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Post by USCGME2 on Nov 24, 2012 21:48:21 GMT -7
Maybe just chalk this up to random thought...but I was entertaining the notion today that the difference between those who seem to have a better take on prepping are those who have at least a modecum of problem solving skills. Its the difference between being self reliant opposed to just being well supplied. I think the vast majority of folks today think their phone is a panacea for any and all emergencies and problems. They have no way to help themselves. So, I think the moonshiners, bush mechanics, Alaskan homesteaders, mountain men, Mythbusters, and farmers out there got a leg up on those who are just well supplied. This type of applied critical thinking skills seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate in our culture. Im much more impressed by what someone can figure out than what they 'know".
I personally really enjoy figuring things out and looking for a way to get out of my own jams (and how to keep out of them in the first place). There is a gratification in figuring out a "puzzle" or in a DIY project. I know my limits but at the same time will often tell myself, "if you can do it then maybe I can too - show me. (That is a little Missouri joke there for you Dink ;D) I guess I am leaning little by little to increasing my "tools" and having things around that can be used in multiple ways than just having what I need in bulk. I also want to learn more old-school techniques (ie. compass v. GPS) that require my using my cranium for more than a hat rack.
Hope to generate discussion on this mind set and hear others perspectives....
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Post by sirderrin on Nov 24, 2012 22:25:21 GMT -7
It always amazes me how many folks lack the ability the "problem solve" As most know I currently work in a home improvement retail environment.....Some of the "basic" questions I encounter truly scare me at times......I make no claims towards being the smart one... but my salt and pepper hair makes me a prime target for questions on almost any subject...the number of folks that look completely shocked when I tell them "no, they do not make an adapter for your dryer/stove cord you actually need to change it out" never ceases to amaze me.... It is even more fun when I get asked a question that I actually do not know the answer to.....LOL If you actually say "I do not know the answer" It literally shocks folks.....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2012 1:34:47 GMT -7
As a female growing up with 9 brothers, I have used that saying many times!! As well as "Don't tell me I can't because it's a man job or because I sm a female or I WILL do it to prove you wrong".
When you grow up poor you learn very early on to figure a solution to any problem that may arise. Brain power and inginuity will get a person a lot farther in the long run than a pile of stuff that will eventually be used up. With todays technology it's easy to go online and search for easy answers. The tough part is looking at those answrs and then coming up with your own solution to the situation and being able to improvise the products recommended with some piece of scrap junk you might happen to have laying around.
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Post by USCGME2 on Nov 25, 2012 6:50:14 GMT -7
I think a big part of it comes from being willing to fail. That is to say, being ok with trying things until it works. A lot of people get discouraged when the first attempt doesnt work and scrap the whole thing and call in someonelse to do it for them. BTW, there is a big difference between getting help to do somethng v. getting someone to do it for you.
What is something you have come up with an ingenious solution for?
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Post by urbanprep on Nov 25, 2012 8:09:30 GMT -7
I think the problem stems from the dumbing down in schools and letting everyone get "participation" awards as opposed to ranking kids 1st place, 2nd, etc. I used to get into it with my friend who was the grade school principal where my kids went, and I was PTA president. How can you encourage kids to do better if they don't know what better is? If they don't see that Susie did a project for the science fair that was super cool, well researched and presented well, how do they know to do better?
"... BTW, there is a big difference between getting help to do somethng v. getting someone to do it for you. ..."
I know this book smart guy. 3 masters degrees and almost a Phd, can't figure out how to change a light switch to save his life. In my office we used to have a copy of Popular Mechanics 100 things every man should know and would ask the questions to everyone to see where they "ranked" but also to see what skills they needed to learn. This guy quit after 15 questions and said "I just hire people to fix stuff" Unbelievable.
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Post by offtrail on Nov 25, 2012 8:57:12 GMT -7
I do agree with most of your statement....But without sharing information groups of people can go without some key knowledge. Sure it's good to do your own thinking and some projects have many ways to complete the task. Also there are other projects that have only one correct way to finish it. I have no problem using direction that come with a kit but I also try to figure it out first with the directions as a back up. That being said go ahead and wing it if no ones life is involved. All the other stuff we can learn on the fly Good post ;D
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Post by angelhelp on Nov 25, 2012 13:51:56 GMT -7
I'll try stuff as long as failure doesn't cost me my life, an injury, or much $$. If getting it right is a "must", then I'm a firm believer in the 5-step program:
1. Find someone who is good at it, a decent teacher, and who has the time to teach. 2a. Watch that person do one (or do part of the task). 2b. Have the person talk me through one. 3. Have that person watch me and critique while I'm doing it. 4. Have that person listen to me tell him/her how to do it. If I pass step 3 without constant intervention from the teacher, then I need to know that I know enough to teach it to someone else. My teacher would have to have the patience to still be with me. 5. If I pass step 4 without a lot of verbal supplement from the teacher, then I'm good to go.
