Example in Fiction: Stargate: Universe

One of the best ways of grasping a new concept is by seeing an example of it being used.  Experiencing it first-hand gives the strongest impression, but that can not always be arranged, and sometimes even when it can, it shouldn't -- deliberately putting yourself or worse someone else in a position where their survival is not guaranteed is not something to be done lightly.  However, we do have wonderful faculties for imagination, and putting them to use to improve our survival is a fine thing.  And while many do dream up survival scenarios for themselves, it is useful to have examples that we can share and talk about in common.  One of the best examples I have seen that demonstrates the process of Spiral Survival is the beginning of the television series Stargate: Universe.

For those who have already seen it, this will be an easy discussion.  But we don't need most of the details to get the concept across for those who are completely unfamiliar.  The important premise is that this group of mostly soldiers and scientists are sent to an unexplored destination, with no idea if or how they will ever come back.  So they pack their Never Coming Home Bags (albeit very sophisticated ones) and take the leap of faith to find themselves on a derelict alien space ship. Three features of Spiral Survival are illustrated at the very beginning of the series.  First, the fact that they even developed the means of travelling to that space ship is an example of the drive to expand the Survival Spiral in terms primarily of knowledge but also location and possibly socially to include new intelligent alien species.  Second, the actual departure is determined by unforeseen circumstances; much of the time, movement on the Survival Spiral does happen unexpectedly and quickly.  Third, in terms of survival, the proceed along the Spiral away from the most immediate and deadly threat, even though their long-term survival is not guaranteed in doing so.  This is usual for threat driven moves on the Survival Spiral.

When they get to the spaceship, they take care of wounds, another less immediate threat, and discover that they have a limited supply of air.  Being the next most immediate threat, giving them just hours to live, they choose to work on that to find a solution.  They do not make up sophisticated plans for mapping out the ship or explore it methodically while that threat is still in place.  While it is best not to act in haste, sometime Spiral Survival does require ignoring less immediate threats.

After solving their air problem, they start dealing with other problems: lack of power, potential collision with a star, lack of water, potential return to Earth, disease, murder, and aliens.  Most of these are manifestations of unexpected threats changing their position on the Survival Spiral, and those get dealt with in terms of immediacy.  A notable exception is the potential return to Earth which represents an opportunity to expand the Spiral, although it comes with its own risks.

Once the more immediate, physical threats are dealt with, they go on to higher concerns, which are not readily determined by the Survival Spiral.  This too is a normal feature, that once people feel relatively comfortable and safe, they make many different choices based on their values.  At this point, Spiral Survival is less useful as a guide, and, this example too has limited further usefulness.

Until next time, have a good journey on the Survival Spiral.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where the difference between life and death is a matter of seconds. Unless you are an emergency responder or an adrenaline junkie, those moments will likely be few and far between. The survival situations you are more likely to encounter will not turn critical for hours or even days. The most important thing in those situations is not to panic. You need to be making the correct decisions, which means you need to have a clear head. If you aren't facing an immediate threat like an angry bear or a bleeding artery, take the time to calm yourself down and then spend at least a few minutes analyzing your situation.

One thing that can help is having a routine to focus your mind on. For example, there are designs for paracord storage where you can unravel them in seconds. While that can be efficient, many experienced bushcrafters choose a weave that takes 10-15 minutes to undo, just for the repetitive action to focus on and bring a sense of calm. Personally, for my bulk storage I choose the efficient fast rope method to keep the cord untangled and compact, whereas I wear/carry ones that take a while to undo, not only to calm myself but also to make sure I conserve my cord. Another popular ritual is to make a cup of hot tea. Granted, if it's caffeinated, it might not help calm you down (depending on your regular intake), but it could help to focus. There is almost certainly some blend of regular or herbal tea that will have the desired effects on you, although you should figure out which kind long before you need it. Of course one of the main benefits of making a cup of tea in a survival situation is that you need to obtain water, start a fire, and have a container that can hold water and be heated to do so, and those are all very useful to have.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Garden Design: Grand Herb Double Spiral

The herb spiral is a staple of Permaculture design.  I have had some ideas on how to put my own unique twists on it.  I would very much have liked to actually make one, but it is clear at this point that is never going to happen.  I still want to work out the design, and I will be posting it to this blog as my permanent public record.  Instead of just posting the finished design, I will post the elements as I go.  This will give some insight into my design process and reasons for my choices.  The design will not be explicitly Permaculture but will certainly follow the ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Surplus Return.  I am retaining copyright on direct quotations of this design, requiring proper attribution and linkage, but strongly encourage any and all derivative efforts, especially actually making one.

One of the motivations for the herb spiral is to create different microclimates so different herbs can thrive under different conditions.  This is usually done at least in part by using different elevations; otherwise, you really have more of an herb circle than an herb spiral.  This presents a question: where do you get the material to raise the spiral?  As long as the spiral is small, this is easily answered, but as it gets larger, it gets to be a problem.  My solution is to create an equally sized spiral that is sunken, that will provide most if not all the material needed to raise the first spiral.  Aesthetically, for the sake of balance, the two spirals should go in opposite directions, clockwise and counterclockwise.  Which goes which way is a bit arbitrary and probably should depend on site conditions; since I don't have a site I'm implementing it on, I will just say the elevated spiral is counterclockwise.

