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Total Members Voted: 15

[Stirk]

What would you do if you where to wake up in the stone age? Well you'd probably die. I know that is what I'd do. Surviving on your own isn't easy. Some of you with intense survival skills might be able to last a couple years, but what would you leave behind but an aged corpse? You need more people to thrive. You can't have a civilization with just one person.

So I'm lucky I have you.

Today I woke up in a completely alien world. Well not completely alien I guess. The trees are still trees and not like giant mushrooms or something. It might just be Earth in the past or a parallel world or whatever. Point is there isn't any signs of civilization anywhere. No roads, no planes, no smoke, no wireless connection, no houses....I've got a pretty good view from here and I can say there isn't any modern life anywhere near me. Still it doesn't look anything like where I went to bed so its not like I got kidnapped and dumped in the wilderness or something. Well I'm pretty sure I didn't. Unless this forum's clock just happens to be having some weird glitch right after the kidnapping.

See when I woke up I found out I still have my phone in my pocket. After panicking and trying out the more sensible options the phone afforded to me I realized there was only one thing I could really do with it: Connect to this forum. Not sure why. I can't even connect to any links posted here. Just this forum. I can post and read posts but there is something weird with the timeline. It looks like things fluctuate wildly. Posts I made an hour ago said I made them twenty minutes ago. Posts I made five minutes ago say I posted them ten minutes ago. So it can go in any direction. Days on your end could be weeks or even years on my end for all I know.

So here's the deal. I'm out here in the middle of nowhere in my PJs. You guys are going to tell me how to not die. I'm physically capable and moderately fit but don't really have any special skills so I'm going to need you to be very clear on what steps I need to take. If you need like years of experience to get something done its probably not going to happen unless I can get those years of experience myself. If I'm still alive at this step we can talk about how I can get myself out of the stone age.

And one last thing....my phone's battery is still going down. Until we find some way to recharge it try to keep things brief. If you copy and paste a book at me I'd probably use half my battery just trying to read it. Like I said, this thing dies and I'm dead too. Keep things short and simple and I might at least make it to the 'aged corpse' stage.

Thanks for your help, everyone. First thing is getting food right?

[Maxim_inc]

There are four things you should achieve in this order.

#1 Find Water: You will die of thirst long before you die of starvation, finding a source of clean or moderately clean water is important.

#2 Find Shelter: Finding natural shelters like fallen logs or large rocks/mounts where you can take fallen limbs and build a makeshift lean-too against is important, if you can't achieve the next step (Making Fire) having some sort of insulation will be key in surviving the cold night.

#3 Fire: The key element to survival, fire. In order to achieve it there are multiple ways: Friction: Friction is the most common way of creating fire and requires you to rub wood together using a bow, plow or a hand drill. Try and find a large piece of softer wood and a small stick around as thick as your pinkie and rub it between your hands at speed to create friction between it and the stick. If possible make a bow out of a curved stick and any suitable vines and wrap it around the stick so you can run it back and force to increase friction. Make sure you have suitable tinder to catch the spark once its formed.

#4 Food: Food is something important, until you get fire you should focus on things that don't require cooking to eat such as berries, roots, fruits and veggies. Eat anything that you are absolutely certain you recognize and STAY AWAY FROM MUSHROOMS. Don't pick everything at once so that way you can eat more later, only pick enough to satiate your hunger for now and a small snack for your morning breakfast.

[EuchreJack]

Look around and tell us what else you find.  Maybe you're in the future and not the past, and thus have stuff from today lying around?
Anything else in your pockets?

[Nirur Torir]

Do what Maxim said.
If you can't recognize any berries, there's a way to safely test them for poison. Bite one and spit it out. If you're fine 8 hours later, chew one up and spit it out. 8 hours after that, you can eat one, and slowly eat more every 8 hours until you're sure they're safe.

