# What is your specialty?



## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I raise rabbits and garden a lot. I think if something happened, I could trade rabbit meat and veggies for other needed goods. 

What is your specialty?


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## Blademaker (Feb 22, 2013)

Bladesmith with a small machine shop down stairs, 2 forges, home brewer, Mead maker, cheese maker, preserve/smoke meats.

How hard is it to raise rabbits, and what kind?

Thanks


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

I do a little blacksmithing (looking to get a lot deeper into it), . . . leather work, . . . metal work, . . . electrical, construction, plumbing, HVAC, and I'm pastor of a little country church.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## oddapple (Dec 9, 2013)

I did an anvil works for about 8 years after my first burn out with medicine, but it's been over fifteen yrs since I hammered all day. I have been planning to, after crops are in and farm is running.
I'm medicine, org chemistry, farm and primitive skills. I'd rather be renting jet skis, but if we gotta have boom-boom (dang! Ahahaha!)


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Sadly my list starts out expert at breaking other people stuff, 
Working on regaining family farming skills, I do know a thing or two about building rail roads.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

If I had to pick a specialty it would be metal smith. If you want it made out of metal I can do it. But I can also make leather goods, cook & can, engineer and construct buildings, electronics, drafting, computer programming (hobby programming), sewing from clothes to back-packs, and I am working on wood-working skills. I have no affinity with wood and little patience for things that won't yield to my will - hence the learning curve with wood.


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

Supurvision. I can tell anyone how to do their job better. 
Seriously, thou, I guess it would be "a fixer". I can fix, recycle, repurpase things. My lady says Im a crazy hillbilly, but she sees that there isn't much I cant fix.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

Good Skills all, anything you know will be very important. I am a jack of all trades and a master of none, but my experience is broad. My personality is learning as much as I can about a subject but I get bored after I find out most of the skills and so I don't practice them to become an expert. But as a whole I can fix, hunt, count, harvest, debate, worship, earn, dig, fish, sing, and throw horse shoes better than 80% of you hehe.

After the collapse I am honing my skills to be a community organizer, I see that as a challenge that is fun to learn and should be very valuable.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Don't forget that being a community organizer is a step toward the white house.


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## PrepConsultant (Aug 28, 2012)

Same here, Jack of all and master of none.. There is not much equipment I can't run. When it comes to farming and ranching, I can hold my own. Hunting and fishing are up there too. Including long range hunting. The one thing I have never really picked up is electrical work. I guess I will have to start learning that now. I have a wide range of stuff I have done over the years from being a commercial scuba diver to locomotive conductor/engineer.. You learn a lot of different stuff that way..lol


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

Just starting out myself. 

I've done glazing, plumbing, electrical, carpentry. I've rebuilt engines, done about every aspect of mechanicals. Never rebuilt transmissions, but I've replaced them, converted from auto to stick, etc. 

I see myself as keeping mechanical things going. And being security. 

I've also been gardening, and just recently raising chickens. I'm looking for a rabbit or 2. I have a cage, need the rabbits. I'll start off with 2 see how many I get haha.


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

Just about any kind of construction/ building. Master electrician. Bushcraft, fishing, hunting, farming.


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

Hey, I just realized that I broke 200 posts!


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Automatic transmissions are easy to rebuild - complex but easy work. The manual transmissions are simpler but they're hard work. Most things having to do with vehicles I have done for a living. Having been a mechanic for 43 years (even had my own shop) you get to do all kinds of work. (I even deigned a complete engine when I was 14) Plumbing repairs and complete home wiring are easy for me. I designed and built my two out buildings and one of them has more wiring circuits than most homes. I haven't learned to engineer a full plumbing job yet and it's not high on the list of things to do either.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Woodworking has been my passion for the last 20 or so years. I made all of the cabinetry and about half of the furniture in our current house. I can hold my own doing sheet metal work. I put myself through college working in a machine shop and towards the end, I was getting pretty good with an old WWII era Bridgeport mill. I have not touched one since (that was over 25 years ago), so I do not know if I still have that skill or not. I will eventually find out as I plan to build out a hobbyist metal shop in the next few years.

Beyond that, I make some pretty awesome sausage and am a better than average pit master.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Inor, anyone who can work with wood has my admiration. My brother can do fantastic things with wood but I am better at making sawdust than anything else. I am in the process of learning that you have to build to suit the wood that you are working with. It is hard for me to let the wood tell me what it will do. That is why I do so well with metal - you can put it any way you want it to go and it stays there. You can also actually use tolerances when working with steel - unlike wood that will grow, twist, cup and bend to suit itself no matter what you do.

Anyway, my hat is off to you!


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

PaulS said:


> Inor, anyone who can work with wood has my admiration. My brother can do fantastic things with wood but I am better at making sawdust than anything else. I am in the process of learning that you have to build to suit the wood that you are working with. It is hard for me to let the wood tell me what it will do. That is why I do so well with metal - you can put it any way you want it to go and it stays there. You can also actually use tolerances when working with steel - unlike wood that will grow, twist, cup and bend to suit itself no matter what you do.
> 
> Anyway, my hat is off to you!


