9+ Essential Professions For A Post-SHTF World

If the world will suddenly stop functioning tomorrow and all our complicated systems will fail, each and every one of us will have to rely on our own set of skills to make it through the day.

When every aspect of life is stripped down
to its core, survival becomes almost impossible for the “modern man.” Only
those folks that have the proper skills and abilities will rebuild the world,
and they will become a precious resource for any survival community.

I believe this year will become a turning point in the lives of Americans and other societies all over the world. Due to the COVD-19 Pandemic, preppers are no longer seen as crazy or eccentric people, and we have suddenly become “people that just want to be safe.”

We should all stop and think about how all of us are dependent on almost 100% of others when it comes to basic necessities. If the supply chain stops and there would be no store to go to tomorrow, how would you procure your food? If your home will be destroyed by a natural disaster, how will you rebuild it? How about if your car breaks down? Do you know how to fix it?

These are just a few questions that most
people don’t have an answer for. Until a few months ago, we were an “it won’t
happen to us” nation, and preppers were essentially “blowing it all out of
proportion.” There are still people out there that believe they are protected
by the government or by a certain divinity.

However, as history has shown us, we will
have to rely on our own strength to survive before any aid comes our way. If
that helps never comes, your own set of skills should be enough to help you
survive or at least join a survival community.

The following professions will become essential in a
post-SHTF world:

Doctor or Nurse

We are currently seeing the effects of not having enough medical personnel to fight the current pandemic. Italy, which is one of the countries with a great health system (I believe it’s ranked 2^nd or 3^rd in the world), is now facing difficult scenarios. Just like in times of war, they are no relying on triage to save those with the highest survival rate. Old people and those with pre-existent health issues are being sacrificed to save others. There’s just not enough hospital beds and personnel to take care of everyone.

The human body requires a great deal of knowledge
due to its complicated nature, and you can’t heal yourself without medical
training. A doctor or a nurse can handle most every trauma case, and they have
extensive knowledge of medicine and their use. If you have one of these
professions, you will be a privileged member of any survival group.

Carpenter or Mason

All your material things will break down,
and some require proper maintenance to withstand the harsh seasons. Nothing has
a greater psychical impact than the lack of shelter. If your home gets
destroyed, someone will have to pick up the pieces and put them together. A
good carpenter is an excellent addition to any survival group. Contrary to
popular beliefs, a carpenter doesn’t just nail pieces of wood together. A good
carpenter has extensive knowledge and aptitudes in physics, architecture, and
engineering.

A mason, on the other hand, will be able to
build solid structures like walls and foundations for building and pretty much
any sort of stove you can think of to help you cook your food and heat your
home. You may not know how to make cement as people did in the old days, but a
stonemason will certainly have this knowledge.

These are two professions that will help an
individual built shelters in isolated areas, and every group will want them to
improve their survival community.

Blacksmith

Working metal is an art form, and a blacksmith will improve the quality of life when using his or her skills to their full extent. A good blacksmith will hammer a spear, a knife and any other types of tools you would need, but also cast bullets for your firearms.

Not to mention that besides manufacturing
all sorts of tools, a skillful blacksmith will figure out ways to fix most
metal objects. Blacksmithing has become a popular hobby nowadays due to TV shows
and DIY trends that show you how to forge knives and other tools. However, this
profession is much more complex than what you see in the media.

Engineer and Mechanic

While carpenters and blacksmiths can help
you build or fix primitive items, there are scientific projects needed for
survival that require extensive knowledge on how things function in order to
build new items or repair the broken ones.

If you have to fix a solar panel, or if you
need to install a windmill, build a biogas generator, or other such survival
systems, you can do it yourself with the proper parts and a few YouTube videos.
However, designing these systems from scratch and build or improve complex
systems requires more than just a few online videos.

For example, you will not be able to
convert a diesel engine to run on biofuel without engineering or mechanical
experience. Knowing how to use a multitude of tools and how to improvise with
the items you scavenge requires a lot of school years and practice to master.

Farmer or Homesteader

For short-term survival, even the average Joe can improvise a shelter or scavenge for items needed for survival. However, as time goes by, sustaining your survival will become difficult when you have to deal with food scarcity. People have been killing each other over food for centuries, and history will repeat itself in a world cannibalized for resources. Hunger makes people do insane and unimaginable things. You’ve seen in the news how people are fighting over toilet paper, and how they are hijacking trucks carrying these basic items. What do you think will happen when the food runs out?

A farmer will be able to produce abundant
crops, even in a limited garden space. They understand the land, the weather
patterns, and plan their crop cycles for the best yield. An experienced farmer
is able to improve any type of soil by adding missing nutrients and improvise
all sorts of gardening methods.

