehicle).

Thanks - T

[meg_rector]

Hmm, I can spell out SOS with rocks - oh, wait. That's what you do in the zombie apocalypse or on a desert island.

Honest answer? Not a damn thing. I'm a city girl, and I'd die fast and quiet.

Okay, maybe I'd live for a few days or even weeks. I could probably figure out how to make a fishhook and line, but how long would it take before I mistakenly ate some poisoned berries or died from exposure or an infected cut?

I think this is why I'm so excited to get my hands on this game. It's more of a simulation than a game, and I want to find out what it feels like and how long I really could live, from the comfort and safety of my recliner.

[david_rickards]

Growing up in Maine I was in the woods almost everyday because my parents, for some reason, wanted me to play outside.

I was able to go to military camp for a couple summers, learning how to make a shelter, start a fire, capture water, and hunt.

In the end I feel I would probably not survive in the wild, but that's why I play a simulator, right?

[colepappa]

I would love see some kind of tracking skills so that you can track animals like deer or rabbits to kill for food

[marcin_wolny]

Thrasher1016 - wow, I think you just won this topic hands-down.

Well, as for me?

I've got a lot of will to live and never give up. I'm very creative with tools and stuff. Got excellent orientation in terrain, and hardly ever get lost. I speak fluently in 2 languages and know basics of other 3. I'm resilient in a long walks and can easily find safe food and shelter in forest (I live in central Europe, so here forests offer a lot comparing to taiga - in an actual taiga I would most likely struggle a lot with food, but needed be - I have no problem surviving on very little food, and never lost morale or will to go on in such a situation). I'm also quite used to low temperatures (know how to minimize loss of heat during -32°C and basic prevention against frostbites) - I've been few times in deep forest during freezing winter, and always could find my way around (My grandfather was a forester, so a bits of knowledge he passed on me certainly help).

I also know a lot about electronics, but that seems to be useless in this particular survival game.

No, I never went through any survival training (watching Bear Grylls doesn't count, does it? ) - heck, I even never been in an army. But I think that having will to go, creativity, and most importantly: avoiding panic or despair is certainly a good start for surviving in a desperate situation.

[thrasher1016]

Oh no, no, no... Not by a long shot!

One simple reason:

For all of my experience, I've only set foot in taiga once, and that was on a "recreational" missions trip to Alaska during summer, so even though I was in TLD-type terrain, it wasn't the correct conditions...

My severe winter / arctic training is pretty weak, and I have noticed these last two years that if I'm going to have to be cold, Lord in heaven let it be a dry cold... I'm not handling it as well as I did when I was a kid!

No, there's no winning here, because if you were to throw me back out there right now, no matter what I know or don't know, I'd probably die... I've lost a lot of my physical conditioning, I've been injured in two car accidents in the last 4 years, and I have a severe sciatic pinch right now that will not allow me to even walk properly, so given all other things equal, I'm wolf bait if my "plane went down" today!

Thanks - T

[marin]

I can dislocate my shoulder and put it back in without almost any pain. THAT MUST COUNT RIGHT??

[redbeard]

I know how to avoid poison ivy...

[TattooedMac]

I can dislocate my shoulder and put it back in without almost any pain. THAT MUST COUNT RIGHT??

You would be surprised how this could be helpful to yourself. You still have to get yourself out of the plane wreckage when you crash. So don't right it off. You might be the only one that survives, because once you wake from being knocked out and you find your arm caught, the only way to get out is break your arm, YOU WIN

Im liking what i see here, and good to see people actually thinking and questioning themselves . . Keep it coming.