Another economic red flag has appeared and its the closure of retail stores. According to a new report detailing the precarious situation of the current economy, there is “no light at the end of the tunnel” as the closure of brick and mortar stores will continue.
Coresight Research released an outlook of 2019 store closures Wednesday, saying, there’s “no light at the end of the tunnel,” according to several reports, including one from Yahoo News. According to the global market research firm’s report, a mere six weeks into 2019, United States retailers have announced 2,187 closings of physical stores. That’s up 23 percent compared to last year. Those closings include 749 Gymboree stores, 251 Shopko store, and 94 Charlotte Russe locations.
This may not seem like such a big deal especially if you don’t often shop, but it’s a red flag for the overall economy. Either customers/consumers now have less money and aren’t willing to borrow (use credit cards) to spend at stores anymore, or they are already maxed out and cannot spend. Another issue could be the overbearing regulations and burdensome theft (taxation) levied on business. It could be a combination of all of those as well, making the cost of keeping a brick and mortar store open no longer worth it.
But reports and the media blame the growth of online sales, rising interest rates, and declining sales. Bankruptcies also are continuing at a rapid pace “with the number of filings in the first six weeks of 2019 already at one-third of last year’s total,” the report states. That means companies have taken on more debt than they can handle, and much like individuals, when that happens, it is likely the beginning of some very rough times ahead. And debt is a major concern right now for most economists. Consumer debt, student loan debt, auto debt, and the national debt has all reached historic records – and that isn’t a positive sign for the economy.
Payless ShoeSource is reported to be considering its second bankruptcy and if Charlotte Russe doesn’t find a buyer by February 17, the chain plans to completely liquidate, according to a court filing. “The continuation of a high level of retail bankruptcies, with the annualized number of filings year-to-date in 2019 already outpacing the number in 2018,” Coresight said in the new report.
The economy is very unstable right now, and all the signs of a coming recession on there. Will it happen in 6 months? One year? Two years? No one knows exactly, but the everything bubble the global economy is experiencing now will at some point, deflate.
The Big Box retail model is changing and being replaced by the low overhead and wider choice model of the rising online retailing organizations.
The Big Box stores are starting to die out the same way the “ma and pa” retailers did when faced by the Big Box competitors, the same way the old traveling peddlers got replaced by the rise of catalog retailers like Sears and a few others before them.
Retail is changing, those who adapt to the changes thrive while those who don’t die off or become minor players. It a Darwinist sort of thing, evolution to adapt to a changing environment in practice.
There are really only two stores I regularly frequent. My local grocery store and Home Depot. Everything else I buy off the internet.
It got to the point that none of the local shops have what I am looking for, so I don’t even try anymore, I just Amazon it.
These stores deserve to close. They can’t keep up with competition.
The Death of Toys R Us. This Is What Happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsEPBh1XIig
Toys-R-Us was a SHITTY store. Crappy customer service and prices were WAY over priced.
I stopped going there about 10 years ago.
LazyAss You are part of the problem. You need to support your local economy. Economies thrive on the velocity of money, which means the faster money keeps changing hands in a local the economy the better. You are killing your local economy..
Amazon cheats with cheap ass chipping rates lower to produce and ship than a local retailer. Are you supporting the Amazon thieves crashing our retail sector?
TharSheBlows nice to hear from Moscow, comrade. What, do you have a problem with COMPETITION??
Speaking about cheap, I found http://www.banggood.com
I have ordered a lot of machinist tools, drill bits and electronics from this site. Strait from China, free shipping, takes about 3 weeks to get your stuff, but about 1/4 the cost of Amazon.
This is the result of a shift from traditional brick n mortar retail to virtual/online shopping. This mirrors the age when auto sales began to outpace horse n buggy sales. Or when lightbulb sales began to outpace candles. In those days would you have equated the collapse in horse-buggy or candle sales as an ominous sign of collapse? Me thinks not. The story here is the major shift from retail to on-line…..nothing more.
In other words…..nothing really here. Move on please.!!!!
