Starting Over: We have started over as a group what is your Skill or Product? **

[Diesel]

Scenario: Starting Over: We have started over as a group what is your skill or forte?

We have started over as a group all of us. Living on a few hundred acres somewhere remote.

We have a river, creek, springs and have started to build a small shanty type town

You have arrived at our community with your vehicle and family ...

What do you bring to the table? Meaning what is your speciality.. what will you be providing to the community in the way of a skill or product you can make?

I.E are you the blacksmith, doctor, lumber mill, soap maker, raise chickens, gunsmith, clothes maker, clothing washer, make rope, grow a particular crop, provide electricity, mechanic, build stoves, cook, hunt etc

PICK ONE PRODUCT OR SERVICE THAT YOU PROVIDE TO THE GROUP

Talk about your service or product you offer the group, what it will cost in trade, how long you can continue to offer it with the supplies you brought or can you self sustain your service off the land. what might it cost you to obtain supplies from others to offer this service. How much and how fast can you produce, how many people can it support?

If someone here is offering one service or product that you need to provide yours talk about that, discuss what deals you guys might make

BE DETAILED, imagine this is it, this is for real. Include pics, make deals, partnerships, offers...

This is an exercise that will really make you think and discover who you are, what your role is, and what starting over might really be like.

REP given for good details, and pictures

[Echo2]

I'm a metal fabricator with a good working knowledge of backwoods engineering.....present me with a problem and I will generally be able to come up with a few options for solutions. Strong back....country raised with the "just get the task at hand done....and don't whine about it. I know rigging....and how to move big stuff with few tools. I have a fairly extensive knowledge of firearms...how they work....how to fix. I've been studying and practicing the "off grid" and "prepping" lifestyle for a few years...:). I'm an EMT...and have been trained in wilderness FA.

I can shoot....and establish fields of fire as needed....given folks that can take instruction.

the Mrs is a horticulturist....knows how to grow organic....and knows herbal med.

She knows a lot about chickens.....canning.....and she knows how to shoot....not a bad carpenter either..:)

The boys are Scouts....and live the lifestyle....independent...they don't require constant supervision....even with a task at hand. knots...fire....camping...cooking....sewing....she lter....first aid...Scout stuff.

The little girl.....Scout by proxy...:)

And if I show with my gear...;)

[Diesel]

I swear I need to explain things to each and every one of you ARGH! I say pick one electric appliance int he other thread and someone replies with minigun

GUYS N GIRLS PLEASE READ

Pick one skill or product you will offer the group or community. Echo buddy love ya but you just failed.

This is the SETUP SHOP thread. Everyone is the jack of all trades when shtf

This is you're setting up shop, you are the goto guy for what PRODUCT or service that you can barter for our community that is in the woods. People arrived here with their vehicles and have what ever they could bring with them.

What product or service are you going to offer to barter or trade for other things you need. What are you the "town" expert or provider of?

TALK about what it takes to offer this service, what you need what you brought with you to do it, how long you can do it or offer it before you run dry.. what products or supplies might you need to trade for to keep doing it. What are you going to charge or want in return for your product or service?

[Jerry D Young]

Don't think I have much to offer a group. I would be a burden. I'll have to make it on my own or with family. Sure would be nice, though.

[TriangleMan]

I'm a tinkerer. I make stuff out of junk. (See my thread on a portable gun rest made out of an old tripod and pieces of a sat dish assembly.) I think outside the box and come up with solutions to problems. I once helped fix my borther's stock tank float by constructing a homemade rubber freeze plug to block a hole created but a calf climbing in the tank and kicking a blocked pipe off.

I am also funny and my spirit and enthusiasm could keep a group going. It's all about "can do" and finding a way to do it.

Plus, I don't eat much.

[Echo2]

construction then....It's a toss up though.

At present my skill sets go a bit beyond the guy doing computer repair.

If my services are required....and this is a "village"....or starting over scenario.... then I would say my home is fairly well secured and stocked....and my services would be given, as to maintain that security.

Our group...has actually spoke of this before....and the closest township is prone to be the "reset" point of "order" for lack of a better word....for the immediate area.

At the point that the village type of mentality comes into play....I really hope to have been living it for a while in our compound.

I have no issues helping....w/o charge....to bring some form of infrastructure back to the area. This doesn't mean I'll surrender supplies....but if I have a surplus...bartering and haggling will reign supreme....due to the fact that pricing structures will have went out the window with the dollar.

Would you charge a guy more for a gallon of gas if you knew him....or if he was passing through?....or....if he was passing through....would you let him know you had gas to trade?

Services and goods would basically be sold and bought on a "need" scale....because if you are trading on a "want" scale.....then you must have prepped very well.

What would a hungry man be willing to trade to feed his family?....what would his family trade?

There are a lot of variables in this scenario....more than you can speculate about....because "what's it worth" will have taken on a whole new meaning.

I'll contemplate it though....It doesn't mesh with my thoughts of SHTF in the regards of starting over....lets see what others have to say.

I love you too man...:)

[Jeff Venture]

I can provide site security training to any force organized. Not tacticool BS 'rambo'ness, Good solid observe/report/gather intell type stuff. Safety and fire prevention would also be a possibilty.

I also protect my wife. She is the skill set, and one of those many skills is brewing beer.

[slowz1k]

If I have all of my preps, I plan to homestead it all the way. I would plan to garden and raise chickens and rabbits for my family, trading any extra for what we don't have, or might want. What I would want from the village is the security that only comes from superior numbers. That is exactly where I would probably fit in best. Sign me up for one of Jeff's security teams.