When would I chicken out? If there's a big potential for a costly or dangerous (or both) result, step 2 had better be solidly in place; my preference is 2a rather than 2b. I have a very strong sense of personal safety and have never taken physical risks lightly.
Here's an example (and remember, I'm a pianist, organist, and singer, so my hands and voice "are" my income. Decades ago, I was introduced to the fine art of using a chainsaw. Gas was put into the tank, the cord was pulled, and voila -- I watched a 4" diameter black walnut fall. My turn was next. I followed the example and pulled the cord, then felled several similar black walnut trees. Considering I'd always been evicted from the workshop the moment power tools were brought out (anything beyond an electric drill -- and even for that, I was cautioned to keep my distance), I thought I was doing fine.
Move to sometime in the past 15 -20 years. I notice some fairly small stuff on the property that's too much for pruning shears and easily dealt with by means of a chain saw. I buy a small corded electric one. I read the directions. I thought I absorbed the directions. I successfully clear out part of what needed clearing. Suddenly my mental alarm sensors went into high gear. I looked at everything, looked at the saw, saw nothing wrong, and went ahead with my work. One blink later, the chain is no longer on the saw. Thank God (and a very quick guardian angel!) it had flown off away from me and was sitting, like a coiled cobra, in a small hole in the dirt.
Right then, I knew I was missing some crucial information. I also knew that nobody and nothing was available to provide it. I put the saw down, unplugged it, gingerly picked up the chain, and put both into the garage. I haven't touched them since that moment.
Am I a wuss? Yup. Is this something I'm willing to learn without a teacher standing nearby? No way. Do I know what went wrong? Yup. I neglected to physically check the chain's tightness. I also never learned how to adjust the chain in the first place, so I really had no business operating the device. Will I ever make that mistake again? Nope. Am I willing to ever use a chainsaw again? Yes, but only with a teacher I trust.
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Post by offtrail on Nov 25, 2012 14:04:34 GMT -7
That my friend is a perfect example of needing to know first. What you did wrong was not checking the tension on the chain. As you use your chain saw the chain will stretch and will need to be adjusted. As for coming all the way off, never had that happen but it would be your chain link. Glad your ok and you did the right thing, chains saws are unforgiving and never give back they play for keeps.
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Post by angelhelp on Nov 25, 2012 14:44:46 GMT -7
At the time, it never occurred to me that the chain would stretch from use. With some of the storms we've had, using a chainsaw would've been the logical solution to some of the tree issues. With no one handy to learn from, though, that little saw will remain in the garage. I am well aware of just how much could've gone wrong that day.
By the way, the chain remained in a closed loop. No ends ever separated.
This sort of thing is the reason why I didn't wait for advice on repairing and replacing the shingle damage from Sandy. I've absolutely no idea what constitutes proper tethering of oneself when on a roof and I sure didn't want to find out the hard way. With no obvious place to attach a rope once up there (except maybe the chimney, but that's at the other end), and knowing that the distance to the ground from the damage was roughly the same as the distance from the chimney to the damage, the chimney didn't seem like a good choice.
It's not good when you grow up knowing nothing of what seems like basic stuff to so many other people. At my age, there's not much time to catch up either. Puzzling out a problem is one thing, but I find that my ignorance renders me helpless in too many situations. If it hadn't been possible to hire someone to repair the roof, I'd have thrown some weighted paracord from the front of the house to the back, making a series of leashes to go through the grommets of my tarp. I'd have fastened the tarp leashes to whatever I could (perhaps made some wooden stakes), and waited until hiring someone was a possibility.
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Post by offtrail on Nov 25, 2012 15:20:54 GMT -7
Don't short change yourself using paracord and a tarp to patch the leak temporarily until you can hire a handyman is pretty smart if you ask me
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Post by angelhelp on Nov 25, 2012 15:28:25 GMT -7
Not saying I'm completely helpless, but sure wish I had some useful and practical experience. Way too much around here has been makeshift for the sake of expedience, or we simply put up with stuff. Sometimes I get mad at the prior owner who spent several decades here and never performed maintenance. Usually I'm fine after I sound off for a bit... The tarp was a pretty big one; as I recall, the short side was 20'. A major wind would've been a problem if it came from the north; otherwise we'd have just made do until a fix could be accomplished.