JS, I shop locally all I can. I do only as little online shopping as possible. As long as I can get something from a local source, I’ll keep doing that. If not then I’ll go to either Ebay or Amazon as a last resort. I prefer Ebay since I get better treatment and even better deals than Amazon.
When Ebay was in it’s prime, it was fun to use it. It was truly an auction site. You could find anything.
Now it is just an online retailer no different than Amazon.
The end of brick and mortar stores is the end of cash.
There will be no anonymity.
Every purchase recorded.
If you are on the naughty list, there goes your ability to purchase.
Support local shops. It’s the only way they can stay in business. Shop farmers markets. Shop mom and pop stores close to where you live, and pay with cash.
.
.I know it is almost impossible to avoid ordering online but we can still make an effort to keep our local businesses afloat.
.
With an endless supply of pseudonyms, you can never get banned.
Better start to break up the big online boys – who do not pay tax’s
Also need to break up monopoly of the News media in the hands of a few liberal billionaires
Funny how Amazon paid ZERO federal taxes in the last two years. What is up with that?
It is a discussion worth repeating, so I will…
No Corporation pays any Taxes.
All Taxes are paid by Individuals.
If you notice the list of Expenses that a Corporation (or any Business) keeps up with, one of the categories is Taxes.
So when it all washes out, there are only 3 groups of people who pay for that Expense (along with all the others)
They are (in some combination):
1.) Customers – through the Price paid for the goods and/or services the customer pays the Taxes along with all the other other expenses and then some, so there is a Profit for the Business.
2.) Employees – the amount of Pay and/or Benefits reflect the Expenses of the Business (including Taxes)
3.) Owners – Individuals’ (or Stock Holders if applicable) Profits/Dividends are affected by Expenses (again one of which is Taxes)
So, in reality, Businesses and Corporations are vehicles that the various levels of Government use to COLLECT taxes from Individuals.
For an Emotional Grab, (Democrat) Politicians bash Corporations for not paying their FAIR share of Taxes while knowing (except for AOC) that the Corps are just their collection agents…
<bb
Glad I’m not the only one who sees this.
Better start to break up the big online boys –
Why??
I decided to get replacements for tv remotes…mostly because the Westinghouse remote lost its letters.
I found an Olevia for less than $8, free shipping on amazon and checked the manufacturer and it was priced $21+ AND I pay shipping.
Now, that tells me Olevia let amazon pay less than $8 for these remotes but wants me to pay $21 from them…amazon gets privileged price and customers not so much.
F ’em.
yep–amazon warehouse employees make minimum wage while Westinghouse employees get paid lots more for pulling the same remote from a box on a shelf.
Amazon employees do not make minimum wage. lol
This is primarily due to amazon and other on line stores. Radio shak closed most of it retail stores and is almost entirely on the internet.
America’s money is created by the Federal Reserve and backed by the government indebting the people. I have done a study on the Federal Reserve, scroll down to Federal Reserve Note Click here
That is funny. Until your post, I thought Radio Shack was totally gone, but I guess they still have an online presence.
BurgerKings going to crap in my area. Store closures. I like the one to Mcdonalds. Every day I drive by around 7pm Mcdonalds is busy. I see on average 1 car in Burger Kings drive thru at the time perhaps once a week. Crappy service. Crappy grey, cold burgers. One of them had the audacity to put a ‘closed due to fire’ sign in the window. That was 2 months ago. LOL.
Really though, way too many fast food joints and they have got way too expensive. Cant imagine the impact of $15hr but some states are phasing it in I hear.
Chick fil a in my area is the best fast food. There business model is so far superior than any other fast food store.
Clean, professional, prompt and curious.
Walk into a Tyrone Bell and it is, “What the fuck do you want”
JS, there’s a few Chick-Fil-A’s in my area. Best fast food chain out there and they put the others to shame.
Everything is going to be shop online, so goodbye stores.
Look at the Truck Driving Industry, that is going automated and controlled, NO BENEFITS, NO WAGES, NO STRIKES, NO__________.
