😀 sweet!

I would say sales representative.
Reason being is that not only can you make connections with various people with like beliefs but you also get to take advantage of places to get gear all over the place. The money is good as long as you can sell stuff and you would be surprized how much knowledge you gain from talking to people face to face.

In my opinion the best way to get preppared is to learn from others and what they are doing. this way you dont make the same mistakes and it jumps you ahead of the game.

Possibly a Career, I personally have chosen to be a member of the military or police force. You get to know the emergency plans for your area and you are trained with a weapon if needed.

If I could re-live my youth... I would have rotated through a few jobs. Welder, work for a solar/turbine installation company, small engine repair shop assistant, apprentice in a plumbing or electrical job, join the reserves,(Less commitment but they all get weapons training) sell camping gear, small town meat processor helper, or even volunteer with some old ladies at some food canning function.

No one job can prep anyone for everything. Who knows; the grannies might have had a nice granddaughter show up:)

I second Jonesy here.. What you want to do is work for HIGH paying trades. Start at the bottom because without a bottom THERE IS NO TOP! They pay well for a grunt and get you in on the ground floor with decent pay. Now for your time issue you work seasonal but you better be a good money ballancer because without pay comes no creme at the top so balance accordingly. With the option of trades as Jonesy says you gain a ton,… NO a TONNE of experience in the field you seek. To Prep,…. so take it another step further. I know that one of the best ways to get a good job OUT of your field is relying on whats called your "Transferable" skills. This will allow you to jump from job to job or TRADE to TRADE because of the transferable skills. Keeps you in the BETTER money and maybe even provides you a slight slack time to get some things done. Going 1 step further yet you can now look at the way you structure your game plan. You need to build something so carpentry, framing, welding, roofing, concrete, drafting, engineering and on and on,….. THEN you need to fix it!!!! Mechanics, restoration, welding, engineering,….. Then after you can do all that you need management, organization, planning, THEN you could go for some leadership roles like shop foreman, lead hand, management, etc. You see,…. its never ever over. Im 45 and I have got a good solid foundation under me but there is so much more and it never ends. What you need to focus on is THE PLAN. How do you manage your own sh$%t from shelter to water to food to groups to defence to the end.

And I do mean to the end.

I'm sorry but I find ironic humor in the aspect that having a wide variety of training is now a good thing. 😀 I have had so many trades in my lifetime that I've often been accused of being irresponsible due to that fact 😆 . Seems many stuck with with only one or 2 trades swaps while I didn't. But according to the lists you folks have selected, I should be in high demand...meanwhile I sit in a town with high inflation and little work presently for a machine shop to thrive in. Where I once built helicopters, I now fix anything that comes thru my doors, including computers.

Being an ex-member of the military and the Military Police has given me an enhanced state of paranoia over the average man as it likely did to every person who ever joined the military. Add a few years in ambulance which showed me even more of the destructive nature of mankind and his stupidities. Mix in a few more years working with the handicapped where I finally got to witness humans at their best while trying to overcome obstacles that many of us never even see.

And all the while, I was building custom bikes and cars (maybe to impress the ladies with my Red Green abilities ). I got good enough at it that I made it a full time career. Oh ya, I was a tourist guide while in school, and an equipment operator in a open pit mine and a bush worker before even joining the army at 18. Seems dropping out of high school must be a good thing too, right?

Yet I look at those who seem to have succeeded in life because they appear to have it all (in the money department at least). But spending even a short time with most of them shows me how they usually succeeded.
- Many have a social aspect that I lack as this involves drinking or drugs, etc. I don't partake because past jobs showed me the misery that comes from drunk drivers and domestic fights, etc.
- Others have this brown nose ability built into them and it makes them seem likable at first, but then that soon wears off and their shallowness soon seems to spill forth.
- Others have gotten by strictly on their looks and now seem lost as age steels their one ticket away, often leaving an under developed character remaining.
- still more climbed the ladder because of their ability to stab another in the back while smiling and claiming that it was another's knife that got you
- but a few got to the top by hard work and honest character... these are few but these ones bare the scars to prove it and I seem to get along well with them.