HAHAHA! Yes - it can be frustrating at times.  If you are just getting started and trying to get a sense of joinery, starting off working with Baltic Birch plywood is a good way to go. It is very stable and mostly stays the size you cut it. Once you get used to planning 5-6 cuts ahead of where you are working, then switch over to hardwood.


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## nurseholly (Oct 7, 2013)

I like to hunt, fish, garden, knit, crochet, quilt, sew and bake. I like building things with my hands, I'm good with power tools and you tell me I can't do something and I will do it.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

primary skill.... electrical, from generation, to fixing that little radio, I can hold my own

spent a lot of years in 10 pin bowling, and fixing "s#%t with s#%t" is sort of a art form

do have other secondary skills..


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Currently doing maintenance work in a factory, but have the skills most folks who call themselves men, should have. Except woodworking, I know, measure twice cut once, I cut it twice and its still too short.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

1skrewsloose said:


> Currently doing maintenance work in a factory, but have the skills most folks who call themselves men, should have. Except woodworking, I know, measure twice cut once, I cut it twice and its still too short.


if you can cut straight your one up from me


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## Fuzzee (Nov 20, 2012)

I can sing Ave Maria with my butt after I eat a bunch of beans, The hard part is hitting the high notes, I've got to squeeze my cheeks together really tight and shake one leg while doing it. :-|









Other than that I've got a fair amount of weapons and survival skills, basic maintenance skills towards home, auto and technology. If it needs doing, I'll see it done, whether doing it myself or torturing or coercing someone else to.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

Machine shop experience, all things mechanical, electrical. HVAC was my trade.
Remodeled three homes, including additions, plumbing, rewiring, roofing, etc.
I do most of my own gunsmithing work, reload, hunt, fish, gather.
I'm a fix it man, if it moves, I can fix it.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

A bunch of people wrote in my high school yearbook that they thought I was "cool". So, I'm going with that...cool.


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## PrepConsultant (Aug 28, 2012)

Inor said:


> Woodworking has been my passion for the last 20 or so years. I made all of the cabinetry and about half of the furniture in our current house. I can hold my own doing sheet metal work. I put myself through college working in a machine shop and towards the end, I was getting pretty good with an old WWII era Bridgeport mill. I have not touched one since (that was over 25 years ago), so I do not know if I still have that skill or not. I will eventually find out as I plan to build out a hobbyist metal shop in the next few years.
> 
> Beyond that, I make some pretty awesome sausage and am a better than average pit master.


I have been getting into woodworking here recently. We have a heated shop and it's not to go in there and turn on the radio, have some whiskey and screw around. We have a LOT of Lodgepole cut up in several different diameters. I am going to start working on a bed when I get back from Florida next weekend. I have also started working on building things with pallets also. We have a feed store in town and I can get all the pallets I want. So it is a no brainer. I think I am goin to use pallets to build a coop for the pheasants we are going to get after the first of the year..


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

I think I would stud myself out to attractive, single, lonely women who needed some affection for the night.

Just kidding... Happily married - that would never happen.

I probably should work on getting something. I'm pretty intelligent, and very adaptable, but I fall into the jack of all trades category. The things I'm a master of are only valuable in the corporate world.


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## jesstheshow (Nov 18, 2013)

I can hunt and butcher, I do very well at that. I am a pretty good gardener, and I have enough knowledge here and there to be useful, but other than that... I dont really have a "specialty"


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

I can do a lot, mostly ranch and farm work, butcher, hunting. supervision and making things get done is what I do in real life. I would say planning, right now shopping is a skill, always prepping  id like to learn more about gardening. in our group we have solar, mechanical and electrical all have horsemanship skills, a few army and marines vets. 
I think the biggest thing I bring to the table is being a doer and a thinker. also having put a lot of time into reading and learning, just that I have thought about something, bring to our group and we discuss the variables and come to a decision and do training/ learning before things are grim.

I wasn't always a city person. I am here to meet my objective, I did that. now I am saving and planning relocation. id like to get back to a slower life, a more self sustained life like how I grew up.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Montana Rancher said:


> Good Skills all, anything you know will be very important. I am a jack of all trades and a master of none, but my experience is broad. My personality is learning as much as I can about a subject but I get bored after I find out most of the skills and so I don't practice them to become an expert. But as a whole I can fix, hunt, count, harvest, debate, worship, earn, dig, fish, sing, and throw horse shoes better than 80% of you hehe.
> 
> After the collapse I am honing my skills to be a community organizer, I see that as a challenge that is fun to learn and should be very valuable.


Are you waiting until "after the collapse" to get started? There will be a lot of competition then, and a lot of it bogus, don't ya think?