One thing the alternate spiraling does is visually suggest the yin/yang symbol. 

Elevated and sunken suggest that thematically, so I am going to run with that.  In particular, another pair of opposites is land and water.  So the sunken spiral becomes a pond.  This opens up a lot of possibilities for plant choices not found in traditional herb spirals.  Different wetland and pond plants do thrive in areas with different depths of water, so the spiral still is useful, even if it is no longer so visible because of the water.  One part of the yin/yang symbol I am incorporating explicitly is the yin-in-yang and yang-in-yin elements.  In this context, that translates to a fountain at the top of the spiral and an island at the center of the pond.  The details will be worked out later.

So that gives the motivation and basic form of the Grand Herb Double Spiral.  The next thing to work out is scales, but I will save that for another post.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Garden Tool: Lawn Edger

If you are starting a garden in an area without any grass, an edger is a minor luxury. If you have sod, however, there is no better way than an edger to break it up so you can turn it over or remove it. Unless you have tall weeds, or no grass, this is the first tool you will want when starting a garden.

The first thing you need to choose for an edger is what kind of head you want. The classical lawn edger has a half-moon shape: The rounded edges make it easier to push the edger into the sod, and the solid blade makes it easier to lift the sod up. This is good for cutting out small individual blocks in heavy clay soil. If you have a large area you want to cut up, you may want to opt for a rotary blade:


This will cut the sod very quickly, especially if you get a powered model, but you will need a different tool to pick it up. A third option is a square blade:

This works best on either light, sandy soil, or sod that has been previously cut. A bonus of this style is that it can also be used for chopping ice in the winter. In areas with lots of roots, you may want to get a head that has a saw-tooth edge: 

The next thing to pay attention to is how the top of the blade and how it connects to the handle. If you look closely at the first and fourth examples, you will see little flanges on either side of the hand that facilitate using your foot to push the edger into the soil. If you really want to take advantage of this feature, getting one with a split handle will allow you to put your foot right in the center:

Without a flange, the ice chopper is very awkward to use your foot on, and the rotary edger cannot take much downward pressure at all.

The third consideration is the material the handle is made of. Most are made of steel, sometimes stainless; a few like the second and third examples have wooden handles. Fiberglass is another possibility but it is very rare.

The final two options for the handle are linked: whether to have a long or short handle, and whether to have a T handle at the top or not. As you can see in the second and third examples, long handle are usually straight. Short handles usually have T handles, as in the first and fifth examples, but occasionally you will find an O handle like the fourth example.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The products listed are meant to exemplify the variety of choices you have in choosing a lawn edger. Listing does not constitute an endorsement as I do not have any experience using these particular models.

[Originally published at http://spiralsurvival.goingupslope.com/2020/01/01/garden-tool-edger/ -- I am no longer an Amazon associate.  Images and links have been adjusted to reflect this; you can still buy, but I earn nothing.]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

What is Spiral Survival?

What is Spiral Survival? It's a different way of looking at life.

One common saying among survivalists is the Rule of Threes, stating how long you can live without certain things:

3 minutes without oxygen
3 hours without shelter (in extreme weather)
3 days without water
3 weeks without food

Of course, those numbers aren't exact, and they leave a lot of things out (which I will be expanding upon), but it is a simple way to put priorities in order, which is important in a survival situation. For longer term living, there are many other priorities which become important once basic needs are met, as Abraham Maslow put together in his Hierarchy of Needs. As sophisticated as his theory is, it is still focused on the individual.

I picture survival needs in a different way, as a kind of a three dimensional spiral. As you go around, you keep coming back to the same needs. But as you go up, you stop focusing so much on yourself and focus more on others. While at the higher levels this may be driven by altruism, initially it comes from a realization that no one person can do everything, certainly not forever, so we need to include others interdependently. However, this process takes energy, and sometimes as life spirals down on us we do need to bring our focus more on ourselves.

The other dimension of in and out is based on time. As we pull in our focus becomes more immediate, which usually happens when danger is more imminent. When we have the time and energy, we can spend it moving outwards to focus on longer term survival strategies. And since time and energy are limited, sometimes we can make combination moves to improve our situation, going up and in or down and out on the Survival Spiral.

[Original posted by me at http://spiralsurvival.goingupslope.com/2017/06/10/what-is-spiral-survival/ -- I am intending on leaving this site up permanently (as long as Google allows) as a legacy site.]

Balance

Alexander Wolf on the TEOTWAWKI Blog just posted an update after an absence of nearly two months.  This was not just a recounting of how he has been busy for the duration, however.  The main thrust was about "Keeping Grounded", and not letting prepping push out more important aspects of your life.  This is good advice, especially if you are focused on getting ready for a disaster.  If you spend too much time dwelling on such things, it can make you so depressed you will end up even less prepared.

However, part of the problem is making "prepping" a separate activity.  He mentions several priorities: fiscal responsibility, physical fitness, strong relationships.  When you make the transition from preparing for disaster to living self-reliantly, you can integrate those priorities with your lifestyle.  For example, growing your own food and cooking from scratch can save you money and give you a workout.  And if share both the workload and the harvest with family and friends, you can make those bonds stronger.  These benefits don't come automatically, mind you; you do have take care to make sure you make the effort.  But they are not incompatible with having a self-reliant lifestyle.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.