Now in my 50's now, the eyes are growing dimmer and the welds are not as nice as they once were. My fingers numb on the first pull of a bowstring, the rifle barrel wanders so much that I now realize why they make a shooting stick, and I can't read a medicine bottle now, no matter how long I stare at it! I can now honestly state to some that I have likely forgotten more than they ever knew (and mean it as I can't remember where I even set my coffee last) 😆 My left hand packs in quick when it's too cold as once broken fingers remind me of bad punches thrown carelessly and the phase "payback is a be-atch" comes to mind often at even the pull of a wrench. And I won't even start on the back pains....Seems getting old ain't for pussies after all!

I now type to a bunch of folks who I surmise have some of the same paranoia's as myself to come to this forum. I share what I can while I can because I might forget it tomorrow. I try to convince you also though, not to get so paranoid that you lose your humanity along the way. I often wonder when I read a comment in this forum, made simply about killing a fellow human, if that same person has ever watched even an animal die after they shot it? Have they seen the eyes smoke over which shows the lack of oxygen getting to the pupil and that life indeed is gone? Try it next hunt as it is an eye opening experience (with pun intended!)

Would I be a valuable asset to your group now or just a bummer who'd ruin the party? You aught to hear some of conversations I've been part of when sitting around with other ambulance drivers and policemen... We don't tell our stories the same way when others listen who haven't "been there" or "done that" because most wouldn't understand the low humor involved. The volume is turned low so as not to offend those others. But I'm betting that when SHTF, everyone will then be telling such stories (and far worse) for many years to come!

So don't rush it! Do what you can in a day and tomorrow can wait. Instill your best attributes in your children and hide the bad ones...they can learn those from somebody else instead!
~Cheers~

you guys are funny, talking about working in a grocery store so you can get the 10% discount. LOL
Get a real job, Get a trade so you have some real skills when your stuck and you need to build a shelter and actually survive. Or you can barter your skills to others for trade. Knowing how to use basic tools is an absolute must. I ve met people who have never used a hammer, its friggin sad.

That's an ugly and unnecessary comment. I know plenty of people "who know how to use a hammer" totally mismanage their business and lose everything. Through drugs, under estimation of certain projects, mental illness whatever. How well can you prep when you owe your labourers money? How useful can you be when your knees are shot by forty, and your hands are crippled with arthritis, and you're addicted to painkillers? There's a major problem in the trades with people "slitting each other's throats". That means everyone offering the same job for cheaper then the other guy until everyone's broke as !@#$ or out of a job except the 'jack of all trades' that does what everyone does for half the price, half the time, and half the quality.

I agree with you for the most part, not your method of saying it, but your token 'real job' is kind of a joke. Out of all the reasons to seek higher income, you choose hammering. You're gonna hammer your way through TEOTWAWKI?

Type "How to repair a Ford F-150" in youtube and you get 250,000 results. "Repair shotgun" is over 46,000 results. "How to Repair tractor" gets 85,000 results. Here's a blog on how to preserve meat- http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-skills/old-methods-of-meat-preservation/ . Clean fish is 450,000 results. Cleaning deer is 116,000 results. How to make a snare is 115,000 results. "Growing food" is 3,800,000 results. "How to can food" is 23,200,000 results!

I pretty much just took care of most prepping and barter necessities right there. All it takes is time and a little practice to get things right, after that, it's just maintenance of skill. First Aid and CPR for HPC is a good qualification, costs no more than 200 bucks and a weekend to take.

My point is that you should prepare to make the most money at all costs, whether that means doing something you wouldn't like to do or moving somewhere you wouldn't like to move to. Everything else is adaptability. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Be adaptable.

I'm sorry but I find ironic humor in the aspect that having a wide variety of training is now a good thing. 😀 I have had so many trades in my lifetime that I've often been accused of being irresponsible due to that fact 😆 . Seems many stuck with with only one or 2 trades swaps while I didn't. But according to the lists you folks have selected, I should be in high demand...meanwhile I sit in a town with high inflation and little work presently for a machine shop to thrive in. Where I once built helicopters, I now fix anything that comes thru my doors, including computers.

Being an ex-member of the military and the Military Police has given me an enhanced state of paranoia over the average man as it likely did to every person who ever joined the military. Add a few years in ambulance which showed me even more of the destructive nature of mankind and his stupidities. Mix in a few more years working with the handicapped where I finally got to witness humans at their best while trying to overcome obstacles that many of us never even see.

And all the while, I was building custom bikes and cars (maybe to impress the ladies with my Red Green abilities ). I got good enough at it that I made it a full time career. Oh ya, I was a tourist guide while in school, and an equipment operator in a open pit mine and a bush worker before even joining the army at 18. Seems dropping out of high school must be a good thing too, right?

