CRAZY PREPARED

[Triple Zero]

Use the Universal Edibility Test to Find Food in a Survival Situation

http://lifehacker.com/5454722/use-the-universal-edibility-test-to-find-food-in-a-survival-situation

ETA, a comment: "All plants are edible; some only once."

[Cain]

For the aspiring crazy prepared person, the American series Burn Notice may be of interest.  The main character's innovative uses of hardware supplies are actually extensively researched and easily accomplished, with the right skill set.  Equally being Crazy Prepared (in conjunction with the Batman Gambit) is often how the character overcomes the villain of the week.

Bruce Campbell is also a regular character in it, which is reason enough alone to watch.

[Triple Zero]

cool, I will check it, getting S01 first.

[Telarus]

Bruce Campbell is also a regular character in it, which is reason enough alone to watch.

Quotes from the show with the names changed to random fantasy RPG characters for pick-up scripts during game:

"The difference between a Thief and a Spy is that the Thief can steal something and just walk away. The Spy has to show up at the scene of the crime the next morning and act like everyone else." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"When you're playing the Spy-Hunter, and the Spy that you are hunting is yourself, the trail of clues to the Spy can lead you anywhere." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"Makin' yourself invisible when yah need to is a crucial skill for the covert operative; it sounds exotic but it's not like there's a super secret talent they teach you at Adept school that allows you to vanish into thin air. Often it's just a matta' of quick thinking, fast feet, and strong fingers." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"Look boys... Anytime you recommend a friend for a job, you're on the hook if things don't work out. In the merchant-train guarding business for example, make a bad referral and you might get fired yourself. In the armed robbery business on the other hand, make a bad referral and you might get killed. So you really, really have to hope that the new guy knows what he's doing... or I'll gack him myself. *Whole room laughs, some nervously* " --Terricia, Supreme Slasher of the Force of the Eye

Sugar (a drug dealer): "What's your problem?"
Terricia: "My problem right now is an overgrown pretty-boy-elf drug dealer's corpse with a bad dye job is standing in my way."

Terricia: We could go in there now.
Garlthik: No, Terri, we're going to do this the right way.
Terricia: *flutter* Booooring.

J'role: "I've never found a good way to hide a knife in a bathing suit."

Terricia:: "Your charms no longer have any effect on me J'role. *she pinches him somewhere off screen*"

"One perk of having been burned by Throal - my crimes were just crimes, not acts of war." --Garlthik One-Eye, reminiscing on early covert skirmishes between Thera and Throal

"By Astendar, Vistrosh, your skin is so pale and smooth, like alabaster. Still drinking the blood of children?" --Terricia, Supreme Slasher [Force of the Eye], delivering a complement

"When someone turns you into an asset, their main weapon is fear; if you fear poverty or exposure or death, that's what they use against you. Their worst nightmare then, is an asset with no fear." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"People with happy families don't become spies." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"In a fight, you have to be careful not to break the little bones in your hands on someone's face. That's why I like bathrooms, lots of hard surfaces." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"If it looks like you're about to get into a fight that could get you killed, try starting a different one." --Terricia

"Fightin' is something you want to avoid. Once you fight someone he knows your face. You kinda blow your cover when you hit a guy with a piece of furniture. When you have no choice, furniture it is." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing? I'm throwing crap at a warehouse!" --Morg Kneebreaker, Tax Collector General [Force of the Eye]

"Garlthik, I saved your ass at the warehouse, the least you could do is have some decent beer in the safehouse." --Blertis, Elder-Druzhinnik(Bodyguard Sargent~ukraine) [Force of the Eye], Master Illusionist

"There are two kinds of government surveillance, the kind that's there to look for something, and the kind that's just there to make your life difficult." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"If I'm going to go to war with Thera I'm going to need some money" --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"When you go on the run, the first thing you do is lay down tracks in the opposite direction, but that only works if the bad guys find the trail and believe it's for real, which means selling it. You need to put on a little show, make them feel clever. When you make somebody work to get a piece of information they'll believe it that much more because it's hard to get." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"Spies go to bars for the same reason people go to libraries: full of information if you know where to ask." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"Getting information out of someone who doesn't want to give it up is all about upsetting the target's emotional balance, impairing their judgment. Fear is good for that; anger is not bad either." --Terricia, Supreme Slasher [Force of the Eye]

