SM Book Club: Tales of the Chernyi

Our next book that we will be discussing are some short stories that was written by our very own monkey, DKR. Tales of the Chernyi is part of a series of books and we will be reading a few (short) stories. The story we will be starting with is a short read that looks at improvised gear.

We will be starting with:
Steven Stone - Trapped in a flooded city, Steve makes improvised gear that saves his bacon. Pretty slick moves from a ham radio operator and computer fix-it guy.
So - for you, the reader, don't sweat having a ton of money to buy survival gear. Go with what you can find. Steve did.
This story also serves as the short version of the events leading to the World of the Chernyi, in other words, not a bad place to start...

The book, in mobi format (Epub, Kindle app or Black berry) can be e-mailed - just send @DKR a good addr. The file is 732Kb in size.

If you are concerned about opsec/privacy- @3M-TA3 said:
protonmail.com is very secure and you don't need to provide any personal information - no name, etc., just the address and a password. Also, you can access from TOR/TAILS.

We will give some time for getting the stories, reading then start discussing. Happy reading

 

Been needing a new read!

 

I have asked for a pfd version so hopefully we can also read these stories on laptops/desktops.

 

Calibre - a free download will allow reading the mobi file at no cost.

calibre - Download calibre

 

Thank you!

 

Bump! book has been selected, those wanting to read and participate, please contact @DKR and we will get the book to you.

 

A bit of a set up, as I did for the last discussion.

This story is the lead chapter in the book - all 'short' stories. The tenor of the story is very didactic - not to teach a moral, but to look at things many folks might not pay attention to. It also serves as an intro to the World of the Chernyi Universe for new readers without belaboring too many points for folks that have read prior books in the series.

The plot is simple, straight forward, and unlike many EOW books, describes people as being generally reasonable.

I look forward to the discussion - good, bad or indifferent.

 

Almost done reading, for those worried about time these stories are quick reads and one got me thinking. I look forward to starting the discussion.

 

Yukonstart by DKR posted Jul 27, 2017 at 18:24

As part of writing this story, I built a Yukon ruck - like the one described as used by Steve to see how well it would travel. This is my first try at using the boards embedded media to post photos. Let me know if it works to help make sense of the story

Yukon Ruck W_doggoe Straps by DKR posted Jul 27, 2017 at 18:39

There is a box. The story is to help you start thinking outside of the box. To ignore the box if possible.

As you go thru the story, you'll find the place names - like Lake Toxaway, exist as do the roads and so on.

 

Cool, because I always try to locate places on Google Earth as I read.

EDIT: WOW!!! That's an effing COOL area. I wish my knees and legs were still in their 20's - I'd spend some time up there.

 

I first hit Alaska in 1980 - still young. Got all the hiking and camping I could stand.
Only with a ALICE ruck, GAU 5 and an aid kit. Still, I was in a good unit and have to admit, most of the time had fun....

Living in the field with the Army for 4 years pretty much killed any desire to see the inside of a tent again.....

 

In the end, there are just four basic story themes: For everything, if you give it some thought.

• Man against Man (or Mankind in some cases).
• Man against Nature
• Man against Self.
  
• Man against Deity or supernatural power (a nod to Chell here, as he does espouse what many do, or rather, do not believe)
  
  Of the four basic types listed, where does the story of Steve Stone fall?

 

Steve Stone was a story of Man vs. Nature. He had the good fortune to ride the nature event in a safe spot but afterwards he was forced to reckon with the hurdles that nature left in his way. The water changed the landscape leaving valleys and mountains in his path. These mountains were mountains of debris so one cannot simply climb over it. The instability and the risk of getting hurt on metal or such that was in the "mountain" were a danger and Steve recognized this.

That looks more uncomfortable then I imagined. I had a mental image and it was more forgiving then that. Carrying that homemade ruck would have been extremely uncomfortable.

Steve's story gave me the urge to go pilfer through my neighbor's vehicles to see what treasures I could find. Plus stories one and two reminded me of our Survivor McGyver threads-
Survivor McGyver- Car | Survival Monkey Forums
Survivor McGyver- Hotel Room | Survival Monkey Forums

 

As for the second guy, I am really not sure what category he falls into. He made some really smart decisions that were something I had not thought of. I will not start discussing that story yet or can we compare the two men and their different travels?

 

I would add that it was also man vs himself. While there weren't Any spots where he looked to be giving up, there was the minimal breakdown and realization that his family was of primary importance.

 

No, Steve struck me as very prepared. He did not seem challenged except for the water issue. That was a huge issue because due to the flooding, most water laying around was contaminated. He had to look for bottled water which he was lucky to find but had he not found the water, he would have been in a bad situation.

Let me clarify, he was challenged but his challenges were obstacles left by nature. On a side note: where were all the bodies? That struck me as odd. I would have imaged that they would have been stuck in debris piles etc.

 

It is actually more comfortable than an ALICE ruck - having used both. The cart also allowed Steve to tow his load part of the time. The cart is 'taller' (longer) than an LC-2 ALICE frame.. It is possible to carry the Yukon ruck alone, but not near as easy using salvaged seat belts.

For folks who wondered my he wasn't able to salvage his 2 meter radio... It had power attached, but not on. Once the salt water hit it - it was dead. I have witnessed this first hand when one of our satellite stations got submerged on the north coast of the Chukchi Sea.

What fun stuff did you find to gather?

His "Road to Damascus" moment was to drive home a sub-meme, family is why you prep - or should be anyway. Hell, it should be why and where you work as well...

 

Let hold that for a bit. There are two really different memes at play between the stories.

 

I just had the urge to go through my neighbors cars. My car would have been like the survivalist car that Steve found, full of the good useful stuff. I do not carry around a case of water but there is some in there. I have a box that is something one would want to find if they were in a survival situation.

Back to the neighbors cars- one has little kids so I immediately thought of the stuff children need that would be useful for a long walk home. Wipes, maybe some formula. The stuff is gross but it has nutrients. I have a red neck neighbor and I do wonder what treasure his car would have in it.

 

At some point that (deaders) doesn't add to the meme - and frankly just becomes ghoulish. As an aside, I spent two days going over the tsunami photos out of Japan. It may have been editing, but there are very few bodies to be seen, mostly due to being buried/caught up in the debris. There were mentions of bodies trapped in vehicles, but that Steve had made a conscious decision not to go near those.

Most folks that work in Cubeville have at least some chow in their desk, I also keep very heavy clothes in my file cabinet in the unlikely even I would need to go walkabout to get home. As a military guy (and Steve is a Vet with what seems to be serious field experience) a batch of MREs for missed dinners/the odd breakfast seemed to be a natural.
As a ham, having a small multi-band radio seemed like a believable no-brainer.

As for the other, - I tired to avoid the story becoming a Mario Bros game where could find everything all at once...

The other point was to get folks to think about what is needed to support a bicycle if traveling a long distance... Some specialist tools are needed. (Remove A Bike Cassette - MadeGood | Free bike repair resource)

thx