PLEASE excuse me for not reading ALL of the thread in this post (It's
now kind of long).

Here in central VA (Centerville, Va) We have what is called "Field Days
of the Past". It's like a local Fair/Carnival.

Although, It DOES have a great deal of old/antique farm equipment... it
totally blows my mind that we once, 100 years ago, had washing machines
that were kept outside and had to be started with a pull rope (just like
a lawnmower) because they were gasoline powered. We had rock crushers
that turned watermellon sized stones into gravel (gas/steam powered) and
all wicker baskets were local made (not from China at Pier1)

If we go back 100 years from THAT (1806), Saw mills were just two men
working a HUGE hand saw back and forth to saw the logs into planks.
I even heard stories of people moving away from their houses and then
burning- down their house, just to re-collect the nails. (They were
expensive to produce)
WOW!

Let's push forward to today.
What would happen if we were faced with a natural catastrophe? Could I
hunt/fish?
Could I build a fire? Basic shelter?
It makes me think!

Great Post!!!
Dave