What skills will be the most useful in a world post-collapse? Chances are the writers, P.E. teachers and band geeks won't find themselves buried in job requests in a future that depend upon farming and firearms.
Whether or not that's the future that awaits us is up for debate, but wouldn't you want to be prepared for it, just in case?
Gunsmithing and Ammunition Production.Experts agree that in any post-collapse emerging market, those who are equipped with the knowledge and tools to repair firearms and manufacture ammunition will be the most sought after for barter. This trade is also useful in light of the increasing restrictions put on firearms trade due to government control. This means the guns already out there are not likely to be replaced by purchase, rather people will be looking to repair theirs.
Carpentry.While today’s society relies mainly on furniture and cabinetry from big-box home improvement or retail stores, such large-scale manufacturing may be non-existent in a fallen economy. Local carpenters will then be called upon to fill that void. The reliability of electricity in a post-collapse world may be suspect, so when learning carpentry it is wise to also learn to use traditional tools and techniques. Finding and purchasing the older tools, such as hand planer, a mitre box, a treadle lathe, and other traditional tools, would be worth your while, rather than relying solely on modern tools that may become obsolete, if only for a while.
Household Product Manufacturing.In a post-collapse market, people will have to adjust to a different status quo with regards to their personal and home hygiene. Yet, the fact remains that we will still need to wash our homes, our clothes, and ourselves. Learning to make soap and other cleaners is not difficult. It is probably the easiest when compared with the other trades suggested, but it takes practice. Something else to think about if soaping is in your future is your long-term source of fats and oils, essential in soapmaking. Expand your production capabilities by storing the necessary items to make other necessities like toothpaste or salves.
Electronics Repair.As was mentioned before, the reliability of electricity after a collapse may be dubious, but people’s reliance on electronics will continue. Small radios, televisions, and even food dehydrators will continue to be used and will need repair eventually. If this is your chosen trade, consider widening your field of opportunity by obtaining and learning to use solar-powered chargers to recharge people’s batteries and other electronics.
Fruit, Vegetable, Seed Production.Consider expanding your plot and resources so that in a post-collapse market you will be equipped to trade profitably with your fresh produce. Imagine the trading capability you will have with the folks who have stored dry goods or who have relied only on their hunting skills to put food on their tables. They will be needing fresh nutrients and fiber to keep them healthy and strong, and they will want to trade with you. Widen your own market by learning how to collect and store seeds from your produce so that you can sell and trade those precious commodities as well. Expand your possibilities. Even if you do not prefer eggplant, growing and trading those purple veggies with those who do will yield you more than if you had foregone storing those seeds.
Aside from these are many other viable trades one could consider. When you are choosing, think carefully about what you think a post-collapse environment will look like. Though we all share a similar environment now, after a collapse your region and sub-region may look vastly different from someone else’s depending on several factors. Urban versus agrarian regions of the country, for example, will deal with a collapse differently. Areas of the country with populations used to growing or killing their own food will have less call for a produce stand but may have a higher demand for a gunsmith. The point is that each area is different, and you and your trade must be prepared for the specific results after society’s downturn.
Truly, in a post-collapse society, those most profitable trades are going to be the trades that were the most profitable 150 years ago. Farming, gunsmithing, carpentry, and soapmaking are going to be highly tradeable skills and commodities, and with many people relying on electronics, those who can repair these items are going to be in very high demand, as well.
If nothing else, learning these skills could help you save money in the here and now, and it could be a great hobby and conversation-starter.
To learn more about these skills and read more about this article, go to Survival Blog.
Ryan Campbell
Well worth reading.
Hahahahaha!
Should be room for a toolmaker in there, I would think..
Best comment!
Notice blogger didn’t make the list either
I can make a battery out of a coconut.
they forgot metallurgy
not so woopie on the electronic stuff butt got the others covered and a lot more LOL!
lol Gilligans island huh lol
But I can’t fix a 3-foot hole in the side of the boat. lol
And what about blacksmithing. Me and my son are both qaulified blacksmiths off trade and surely that could of grate value allso!
What about blacksmithing. Me and my son are both qaulifeid blacksmith and surely that would be a benefit allso!
Anyone who knows how to sew and make or repair clothing.
Of course you will also need to know how to make the thread and cloth eventually as well, which leads us to things like wool and cotton and the means to produce both.
Farming. Food, cotton as well as tobacco.
Alcohol production.
Blacksmith.
Basic medical skills and midwives. Probably a lot more nature based remedies since big pharmaceutical companies would be down for the count indefinitely.
Can you make bullets? I’ve always thought that in case of a collapse, barter, trades, and services will be the new currency. Weapons and munitions being some of the biggest tools to use for trade and otherwise.