My own skills are train-wreck repair. I have gotten good at it through lots of practice! *LOL*

Seriously, though, I think my experience in home-school curriculum design is my best offer to any community of preppers. This would be more than just schooling the kids, but also would include helping adults redesign their cultural life away from their dependence on electronic activities and passive media.

I worry about those preppers who seem to be thinking of little hunker-down cabins where they will be holed up with a pile of food, ammo, and a handful of people and no card games or books or other peacekeeping activities!


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## JimD (Nov 4, 2013)

We (wife) and I have had some pretty awesome opportunities to experience quite a bit in life, not sure if we have a specialty though. What we would offer to a community of 'like minded folks' would be security (10+ years in Marines as a combat forward planner plus years in LE for a large city) and food source/supply (we hunt, am an apiarist, we raise and butcher rabbits and goats , wife has some mad gardening/berry patch, canning and baking skills!) Other skills/experiences would be wild land forest firefighter, carpenter, brain tanning, smoking and preserving meat, and good sports (win or lose) at board and card games! 

Currently reading a few books on how to make various wines and tonics and also looking at how to make mead.

Would like to learn some additional skills especially in the metal working trades, the wife is currently learning/practicing how to extract oils from plants ie lavender, rose hip, etc to take care of whatever ails ya! ;-)


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## Meangreen (Dec 6, 2012)

Mechanical repair of any kind and if you absolutely positively need it destroyed today...I'm your man.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Mechanical, electrical, maintenance, retired paramedic (wife is retired ER nurse), jack of all trades, THINKING outside the box. Know a little about a lot of things and a lot about a few things.


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

Just retired from an Automotive factory after 25 years in maintenance, I took every class they offered. welding, machining, ac/dc drives, servo motors, robots (Fanuc, Motoman, Kawasaki and Nachi) frequency drives, PC controllers, hydraulics, pneumatic, blue print reading, AC and DC electronics, AC and DC motors and several more I can't think of. My specialty was getting thing up and running as fast as possible. So anything that runs I usually can figure out how to get it running again.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

:lol: My wife and I were talking the other night and the first thing out of her mouth was that I could blow anything up! :lol: 

I have a little organic chemistry background and use my mind to come up with all kinds of ideas about any topic. I have made model rockets and several different kinds of launchers and controllers.
I would imagine that as long as you stick to some basic concepts pipe devices like mortars, claymores, and cratering charges would be fairly easy to construct. For removing stumps you could use some 2 inch pipe about six inches long placed well under the stump and it would do a decent job. Cannon fuse or electrical igniters (I would prefer the electrical) would be ideal to make sure you weren't too close.


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## SpaceMax (Nov 26, 2013)

SPACEMAX | INSTANT REDEPLOYABLE WORKFORCE ACCOMMODATIONS ANYWHERE ON EARTH
This is what I am good at.


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## Meangreen (Dec 6, 2012)

SpaceMax said:


> SPACEMAX | INSTANT REDEPLOYABLE WORKFORCE ACCOMMODATIONS ANYWHERE ON EARTH
> This is what I am good at.


Wow that is quite a skill!


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## SpaceMax (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks, We are very proud of them


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Extremely maniacally inclined!.excuse me,mechanically inclined.I can put things back together that other people have taken apart or abandoned or things I have taken apart and actually put them back together and make it work.correctly!.right now this winter I specialize in repairing broken snowthrowers in sub-zero temperatures.


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

PaulS said:


> Inor, anyone who can work with wood has my admiration.


Dangit, you people... I try to live by "If you can't post something serious, don't post anything at all" and this is making my life particularly difficult at the moment.

I'm just going to shut up and go learn a skill.


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## nurseholly (Oct 7, 2013)

dannydefense said:


> Dangit, you people... I try to live by "If you can't post something serious, don't post anything at all" and this is making my life particularly difficult at the moment.
> 
> I'm just going to shut up and go learn a skill.


At least you didn't say hard...


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

nurseholly said:


> At least you didn't say hard...


I did, then I backspaced like a mofo.


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## BamaBoy101 (Dec 9, 2013)

We raise rabbits and quail and the occasional pig..


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## nurseholly (Oct 7, 2013)

BamaBoy101 said:


> We raise rabbits and quail and the occasional pig..


Mmm... bacon


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

We raise cows, vegetables, goats, and chickens.


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

I Need to brush up on Medical / Triage / 1st aid, 
currently I am trying to become debit free down to all I owe on is the Home.


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## Go2ndAmend (Apr 5, 2013)

I don't know if I have a specialty. I can and do ranch and farm. That entails raising livestock and crops, machinery repair, construction, light mechanical work, welding and troubleshooting. I hunt and fish in my spare time and am an avid shooter. I guess logistics and organization would also apply since I seem to have a lot to keep organized and running and those would be valuable skills in the event of the event.


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

I'm Good at pissing off my wife more like an expert shes looking over my shoulder right now oh she says Id have PhD in that is that a skill ? Maybe more like a specialty


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

Ok just kidding


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