[Diesel]

So Jeff let's head down the direction this thread was SUPPOSED TO GO

BEER BREWING, GREAT skill and age old valueable asset

Talk about it

What are you arriving with

how much can you produce

what will you need

can you sustain or make your own supplies to continue producing or will you need certain items from some of the other members of the community who make or grow them?

What would you be willing to exchange a nalgene of beer or mason jar of beer for?

[PT945]

Skills I offer would be welding, fabricating, knife making.

Equipment I will have when I show up:
F250 Ford
16 ft trailer
2 Miller bobcat 225 arc welders. With built in 10 k generators.
Hobart wire welder.
Large band saw
Chop saw
Cutting torches
3 sets of bottles
Bench grinders
3 hand grinders
Centerfrugal diesel powered water pump
2200 Watt generator
13.5 HP motor
5.5 HP motor.
Assorted. Metal and pipe.

Payment requirements :
Services for services I.E I weld a bumper on for you in trade you resole my boots.
Live stock
Ammo
Fuel
whiskey
Other items may be accepted on a case by case bases.

[TnBigGirl]

Power and Smithing

I would scavenge parts off my car or scrap cars to get a small hydro-power rig going on the river. With that I can charge batteries or send electricity to those nearby. With that done I'd turn to welding and blacksmithing.

Bartering:
As the blacksmith I'll need coal or charcoal. I can make charcoal, but I'll need someone to harvest the wood for me.

I'll barter to get scrap metal for forging or casting.

If someone brings me rocks or bones I can cook them in the forge into lime and phosphate fertilizer. The lime can be used as agriculturally, as whitewash, or to make lime mortar.

I'll try to catch what I can from the river and grow as much as I can, but will need to trade for food, supplies, and medicine.

If the smithy business gets too crowded I know how to percussion drill a well. Surely somebody would be willing to trade for that.

Diesel: I can make hoops for your kegs, if you can find someone to be the cooper.
PT945: If you can get someone to plant and harvest the crops, I can build an oil press to turn sunflower seeds/peanuts/etc into fuel for your kit.

[hminus]

Mostly for me would be security and threat assessments. after 9-11, i did a threat assessment for our local airport and found several flaws in the security. The trick was to think like the bad guy and use what they would use for intelligence gathering. In the end, I had all the freqs for every agency on the ramp, sat photos, lots more..

I did the same thing for an EPW camp in 2002, overseas. depending on geography, people, and equipment, it would be pretty easy to set up a perimeter. You would need LP-OP's a QRF and a few other things, but not too hard.

I also have some abilities in getting into places...One fun thing to do is to activate a QRF or response force at a secure area, by triggering either a motion alarm, or touch sensitive fence... do hit and runs for several days and monitor the response time... eventually, they stop responding or take forever.... they think it is a faulty sensor or alarm.. thats when you cut the fence and go in..

[Diesel]

I would scavenge parts off my car or scrap cars to get a small hydro-power rig going on the river. With that I can charge batteries or send electricity to those nearby. With that done I'd turn to welding and blacksmithing.

Bartering:
As the blacksmith I'll need coal or charcoal. I can make charcoal, but I'll need someone to harvest the wood for me.

I'll barter to get scrap metal for forging or casting.

If someone brings me rocks or bones I can cook them in the forge into lime and phosphate fertilizer. The lime can be used as agriculturally, as whitewash, or to make lime mortar.

I'll try to catch what I can from the river and grow as much as I can, but will need to trade for food, supplies, and medicine.

If the smithy business gets too crowded I know how to percussion drill a well. Surely somebody would be willing to trade for that.

Diesel: I can make hoops for your kegs, if you can find someone to be the cooper.
PT945: If you can get someone to plant and harvest the crops, I can build an oil press to turn sunflower seeds/peanuts/etc into fuel for your kit.

Excellent! Who's going to barter with who...

Who can do what, make what... keep it coming

[Ian McDevitt]

Medicine. Assessing patient's and aiding in the healing of ailments with herbal remidies. Absolutely invaluable. People with injured or sick relarives would trade or barter absolutely anything to have them cured or comforted.....That's why NOW is the time for Medic's EMT's, nurses, Patient Care Tech's (orderlies), everybody must take the time to identify the correct herbs, learn to make decotion's, tinctures, oils, poultices, salves, and creams of said herbs and effectively apply them. NOW is the time for those nature walks with the kids and wife to identify those herbs..........One herb a week should be identified and studied for it's indications, contraindications, and side effects.a great book for beginners is "The Complete Medicinal Herbal" which shows colored pictures and how to refine the herbs to the proper forms.

[Railman]

My family and I would bring the following:
Ford F-250 4X4
Jeep Wrangler
Trailers - Flatbed & Cargo
Tractor w/farming implements
Seed - 85k - various Fruits and Veg
Livestock - Horses, Cattle, Chickens, Goats, & Swine
Alcohol Still
Firearms & Ammunition
Fishing gear
Archery Equipment
Binoculars
Wood Stove
A refrigerator
Hand tools - Shovels, Picks, Axes, splitting wedges, Saws, Hammers
Kitchen and cooking utensiles - Coffee Pot
Acoustic Musical Instruments - Guitar, Mandolin, Violin, & Banjo

The tradeable services I bring to the table and sustainability of those services:
Food - indefinite
Construction - indefinite
Entertainment - indefinite
Minister - indefinite
Distilled Alcohol - Dependent on the farming
Safety Instuctor - including CPR / First Aid - indefinite

I don't know that I have one standout skill to be bartered or sold. If I had to pick one or two it would have to be Food provision or Entertainment. Though, I don't know how valuable entertainment would be.

I would be interested in trading/puchasing medicine, metal fabrication, food, labor, ammunition, electricity, and education.

Good thought provoking excersize!