Yet I look at those who seem to have succeeded in life because they appear to have it all (in the money department at least). But spending even a short time with most of them shows me how they usually succeeded.
- Many have a social aspect that I lack as this involves drinking or drugs, etc. I don't partake because past jobs showed me the misery that comes from drunk drivers and domestic fights, etc.
- Others have this brown nose ability built into them and it makes them seem likable at first, but then that soon wears off and their shallowness soon seems to spill forth.
- Others have gotten by strictly on their looks and now seem lost as age steels their one ticket away, often leaving an under developed character remaining.
- still more climbed the ladder because of their ability to stab another in the back while smiling and claiming that it was another's knife that got you
- but a few got to the top by hard work and honest character... these are few but these ones bare the scars to prove it and I seem to get along well with them.

Now in my 50's now, the eyes are growing dimmer and the welds are not as nice as they once were. My fingers numb on the first pull of a bowstring, the rifle barrel wanders so much that I now realize why they make a shooting stick, and I can't read a medicine bottle now, no matter how long I stare at it! I can now honestly state to some that I have likely forgotten more than they ever knew (and mean it as I can't remember where I even set my coffee last) 😆 My left hand packs in quick when it's too cold as once broken fingers remind me of bad punches thrown carelessly and the phase "payback is a be-atch" comes to mind often at even the pull of a wrench. And I won't even start on the back pains....Seems getting old ain't for pussies after all!

I now type to a bunch of folks who I surmise have some of the same paranoia's as myself to come to this forum. I share what I can while I can because I might forget it tomorrow. I try to convince you also though, not to get so paranoid that you lose your humanity along the way. I often wonder when I read a comment in this forum, made simply about killing a fellow human, if that same person has ever watched even an animal die after they shot it? Have they seen the eyes smoke over which shows the lack of oxygen getting to the pupil and that life indeed is gone? Try it next hunt as it is an eye opening experience (with pun intended!)

Would I be a valuable asset to your group now or just a bummer who'd ruin the party? You aught to hear some of conversations I've been part of when sitting around with other ambulance drivers and policemen... We don't tell our stories the same way when others listen who haven't "been there" or "done that" because most wouldn't understand the low humor involved. The volume is turned low so as not to offend those others. But I'm betting that when SHTF, everyone will then be telling such stories (and far worse) for many years to come!

So don't rush it! Do what you can in a day and tomorrow can wait. Instill your best attributes in your children and hide the bad ones...they can learn those from somebody else instead!
~Cheers~

Maybe you should try writing next. It's a treat to read your opinion pieces, Knuckle.

I'm sorry but I find ironic humor in the aspect that having a wide variety of training is now a good thing. 😀 I have had so many trades in my lifetime that I've often been accused of being irresponsible due to that fact 😆 . Seems many stuck with with only one or 2 trades swaps while I didn't. But according to the lists you folks have selected, I should be in high demand...meanwhile I sit in a town with high inflation and little work presently for a machine shop to thrive in. Where I once built helicopters, I now fix anything that comes thru my doors, including computers.

Being an ex-member of the military and the Military Police has given me an enhanced state of paranoia over the average man as it likely did to every person who ever joined the military. Add a few years in ambulance which showed me even more of the destructive nature of mankind and his stupidities. Mix in a few more years working with the handicapped where I finally got to witness humans at their best while trying to overcome obstacles that many of us never even see.

And all the while, I was building custom bikes and cars (maybe to impress the ladies with my Red Green abilities ). I got good enough at it that I made it a full time career. Oh ya, I was a tourist guide while in school, and an equipment operator in a open pit mine and a bush worker before even joining the army at 18. Seems dropping out of high school must be a good thing too, right?

Yet I look at those who seem to have succeeded in life because they appear to have it all (in the money department at least). But spending even a short time with most of them shows me how they usually succeeded.
- Many have a social aspect that I lack as this involves drinking or drugs, etc. I don't partake because past jobs showed me the misery that comes from drunk drivers and domestic fights, etc.
- Others have this brown nose ability built into them and it makes them seem likable at first, but then that soon wears off and their shallowness soon seems to spill forth.
- Others have gotten by strictly on their looks and now seem lost as age steels their one ticket away, often leaving an under developed character remaining.
- still more climbed the ladder because of their ability to stab another in the back while smiling and claiming that it was another's knife that got you
- but a few got to the top by hard work and honest character... these are few but these ones bare the scars to prove it and I seem to get along well with them.