All in favor of the Corporate Giants which will manipulate everything, or should I say put you in ENSLAVEMENT.
I just don’t see the trucking industry being automated.
Next time you see an 18-wheeler turn a corner, look closely.
The 18-wheelers use more than one lane and often clip the curbs, often other cars have to back out of the way so they can complete the turn.
How do you program a truck to do that? I ask that because these are violations of the traffic law, albeit necessary for truck driving, they are still violations.
I drove OTR(over the road) for 17 years.. The ONLY way to move freight besides using trucks is by rail or plane..Even if 100% of freight is moved by rail,or plane,we’ll still have LTL(less than truckload) trucks hauling freight from the rail yards and airports to businesses..Many people don’t realize it,but 99.99999% of everything in your home,at one time,was inside of a truck..Without trucks America stops.. The trucking industry isn’t going anywhere..Least not in any of our lifetimes..
What mom and pop?
There are NO mom and pop stores in my town.
No mom and pop hardware, no mom and pop tool and equipment, no mom and pop anything?
All of the labor and materiel was bought, below cost — below the cost of overhead — because, it was subsidized. You were not competitive. If you were really so proud of your job, you would have taken the time to learn how it works.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel..a deadly supernova
Omg. John Frikin Steiner. Why don’t you leave some room for the rest of us to comment. Get a life please. Damn.
On down the road as the economic collapse persists due to inflation, if nothing else, then a good idea is taking on an apprentice so while you might not be able to pay them, you probably can feed and house them. They are learning so that eventually they can break out on their own or repeplace you as you age. This means you have to find them tools. This person is likely your son-in-law.
A good future job will be a scavager. You find abandoned things and then people need them, and some equitable trade occurs. It might actually be deconstructing useful building materials which is called architectural salvage.
It is extremely hard to make cloth. Wealth in history was transferred by fine cloth.
m said, “Wealth in history was transferred by fine cloth.”
Also, by dyestuffs, fine flour, and fine oil. Perfume, hides, and woods have been considered treasure.
You will want people to do the work for you.
In the most ancient of times, to the best of my understanding, mundane people were keep from practicing the trades. It was akin to magic or sitting in the boss’s special seat.
At the risk of belaboring the point (pompously) inventors and pioneers of some career field would have been remembered as demigods or patron deities, by the grade of person which is now overcrowding every needful resource and social position.
Inspiration was said to come from some muse, spirit guide, or guardian angel — perhaps, the deceased inventor.
People, now considered to be social refuse, would leave offerings, in remembrance.
Rather than class warfare and sjw’s occupying the seat of authority.
On these terms, civilization, was well over the hill, some generations, ago.
It’s not hard to make cloth. However, it is very time and labor consuming whether cloth is made by weaving, knitting, or other means of creating fabric (I’m presuming handmade). I have a loom and can produce coarser goods such fabric for coats or rugs.
To make fine cloth such as silk and patterned types of any fiber, more time must be taken into account.
The other part of the problem is obtaining the thread/yarn to product the desired article or sourcing the fiber to do your own spinning and produce the required thread/yarn. More time needed here also.
At the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, there is a contest called Sheep to Shawl. The team of five has from 8am to Noon to complete the project. The value of the shawl would be at least $90 if the workers are paid the $15 minimum wage. Most people who keep sheep are small time operations catering to hand knitters, spinners, etc.
So, yes, wealth in history was kept in cloth. Nobility and royalty even had threads of gold and silver woven in. There is a storied Gown of Gold worn by a princess upon her coronation as queen (think it was in Denmark, can’t recall the lady’s name).
In medieval times, clothing was never thrown out; it was stored in trunks in the attics until it was needed again for what we’d call up-cycling a clothing piece. Cloth cost a lot so it wasn’t considered a disposable good and it was common to have clothing listed in household inventories or in wills. Lace was another item in this category due to its cost.
