Listening to a French 24 TV news channel all about the environmental situation today that’s starting to impact us.
More and more french families are starting to live off grid and grow their own food generate their own power. In France it’s called “collapsology”which is an “English” term french are using for this lifestyle choice.
I suppose it’s an Armageddon scenario caused through upcoming climate change catastrophe, as is happening in Australia with many wild fires out of control in NSW.
The serious potential consequences of a breakdown in social normality, such as no food in supermarkets, no fuel in petrol stations, no electricity and lack of fresh water.
So some French families are taken this situation seriously and thinking about the consequences of a breakdown of our social fabric if the climatic situation gets out of control.( Carbon dioxide has never been at higher levels in hundreds of millions of years). There’s a possible chance that we might move into weird climatic conditions sooner than we think!
Many years ago as young soldier I did a 3 weeks “all arms”meaning army, navy and airforce special forces “combat survival course” in the Hereford. We mainly spent are time in the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons of south Wales.
We were taught how to live off the land in an “escape an evasion” situation if we were behind enemy lines. We spent the final week on the run from the army (Gloucestershire Regiment) and the police in golden valley at the edge of the Black mountains. Finally we had to undergo a long interrogation phase of 36 plus hours at the end of the exercise in Pontrilas.
My conclusion from the course was “yes”at times it was tough, especially walking over the wind and rain swept Black Mountains for 3 days. But it was the final “escape and evasion” week and the constant feeling of hunger and having no or little food sustenance. Hunger in the animal kingdom is the primeval driving force. Animals in the food chain kill each other to sustain themselves!
However, if something like climatic brake down was to occur as an oceanic sailor the oceans might be the safest place to inhabit, why?
Because 70% planet is oceanic and if the social fabric did collapse then there would be lots of “out of control” humans and animals rampaging over the countryside causing absolute havoc with their desperation for food and water!
I mean if things got completely out of control “ What If” scenario with no governments, civil police or military holding society together. Now you might think I’m being rather crazy and alarmist even if thinking of such a “scenario” but these are and could develop into unprecedented climatic times.
Once there isn’t enough food to sustain million of people it would cause a sudden and catastrophic collapse through famine and starvation. This has happened before to humanity and other living species with mass extinctions. Don’t forget there’s never been 7.7 billion humans on the planet and lack of food and water would cause a cascade effect like set of dominoes falling!
When and if such a thing did happen humans behaviour won’t be normal and rational. Humans will be scared and frightened reacting like wild animals, which will make them dangerous.
When I was soldier we use to call combat situations “What If” scenarios. So living off grid might be okay initially but it wouldn’t be any good long term due to rampaging and bewildered humans scattered across the countryside looking for food and water!
Going back to my military survival training the best place to be is out on the great oceans. Now I know that others who have been cast adrift on the sea have survived for many days.
Johnathan Franklin wrote a book about a Mexican / Salvadorian fisherman’s survival of 438 days having been swept out to sea off the coast of Mexico by strong storm force winds and he drifted right across Pacific until reaching the Marshall Islands on the western side of the Pacific some 6000nm away.
Jonathan wrote about Salvador Alvarenga with his fishing mate Córdoba about the survival exploits in the book 438 Days. Sadly the young Córdoba dies after 126 days. He refused to eat the bird flesh and eventually got weaker and weaker and died. Salvador was beside himself when he lost his shipmate. He had to pull himself together and reset his mindset to survive come what may! His tough upbringing in San Salvador and his love of the sea and his instinctual ability to fish and sustain himself on his long lonely journey across the Pacific ocean.
They had caught and lived on flying fish that landed in the boat, caught and eat turtle flesh and there eat their eggs, caught dorado and trigger fish which took shelter under the boat. They had to eat it raw and they had nothing to marinate the food with. To quench their thirst they drank turtle blood. They also learn how to catch seabirds when they landed on their open boat. It took them lots of tries until they worked out a strategy of successfully catching them.
Survival is not a passive pursuit but has to be very active pursued! Importantly your senses must become much more sensitive!
Salvador survived for such a long time but he did have one great advantage his journey was in the tropical Pacific which is teeming with aquatic life. He worked out a strategy and he stuck to it he also started to live in a psychological fantasy world to keep himself going each day.
When he eventually was ship wrecked in the Marianas islands he could hardly walk his muscles had atrophied. He was very weak and little disoriented. A fisherman helped and initially fed him in his small fishing shack.
Salvador found it difficult being back in civilisation and interacting with other humans. In fact after his daunting experience for survival he was never the same again he was changed man.
On his return to Salvador he eventually went back to vist his old fishing friends in Mexico.
He made it a point to visit the family of his dead fisherman friend Córdoba. He found that an extremely difficult experience. He did his very best to help maintain his shipmates moral and keep him alive but he failed through no fault of his own. His ship mate had lost the “Will” to live.
I believe in a survival situation for the tough minded individual you’d adapt to living and sustaining yourself from the oceans, collecting and storing fresh water from precipitation of rainwater and pefecting your fishing skills.
It’s was really a psychological battle as much as sustaining himself with food and water trying to keep cool and shaded from the sun in the day and keeping warm at night.
I’ve always thought whilst sailing if you lose your boat and had to rely on a life raft things would be much more difficult, especially in cooler waters of the higher latitudes.
Many sailors do have tendancy to abandon their boats far too early. I remember reading about Tony Bullimore the offshore sailor who lost his keel in the southern oceans. He survived inside the overturned hull of his boat. Fortunately he was wearing a survival suit which is excellent piece of kit to have onboard your boat! He survived inside the boat for about 4/5 days until the Australian rescue service got to him.
In conclusion in a survival situation you need lots of good luck and a determination to survive come what may! More importantly a suvival strategy.
https://youtu.be/cU7hoW6YNqw
2 Comments
Beryl
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Paul
Thanks Beryl for your kind remarks. I seem to have quite few people who seem to like my blog posts. 👍