Has anyone seen a tv show called 'The Colony"? It was on for two seasons. It follows 11 people who are put in a survival experiment for 60 or so days. They are in a derelict portion of Los Angeles. It shows the real world problems they encountered with the group dynamic, finding food and water, making weapons and providing security and everything else you can imagine. If you can find it, I recommend you get it.
If you have bittorrent, here is a link to get you started: http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2005645/30979890/
It really drives home the importance of being prepared with food, water, tools and a group of others to band together with. If any of them tried to survive alone, they probably would not make it. Even with a group, it became very difficult (and they had engineers, a machinist, a nurse, a doctor, a handyman, a builder and several other talented folks).
Great series!
Yes I have seen the first seson but then lost it, I will look forward to watching the rest of it....
Better to have it and not need it; then to need it and not have it...
My wife and I very much enjoyed the show. Although it was a little stacked as far as skills. We also found the security threats and 'weapons' interesting and amusing. The show is a good showcase of skills and improvising. The power generation method for season two was impressive. Really didn't consider a fence and bike for that purpose.
Yes I remember that show........not sure if I saw season 1 or 2. I thought it was abit amusing at first but then I really got into it and just couldn't miss an episode!
Yeah, I agree. The power generation method in season 2 was very impressive. I don't know how to weld. I have never done it before. I found it interesting that it can be done with just a few car batteries, cables and a welding rod. I shall have to read more about it. Since it requires very little equipment, that skill would be very useful for rebuilding.
Of course, they all knew that the end-of-the-world scenario was staged and survival was not really an issue. If anyone had a serious medical problem, they would have been evacuated to proper care. They never engaged in any fights to the death. None of the marauders used weapons other than bear spray and some sticks. It was mostly hand-to-hand and chemical. In the real thing, I would be fighting for my survival and the survival of those in my colony. Several defensible positions would be in place and would provide for defense in depth (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_in_depth ). Marauders would not be coming back a second time. In fact, they would not likely be returning to their "home". I found that aspect of the show rather implausible. Still, what could the producers do - allow actual weapons and tactics to be deployed with obvious dire consequences? Of course not. I suppose it was as real as possible. After all, even when the military trains, it doesn't engage in live-fire exercises against other humans. Reality can only go so far.
I found the inventiveness of the first series to be far superior to the second. The group was far more organized in the first series also (although their security was slow to develop). It shows the value of good leadership and organization. The second series participants failed to use each others talents appropriately. The only participants who seemed to have any useful talents were Reno, Sally, John and DeVille. I am sure the others did too but their talents were neither explored or exploited appropriately. I do agree with another comment made earlier though. The first group was stacked with talent. John Cohn, the computer engineer, was an amazing guy. He could make anything work. Hell, he even used a tesla coil for water purification. He made a spark-gap transmitter for transmitting on the AM radio band. How many out there could do that today? How many even know Morse code today? How about the gasifier? None of the people I know could make that work. Well, now I can! I learned a great deal from that series. The second series taught me how to weld by using car batteries. It also drove home the importance of placing security higher on the list. Being ex-military, I knew the value of a secure perimeter but it is great to see how failing in that aspect can have very dire consequences very early in the game.
My first day in a situation like that would see in place a strategy for water, food, power, security and a full-on list of each person's talents and who is tasked with what. Fire would be done in the first 15 minutes and would not be an issue after that. Preferably though, I would have all of those things covered off before a disaster hit. That is why we are all here, right?
I wish a third and subsequent series was made. I would definitely have watched it.