Now in my 50's now, the eyes are growing dimmer and the welds are not as nice as they once were. My fingers numb on the first pull of a bowstring, the rifle barrel wanders so much that I now realize why they make a shooting stick, and I can't read a medicine bottle now, no matter how long I stare at it! I can now honestly state to some that I have likely forgotten more than they ever knew (and mean it as I can't remember where I even set my coffee last) 😆 My left hand packs in quick when it's too cold as once broken fingers remind me of bad punches thrown carelessly and the phase "payback is a be-atch" comes to mind often at even the pull of a wrench. And I won't even start on the back pains....Seems getting old ain't for pussies after all!

I now type to a bunch of folks who I surmise have some of the same paranoia's as myself to come to this forum. I share what I can while I can because I might forget it tomorrow. I try to convince you also though, not to get so paranoid that you lose your humanity along the way. I often wonder when I read a comment in this forum, made simply about killing a fellow human, if that same person has ever watched even an animal die after they shot it? Have they seen the eyes smoke over which shows the lack of oxygen getting to the pupil and that life indeed is gone? Try it next hunt as it is an eye opening experience (with pun intended!)

Would I be a valuable asset to your group now or just a bummer who'd ruin the party? You aught to hear some of conversations I've been part of when sitting around with other ambulance drivers and policemen... We don't tell our stories the same way when others listen who haven't "been there" or "done that" because most wouldn't understand the low humor involved. The volume is turned low so as not to offend those others. But I'm betting that when SHTF, everyone will then be telling such stories (and far worse) for many years to come!

So don't rush it! Do what you can in a day and tomorrow can wait. Instill your best attributes in your children and hide the bad ones...they can learn those from somebody else instead!
~Cheers~

Maybe you should try writing next. It's a treat to read your opinion pieces, Knuckle.

Ditto what he said....and without a utube link.....try a crossbow Knuckle, just had to go that way myself..lots of fun

LOL Knuckle you bring up a very good point,….

Its all the old buggerss that have the sound knowledge of when things required hard work and simple thought processes to get thru our day to day complexities, while at the same time we get O L D . and my point is this,… when you can't read a pill bottle because of eyesight or extremities that won't work due to overuse or just being plain silly and putting it thru trauma, or the less than desirable cardio capabilities, or the bad back and aching joints it seems we need predecessors following behind us that at least has a head on their shoulders. This way the young need the old and the old need the young. Thank you for that enlightening jolt back to reality. You just gave me a piece of insight I have been searching for for awhile now.

My point in my post was lots of experience produces even MORE transferable skills and more transferable skills produces even MORE experience. At least it has definitely worked that way for myself but that is purely dependant on the person in question and hence my favourite saying of all time,… YOU GOTTA WANT IT !! 😆

Cheers!

Seems at least I can still humor some with my tales of folly! You might now better understand when my kids tell me that I used to have an exciting life but now I'm boring! We become boring because we are trying to be responsible and provide crap so these same kids have something to eat on a daily basis. We slowly become less risk takers and start to rationalize things before we step into them. And I think Screedcrete is right looking at things from those aspects. Us "old folks" attained knowledge along the way, even if it was just by luck that we managed to outlive many who were smarter at the time. And it would be wise for the younger to take whatever lessons learned from us without having to pay the pricetag required to attain such knowledge.

Now I think others may enjoy the way I write and I write this way likely due to having read alot of books. Now I read alot due to having to recover from often doing stupid things which earned me down time, even when I couldn't afford it. So when some assume that wisdom (if that's what this is) doesn't come with a price tag afixed, all I can say is it does when you walk the roads I traveled.

Now I mentioned that I am a biker a time or two and also that I was a police officer. These two didn't mix well in the 70's, especially when your doing both at the same time. Add in the fact that I possess the appearance more like those of the criminal aspect maybe added to make my life more interesting too. As I started building customs bikes in the early 80's( and no longer a P/O), my clientele often wore club colors and casually mentioned they'd kill me if I screwed their ride up. What better inspiration to do good work could one have? Yet I needed the money and this was still part time work as I had full time jobs doing other crap.

