
The Importance of Learning Primitive Communication Methods - evolution2
https://survivorsupply.com/the-importance-of-learning-primitive-communication-methods-when-no-phone-will-work-and-the-internet-is-crashed/
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kstenerud
The importance of this is almost nil, because you'll never find someone else
who understands any of these at a time when it would actually be useful.

In a catastrophic situation, you have two options: hunker down, or walk out
(never drive). Staying put means that you can stockpile a few weeks worth of
food and water.

Walking out means that you might eventually get to a place not affected, but
it requires a lot more preparation. Have cash, food + water for a few days,
two flashlights, first aid kit, compass, paper maps in ziploc bags, a knife,
axe, portable stove, pot, fork, spoon, nylon cord, poncho, polar fleece, spare
leather shoes, socks, warm hat, multiple redundant sources of fire, and
possibly some luxuries like a tarp if you can handle the weight (but better
not to). And know something about survival in the woods.

You take your chances either way.

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mmartinson
Do you contest that synthetic shoes are ill-suited for a walk out attempt?

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kstenerud
I'm saying that proper leather shoes tend to be built for better longevity,
can take a beating, can be repaired easier, and you'll likely already be
wearing synthetic shoes when the catastrophe occurs anyway.

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w8rbt
You learn Morse Code by hearing it... not by seeing it. So ignore that chart
on the website. You have to hear the rhythm to learn it. "Di dah dit dit" is
what L sounds like, etc. Don't count dits and dahs (you won't be able to keep
up). Learn the sounds. It's easy if you learn the sounds.

And visual code (ship signalling by light) is totally different from code sent
over radio. Also, no one uses Morse Code anymore for anything meaningful. Ham
radio hobbyist use it for radio contest, and occasional rag chewing, but the
most meaningful code you'll hear today are repeaters or vessels identifying...
this is callsign... but that's about it.

Great hobby and very simple way to communicate but not worth it for survival
IMO. And I know Morse Code (and can use it when I have to) upto about 15 to 20
WPM. I am rusty though as I seldom have a need or desire to use it.

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NickBusey
The article provides the entire Morse Code alphabet table, but neglects to
mention 'SOS' the simplest and most important bit of Morse anyone should know.

I was surprised last night to learn my wife doesn't know how to signal SOS in
Morse. Granted I was a boy scout for a few years, but I thought this was
something everyone was taught. It's a sham that is apparently not the case.

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vectorEQ
it totally depends on where you are from if that is in any way relevant. for
example, where i am from, i wouln't expect anyone to know it. so doing SOS in
morse, would just get some frowns at best. and i couldn't conceive of a
situation apart from total catastrophic civilisation meltdown where it would
be needed. literally. and most cases which could occur to make that happen
will render your electronics etc. useless so good luck sending it out...

if you're on a boat all day with a ham radio or such devices, sure it's useful
to know. but in a big city or urban area with no general access to such
devices? are you going to write dashes and dots on the wall???

not saying that it's useless to know. i learnt a lot of these things from my
parents, and i would teach my children if i had any, but i can totally relate
to people not caring about it in my area and finding it some niche interest
for 'nerds' or so.

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carapace
A building collapses, you're trapped in the rubble, you have just enough range
of motion and strength to move your hand, and the dust has clogged your throat
so you can barely breath, let alone yell to rescuers. How can you let people
know you're there and alive? Tap out SOS.

Even if the people searching the rubble don't know SOS, they will still
recognize that it's not a natural noise.

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bryondowd
To play devil's advocate, any unnatural pattern would suffice. You could tap
out 'shave and a haircut, two bits' and probably more people would recognize
it. Bonus, you could tap the first part, and many people would probably think
to tap the ending back to you.

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qwerty456127
I wish more people knew these yet I doubt anybody is going to understand I
need medical assistance if I draw an X on the ground :-(

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cirgue
Pilots, Boy Scouts, anyone in military/fire/rescue/ police, and anyone who has
had avi training (or other outdoor rec training) will recognize that
immediately.

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tzhenghao
This brings back good memories of survival "events" when I was on my King's
Scout journey during my high school years. Until one plays an agent in a
constrained environment where tech resources are scarce that they truly
appreciate having some experience on primitive methods like these. And they
work surprisingly well too.

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PhasmaFelis
> _We hear it all the time. “Don’t worry about the Internet if the grid goes
> down. The Internet was designed to survive thermonuclear war.”
> Unfortunately, the original design of the Internet was based on
> conventional, hard-wire phone lines that were surprisingly resilient to
> catastrophic failures. Today’s Internet is different. It’s a swamp of
> wireless modems, ethernet cables and numerous other devices dependent on a
> stable infrastructure that is both complex and fragile._

Is there any truth to this? There's a bunch of obvious technical errors
(surviving nuclear war was never a design goal of the Internet, backbones have
been fiber-optic since 1987, not clear why ethernet cables are supposed to be
less reliable than telephone cables). Wireless is of course easier to
interrupt than wired, but in most places last-mile links are still hardlines.

The real issue is that you need power and a functioning service provider, but
that's always been true.

