Required Skills

[Knobster]

Not to be funny. What about a brew master? They can make spirits and wines and brews that are tradeable and some if distiled right can be used as a fuel or weapon. All would be helpful.

Not funny in the least. A very serious skill to have. I imagine alcohol could be traded for nearly anything if TSHTF. Reading that article about Selco from Bosnia proves it. I imagine a brewmaster could also make vinegar (which has hundreds of uses).

Was blacksmithing part of the list?

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Thanks guys,

All very good thoughts...

Brewmaster
EMT
Not sure how to label the thinker

I apperantly can not edit the OP any more...

This list is EDITED:

Carpenter ("Old School")
Doctor (Herbal Medicine due to lack of Modern Drugs)
E.M.T.
Nurse
Hunter/Trapper (Acquire and Process Game/Meat)
Gardner
Gather (Edible Plants and Herbal Medicine)
Mechanic (Hand Water Pumps, Bicycle repair, etc)
Radio Operator (Communications Use/Repair)
"Ranch Hand" (Train/Maintain/Breed Farm Animals)
Tinker-er (Not sure if you can learn this or is it just in ones nature)
Soap Maker (For Trade and personal hygiene)
Metal Worker (Welder/Ferrier)
Tradesman (Something for barter for things you want/need)
Seamstress
Cheese Maker
Canner (Can and Dehydrate food)
Cobbler (Shoe Repair and General Leather Work)
Brewmaster (Great for Barter)

[terrib]

I would add "security detail".. people who sleep during the day to watch over things at night. I had a longer post but I must have deleted it or something happened.. <G>.

If everyone is busy doing their skills/watching and teaching kids/washing, cooking, cleaning... then the need for well rested night security is a must. People who can shoot AND tell the difference between friendly/non friendly if at all possible (signs up stating no trespassing or they will be shot or something along those lines.. or people coming in behind and not the road, etc). A good night's sleep can make the difference between being healthy and getting sick/too stressed to fight off illnesses. Not to mention if someone "more" is needed to gather wood/tend fires/etc.

T
Not sure how to label the thinker

I apperantly can not edit the OP any more...

This list is EDITED:

Carpenter ("Old School")
Doctor (Herbal Medicine due to lack of Modern Drugs)
E.M.T.
Nurse
Hunter/Trapper (Acquire and Process Game/Meat)
Gardner
Gather (Edible Plants and Herbal Medicine)
Mechanic (Hand Water Pumps, Bicycle repair, etc)
Radio Operator (Communications Use/Repair)
"Ranch Hand" (Train/Maintain/Breed Farm Animals)
Tinker-er (Not sure if you can learn this or is it just in ones nature)
Soap Maker (For Trade and personal hygiene)
Metal Worker (Welder/Ferrier)
Tradesman (Something for barter for things you want/need)
Seamstress
Cheese Maker
Canner (Can and Dehydrate food)
Cobbler (Shoe Repair and General Leather Work)
Brewmaster (Great for Barter)[/QUOTE]

[1Admin]

After a certain amount of time passes you cannot change the title of a thread IIRC.

More so than skills- you could teach a monkey most of the skills necessary for survival- is the WANT and ABILITY to work with others. This is more than just the "play nice" concept.

Further, we ought not be "uppity" but humble with our skill sets. The doctor that thinks he's too good to split firewood or the armorer that drags his feet digging holes isn't going to be well received in any group setting.

People also need to know how to sell themselves. Too often you hear how someone is absolutely awesome in something, but then you ask them for help in this regard and they aren't willing to help. That's not good also and of course it makes people doubt your abilities.

The more and more I interact with like minded folks, the more I'm surprised how so many of them don't know how to "get along" and work with others. We need to change that. I honestly blame a lot of this on the trend towards trying to be all analytical in the world right now. People like that don't usually do well amongst others. People want to laugh, want to follow someone with charisma, have something explained to them. Not be handed a flow chart on something. People like that are best by themselves. We should be able to operate by ourselves but also be able to integrate easily with others.

Our very survival may depend not so much on having every last single skill in a list, but knowing people that have the ones we don't, being able to persuade them to help us and knowing how to make it worth their while to help us. Their is yet another time where being flexible comes into play.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Great point...
No matter your "speciality", you will still have to carry your weight on daily taskes.
And no small group can have every skill covered, so ability to have worth while exchange with others will be very important.

[Blowmax10]

I imagine a brewmaster could also make vinegar (which has hundreds of uses).

We try not to make vinegar but I can see the value in having some around

In a SHTF scenario I imagine the easiest think to make would be beer made from wheat

Almost any kind of starch can be brewed with - the thing about it is that you need enzymes to convert the starch to sugar - a grains ability to convert its starch is called its diastatic power - There are two common types of barley used in brewing in the US, 2-row and 6-row. 2-row is considered a superior brewing malt but many of the large American brewers use a high percentage of non barley sources of starch (corn and rice) that cant convert their own starch to sugar. To help convert the extra starch to sugar they use 6-row barley malt because it has a higher diastatic power than 2-row

I think the real question in SHTF scenario would be "do we have enough extra food to feed some to yeast to make booze?"

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I think the real question in SHTF scenario would be "do we have enough extra food to feed some to yeast to make booze?"

Depends, what she look like? LOL
No seriously thats a real good point!

[MustangGal]

Another skill I haven't noticed mentioned are leadership qualities. A certain part of that is innate, but I think it is also a skill that can and should be polished - while maintaining a "real"-ness (new word lol). In a SHTF situation, there is a very real chance there will be a serious leadership vacuum. Are you ready, willing, and able to step up to the plate and provide the leadership for your group? Even if your group has a good leader, it doesn't mean he or she will survive throughout the POW. You can definitely have too many chiefs and not enough indians, but you still need layers of leadership talent.

[WiseOwl]

Another skill I haven't noticed mentioned are leadership qualities. A certain part of that is innate, but I think it is also a skill that can and should be polished - while maintaining a "real"-ness (new word lol). In a SHTF situation, there is a very real chance there will be a serious leadership vacuum. Are you ready, willing, and able to step up to the plate and provide the leadership for your group? Even if your group has a good leader, it doesn't mean he or she will survive throughout the POW. You can definitely have too many chiefs and not enough indians, but you still need layers of leadership talent.

Thats kinda where i was going with my post MG

[MustangGal]

Thats kinda where i was going with my post MG

Oops! Didn't mean to step on your toes!

[WiseOwl]

Oh no, I am sorry. I should have put I agreed with ya. :)