"The thing about security is that the very things that protect you can be turned against you by someone who knows what he's doing. It's tough to compromise a well thought-out security system, but making someone think you can compromise it, well, that's much easier. Take surveillance magic, for example: you can disable one with a flash charm, or smoke bomb, as they're very light sensitive. Cheap, easy, and exactly the sort of thing a sophisticated criminal gang with lots of resources would do. Then, leave around some tell-tale signs of surveillance like rolled-tabbac butts, a forgotten chicken bone and the more security there is the more likely they are to think they've got a very serious problem. Even the security team itself can be an opportunity. The more mooks you have, the more you have to worry about them. Deliver some vague threats and a few hundred silver to a security guard. If he's honest he'll tell his boss, who then wonders who wasn't so honest. For the cost of a nice dinner you can get a whole security team canned." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

Garlthik (to Blertis and some Force of the Eye): The art of turning someone into a double agent is delicate. The target has to be put into a fragile psychological state.
Lucio the Theran (from the main barroom heard through the kitchen door): Get this crazy bitch away from me!
Garlthik: Fortunately, fragile psychological states are a specialty of Terricia's.

Terricia: Ah, the mating dance of the spy. It's a wonder spies ever get close enough to kill each other, isn't it?

J'role: A great way to get people talking about their security is to put them on the defensive. Accuse a guy of having bad locks and before you know it he's telling you where his wards and alarms are.

Garlthik: When you're claiming to be someone you're not, the key is commitment. You've got to sell it like your life depends on it, because sometimes it does. One reason to work with the same people is you know each other's moves, so if you shoot at your team in the middle of an operation, they know to go with it.

"When you work as a spy, it's easy to think of people as assets. Resources to accomplish a goal. Because you don't have a personal relationship with an asset. You don't care about an asset. You don't miss the scent of an asset when she leaves the room." --J'role the Honorable Thief

"If you wanna make a friend, solve a problem for them. No problem to solve? Create one." --Terricia, Supreme Slasher [Force of the Eye]

Terricia: Zeke is one careful con-man. He's security conscious, he's smart... smooth, too, in a cheesy, Blertis kind of way.
Blertis: Hey, smooth is smooth, baby.

"One of the hardest things to do in a fight is to make it look like you're trying to kill someone without doing any permanent damage. They don't teach any half-moves in combat training. There are moves designed to kill and maim as efficiently as possible. If those are off limits, one option is open your fist right before a punch lands. Painful, but the force is distributed. Another showy option is a kick to the shoulder. You might break a rib or two; but if you aim right, nobody is going to the morgue." --Garlthik One-Eye, Magistrate of Kratas

"A fight is one of the quickest ways to tell if someone isn't who they say they are. If you say you are Dinganni but fight like a Throalite, consider your cover blown, which means you better know how to use a Dinganni Talon and how to pull off a serviceable jump-kick. Of course, you also have to win the fight; a great cover identity doesn't help much if you're dead." --J'role the Honorable Thief

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Earthdawn?

You the man.

[Telarus]

Earthdawn?

You the man.

Yup.

I'm a regular on the current developer's forums (the 3rd Edition has some excellent changes, and makes me crave dungeon crawls that turn into lovecraftian horror).

http://www.redbrick-limited.com

[/thread-jack]

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/the-dakota-fire-hole/

[Cain]

I'm nearly through "Emergency", it's well-written, but has a lot more story and "look at me being tougher than my make up doll russian girlfriend" in it than practical advice.

Especially the first part, where he sets out to get a second nationality. Not being American, I really couldn't care less about that. My gf being half Dutch / half German (currently only German nationality, but will be a dual one day), I'm aware of the red tape and bureaucratic hoops. But then again, being a EU citizen, the second nationality isn't that crucial for me I guess.

The whole survivalism stuff is much more interesting.

Oh and a littlebit OT, but the guy mentioned a few times that he had to take a shit because of something he just ate, and also like more than 3 times a day? Wtf? Food takes like 30-36 hours to move through your bowels, how can your lunch meal make you wanna shit right after? Also, if necessary you can keep in your shit to once a day, right. Ah well. Maybe Americans have different bowels?

Either way, the book is a good read, and provides a couple of pointers for stuff you might wanna try to learn yourself.

I should probably learn to use a knife (but do you need a teacher for that? I could get a piece of wood and start practicing carving,  no?), and (still!) some mixed martial arts stuff. And maybe knife fighting? Although, the one bit of advice I read in a blog somewhere (stick it in the neck and turn 90 degrees) is probably all I need in addition to hand combat.