A rancher will be able to organize and
multiply a sustainable source of livestock, and they know how to use every part
of the animal for self-sufficiency. We forgot that traditional agriculture is
what brought us to this point, and nowadays, we rely too much on technology in
our “modern farming.” If you won’t have access to that technology, how many
people do you think will be able to sustain a small garden or a decent size
farm? How about raising animals to feed a few dozen?

Butcher

Although many homesteaders have become butchers by choice or by need, this is a skill that needs a lot of experience and practice. Many people can testify that this is more than a survival skill and I consider it to be a survival art. It takes a great deal of dexterity to process the game since one wrong slip of the knife, and you will spoil the entire meat.

The common belief is that a butcher only
“cuts meat” and knows how to process an animal (regarding its origin), but this
profession is much more than that. An experienced butcher knows how to keep the
meat fresh and edible for long periods of time, and they can cure it using
various preservation methods.

Cutting, grinding, and preparing meat in
any type of environment, without disregarding health practices is part of the
butcher’s knowledge. Even more, an experienced butcher knows how to take care
of the tools used for his profession.

Gunsmith and Marksman

I see guns as tools useful for survival, and they serve a multitude of purposes (defensive, hunting, offensive, etc.) and not as “instruments of death” as some call them. Just like all other tools, your guns will require proper maintenance, and having a cleaning kit is just not enough to provide peace of mind.

Breaking down a firearm for this purpose is
not a skill everyone has, but it can be learned by seeing and doing. Although
there are entire books written on this topic, unfortunately, gunsmithing is a
dying profession.

A skilled marksman that can use good
accuracy and has a successful kill rate requires years of training in the
field. He or she requires a good understanding of the weapon’s mechanics, and
they have good eyesight and are in proper physical condition.

Hunter and/or Trapper

A hunter or trapper will be able to provide
you with good sources of protein when grocery stores go out business. Some
believe that hunting is a common skill, and everyone can hunt, and they have
faith that, if needed, they will start hunting to supplement their meals.

However, this will lead to decimating the entire species, and there will be a lot of competition to deal with.  Most of these so-called hunters will die long before a certain specie gets decimated, and I can guarantee that hunting in real-life is different than what you see in movies or TV shows.

Animals have certain behaviors, and some will adapt to particular environments or scenarios if their lives are threatened. You can’t take your guns and head to the woods, hoping you will bring home some meat. Animals will spot you long before you manage to spot them, and things such as your odor, clothing, items you carry, and movement patterns will scare them away.

A good hunter knows how to stalk an animal,
how to bait it, and how to track its habits in order to bag it. The same goes
for the trappers, and while a trapper can be a good hunter, it doesn’t work
vice-versa. A trapper spends a great deal of time in setting traps and
improving his techniques, and once the traps are set, he or she will be able to
take care of other chores until something gets trapped.

A hunter, on the other hand, is
concentrated on stalking and tracking the animal, and there’s little to no time
for other activities. Not to mention that a trapper can set traps even for
unwanted human guests and track fellow humans in case needed.

Leader

Every social gathering, even if it may be a
short-lived one, needs a leader. Leadership becomes a greater necessity when
you are trying to build a survival community, and many fail to see their
utility as a post-“SHTF professionals.” This trade becomes mandatory as
communities grow and develop since most folks need rules and laws to function
properly. To keep all people in line and convince them to work for a more
significant cause than their own survival, a set of rules needs to be put in
place.

We all know that humans are difficult to be
controlled by nature and that they will become a precious resource when things
fall apart. A leader is needed to organize the community and “exploit” the
skills of its members to everyone’s gain.

A good leader needs to be a neutral
listener, a delegator, and a motivational (inspirational, if you will) speaker.
Leaders need to be understanding and responsible when dealing with the members
of a community, but they also have to be decisive if people don’t follow the
rules. A good leader will never work alone, and he or she will need to organize
a democratic system where people can speak and take action when required.

Concluding

There might be the need to mention
professions in the security role or those that can manufacture or repair clothes
or shoes. However, we can all improvise or repair clothing and shoes if needed,
and these items will be easy to scavenge for since people will have other
priorities. On the security part, many preppers have a military or law
enforcement background, so we can speculate that this profession will be
covered in most survival groups.

The post-SHTF professions listed in this article may very well become the main trades needed to rebuild a broken society. They will stand the test of time and turmoil no matter what, and they will be needed by every survival community that plans for long-term survival, but also prosperity, in a harsh environment. If you happen to have one of these professions, there will always be a place reserved for you in a survival group, and you will become a valuable asset in any community.

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