When I grew up, clothing was made in the USA and it was of sufficient quality that and outgrown article could be passed along to numerous cousins. Commercially produced clothing today seldom makes it to another wearer because it falls apart due to cheap materials and cheap construction. Handmade items made with carefully chosen fabric can wear quite well and even be passed on to another wearer if desired.
All this may be more than anyone wants to know but just wanted to illustrate Maranatha’s point. Hmm… I could be very wealthy some day if my sewing room is any indication. 😀
The actual price of fine cloth would be ENORMOUSLY HIGH. Sure you can use a loom to make rough cloth, but that is hardly what we wear, right?
When America began to be industrialized to produce cloth, then that enabled much less expensive cloth, but those factories don’t exist in America. And to create them under collapse conditions would be impossible.
Three years after a collapse, everyone will be reduced to wearing rags. This is why the very first thing, one would go on a scouting mission to harvest cloth and clothing. And you sure better have a tailor/seamstress in your tribe.
Because of the labor involved, then having ready made clothes that were created to be heavy duty with stout thread, say for hunting gear, or very finely made coats, would be extremely beneficial. You would harvest from the very clothing in a sporting goods store because it would take so much time and labor to recreate them.
And that goes for anything like tents and especially hammock tents or sleeping bags. Or tipis.
In that case, you would shrink down lots of yardage.
Some very old Germans were discussing the use of wool, in place of denim jeans.
This costs hundreds of dollars to buy from a specialist, now.
Maranatha, my loom is not set up to make sheets, towels and finer goods. I could produce fabric suitable for winter coats or blankets.
The problem is only in obtaining a few key pieces for the equipment which I’ve not bothered with due to being busy with surviving the work world for many years. However, it wouldn’t be hard to do; just need to do it.
“And you sure better have a tailor/seamstress in your tribe.” So true. Plus basic sewing supplies like needles and threads. Making your own is quite a skill and, again, time consuming. Also consider clothing fasteners such as buttons, snaps, zippers, etc. And elastic or you’ll be holding up your drawers with a cord. 🙂
As for clothing too worn to wear, there are other uses. Some can be cut up for patches or put onto a quilt making pile and more. (I have a great imagination.) Cloth has to be nearly strings or dryer lint to be useless for sewing. At that point, it can become wicks or fire starters. Or if too worn to be sewn, it can become stuffing for something such as pillows, quilt bat (if you don’t have new, that is), house insulation, shop rags and so on.
A note about man-made fibers: they deteriorate rapidly left out in the open. People using nylon tents heavily (like live in them) find they last about a year even well cared for whereas the same thing in a heavy cotton canvas lasts for far longer. It seems I’ve seen comments about this on medieval forums by open air shops using one kind of canopy over the other. My own experience is from Boy Scout days (the real Scouts of 20th century) where I observed the nylon tents only lasted a few years of weekend camp-outs but the old style canvas tents at summer camp (set up in around Memorial Day and put in storage after Labor Day) lasted nearly forever. As garments, they last quite a while.
Wool of the right type and linen are the hardest wearing fabrics plus they can take the normal wear-and-tear of every day living. Historically, these were the go-to fibers for the working person. I have a linen skirt from many years ago (worn until pants were in style for the office) that still looks great (and will wear it again once I fit it) and would fit with current fashion with its simple style. Silk, cotton are pleasant to wear. Hemp and ramie should wear like linen but I have little practical experience with these although they are becoming more available.
This has been a very enjoyable discussion. It’s a topic I know about.
PS Don’t forget about second hand stores for fabric sources even for yardage to set aside.
You have a wealth of very practical ancestral skills like sewing that everyone could learn from.
I hope you submit at least an article.
Don’t forget that knitting came back in vogue about 2005 which surprised me. I commented to several family members when that happened.
By all indications, Gen Z…the ones after the Millennials, are open to traditional learning like ancestral skills as being frugal and practical are attractive attributes to them. This means there is a fresh opportunity to mentor them.
Many ladies made their own wedding dresses from parachutes during WW2.
ht tps://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/06/16/dresses-from-the-sky-ww2-wedding-gowns-made-from-silk-and-nylon-parachutes/
This material was otherwise completely unavailable.