Copper was pretty common on the ground before people mined it all. Keep watch out for green rocks and try to remember where they are.
Look for plant fiber, either trees with bark that can easily be broken down by hand into fiber, or fibrous plants. Turning it into twine is annoying, but you'll want a basket eventually. Actually making twine should wait until you have food and water.
When you find water, try to find clay. You'll need that for building a kiln and for pottery. Depending on the climate, you might be able to make sun-baked bricks for a better shelter than a lean-to.

[Knightwing64]

Closely examine everything in your general vicinity to see if any animals or predators are nearby, Are there any tracks? Pee marks? Scat?

You might even find signs of a humanoid species if you somehow are on a different planet.

Also, Do what Maxim said. That’s the best I’ve got so far. Gonna need some more info before giving more conclusive instructions.

[BlackPaladin99]

Here is a better set of priorities:

• take off shirt
• beat on chest
• kill something with bare hands
• Shout to sky: “I will take down all who dare oppose me.

[King Zultan]

Are there any tall things that stick out above everything around it, if so clime that thing and see if there's anything interesting around, like river or buildings.

[Man of Paper]

1) Remove rib
2) Make woman
3) ?
4) Profit!

[Knightwing64]

I can tell y’all would obviously survive if faced with a situation like this lol.

[a1s]

While survival is obviously key, achieving the stated goal of restarting civilization is going to be impossible without at least two (and preferably a lot more) people.

[Knightwing64]

While survival is obviously key, achieving the stated goal of restarting civilization is going to be impossible without at least two (and preferably a lot more) people.

Indeed, Which is why we are searching our surroundings. Hell, Maybe this is a fantasy world and we can just magic up a partner.

[Naturegirl1999]

A lean to is made by leaning lots of sticks in an angle, eventually making a slanted wall you can get under, find something tall to lean the branches against, the thicker the branches, the more sturdy it’ll be. After you’re done with the slanted wall against the large rock or tree or whatever you’re leaning the, on, find more sticks/branches to make a wall on one end for more insulation, they can stay upright if you get them hard enough into the ground, difficulty will vary based on the hardness of the soil. Do not eat brightly colored animals, bright markings usually mean they’re poisonous

[Stirk]

There are four things you should achieve in this order.

#1 Find Water: You will die of thirst long before you die of starvation, finding a source of clean or moderately clean water is important.

#2 Find Shelter: Finding natural shelters like fallen logs or large rocks/mounts where you can take fallen limbs and build a makeshift lean-too against is important, if you can't achieve the next step (Making Fire) having some sort of insulation will be key in surviving the cold night.

#3 Fire: The key element to survival, fire. In order to achieve it there are multiple ways: Friction: Friction is the most common way of creating fire and requires you to rub wood together using a bow, plow or a hand drill. Try and find a large piece of softer wood and a small stick around as thick as your pinkie and rub it between your hands at speed to create friction between it and the stick. If possible make a bow out of a curved stick and any suitable vines and wrap it around the stick so you can run it back and force to increase friction. Make sure you have suitable tinder to catch the spark once its formed.

#4 Food: Food is something important, until you get fire you should focus on things that don't require cooking to eat such as berries, roots, fruits and veggies. Eat anything that you are absolutely certain you recognize and STAY AWAY FROM MUSHROOMS. Don't pick everything at once so that way you can eat more later, only pick enough to satiate your hunger for now and a small snack for your morning breakfast.

#1 is done. Got lucky and found a creek! The water is clear and cold and doesn't taste too funny. I hope it won't kill me.

A lean to is made by leaning lots of sticks in an angle, eventually making a slanted wall you can get under, find something tall to lean the branches against, the thicker the branches, the more sturdy it’ll be. After you’re done with the slanted wall against the large rock or tree or whatever you’re leaning the, on, find more sticks/branches to make a wall on one end for more insulation, they can stay upright if you get them hard enough into the ground, difficulty will vary based on the hardness of the soil. Do not eat brightly colored animals, bright markings usually mean they’re poisonous

This made #2 much easier, thanks! I have a nice little...well it just kinda looks like a pile of sticks. It doesn't feel particularly warm but I guess it'll save me from the rain. There are plenty of sticks around here, and I picked a big rock as the thing to lean against just in case the trees are actually dangerous somehow.

