Wednesday, April 22, 2015

consuming to invest 27

CONSUMING TO INVEST 27

PART TWO

SKILLS

INTRO

Most old timey skills did not rely on expertise of a modern complexity level. Yes, you had years of apprentice training, but it wasn‘t because those skills needed years to master. It was because the master training you needed free labor for years and you needed a skill and you bought that through free labor. And it wasn’t a bad deal. Muscle memory from repetitive tasks made the most dull witted simpleton a master of any task. Nowadays, skills seem more intricate but have been kept as performable by simpletons by making them specialized rather than generalized. Difficult professions on par with medical doctors or engineers are saved for those with much better memories. Not worker drones, and paid accordingly ( although I could say that in many cases, rote memorization sometimes does not accompany originality or logic or out of the box problem solving and reinforces organizational rigidity ). In the near future, when we return to localized economies, the skills we will need to relearn will largely mirror those of the past. Yes, there will be salvage of the landscape littered with a hundred years of ores mined by petroleum extraction ( the previous century was marginally coal powered but largely run on surface ores extracted by muscle-which is why we will never duplicate that century-the easy ores are long gone and salvage is not always the same ) but that phase will be short. Not because the metals will necessarily run out ( although time will tell how much we ship to China as scrap before the collapse ) but because the energy to work that metal are and will.

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So, learning old skills might at first seem quaint and primitive and redundant, but they evolved in the past to make use of renewable resources, or to make full use of muscle power, or both. While thread and needle make nice leather products, a sloppier version of the same can be made of leather sheets and leather cord cut from another scrap, and you use half the tools. And no imported product ( yes, the tools were imported. Tools last a lifetime-consumables need continual trade ). Herbal remedies for headache or blood pressure might not be as effective as modern pharmaceuticals, but they grew locally and could be bartered for-a consideration in a no money economy. These skills are not antiquated but practical on a scale of millennium ( skills derived from petroleum, barely a century of practical use ). Some skills will be immediately applicable. The aforementioned herbal grower and prescriber. Some will need to wait until salvage runs out, such as a wheelwright. Or a bowyer, its usefulness hinging on the viability of gunpowder ( black or smokeless ) manufacture. All need just a few select tools and/or supplies. Manufactured metal used to be dear, and tools were simple and sturdy and practical ( if not fast or easy ). All just need practice more than money to learn.

END


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15 comments:

  1. I believe that a bowyer will find work quite soon after shtf. Especially when he can manufacture strings, arrows etc.
    This is a primitive/modern area that I'm fairly competent in and have all the hand operated tools for. Almost everything archery will be available in material for a long time past firearms too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't see you NOT being in demand. Even if just ( or especially ) hunting

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  2. I'm considered a good handy man or jack of all trades and master of none. My problem is reliance on power tools. I do have basic smithing skills and I'm fair at carpentry. My biggest hurdles are age and a bad spine. I guess I could be valuable as a how to person?

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    Replies
    1. Can you teach using the hand tools? Got hand tools?

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    2. I do have a lot of hand tools but I'm short on a few things such as a hand powered drill and a foot or pedal powered grind stone. I have some old drills but they all have the old style chuck that only work with the brace type bits. I've been reading about water powered engines/motors with a jerk style power distribution system. That method would be like the old water powered grist mills so it would have to be near running water. We do have lots of that here but I own no land on one yet. I sometimes amaze my nephews by picking up a hand saw and getting the cut done faster than either of them can find the drop cords and power saw. I do think that if I did have a working water powered shop when the lights go out somebody or some group would take it from me or force me into slavery in my own shop?

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    3. If you find a current make hand/foot powered grindstone, please let me know where

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    4. I'm not 9:09 Jame's, but a thought comes to mind that involves an old kiddie bicycle turned upside down, and with a minor (hopefully?) modification, becomes a foot powered grinding wheel. But I don't have an actual blueprint in mind of such a device.

      Here you go. The two links below offer some hand units for sale.

      http://www.amazon.com/Engineer-Inc-TG-02-Grinder/dp/B0069EKVGE/?tag=toolguyd-20

      http://www.amazon.com/Engineer-Inc-TG-01-Grinder/dp/B002HOQCG8/?tag=toolguyd-20

      Below is a video of a very simple looking unit from the 19th century that you might actually be able to produce yourself?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3EMNB9LfKk

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    5. Most excellent! Thank you. I'm checking it out now.

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  3. I say cobbler (shoemaker) skills rank at the top. Otherwise we walk in ho chi mihn sandals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Cuban/SA freedom fighters ranked shoes more important than guns.

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    2. Seems like I agree. Maybe I will write an article

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  4. Bookbinding. Now, it may be a kind of niche/boutique thing, but later it can come in handy.

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure you could make hobby/niche/micro-business money on it now

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    2. And if you can keep a black and white printer going for long enough, combined with book binding skills, you could be in HUGE demand for printing off instruction manuals that no one else has. It probably wont last past your grandkids lifetimes if you don't have them now. *save a book on how to make an old fashioned printing press*, but during the declining stages you could be very valuable to your community.

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    3. I wonder if a new printer using the old typewriter ribbons ( dot matrix? ) are mechanically sound. Very good on ink, and cheap

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