Look at a standard bed sheet and the material it is composed of versus real Egyptian cotton that is 800 thread count. There is no comparison.
How would you ever make that today without machines?
You can make material from flax and even from hemp, but it would be rough, and most people lack the knowledge to produce the finished product. It would be poorly made with many flaw and rip easily because only a handful of antiquarians and historians and practioners of ancestral skills know how to do it.
I have only a passing acquaintance in taking flax to linen. It’s on my list of things to learn.
Colonials were once proud of their fabrics, as a means of independence, fwiw.
It seems that one of the most rebellious things is to be industrious.
I bet you are a cutie, clever, and delightful. If you ever got generous, you could write a heck of an article on prepping and using sewing as a vital ancestral skill.
If Millennials and Gen Z don’t learn to sew, embroider, knit, and do needlepoint, these will be LOST. How’s your eyesight and how steady can you hand stitch?
Maranatha, Thanks for the compliments (even if they are true). And I could indeed write an article or two on sewing. Professionally, I’m a tech writer and sewing, while fun for me, is technical. Last summer, I began teaching my grandchildren to sew and one of them did a school project about Indians where she dressed a doll as an Indian princess; seems she made an A++ on that. 😀 I’m happy to teach anyone who wants to learn but most don’t because cheap clothing is available though they don’t understand how bad it is.
My eyesight is good. I was working on a knitted sock earlier and will be pulling out my cross stitch in a few. All I need is good light for my handwork projects. Back when my girlfriend’s 3 sons were marrying, we worked on dresses for the brides; my task was always doing the handwork. Wedding guests thought our wedding gown efforts were done by professionals.
“If Millennials and Gen Z don’t learn to sew, embroider, knit, and do needlepoint…” So true. It’s these little touches that make someplace feel like home. I think embroidery and other needlework (knit, crochet, tat, etc.) while not essential to immediate survival but are essential to retaining sanity. Heck, way back when sailors invented macrame (fancy cord knotting) which is used decoratively now. And fancy needlework is a wonderful thing to hand down to the generations that succeed us. Like gardening or other good things, it takes practice for good results.
One of the great loves of my life made a very complicated piece of crewel embroidery when she was only 14 (I was 16). She was quite talented with various ancestral skills and as enchanting and breathtaking as a princess, innocent and devout.
ht tps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crewel_embroider
Once such ladies were ubiquitous among the rural folks of Kentucky. Now even here, they are becoming uncommon as some are beguiled by dehumanizing technology.
She was so clever that when I taking genetics my senior year, and was puzzling over a problem about DNA, and she matter-of-factly explained the solution.
It was once not at all unusual for middle school young ladies to know how to do all the chores in the country and practice a dozen crafts as well as play an instrument, and know the Bible and every hymn by heart. Such ladies were typically on the honor roll throughout high school.
That’s what I call maturity. These attributes are noble and they invariably magnify their countenance.
I felt certain you likewise would possess such felicitous charms.
Maranatha, my mother showed all us girls (only had sisters) how to wield an embroidery needle at tender ages and numerous other handwork lessons. These things were secondary to helping with chores including assisting relatives with various gardening tasks. I also recall despairing over memorizing some Bible passages to be ready for class the next day (attended parochial school through grade 6). All the females in my family were taught these things and practice them still.
My musical skills are limited to the flute and piano albeit these rusty skills need vast improvement but can still carry a tune well.
I haven’t done any crewel embroidery in some time. I have to limit the number of projects so some get done. And there are many waiting for my attention.
It seems few appreciate a Proverbs 31 type woman. She’s a fish out of water in current society. However, I persist in holding her as my ideal and emulating her ways.
In places like Los Angeles, going shopping anywhere that is not in walking distance has now become all but impossible. The governor declared the whole state to be a sanctuary for illegal aliens. the safe-haven state for all illegals. California is self-destructing right before our eyes! Los Angeles once had a population of around 18 million (greater urban area), but thanks to sanctuary city and state policies, the LA population has swelled to at least 25 million! It is impossible to drive anywhere because it can easily take you 15 minutes to get just one block.