#3 isn't working out for me though. I can find some tiny sticks and soft wood (some of it was a little wet. That is probably why its soft I guess?) but I don't see any vines up here and don't really know where to look for them. I'm not really sure what tinder is or how to get it either. I tried to spin the little stick around like directed but it barely even got hot, I'm clearly not very good at this.

Do what Maxim said.
If you can't recognize any berries, there's a way to safely test them for poison. Bite one and spit it out. If you're fine 8 hours later, chew one up and spit it out. 8 hours after that, you can eat one, and slowly eat more every 8 hours until you're sure they're safe.

Copper was pretty common on the ground before people mined it all. Keep watch out for green rocks and try to remember where they are.
Look for plant fiber, either trees with bark that can easily be broken down by hand into fiber, or fibrous plants. Turning it into twine is annoying, but you'll want a basket eventually. Actually making twine should wait until you have food and water.
When you find water, try to find clay. You'll need that for building a kiln and for pottery. Depending on the climate, you might be able to make sun-baked bricks for a better shelter than a lean-to.

I found what look like huckleberries while gathering sticks and am trying your incredibly slow suggestion. I didn't die on the first bite and can use my phone clock to get the second. I'm trying to not do too much with it and have it off when I'm not talking to you guys. I feel like I'm going to have to learn patience.

Green rocks are kinda everywhere. I think that is just moss and moss-like stuff growing on them though. Is there any easy way to tell which ones are copper? As for plant fiber, there are a bunch of trees around here. And a couple of bushes. It looks like the valley has some other kinds of trees too. I think I can probably find some if you tell me how. The creek has some mud at the bottom of it. Its easy to reach since I can get to the bottom of it without even getting my sleeves wet, but I don't really know what clay looks like.

Look around and tell us what else you find.  Maybe you're in the future and not the past, and thus have stuff from today lying around?
Anything else in your pockets?

Good point. Its probably easier to go into the future than the past. I'll tell you guys if I see anything that looks man-made. For now I'm on a mountain with some pine-looking trees. There are some trees with different colors down in the valley, with some open shrubland further away. I haven't seen anything unnatural yet.

I'm still in my pajamas so I was lucky I even had my phone in my pocket. I don't even have shoes on. I'm probably lucky I haven't stepped on anything yet.

Closely examine everything in your general vicinity to see if any animals or predators are nearby, Are there any tracks? Pee marks? Scat?

You might even find signs of a humanoid species if you somehow are on a different planet.

Also, Do what Maxim said. That’s the best I’ve got so far. Gonna need some more info before giving more conclusive instructions.

I'm not the best at finding that sort of stuff, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Oh I saw a couple of birds but they flew away pretty fast so I didn't get a good look at them. I think I hear squirrels too. Mostly everything seems to be running away whenever I get close. I'm not really sure what pee marks look like, but I haven't found any of the other things. Oh there are a couple of nibbled-on pine-cones though. I guess that means the squirrels probably won't eat me.

Here is a better set of priorities:

• take off shirt
• beat on chest
• kill something with bare hands
• Shout to sky: “I will take down all who dare oppose me.

I flipped over a rock and crushed a bug that was under it. I do feel a little better. Was this some kind of psychological booster?

I started to get cold and put my shirt back on. I hope that doesn't ruin the effect.

Are there any tall things that stick out above everything around it, if so clime that thing and see if there's anything interesting around, like river or buildings.

I'm on a mountain and the trees also fit this description. Should I try climbing either or does what I've told you now suffice? There definitely arn't any modern buildings in the whole valley. There is probably a river, but I can't really tell where.

1) Remove rib
2) Make woman
3) ?
4) Profit!

I said be clear! I'm not capable of self-surgery unless you give me step by step instructions! Sorry!