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Post by cowgirlup on Nov 25, 2012 16:27:10 GMT -7
I read a great article recently. It said that due to the instant gratification of technology people are losing the ability to think and problem solve. Since they can push some buttons and get the answers they are not develpoing the neural pathways in their brains.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2012 17:19:38 GMT -7
I think a big part of it comes from being willing to fail. That is to say, being ok with trying things until it works. A lot of people get discouraged when the first attempt doesnt work and scrap the whole thing and call in someonelse to do it for them. BTW, there is a big difference between getting help to do somethng v. getting someone to do it for you. What is something you have come up with an ingenious solution for? We needed a screen for the sediment bowl for the fuel line of one of the older tractors. We could not find them anywhere and the supply places could not get them. The guys were just gonna give up. I took a mesh tea ball, removed the hinge and showed them that half of the ball fit perfectly and made the screen they needed. Now they keep a couple of mesh tea balls on the shop for fuel line screens. I needed trough feeders with hay bunks for my Blackbelly Barbadoes Sheep. I could not afford the $200 price tag at the local farm supply or feed mills. I took a water heater, removed the outer jacket, used a cutting torch to split the inner tank lengthwise, lay them side by side and welded them together. I took some angle iron form an old bed frame welding them to the ends of the tanks and made a frame standing up on each end with a T cross on the top of both. I then cut a piece of cattle panel for the length of both sides making a V shape meeting at teh middle weld and wider at the top. I then welded a piece on each end. After this was together, I welded a 2" piece of the angle iron on each top corner, in the top middle and attached angle iron bars across them lengthwise and across making a solid frame for a roof. I attached barn sheet metal for a cover with a 2" gap underneath so I could slide the hay flakes inside. The troughs catch the hay leaf and I fed grain in the bottoms as well. All done from scraps and saved me a lot of money. I needed mesh covers to hold the straw down on my strawberry bed for winter. After seeing the price, I changed my mind. I went to the local Salvation Army Thrift Store and purchased 4 full size sheets for $1 each. I used them to cover the straw and weighted it down with cinder blocks and chunks of cedar I had laying around....worked like a charm and saved about $75. When the lawn mowers burned up in the fire and we needed the yard mowed, I staked the horses out and let them enjoy the fresh grass! Scooped the poop and added it to the compost. Win win for everyone and everything involved! Just a couple of simple things...
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Post by alex on Nov 25, 2012 17:52:04 GMT -7
I know this book smart guy. 3 masters degrees and almost a Phd, can't figure out how to change a light switch to save his life. In my office we used to have a copy of Popular Mechanics 100 things every man should know and would ask the questions to everyone to see where they "ranked" but also to see what skills they needed to learn. This guy quit after 15 questions and said "I just hire people to fix stuff" Unbelievable. Here's your list...and here's the link to it.... www.popularmechanics.com/home/skills/4281414100 Skills Every Man Should Know: 2008's Ultimate DIY List Brains and charm are fine, but a real guy needs to know how to do real stuff. After months of debate among PM's expert editors, here's our lineup of essential skills, broken down in 10 categories for the competent man -- plus 20 tools you need to own. Did we leave anything out -- or included a skill you don't think is worthy? Sound off in our chat, then take PM's interactive DIY quiz to see how you measure up! By The Editors Comments 40 Share December 18, 2009 3:18 AM Automotive 1. Handle a blowout 2. Drive in snow 3. Check trouble codes 4. Replace fan belt 5. Wax a car 6. Conquer an off-road obstacle 7. Use a stick welder 8. Hitch up a trailer 9. Jump start a car Handling Emergencies 10. Perform the Heimlich 11. Reverse hypothermia 12. Perform hands-only CPR 13. Escape a sinking car Home 14. Carve a turkey 15. Use a sewing machine 16. Put out a fire 17. Home brew beer 18. Remove bloodstains from fabric 19. Move heavy stuff 20. Grow food 21. Read an electric meter 22. Shovel the right way 23. Solder wire 24. Tape drywall 25. Split firewood 26. Replace a faucet washer 27. Mix concrete 28. Paint a straight line 29. Use a French knife 30. Prune bushes and small trees 31. Iron a shirt 32. Fix a toilet tank flapper 33. Change a single-pole switch 34. Fell a tree 35. Replace a broken windowpane 36. Set up a ladder, safely 37. Fix a faucet cartridge 38. Sweat copper tubing 39. Change a diaper 40. Grill with charcoal 41. Sew a button on a shirt 