You in 2000BC

[Six of Ten]

You should all join MENSA.  It is clear you have the baseline skills and IQ.

 

6of10, without using the internet, can you tell me the correct proportions for mixing the three ingredients (I am sure you know them) for gunpowder - further where and or how you would acquire the necessary ingredients?  Also, how would you go about defeating 100(whatever) warriors with your bow/arrows?

75% potassium Nitrate, 5% sulfure and 10% charcoal, though if I was to be in that environment, I'd use the saltpeter mixture of gunpowder, a standard chinese design terra cotta mine, and the trick is to not take them in the open field, funnel them into a narrow pass or down a narrow trail, force them into singlefile, you can range about 50 yards on a composite bow, I'd hit the first couple to stall their advance, than one by one on the way back. That's providing you're even in an area with tribes that large, the average here was small hunter gatherer tribes about 15 to 20 people max. that includes women and children, 10 guys is a walk in the park. remember at that time we had paleo-indians, in battle them guys were as dumb as a post. also anyone who's watched or read any history would figure out how to make a clovis arrow head. arrows are just scaled down spears. even boy scout training is more than them guys would know. their concern was just defending territory. tactics, the things of today were of little concern to them. 

Edited March 21, 2015 by Six of Ten

[SoS]

You should all join MENSA. It is clear you have the baseline skills and IQ.

 

6of10, without using the internet, can you tell me the correct proportions for mixing the three ingredients (I am sure you know them) for gunpowder - further where and or how you would acquire the necessary ingredients? Also, how would you go about defeating 100(whatever) warriors with your bow/arrows?

Gunpowder would take a while. 70% 15% 15% roughly.

 

The salt peter can be obtained through the putrification of my piss. You can also make nitric acid, white phosphorus, and nitric oxide in this way.

 

Sulfur can be found at hot springs, which I'm actually near.

 

Charcoal would be easy.

[LordRahl2]

Gunpowder would take a while. 70% 15% 15% roughly.

 

The salt peter can be obtained through the putrification of my piss. You can also make nitric acid, white phosphorus, and nitric oxide in this way.

 

Sulfur can be found at hot springs, which I'm actually near.

 

Charcoal would be easy.

Yeah.  It would take you a while.  Of course advanced boy scout skills would give you easy access to food/water/shelter so you would have loads of time for sulfur mining.

[Malice]

You guys would have particle accelerators within the decade. Wicked-cool skills!

[Fox Fire]

Columbus arrived with a band of armed men, things to trade, and a method to return home.  I am not sure that you have these things in your pockets.

 

Your disease line of thinking is a bit off.  From this tribe's persepctive, if they have allowed you to live: 'Look a strange outsider arrived a few days ago and now we are getting sick.  Lets kill this dude.'

The Mayans saw some strange guy come from the sea and worshiped him as a god.

 

Gucumatz

This god is one of the most important, if not the most important, in the pantheon of the Maya. The name Gucumatz (also Gukumatz) is the Quiche Maya designation for the god known to the Yucatec Maya as Kukulcan and most famously, in the Nahuatl language, as Quetzalcoatl (`the plumed serpent' or `the quetzal-featherd serpent’) who was worshipped as early as the first century BCE at the great city of Teotihuacan. Gucumatz is identified as one of thirteen deities who shaped the world and created human beings. From Gucumatz, humans learned the rules of law, agriculture, literacy, the arts, medicine, architecture, construction, hunting, fishing, and all other aspects of civilization. He is said to have come from the sea, conveyed to the people his gifts and ruled wisely over them, and then returned to the sea, promising to come back one day. The god of all four elements, he was also the representation of the co-mingling of good and evil, light and darkness, and so became a central figure in many of the myths of the Maya and popularly depicted, in various forms, in virtually every city-state. As Kukulcan, he is the great plumed serpent who glides down the steps of El Castillo at Chichen Itza on the spring and autumn equinoxes and is thought to bring positive energy to the earth and to those present at his descent.

http://www.ancient.eu/article/415/

 

A viking perhaps? I mean we know Vikings arrived here before other Europeans and I like to think most Gods in religions are inspired by ancient people who made great contributions to their people, and with time, became revered as divine.

[Alice Lune]

You can also make nitric acid, white phosphorus, and nitric oxide in this way.

I've always wondered about this. How does one make nitric acid in an environment where you start with nothing? All the processes I've seen on the net requires catalysts and sulfuric acid, but I don't remember it being so complicated back in my high school chemistry lab. Would you tell me how you would make nitric acid in this environment? If you don't want to share in the open forum, please send me a message.

 

I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know.