YEAH I do
Well a cover works well but I got most of these tips from watching so many others survive in the wild. Dave Canterbury inspired this post I wont take all the credit here. There is one thing I’d like to point out that I haven’t mentioned and it is about two on the bottom is better then one on the top. What that means is the earth pulls heat in to the ground and you could have the best cover or shelter but you would loose a lot of heat from below. If you can build a barrier between you and the earth with two tarps, some dry brush, or ideally wool because of it’s heating compatibility to its surrounding your best chance at survival is to keep your body temperature at a constant 98.6 degrees. Dave was on a show called duel survival that aired on the discovery channel and his co star on the show by the name of Cody Lundin who wrote a book call 98.6 Degrees: How to keep your$#%&!@*alive. It talks about your body’s core temperature and how to manage getting through Dessert conditions in a minimalist sense of behavior. Shelter is important but remember 2 on the bottom is better then 1 on the top! 🙂
Because this has been happening : https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=229802620699670&id=100010098017389
Read this article. Understand the damage you idiots gave done with your education hype on young people. Making them think they will be nothing unless they attend college. What a bunch of bullshit. Teach your kids the basics if reading writing and math. Then let them get on with life. Teach a kid to swing a hammer, slide a paint brush, operate tools, they’ll be happier through life. It isn’t about money. Its survival of the fittest. Quit bullshitting people. Anyone who’s made it out of their parents house knows that only 15% of people who attend college actually use what they learn. That means 85% of the people wasted their money and time. Not very educated if you ask me. They could have started life at age 15 and been happy all their lives. But you kept them in school and held them back another seven years, and now they are starting life with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Why?
Machinist/welder
Food preservation methods
I better start studying.
It could be if people don’t have to eat them. Horses that were big and strong were used as work horses. Rich people had the others. Poor people had mules. There is a good new book about the Oregon trail you might like to read. You will need harness and other tack and wagons and need to know wagon repair. Good luck.
After reading some of the comments, I am encouraged! We have smart, good inventive people! It would be hard but I think we will survive. Band together and we will have all bases covered., God Bless!
Dentist. Cant function with bad teeth.
Submarine repair is perfect.
I can design , build , hunt , fish , trap , blacksmith , train horses , build saddles and a primitive survivalist.
Trades are good, but there will also be a need for LEO’s, Corrections, EMS and FD and Drs and RN’s
Carpenter! I knew it.
Knowledge of natural pharmaceuticals is probably the biggest. Food, Water and shelter will be necessary but are easily identified as good or bad. Knowing$#%&!@*an infection without killing yourself is far more difficult. If I had a raging toothache I would gladly trade a lot for relief.
Why. Just pick one that runs if you want to drive. Not sure where you want to go though. If we were starting over I’d like to see unnatural transportation left out of the mix.
Yep, and everyone else needs to have a skill that they can rely on when there are no longer any jobs. Education and skills are both necessary.
All this is cool, except they aren’t talking about a survival situation like what Dave Canterbury would be doing.. They are talking about if$#%&!@*goes south and you have to go back to trading and making your own$#%&!@* not going to the store to buy it.. So it’s living in a civilized world without the conveniences we have today
In the aftermath of an economic collapse the basic necessity’s are worth more then the trade. If you have the skills to prepare others with these items and know how then you all could survive with or without trades. To increase ones own wealth in a time of crisis is calling for others to rip you off. Best to stay low key and understand that as others fall toward their own demise by greed you can be invisible to others who hunt for more things. The problem with trying to build a new system of exchange and currency starts with the social imbalance of health and well being. You first need basic survival guidelines within a community before you can trust others to turn your back to them without them grabbing a blade of some kind. When things go to$#%&!@*the most important part to keep social order is developing the basic survival tools. Learning how to use the tools together will soon become a tradition. When the tradition is used with ease then bigger tasks such as farming and health clinics will be essential. Daily traditions will expand daily and become formally balanced until new comers enter with no knowledge of tradition. Showing them the ropes will be difficult but teaching will become learning and schools will be essential also. The most relevant work available must be maintained and abundant which would be Physical and Mental stability which will only be fit by exercise. Sparing and wrestling will be important to teach also weaponry and readiness needs to be ready so having emergency drills will be critical for survival within the community.
David Webster
awesome ive got all those skills, plus alot more
Welding and or black smithing should be on here
The best and number one is never trade close to home. MF will rob you before you can think
Gunsmith, the job with the ultimate job security.
There won’t be anything that runs if an EMP hits. Most cars on the road require complicated electronics to make the engine run. The cars with carburetors and early electronic ignition or points ignition are scarce and few in between.