42. Fold a flag Medical Myths 43. Treat frostbite 44. Treat a burn 45. Help a seizure victim 46. Treat a snakebite 47. Remove a tick Military Know-How 48. Shine shoes 49. Make a drum-tight bed 50. Drop and give the perfect pushup Outdoors 51. Run rapids in a canoe 52. Hang food in the wild 53. Skipper a boat 54. Shoot straight 55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike 56. Escape a rip current Primitive Skills 57. Build a fire in the wilderness 58. Build a shelter 59. Find potable water Surviving Extremes 60. Floods 61. Tornados 62. Cold 63. Heat 64. Lightning Teach Your Kids 65. Cast a line 66. Lend a hand 67. Change a tire 68. Throw a spiral 69. Fly a stunt kite 70. Drive a stick shift 71. Parallel park 72. Tie a bowline 73. Tie a necktie 74. Whittle 75. Ride a bike Technology 76. Install a graphics card 77. Take the perfect portrait 78. Calibrate HDTV settings 79. Shoot a home movie 80. Ditch your hard drive Master Key Workshop Tools 81. Drill driver 82. Grease gun 83. Coolant hydrometer 84. Socket wrench 85. Test light 86. Brick trowel 87. Framing hammer 88. Wood chisel 89. Spade bit 90. Circular saw 91. Sledge hammer 92. Hacksaw 93. Torque wrench 94. Air wrench 95. Infrared thermometer 96. Sand blaster 97. Crosscut saw 98. Hand plane 99. Multimeter 100. Feeler gauges Read more: 100 Skills Every Man Should Know: 2008's Ultimate DIY List - Popular Mechanics
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Post by Cwi555 on Nov 25, 2012 17:55:46 GMT -7
I read a great article recently. It said that due to the instant gratification of technology people are losing the ability to think and problem solve. Since they can push some buttons and get the answers they are not developing the neural pathways in their brains. This is my understanding of it. I've read many similar articles and studies. It's actually a well documented fact now. It's more commonly known now as 'brain plasticity'. The term refers the minds ability to constantly remap itself. Most of us already knew that it is required to exercise the brain in order to increase our understanding of any given subject. What has been discovered through laboratory monitoring of the brain is that our memories are a lot more dependent on our senses than was previously understood. Without the senses, we obviously couldn't perceive our world to begin with, much less gain any meaningful information from it. Our brain keys to those senses for our memories. In fact, there are studies out there now that are suggesting not only do our memories key to those senses, they also index by them. In retrospect, the connection is an obvious one. Any highly demanding skillset requires practice to stay proficient. Preppers, bushcrafters, shooters, etc know this already if not by the term brain plasticity. They also know how hard many of those task were to learn initially, and that any of those skills left for years without practice requires a warming up period usually. That warming up period is our brains remapping itself from the previous keys and indexes. That period of remapping is usually short if you were one time proficient at that skill. Learning a new skill is a different beast. A detailed skill such as learning how to weld, play a piano, or build an engine opens up tens of millions of neurological pathways as was learned through direct monitoring of the electrical activity that occurs during the initial training phase. You will note that different parts of the brain control different sensory input. The neural paths are mapped from the specific sensory portion of the brain (keyed), and indexed in the cortex/hippocampus. Loss of a key, or index equals loss of that knowledge/skill. Put simply, enlarging your neural map keys and indexes increases your ability to problem solve. Your frontal lobe will receive information from your memory in the form of indexes, the appropriate keys will be turned on, and you make your fire, shoot your gun, or can another batch of corn. Since the ability to learn has been tied to sensory input, a smaller map, smaller set of neuropathways, will struggle to learn. However, the more you learn, the larger your map gets, and the more tools your frontal lobe can employ to solve a particular problem. Your Dorsolateral and prefrontal can take a bit from this skill, and a bit from that skill, and shoot it over to your frontal lobe and create new keys and indexes. The proverbial ahahaaa! moment. Again, people are wired differently from each other, some can learn one skill with ease, while another struggles. I don't care who you are, everyone struggles with something, a skill they just try and try again but never really master. Those particular nueropathways are not as well indexed and keyed for those things we struggle at. Therefore it is not good enough to simply practice the things we are good at. We most also continue to challenge ourselves with the things we are not so good at if we are to increase our ability for critical thinking problem solving. My take on it.
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