[Six of Ten]

Yeah.  It would take you a while.  Of course advanced boy scout skills would give you easy access to food/water/shelter so you would have loads of time for sulfur mining.

You're not fighting a large army here LordRahl2, a couple dozen pounds of the stuff would be sufficient to get the point across. there was also no mass communications, no force potential, they have no reinforcements, what they have is all they get, they also don't have the option to retreat, you do. you might only have 100 people in an area the size of western Nebraska. so clear out the locals you're ok. it's the animals that might cause you problems, but again, you have the knowledge to handle that situation as it arises. 

[Six of Ten]

I've always wondered about this. How does one make nitric acid in an environment where you start with nothing? All the processes I've seen on the net requires catalysts and sulfuric acid, but I don't remember it being so complicated back in my high school chemistry lab. Would you tell me how you would make nitric acid in this environment? If you don't want to share in the open forum, please send me a message.

 

I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know.

you make sulfuric acid with lye and sulfur I believe. bird shit has nitrogen in it. there's your other ingredient. I'm sure they had birds back than did they not?

[Fox Fire]

Unless you have a minigun strapped around you everywhere you go (including to the mall and the toilet), sorry, this is rejected. If it's a handgun, or a dog, then yes, it's acceptable.

Does this mean I can go grab my handgun first?

Perhaps go buy some ammo and BRB?

[Big Brother]

I don't think it's a good idea to assume a hostile stance towards whomever you might encounter. Your chances of survival would be much higher if you conducted yourself in a friendly, non-threatening manner and manage to become accepted by the tribe or whatever, so that you may work together with them to better your own chance of survival.

 

I also think it's a really bad idea to introduce them to advanced technology that they have no ability to grasp, as they would probably react with fear and see it as a potential threat. However, I do think that one should use whatever knowledge one possesses that might be useful to these people, so that they might consider yourself to be a useful addition to their society.

 

As far as communication goes, I believe it's entirely possible for people who don't speak each other's languages, to communicate with each other. You should be able to get your message across with gestures, drawings and body language, and it's not like people are incapable of learning.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Big Brother

[Alice Lune]

Does this mean I can go grab my handgun first?

Perhaps go buy some ammo and BRB?

Nyet! Only what you have on you right now!

[LordRahl2]

I had no idea that I had stumbled on a forum filled with people who have advanced skills in survival-ism, gunpowder making, mining, advanced bow making, archery, shield making, hunting, piss distilling, communications in ancient languages, and biological weapons making super soldiers who happen to live in the 21st century and have access to computers and the internet.

Truly amazing.  There is no way such people removed from everything they rely on day to day would eat something that gave them diarrhea and die of dehydration or run into natives and get hit on the head rock and die.

Edited March 21, 2015 by LordRahl2

[Fox Fire]

As far as communication goes, I believe it's entirely possible for people who don't speak each other's languages, to communicate with each other. You should be able to get your message across with gestures, drawings and body language.

New languages are often born in a similar fashion, so communication wouldn't really be a big issue. The bigger issue would be simply the fact that you're foreign. Even if you did speak their language, that fact wouldn't be differ.

[Fox Fire]

I had no idea that I had stumbled on a forum filled with people who have advanced skills in survival-ism, gunpowder making, mining, advanced bow making, archery, shield making, hunting, piss distilling, communications in ancient languages, and biological weapons making super soldiers who happen to live in the 21st century and have access to computers and the internet.

 

Truelove amazing.  There is no way such people removed from everything they rely on day to day would eat something that gave them diarrhea and die of dehydration or run into natives and get hit on the head rock and die.

Natives would quite honestly be the absolute least of my concerns. I'd be more afraid of sustaining a serious injury or getting sick than any other particular animal/human. But Rahl2 does have a point. Survivalism is a lot harder than most of you might think. Survivalism all alone is like the equivalent of jumping off a skyscraper and hoping you survive. Only you might live a tad bit longer.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Fox Fire

[Big Brother]

New languages are often born in a similar fashion, so communication wouldn't really be a big issue. The bigger issue would be simply the fact that you're foreign. Even if you did speak their language, that fact wouldn't be differ.

 

Well yes, that is true and also why it's important to prove yourself useful, and become accepted by whatever group you encounter. I do wonder how different we would seem to them. I can't imagine that I personally would look or appear particularly different to my very remote ancestors, but I suppose I would still be a stranger to them in many aspects.

[Kadin]

I suspect that I would be screwed.

[SoS]

Yes. Your hide shield and advanced stone tipped arrows will surely overcome vast numerical advantages. No doubt.