The illegal aliens have flooded into the area in masses, and they are all looking for work and housing in their cars. Shopping is all but impossible because you cannot get anywhere. The public buses and subway trains are full of filth, vomit, and crime, as are the streets, and the so-called police are nowhere to be found.
All this will be coming to a neighborhood near you, too, courtesy of the lunatic Dems!
All this takes is a little inspiration, and less than an hour of your time.
Investors, doing due diligence —
Go in there, between seasons, or during inventory. You will know when.
Do all the floor manager and full-timers, all of them, resemble some special interest group, or class of protected wildlife. Be frank. Be literal. This is not a rhetorical question. Make a note of specific demographics.
Now, go in the corporate portion of their website. Who are the major donors.
If your business model is just to embezzle charity, why is it even structured as a for-profit.
I tried to honor the local stores and used them until I got tired of the poor service, rip offs, and lies. I get MUCH better service from Amazon. I would really prefer to buy locally, but they do not have the range of products and don’t care about the customers. That has been my experience over the last twenty years.
Without giving undue credit to Bezos, his special pics, or wage slave working conditions, with robot injuries, Amazon is like an open air bazaar, where lots of small businesses or craftsmen come to participate. Also, you might use it to buy raw materials, constructive advice, or the means of production. It can probably enable you more than other social institutions.
I do business with my local stores even if it means I pay a higher price. When those businesses go other businesses go with them. It’s just a matter of time before I become a casualty of my failure to support others in my community. Supporting them is supporting myself. That’s just reality.
You must have been in the Black Gang. Spent many an hour cleaning out the Bilges, oh what fun. Trekker Out
A trader who built a keelboat, would likely have two mules aboard. And theycould use the current and polling and sails to navigate up and down the river. But occasionally a deckhand would hitch the mules on the rivershore and pull the keelboat along especially if there was a risk of losing control through rapids.
That trader/river pilot had various goods like nails and cloth as well as moonshine and tobacco. The cloth was good most ANYWHERE so you could store bolts of it and then easily sell it or trade it as it was extremey hard to acquire or make. Likewise sewing needles or thread would be highly in demand items.
People would make salt on the coasts, then the further inland it went, the higher the price, and EVERYONE would need it. Salt in Kansas would be very expensive and hard to acquire. That salt might have traveled a very long way by keelboat, wagon, canoe, and horseback.
Heck old sewing patterns, which millennials have probably never heard of, would be in demand. Our ancestors routinely made their garments. My mother and sister sure did as well as my aunts and grandmothers and greatgrandmothers.
Think how hard it is to make bottles. How many people can create bottle now or a jar. This is why I talked about architectural salvage because lots of the gingerbread, or stained glass, or scrollwork, would not only be difficult to have made, how many craftsmen/artisans can do this today? Some would harvest glass panes and whole windows because these would be in demand as well as a door and frame.
River pirates would come back, and some keelboats would have to have security for that reason. Others would block the river and demand tolls. And some small operators would make hand pulled ferries or rig up a mechanical cranked one, and that is no small endeavor to fabricate and maintain.
Sorry, but not sorry, most of these retail chains deserve to shut down. They are running on antiquated platforms with moronic high pressure sales AT THE REGISTER.
They refused to change and now the change is making them worthless. Same thing happened to Blockbuster. Good riddance.
This is news? What planet are you from?
Stores have been closing for any and all kinds of reasons ever since the first store opened up back in 2152BC.
Don’t worry Mac, you and your 350 million fat obese people will have plenty of cheap cattle feed, along with endless lines of debt-credit. Many of you haven’t worked a single day in your lifetime.
No collapse, no fear of missing a meal.
LOL even your photo shows two people, both are morbidly obese Americans.
This is admirable, compared to starvation. People should produce their own food, with morbid obesity being their goal.
If you failed to pack on pounds going into winter, you be dead by spring. That is a fact as they routinely ran out of food and could only prepare some of it.
