[doodah]

I've read all the posts here and will post because years ago I had many dreams about being part of a team. In those dreams, the team was always sent off "to the Northwest." Now, I can truthfully say that, from that place inside myself where my inspiration comes from, I am not truly drawn to the Northwest, but that's what the dreams were about. So I don't know what that means for me, whether I'll end up in the Northwest or not. I keep waiting for that internal guidance to kick in again.

Nonetheless, this is a very good practical discussion. Just in case I do get drawn to the Northwest, it's great to know about you folks. I have many survival skills and all kinds of low-tech living skills and would pretty much like to be living primitively now, even without any thoughts of threats of destruction.

In terms of community, it's really important to examine what your true feelings are about living without modern stuff, including electricity, metals, wire, paper, and hot water. If you love primitive camping, you'll have no problem until your modern gear breaks or wears out. If you think you'll have a database ... do you think you can happily live without it? Can you make pots out of clay? And if you don't have clay, can you still find a way to make pots?

Anything stored up from the modern world will be used up at some point because you've got to be thinking in terms of years here. The old skills will be what is needed. Working with your hands, working with the land, and all the physical labor that entails. If you have no skills at all other than office skills, please learn something now, anything that would be useful in a non-electric world.

I would recommend that everyone should have a really good pair of hiking boots, a knife, and a firestarter (not a Bic or Zippo), and know how to build a fire.