The Colony

[Oberoth]

There was an identical thread posted not long ago about this.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=105665

It was pretty interesting. I particularly liked the gasifier. You may remember that I posted something about that on the DR board. viewtopic.php?f=77&t=101534

Wood smoke 'AKA' woodgas can fuel any combustion engine with very little modification. This was used quite a bit by the Germans and Russians during WWII when regular fuels were unavailable. This fuel requires a wood gasifier, http://www.whatiamupto.com/gasification/firstfiring.htm and as you can see by the link provided is easily made with junk yard parts.

It was neat to see that actualy made in a post-apoc setting.

And here is a DIY gasifier built with common scrap materials. This site also includes the chemistry involved.

http://www.windward.org/notes/notes63/wal63_b.htm

I'm looking forward to the next episode.

[asajosh]

Excellent show on its own, and good source for DR survival material.

[asajosh]

Excellent show on its own, and good source for DR survival material.

personally i think the Experiment needs to be reset since the people on the show are in a "survivor" mind set not a Post apocalyptic Survivor mind set, Seriously Hot showers over security............im sorry but yes it would be nice to have a hot shower, but my DR group would could do that experiment better.

Order of Necessity

1. Supplies; food and securing a water supply and getting Coffee
2. Security
3. escape route in case of a FUBAR situation
4. Luxuries, showers, electricity, running water, and toilet paper

Indeed, i too thought the shower was a bit over the top.
But in their defence they largely used the electricity to charge power tools to do more work.
The should have listened to that prison dude, and locked that place down first thing.

[Pepsi Jedi]

If you read the fine print they throw up at some point along the line... it's..... not so much a full out survival experiment.

They get 'tasks' to do each week. "Build a gassifier with stuff in the warehouse. you just happen to have a full manufacturing tool inventory and 20 car batteries worth of juice.

Oh and did we mention we stacked the deck?

This "average cross section of humanity"

Has...

1 full out Doctor (( though they took him away in later episodes, when they flat out ignored security))
1 Trauma nurse
1 Aircraft Engineer
1 Electronics/computer engineer
1 Martial arts expert
1 General contractor, builder/ framer
1 Marine Biologist.
1 Handy man, general fabricator, Solar Technology tech
1 Machinist
1 Mechanical Engineer.

Now.... I know... there are people our there that do this sort of thing.. But if you opened the phone book to any random pages and pointed out 10 people... you most likely would NOT get

Two medical Professionals.
Three Engineers.
Three builders/Machinists/fabricators
One Martial Arts expert
and a Marine Biologist.

Your average cross section is going to have someone working fast food. 2 people that have no jobs, two or three in the service industry. (( Hair stylist, store clerk, ect)) maybe one professional office type job and maybe ... MAYBE..... One....Doctor/nurse/engineer/machinist/martial arts expert. A few kids/ teens.

Also, your 10 people, medical professionals, and big group of engineers...... are very likely not going to be out fit with a giant warehouse full of manufacturing equipment to build what ever they want, and spare solar cells laying around, oh *GASP* and a solar cell tech guy to hook them up along with such minutia as micro light sensing sensors to help make the solar cells rotate on their own with out having to be hand cranked... and remote viewing cameras (( that they tried to send up on a balloon.... and promptly flew into razor wire)) Food, and an empty hospital to ransack just a few minutes away.....

So.. while entertaining (( i've watched every week)) it's no where near realistic. If anything.... lol it seems very much like a group of RPGers sitting down to play parts. "Oh I'll be the doctor" "oh we have a doctor? I'll be a nurse" "oh oh I'll be the martial artist" "Crap I wanted to be tthe martial artist... ok I'll be the general contractor that did time in prison!" ""yeah yeah! I'll be the computer engineer" "ok I'll be in aircraft engineering" "ok what about me?" "You can be a marine biologist" "Um......" "come on we need one scientist" "ok ok."

Then the warehouse with alllllllllllllllllll these tools and alllllllllllll these vechiles and all thefood and high walls with razor wire ect ect ect....... is the 'setting" Your GM gives you once you start... and the stuff they do every week (( Fed to them by the producers, as they say in the small print at the end of the show)) is your weekly game group.