And, yes, learn to shoot a gun. But that's kind of more difficult in NL. So I'm gonna skip that for a while, WTSHTF there won't be that many guns anyway. And neither do our supermarkets and gas stations stock ammo

Its definitely more narrative than useful advice.  But I find a narrative helps me to remember the useful advice, and makes it a lot more interesting to read, so its not all bad.

I only just started reading it, and I'm about 70 pages in.  The comments left on the pdf are sometimes amusing, too.

[Triple Zero]

Thanks Annabell

Yes, ANNEBEL! I WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, ANNABEL!!

[Richter]

000:  Learning to "use a knife" you don't need a teacher mostly.  If it's for whittling, pick up a stick, branch, or bit of lumber and try it!  A small set of toolsfor different knife / chisel / gouge shapes can give you a good sense of what does what.  I picked up a decent small set for $15, not sure what price / availabilty NL would have.  Then try the same with your pocket knife or camping knife!

If you're interested in more "Bushcraft", or "Survival" applications, then the same, but poke around online for ideas and techniques.  There's a series, A-Z of Bushcraft, which runs through a lot of the basics (trimming wood into firewood sizes, making kindling, building a fire, etc.).
If you don't already, keep a whetstone or a diamond steel around and practice keeping your tools sharp too (It's a good habit, and extends the usefulness of all your kitchen knives!). 
If you go camping try it out!  Playing with knives / fire gets bad press, but it teaches you what to do. (this bugged me about "EMERGENCY", too serious, have fun with it.)

Everyone will have their 2 cents on knife fighting.  Personally, I'd rather fight with a stick.  If all I have is a knife, and I haven't taken 5 min. to cut or find a stick, I've messed up.  That said, Cain has a PDF on the subject based on one dude's prison fighting that's covers the technical basics.  That discussion on the whole may be better spun off into a MartialSpag thread.

[Richter]

Nice, what have you made so far?

It's got a reputation of being the "Old timer's" craft, but it really does take a lot of skill and patience.  Folks who are really into it will make spoons, caged balls, or all sort of improbable things with just a small pocket knife (reground and heavily sharpened), and a lot of patience.

[Triple Zero]

Nice, what have you made so far?

just a wood chip mess on the front porch. 

THE QUESTSIONS!!! THEY ANSWER THEMSELVES!!

[Richter]

I've found a good way to stimulate discussion is to express interest in someone's intentions in their work. 

"I've made a piece of wood into a different shaped peice of wood"

OR

"I was attempting to make...."

OR

"I needed more woodchips for my pet rodent, and decided to make them in a slow way while acting out my 'old country man on the front porch' fetish"

[Triple Zero]

I'm sorry. BAI please proceed to point out that it was in fact option numero three, and weirden it up a notch.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

000:  Learning to "use a knife" you don't need a teacher mostly.  If it's for whittling, pick up a stick, branch, or bit of lumber and try it!  A small set of toolsfor different knife / chisel / gouge shapes can give you a good sense of what does what.  I picked up a decent small set for $15, not sure what price / availabilty NL would have.  Then try the same with your pocket knife or camping knife!

If you're interested in more "Bushcraft", or "Survival" applications, then the same, but poke around online for ideas and techniques.  There's a series, A-Z of Bushcraft, which runs through a lot of the basics (trimming wood into firewood sizes, making kindling, building a fire, etc.).
If you don't already, keep a whetstone or a diamond steel around and practice keeping your tools sharp too (It's a good habit, and extends the usefulness of all your kitchen knives!).  
If you go camping try it out!  Playing with knives / fire gets bad press, but it teaches you what to do. (this bugged me about "EMERGENCY", too serious, have fun with it.)

Everyone will have their 2 cents on knife fighting.  Personally, I'd rather fight with a stick.  If all I have is a knife, and I haven't taken 5 min. to cut or find a stick, I've messed up.  That said, Cain has a PDF on the subject based on one dude's prison fighting that's covers the technical basics.  That discussion on the whole may be better spun off into a MartialSpag thread.

Do yourself a favor and get a good Leatherman multitool. They're useful for working with a variety of materials and can be used to make all sorts of shit, extremely useful. Much more-so than a regular knife.

Also, knives are mostly a liability in a fight unless you've had extensive training on how to use them. Knives will take time to stop an assailant even if used properly, a good blunt object can stop an assailant almost immediately. That said, if you've gotten into a fight (especially a close quarters fight) you've already fucked up.