Yes, Americans are obese but why? I think on some level many intuit their doom and some instinctual response is going on.
Criticism is great but balance that with one critical post with two instructive ancestral skill posts.
To harvest enough berries, fat, and meat to then jerk dry and mix to make pemmican took LOTS OF WORK CALORIES. The acorns and maple syrup would run out and the pemmican amd whatever they had like dried grasshoppers, and then they starved to spring.
Beaumont 2.0 is incredibly smart but most don’t even know he/she is talking about as it goes over their head. Very wise and intuitive too.
If we ever have a civil war 2.0 and a Great 2nd Depression, I reckon most will just die of dehydration, starvation, and nervous breakdowns.
So from this second until May when you harvested your spring garden crops and could actually start trapping, most of the skinny people would have perished by starvation/dehydration.
First they get weak as they have inadequate blood sugar, then faint, then delirious, then comatose, then death.
The fat people might make it for two to three months and if they could trap some fish in a fishing basket or use trotlines and snoods or get some carp and smoke it, they might make it. Carp will go through some transitional streams and can just get clubbed and taken for an easy meal. I watched a delighted 11 year old do it. He whomped it on the head. That’s a lot of calories.
I am highly coordinated, with excellent upper body strength, can climb, but basically look like the Schnitzel Man from “Hoodwinked”. There is no heavy lifting without heavy eating.
I looked the the first Augustus Gloop and, afaic, food is a legitimate survival need.
Fat, not to the point of making someone ungainly or unhygeinic or diseased, is more survivable than mild anorexia. If you fall, will you bounce or break under your own weight. Frailty breaks, where I might not bruise. I watched it, repeatedly.
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Trotlines
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Snoods using an exaggerated size for instructive purposes.
If making a fishing basket which takes a lot of time, for gosh sakes put it in an active spot with flowing water to improve your chances, knucklehead.
Two liter bottles can be made into fishing traps and eating little hapless schools of bite sized fish cooked into a fish soup.
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Two smart kids using modified collanders and a plastic bottle to hold the bait and feeding their family. They aren’t playing video games and being obnoxious and surly.
An old German American buddy of mine used to quip, “I like watchin’ people work…it’s relaxin’.” That’s how retirement is. I could get used to this…but I won’t.
When people are really humpin’ it and up to their elbows in grease and disassembled parts and wiring, then rubberneck from the sidelines and say, “Y’all know what yer doin’?” They’re liable to throw a wrench at ya.
‘Course most aren’t teasin’. ‘Just dumb as a box of rocks…and useless as a tv on a honeymoon.
I bet you are a cutie, clever, and delightful. If you ever got generous, you could write a heck of an article on prepping and using sewing as a vital ancestral skill.
If Millennials and Gen Z don’t learn to sew, embroider, knit, and do needlepoint, these will be LOST. How’s your eyesight and how steady can you hand stitch?
ht tps://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.sup.ronda.01.06
The Lewis and Clark journals ought to be required reading for all Americans as everything that can happen, did happen on their exploration. Their mocassins were thoroughly worn out and were in tatters as had their clothing turned to rags. All that activity with no replacement and even with constant mending, still came apart.
These were extremely well thought out expeditions by two bright MEN with backbone, but they had no idea how long it would take. Think how fearless that is.
I hope y’all take the time to read the journals because extremely valuable lessons on diplomacy and negotiation are in there. Without a guide and a feel for the lay of the land, then small mistakes cascade into nearly impossible ones to overcome.