The bike wars in Calgary started in 82 and it seemed that I was then included on every cop's radar as I road a custom Harley which only the hardcore usually rode at this time. The 47 Knuckle was also like a billboard advertising my abilities to potential customers but became a magnet for police harassment too. Computers weren't around yet for them to quickly note that I once carried a badge and spreading this word might get me hurt by "said customers". Thus I have kissed more car hoods than most of you during random searches while just going for a bike ride. Various bike clubs have often tried to recruit me and this is only due to them wanting better discounts for the work I do. Can you imagine if any of them knew I was once a P/O? I'd have been blamed for any leaked secret, even those I didn't even know!

Now this lifestyle leads to parties where cereal bowls full of coke are passed around to get you hooked so you become a paying customer tomorrow. I was always cautious but I did attend just the same as such attendance opens doors to more customers for my line of work. I hated when some friend thought I was a jerk because I wouldn't bring them to such invites when the truth was that I'd then feel responsible for them if something went wrong and they got hurt. And it was due to such guilt trips that I eventually gave in to where later brought my wife to such things. She is the one that eventually convinced me I was on a bad road and a "bun in the oven" helped kick me onto another path too. We knew people that died from OD's, suicides some murdered while others simply vanished. We even saw a shooting on TV one day where we knew both the shooter and the victim too, not well but amongst the crowd we knew! These are wakeup calls that suggest it is time for change. Maybe this is why were still married after 30 years too! I truly hope my kids never want to walk such roads as these!

I mention the above likely to show that I am far from wise as a wise man wouldn't have even started down such paths. I did not get into anything "real heavy" but somehow danced along the fence dividing the two worlds I lived in. I have also been in more than my share of fights as the MP trade gave me a confidence that later led to a criminal record for using such knowledge on various occasions. My wife says she dreaded seeing me come home with shop tool boxes in the box of the truck which meant I'd obviously quit another job, usually due to someone pushing my buttons once too often.. I'd then quit before they could fire me for fighting (as they would most likely do) as I'd then have to explain such on my next job app!(yup,real smart eh!) I have never done time behind bars(as there are dangers of putting ex-P/O's there) but once spent a winter in a very isolated bush camp for 6 months to avoid this lifestyle before I ended up in just such a cage. This is where I finally reconciled that you have to like yourself before you can learn to like others. And I also got in alot more reading time too!

Is there any wisdom in the above ramblings? I doubt it! As you might guess, I've had a variety of jobs since marrying too, from driving taxi to tractor trailer, from mechanics to millwright. So which would I profess should be the avenue for those younger to pursue? I enjoyed the medical field most and it drew on the good side of my character. I was good at it although I was just a driver and not an attendant. I still did alot that attendants do and found I loved this type of action more than that of a P/O (although the money sucked in those days). And most folks didn't seem to care about the tattoos and that I was a biker while I was patching them up. The bad part is that when a person dies, at least 5 persons handle the body before it is finally covered over for good, and your more than likely to be one of these 5. The good part is that life will never be boring!

Cheers!

~ Knuckle ~

Such a cool story, I pictured the whole thing like a 70's cop movie. hahah

Many have proclaimed that a good story is like a fine wine for it's telling improves with age. I agree with this deduction fully. When a story is brand new, we have not had the time to embellish upon it and enhance the details. Then it grows in proportion as one attempts to first clarify one's actions from previous questions asked during the last telling. Then it grows further as one has justified their actions and retells the story where they now truly shine in the telling. But these embellishments often seem to take enough away from it's originality as the story is too dramatized now to be real.

With age, the teller finally concludes he must tone down the BS and retell the tale in a manner which is once again worthy of note! And finally there is the need of telling such stories, but this time to your own kids. But now it should not contain any of the glory if the lesson within is to be learned properly. I think this is when one truly learns to present the lesson rather than the tale. With age it then seems the tale once again become more factual and less fiction. Or maybe it's just because one no longer have the ability to remember all the lies if questioned.... 😎

I was in the Military Police with Mr knuckle and I have a lot of blackmail material on him too, LOL. Good man and unusually thoughtful for a biker and bush man. Good to see him sharing years and years of knowledge with people who can use it. Go bro. RATTS

It seems that I will now digress so I can then address the fact that Ratts witnessed that he once watched me regress to a state where I could undress to play with those who tried to possess. Here I had to readdress the fact that I had to redress before I could progress to this state where I can profess that I have learned much from that which I now confess! 😯

(You think that you understood what I said but what you heard is not what I meant) 🙄