Who Would You Choose as Your SHTF Companion?

Of course, it depends on the situation and on how close a person is to you.

So let’s fix this ambiguity:

Your family (wife or husband and children) is already in your SHTF team. You can take one more family with you (max three members) that will help your family survive or perish. And from now on, the life of your whole team will depend on this decision!

Here’s the Situation…

You wake up one Thursday and start doing your morning routine just before going to work. First you go to the bathroom just to discover that there is no tap water. Then you try to make your breakfast, but your electric stove is not working. When you try to call your manager to let him know that you’ll be late for work, you discover that your phone is dead. Your spouse’s phone is also dead.

You look over at the window and see a bunch of people trying to start their cars. The horrifying thought then passes through your head that it might have been an EMP. The more you discover, the surer you become that it was an EMP. You know what’s going to come because you’ve read about it. But your neighbors have no clue.

Related Article: 7 Actions to Take Immediately Following an EMP Strike

You then gather your family and tell them what happened and that the worst is about to unfold in a few days.

The second night you hear a lot of gunshots, and the next day you discover that your neighbor was killed and all his food and possessions have been stolen. The police are nowhere to be seen.

And although every member of the family is guarding the house (in shifts), after four days you wake up at 5:00 a.m. with a gun pointed at your head.

Your family is left alive, but your water and food reserves are all gone. All that you’ve managed to hide from looters were your bug-out bag, food and water for one week, a rifle with 120 rounds, and about $60.

Together with your family, you decide that the only way to make it through the blackout is to head for the woods and try to live off the land. Because it’s March, you know that a warm period is ahead. The true wilderness starts at three days’ walking from home at the base of a mountain with lots of springs and creeks.

A Life-and-Death Decision

Before you go, you understand that in order to defend what you have left and to keep a full night watch, it would be wiser to get help from another family, people just like you.

You should help each other get there safely, build a shelter (or house), and survive there for two years.

You can’t choose one of your trusted friends, because they all live miles away.

The family that you choose might be rich or poor. If they are rich, they will have a little bit more in the way of supplies than you at the beginning (and a lot of money), but they are used to things being ready-made for them. If you choose a poor family, they have fewer supplies at the beginning, but they are used to doing things on their own.

Another thing that you will have to consider is what they do for a living. Think about it very well before you choose. Nobody is a survival expert, but we’re all experts in things we do on a daily basis, like what we do for a living.

For example, if you choose an electrical engineer, he can try to fix some fried components or replace them. If you choose a farmer, he’ll know all about crops and homegrown plants.

Another factor that you should take into consideration is what you know best or what you do for a living. Of course, it wouldn’t be smart to choose a mechanic if you are one as well.

The members of the family that you choose may have different occupations. What occupations would you like your SHTF companion to have that will help your family the most?

• Psychologist – good at reading people, including looters
• Farmer – skilled in planting, growing, and harvesting plants as well as raising animals and preserving foods
• Educator or Primary School Teacher – can teach kids properly: Education After the Collapse
• Priest or Pastor – can provide motivation and optimism, even in hard times
• Pharmacist – knows how to extract medical remedies from plants
• Manager – a good decision maker; good at organizing things
• Army Officer – a very good shooter, good with establishing defensive positions, physically strong, good at taking difficult decisions, never lets someone behind
• Butcher – good with portioning and preserving meat
• Electric Engineer – can repair some electronics, like radios, flashlights, mobile phones, laptops, etc.
• Medic – good at preventing and healing diseases, cuts, and infections
• Metallurgist – can melt metal and manufacture almost any iron tool
• Financial analyst – good with numbers and rational minded
• Chemist – good at making explosives, gun powder, fertilizers and a wide range of substances
• Sailor – good at orientation and finding paths
• Miner – can find and mine different minerals, including iron ore
• Carpenter – can make a super wooden house and almost anything from wood
• Physicist – can build a lot of things including a water wheel electric generator on one of the creeks
• Hunter – can find game easier and can set good traps, good shooter
• Construction worker – good at building things, practical and also physically strong
• Fisherman – good at fishing and preserving fish
• Tailor – good at making and repairing clothes
• Gunsmith or Armorer – can make gunpowder, reload ammo, fix weapons, and is a decent shooter

There is no right or wrong answer! It’s just what’s good for you and what isn’t! And whatever his or her occupation is, it doesn’t mean he or she can’t do anything else. It just means that this is their strongest skill.

For example, I wouldn’t choose a farmer even if it’s March (a good time to plant), because I grow a lot of things on my own. I have some seeds in my B.O.B., so he wouldn’t help a lot. Wild plants are also pretty familiar to me, so it wouldn’t be wise to choose a florist or a pharmacist.

I would personally choose a gunsmith (or chemist) because my biggest fear is that my 120 rounds wouldn’t be enough and that I wouldn’t be able to make gunpowder in the wilderness by myself. Yes, if he is rich, let’s say, he’ll have more ammo, but he’ll lack skills—a thing I won’t personally trade for ammo.

I would also choose a medic. I know there won’t be much she could do in the wilderness, but it’s still a lot more than I can. And the #1 killer in almost any crisis is a disease, so I personally rate this skill as being one of the most important.

I haven’t said it so far, but this article is also about getting to know your weak points!

For example, I chose a gunsmith and a medic because I lack some knowledge in those field, fields that I consider very important for surviving a two-year collapse. This probably means that I have to learn more about medical stuff, gun repair, and reloading ammo. On the other hand, for a 10-year collapse, I’m pretty sure I would’ve chosen differently—maybe a metallurgist—and for a shorter period, I’m pretty sure I would’ve chosen a hunter (or army officer) – the safest solution for short term survival in my opinion.

So who would you choose as your SHTF companion if your life depended on it?

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