I took a brief look and bookmarked your reference. It will make interesting reading.
ht tps://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.sup.ronda.01.07
“Information from the river Indians led Lewis and Clark to believe that there were permanent trade establishments along the coast. Hoping to find traders and locate a suitable place for wintering over, the captains attempted to quicken the pace of travel. Thwarted by the rolling currents of the Columbia and the steadily deteriorating weather, they found themselves stalled at Gray’s Point in Gray’s Bay. From November 10 to November 15, the expedition camped on the east side of Point Ellice. Those were miserable, wet days that dampened spirits and rotted clothing already in tatters. Clark summed up the misery everyone felt when he wrote, “We are all wet as usual—and our Situation is Truly a disagreeable one; and our selves and party Scattered on floating logs and Such dry Spots as can be found on the hill sides and crivicies of the rocks.” [26] Borrowing from native practice, the explorers made hasty shelters from poles and mat. Later those temporary lean-tos gave way to huts made from boards scavenged from an abandoned Chinook village. Getting their first taste of a coastal winter, the whole expedition may well have started to feel nostalgic for the cold but bracing days on the northern plains.”
Along the Appalachian Trail, which is 2,200 miles, a through higher will use up 7-10 pairs of postmodern day boots that were made for such an endeavor.
Lewis and Clark’s expedition was 3,700 miles in length with boots amd clothing not made to withstand such distances, though their fabric might certainly have been more robust. Not only was the clothing literally falling off them,they had traded for buckskin clothing and moccasins, and were constantly repairing them.
Under survival conditions where preppers might have to flee very lengthy distances, one would expect similar things to happen.
Much of the garments we have today are of very inferior quality but people routinely ignore such substandard craftsmenship, as based on whims, people wear newer fashion.
You get what you pay for.
The curse of autocorrect a “thru hiker”
The first thing that happens is “chaffing” by body parts rubbing, and that is best managed by cornstarch although talcum powder works to some degree. Wet chaffing leads to an abraision which can get infected.
Similarly on long marches where the pack is improperly strapped, terrible rubbing will occur on the shoulders. Weight loss occurs and can be extreme as thru-hikers might eat 3200-3700 calories just to maintain their weight!
That changes the sizing of one’s apparrel and belt tightness based on weight loss with inadequte provisioning. An inadequate belt can create a miserable condition as it supports the abdominal muscles which are being severely taxed as much as the shoulders.
Any lady having formerly given birth KNOWS that pregnancy affects the gap along the linea alba midline of the abdomen. They would MOST SUFFER. So any fleeing people who are pregnant or having given birth, would have a terrible time keeping up without abdominal support.
In history, captors of surrendering soldiers would cruelly march them and take away their belts and many would die who were carrying packs.
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Every overweight person has a larger gap along the linea alba due to abdominal seperation.
In a forced march with improper support, what happens is the abdominal muscles are weak and so without proper belting, the intestines can herniate through that gap. That can create a life threatening emergency. Why? That takes surgery to correct!
Now is a good time to both modulate your diet and strengthen your abominal muscles and consider all these things in case one had to flee.
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Thousands of people start the Appalachian but few finish because even though they presume they are up to the task physically, they actually are not, and their back, hips, abdominal muscle, leg cramps, and knee strain cannot manage versus the backpack plus DOUBLING of eating required just maintain weight.
One coud easily develop an abominal hernia or throw out your back or a bum knee acts up.
Even walking seven miles up an uneven trail in an ascent is going to tax most people, amd while descending is easier, stumbling can occur leading to falls with a heavy pack weighing at least 75 lbs.
There is nothing simple about bugging out and realistically then consider the limitations of a 105-120 lb wife and young children walking as well. You would be fortunate to manage seven miles per day, but CANNOT so that many days in a row without them injuring themselves. Falling into a ravine is likely due to inadequate upper body strength and instability and weak bone formation.
When the French fled in WW2, the smart ones had carts and had brakes of some kind to avoid carrying packs. Similarly German refugees coming back to Germany had the same issue.
If you didn’t have corn starch, in history our ancestors and the Japanese used cigarette ashes to prevent chaffing, particularly on the feet due to ill fitting boots or sandals. Your boots might initially be fine, but wearing and stretching will occur especially with repeatedly getting them wet amd dried by the campfire. Your laces will stretch and break too. HAVE EXTRA LACES or you are sunk. You can easily make cordage but it will break.
With any luck, an old grizzled sergeant is in your tribe to watch out for these many details.