Advanced/Elite Tasks

The skill list has gotten a bit unwieldy, so I've organized it by Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Elite Tasks.  What qualifies as Basic or Elite, is in the eye of the beholder, and in this case that eye is mine.  Some things I have a hard time wrapping my little civilian brain around. 

That's not to say that all Basic Tasks will be completed before I move on to Advanced Tasks.  It depends on time and the resources available to me.  If one of the following is within your area of expertise,  you're in the Southern California area and you're feeling charitable, send me an email.   

My current eight-week plan can be found here.

ADVANCED TASKS:

• homebrewing (making alcohol)
• lockpicking
• electrical wiring
• climate training (Desert/Cold)
• starvation training
• hydroponic growing
• boating
• engine maintenance
• specialized hand-to-hand combat
• marksmanship

ELITE TASKS:

• midwifery
• hotwiring a car
• knifethrowing 

DISCLAIMER!

Comments

[Mazid the Raider]

I just thought I'd make some completely onlooked for comments :P
Knife throwing isn't that difficult, but it does take time to get good at (kinda like playing a guitar, which I'm finding to be significantly more difficult to learn). Best site to learn from (IMO): http://www.knifethrowing.info/how_to_throw_knives.html

Now another skill you might want to add is Parkour: the quintessential video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KLiUrbi76k - this guy will never be eaten by a zombie! That guy's crazy, though so this might be a good place to start: http://www.americanparkour.com/

Good luck! I really like the site ;)

[David]

Knife-throwing is a pretty worthless skill. There are easier, more efficient ways to hunt and the most it can do in combat vs humans is inflict a flesh wound. You might learn the rudiments and save it as something to pass the time during the actual apocalypse.

[Fearsclave]

A suggestion: hydroponics requires a lot of electricity, which is bound to be in short supply WTSHTF*, not to mention hardware that'll be difficult to source post-TEOTWAWKI**. If you're thinking about growing your own food, you'd do better looking into an allotment garden or rooftop (although getting soil up there would be a lot of work), or better yet, do what I did, realize that cities are non-survivable and move out into the country (although I didn'
t do it in that order ;).

Mel Batholomew's All New Square Foot Gardening is a pretty good place to start for learning to grow edibles in small spaces. When I did my first garden last year (which was a heck of a lot of fun and produced lots of tasty veggies) I implemented some SFG principles.

It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200156444&sr=8-1

I'll second David's comments on knife throwing. I throw both knives and tomahawks, and frankly, I have to agree with Brooks that throwing knives are a third-rate weapon, period. They're hard to throw properly and decidedly less than lethal. Tomahawks, on the other hand, are pretty nasty. There's just no way getting hit by a solid hickory haft with a 1-2lb axe head on one end spinning through the air isn't going to really hurt. And a spike polled 'hawk (AKA a war 'hawk, with a spike on the poll, or back, of the axe head) can defeat Kevlar helmets, so a zombie skull shouldn't be a problem. Cold Steel makes some inexpensive 'hawks (you can get much better), available here: http://www.coldsteel.com/axes.html

Tomahawk throwing is a heck of a lot of fun; it's ridiculously easy to learn, unlike knife throwing (really, throwing 'hawks is dirt simple), completely over the top and there's something viscerally satisfying about the "thunk" they make when they stick in a target.

You might want to take a look at SurvivalBlog, too: http://www.survivalblog.com/

Aside from being *the* source for all sorts of nifty survivalist slang, it's a very useful resource for preparedness-oriented individuals. The blogger, John Wesley Rawles, is a right-wing Christian and hard-core classic, shrine-to-Ronald-Reagan-down-in-the-bunker, ZOMG the Russians are coming survivalist, but he has really done his emergency preparedness homework in a big, nay, huge way, so if you can put his politics aside, his blog can be extremely informative.

I have to say that I'm quite enjoying the Post-Apocalyptic Workout. I've had a bit of an interest in survivalism or emergency preparedness or whatever you want to call it (growing up in the 1980's did that to some people). And when I moved out to the country a few years ago, I realized that hey, I was in a pretty good spot to weather most reasonably possible disasters, and started skilling and gearing up, just like you're doing now. People who aren't into this sort of thing tend to think it's depressing, but it's actually a lot of fun, and makes you more secure and confident and provides no end of entertainment for your spouse.

And I also have to thank you for providing the inspiration to whip my somewhat flabby ass back into shape. I've got credible quantities of food and guns and ammo and seeds and gear stockpiled, but what with my day job being pretty sedentary, my physical conditioning was lagging way behind my other preparations. I just finished the first week of the Couch-to-5K program, and it's great to be back into the running.

* survivalist jargon for When The Shit Hits The Fan.

** survivalist jargon for The End Of The World As We Know It.

[nait]

For your specialized hand-to-hand combat, I personally recommend Hapkido. It's similar to Aikido, which is absolutely great for escaping people or things that want to grab you. However, unlike Aikido (which is "purely defensive"), Hapkido offers a wide range of offensive options as well.

Some Hapkido schools even incorporate advanced weapons training up to and including firearms, so you will learn to evade or subdue one opponent while still firing effectively at another.

Also, knife-throwing is totally easy. It may not have much utility, and it's kind of cheesy (why not use throwing stars hurrrr!), but it's so easy to pick up that you might as well. Plus it's kind of fun. :D

[Rus]

As to lockpicking, a diamond pick and a master lock are a fun combination.

Oh, and a second nomination for http://www.survivalblog.com/

Yes, one usually has to put the politics to the side, but the info is worth the effort.