 

Can you, again without the internet, provide instructions for composite bow making given available tools.?

I think you're confusing composite with compound. Composite is very simple. And just a way to shorten the power of a long bow.

[LordRahl2]

I think you're confusing composite with compound. Composite is very simple. And just a way to shorten the power of a long bow.

I know what both are and question your ability to make either effectively.  I find it highly improbable that I am speaking to an actual bowyer.

[Fox Fire]

Making any effective bow is takes time and materials. For starters, we're talking about something containing a number of layered materials and different woods, laminated together.

 

http://www.primitiveways.com/pt-composite_bow.html

[SoS]

I haven't always spent all my time online. I've been a bow hunter for many years. I've been building bows as a hobby for a few years.

 

Since the internet (used to be the library), I have made a point to learn and practice many useless skills. Someday the zombie apocalypse will make it worthwhile.

[Erin]

I had no idea that I had stumbled on a forum filled with people who have advanced skills in survival-ism, gunpowder making, mining, advanced bow making, archery, shield making, hunting, piss distilling, communications in ancient languages, and biological weapons making super soldiers who happen to live in the 21st century and have access to computers and the internet.

 

Truly amazing.  There is no way such people removed from everything they rely on day to day would eat something that gave them diarrhea and die of dehydration or run into natives and get hit on the head rock and die.

The original post asked, "what would you do"? Obviously the chances of survival for many of us are not great. Hell, the chances for survival for "common" human beings of the time were generally not that great. But what would you rather have people say? Should we talk about techniques by which we might survive, which appears to be blossoming into an interesting and at least somewhat informative discussion so far? Or would you rather every post in this thread be a repeat of the first half of my post, or of Ogaden's and Pwnius's sentiments that "I would die" and leave it at that?

 

It sounds like, especially from your passive-aggressive demeanor, you are more interested in feeling like others are sufficiently "humbled" for your tastes than in actually educating anyone or engaging in fruitful conversation. Of course I'm likely to die. I was homeless in a car for a month in the winter and I was getting a sinus infection and my joints hurt and it was !@#$ awful. But that's not going to stop me from participating in a fun and interesting discussion about what I'd at least try to do if I was in an even more dire situation that I'm not.

 

And the Internet, even an average sample of it, is full of more experts than you might expect. Among people whom I've met or befriended over various sites completely unrelated to survival or anything particularly technical, I've met a professional bowyer, a hacker/engineer, a mechanic, a stock car driver... the list probably goes on. Yes, perhaps many of these skills wouldn't be themselves entirely conducive to survival in the wilderness, but I can't imagine that everyone here would be completely useless at making their way in the world.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Erin

[LordRahl2]

I would rather people apply are reasonable standard. See Firefox and big brother for examples.

 

People claim lots of things on the internet.

[Six of Ten]

I would rather people apply are reasonable standard. See Firefox and big brother for examples.

 

People claim lots of things on the internet.

I've been in situations where I had to make weapons, build traps to catch/kill animals for food to survive. I've made bows, spears, soap. I've learned which plants are beneficial and which will kill you. the flora and fauna of 7,000 years ago isn't much different than today, that's about when people started domesticating things. due to domestication, the biosphere changed very little over the last 10,000 years. 

the animals than were domesticated into the animals now. our bodies could definitely process them. where I'm at now, the rpedominant animal was bison, which has changed little in the last 2 million years. the indians here used to harvest corn and wheat.both of which are edible to us nowadays. the legumes grew in the wild. the pieces are there, LordRahl2. it's just a matter of getting them on the dinner plate, which involves alot of work, but can be done. 

as for the natives? they're one up from hunter/gatherers, they're not going to risk a confrontation that could cost them their most valuable asset, manpower. unless you !@#$ with them, they'll leave you alone. if you apply modern practices and grow lots of food, hell you become valuable, you keep them from long hard winters. 7,000 years ago isn't much different than today minus the technology, we know this from texts of the period in which a good description of their world is given. people are more tenacious and able to survive in adversity than you think. 

[Six of Ten]

I think you're confusing composite with compound. Composite is very simple. And just a way to shorten the power of a long bow.

http://www.nmarchaeology.org/assets/files/how_to_make_a_bow.pdf

 

that's actually the best you get, a traditional Native American flatbow. it's a non composite bow that can be made by virtually anyone with any carving ability. a swiss army knife is a very versatile tool. the arrows for that thing are made from tree branches aswell. 

[SoS]

I'm glad you mentioned soap. That would be far more important than weapons.

 

I'd find myself surrounded by delicious bison, too. Without horses, traps would be the best way to get them.