black powder tech is very simple, you just need a mediocre blacksmith - and that’s just a strong man (or a woman, maybe) - and a little bathtub chemistry. basic black powder rifles are not the most accurate, you need rifling for that (grooves that create a spiral down the inside of the barrel of the rifle), but it’s easily doable. long/recurve/compound bows are an option if you have the knowhow and material science.
trapping/fishing is an option, as is animal husbandry, but hunting would never disappear
I agree - I could easily be killed by someone as I make my way to a safe location. there’s a gas station just down the block that gets knocked over every few weeks, crime is a common thing in my area.
the average person produces about 5 cups of urine in a day, and a gallon is 16 cups, so a group of people could easily produce anywhere between 1 and 3 gallons every day. the standard drum size is 55 gallons, so that’s easily obtainable. it’s a very slow synthesis, lasting 6+ months, you’d have between 3 and 10+ drums full of urine saved up at that point.
the average black powder musket or rifle gets about 50 shots per pound of black powder, and it takes a good minute or so to reload if you’re skilled, so you really dont carry that much powder around with you at any point in time. I figure you wouldnt need more that 5 pounds of it every month in a survival/hunting/defense against random invaders (rural setting) situation.
How is your part of the world doing (both current and future prospects) compared to how it was 30/40 years ago? Please say where you are in the world....
cant speak for the greater country but my part of it is pretty good though not so much for me personally. America, PNW.
there’s a lot more jobs here - mid 1980s was when the tech boom hit our area, but real estate prices are very high as well, ~$600k for the area, ~$800k for where I live. it’s basically unaffordable to live here unless you make 6 figures - anything less than that is struggling.
I’m working on a van build so I can move to a more favorable state as I do not make anywhere near 6 figures. got about $40k in it now and probably another $25k to go, roughly.
I was wondering who is going to pay for the reconstruction of all the razed apartment buildings, schools and hospitals in Gaza? Are the US and Europe going to do that, or is Israel going to do at least this?...
the most scared I’ve ever been was when I almost died at 8 years old.
growing up I was rather accident prone - the summer between 1st and 2nd grade I was at a friend’s birthday party & he had a fun idea that we should all ride our bikes to the lake. I had recently gotten a new bike and it had hand brakes, previously I had only used backpedal brakes & in retrospect I probably shouldnt have been riding it yet. on the ride to the lake I took a wrong turn and the bike landed in a rut on the side of the road which launched me into a barbed wire fence (back peddling fast af but, eh, no brakes there). got a really nice concussion (mid-80s, no helmets) but when I fell onto the barbed wire, it ended up ripping a good bit through the top and outside of my leg, through the fat layer and into the muscle (which was fortunate because the major artery is on the inside of the leg). the wound was only about 3 1/2 inches deep and 6 inches across but when you’re 8 years old your legs arent that big to begin with.
when I came to my friend’s mother was understandably losing her shit, driving at rally racing speeds to the local doctor, ~10 miles away. my blood was splattered everywhere on the passenger side of the car and she was screaming at me to apply pressure outside of the giant fucking hole in my leg. honestly thought I was going to die - the memories are pretty hazy after that but mind-shattering trauma will do that.
modern medicine and 150 intramuscular and about the same in dermal stitches saved my life. 35 years later and I still have 100% nerve damage on the outside of my leg above the knee to about mid-thigh. never been that scared since - once you’re forced to confront your own mortality everything else is really tame in comparison.
How long would you live if electricity for the whole world went out permanently?
I was having this conversation with my daughter and thought it was an interesting topic....
How is your part of the world doing?
How is your part of the world doing (both current and future prospects) compared to how it was 30/40 years ago? Please say where you are in the world....
Who's going to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza
I was wondering who is going to pay for the reconstruction of all the razed apartment buildings, schools and hospitals in Gaza? Are the US and Europe going to do that, or is Israel going to do at least this?...
What's the most scared you've ever been in your life?
Spooky season is officially upon us!...
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[US] Feds spread $1 billion for tree plantings among US cities to reduce extreme heat and benefit health (apnews.com)