While survival is obviously key, achieving the stated goal of restarting civilization is going to be impossible without at least two (and preferably a lot more) people.

Right, finding more people is definitely a priority! Just like after I'm not going to die in a week though. Do you think I should prioritize finding people higher?

Indeed, Which is why we are searching our surroundings. Hell, Maybe this is a fantasy world and we can just magic up a partner.

I'm totally willing to try at this point. Maybe the rib thing will work out.

[Maxim_inc]

I'm not the best at finding that sort of stuff, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Oh I saw a couple of birds but they flew away pretty fast so I didn't get a good look at them. I think I hear squirrels too. Mostly everything seems to be running away whenever I get close. I'm not really sure what pee marks look like, but I haven't found any of the other things. Oh there are a couple of nibbled-on pine-cones though. I guess that means the squirrels probably won't eat me.

Them running away is good, that means they've seen humans before and know you're dangerous as fuck. If they hadn't seen humans before they'd be slightly curious if cautious. This means that either you just got randomly teleported into the woods and its still modern day, or that you've ended up in a time period where some sort of modern human exists. I mean modern as in Homo Sapiens not current year.

 

isn't working out for me though. I can find some tiny sticks and soft wood (some of it was a little wet. That is probably why its soft I guess?) but I don't see any vines up here and don't really know where to look for them. I'm not really sure what tinder is or how to get it either. I tried to spin the little stick around like directed but it barely even got hot, I'm clearly not very good at this.

Tinder is dry fibrous things like dead grass or other plants, bark that has been torn in very thin strips or dry rotten wood. I meant soft as in its dry but easily marked by fingernail and other things. You're doing it but you have to spin the stick around at speed and for a long time, you're creating enough friction to ignite it so it will take a while. If you can't find any tinder then a birds nest will do finely.

Green rocks are kinda everywhere. I think that is just moss and moss-like stuff growing on them though. Is there any easy way to tell which ones are copper?

You should be able to tell the difference between moss and the kind of fluorescent green we're talking about. The rocks will have vaguely metallic veins of green and, well, coppery colored metal running through it. The green is from it rusting and should feel slightly soft and malleable. There isn't much to do with it at the moment other than collect it for future use so generally just leave it and try to remember where you saw it.

[Mercur]

#3 isn't working out for me though. I can find some tiny sticks and soft wood (some of it was a little wet. That is probably why its soft I guess?) but I don't see any vines up here and don't really know where to look for them. I'm not really sure what tinder is or how to get it either. I tried to spin the little stick around like directed but it barely even got hot, I'm clearly not very good at this.

I have decided to do a little bit of research to help you out on this, for the vines, vines are typically found in plants which have a long stem, such as trees, so search for any trees and see if they have them, or if you found any man made structure, see if it has something similar to a stem and see if it has any vines, also, vines are found in positions close to the sun, so that it could get sunlight, so some amount of climbing may be necessary


As for tinder, tinder (not the dating app) according to Wikipedia, is a easily combustible material used to start a fire. Considering this, your best bet is probably something made of plant material, like twigs, leaves, grasses, bark, or if we are talking about man made things, something like paper, either way, these are probably the most common type of tinders you may find


In terms of the the fire not starting, I found a tutorial that goes something like this: create a hole in the ground (size depends on you), using a shovel, or in this case, your hands, then lined the hole with large rocks to help contain the fire, then place twigs and sticks (our preferred type of tinder) as platforms and then dry grass or leaves, now moving on to lighting the fire, you cut a “V” on flat piece of wood using a sharp object, then place bits of bark in the v shaped notch to catch ember, then find a round stick, place it in the notch while gently pushing down on the wood, then, if the wood start to spark, transfer it to the tinder pile and blow on it to create a fire, if you successfully did that, then gradually add more tinder and blow on it to create more heat, after that, create a square made of logs around the fire, stacked in two logs high preferably, and then construct a teepee shape in the middle of the square, and this is how you start a fire.

Hope this helps