Embrace The Geek In You

Today is the beginning of Comic-Con weekend! Comic-Con is a national geek convention held in San Diego every year. It is a weekend-long event, embraced by thousands as a day of costume-wearing fun. In the beginning, a geek was a slang term for someone who has an eccentric personality. They often take part in activities that are non-mainstream and unfashionable in common society. Today, we look at a geek as an expert, or enthusiast, in a hobby based around an intellectual pursuit. So, their hobbies can be helpful in an apocalyptic setting.

Board Games

The board game industry has recently taken a major shift within the last ten years. Because of crowdfunding sites, like Kickstarter, board game options have become limitless. 57% of the population owns at least one board game. These games often require strategy and logic to play. Games like Monopoly require math to win. Scattegories and Scrabble require you to have a vast vocabulary to beat others. Clue teaches you the old dad joke to when someone asks “who did this?”. Board games provide hours of non-electrical fun and are a great way to bond with friends and family. It’s not just board games, but card games like Apples To Apples that can also provide the same benefits, but without the hassle of finding missing pieces.

Geocaching

Geocaching is the latest in geeky hobbies. It is a recreational activity that requires players to hunt down hidden objects using coordinates from a website or app. The major benefit of this hobby is it requires you to be outdoors, experiencing nature firsthand. By going out and exploring the local forests, you’ll learn about the geography of the area. You’ll find hidden routes to safe houses you didn’t know already existed. You’ll familiarize yourself with the local plant life to find where the edible food is growing. Using your knowledge of the area, you’ll be able to craft maps with your teams to mark out where to find supplies or bury caches. Just be careful where these coordinates lead you to because sometimes it’ll take you to private property where you can be charged with trespass and vandalism.

Science

A commonly known fact about geeks is that they love the sciences. Science is going to be the driving force behind the rebuilding of society after Doomsday or a crisis. Computer coding and IT work will be useful when repairing technology and utility plants that were destroyed in a blackout or EMP strike. Those who enjoy the Health Sciences are useful for putting together workout and nutrition plans geared toward helping team members stay strong and healthy. Earth Science majors are experts in geological phenomena, like volcanoes, and can help draft plans to strengthen your defenses against Mother Nature. Physicists and Engineers can partner together to construct structures designed to increase the groups’ survival rate. Robotics can build robots to help complete the tasks unsafe for humans to do.

Model-Building

Model-Building is a classic geek hobby that has been enjoyed for decades. This is when you create a scaled version of an object, such as a boat or plane, from a kit containing the pieces for it. Some people who take part in this activity have made careers out of it, particularly in the film industry. Model-Building teaches you plenty of useful doomsday skills. Since most pieces are tiny, you’ll need patience and good hand-eye coordination to put them in their proper place. These skills are excellent to have while hunting or fishing. You’ll need good problem-solving skills because it is almost a guarantee that you’ll run out of or lose your supplies at the worst times during a project. This will be helpful in a raiding mission or when going through a SERE situation.

Dungeons and Dragons

This is the number one hobby among geeks worldwide. Dungeons and Dragons (or D&D) is a role-playing fantasy tabletop game where you create a character and go on quests as if you were them. Playing Dungeons and Dragons can teach you all sorts of survival skills. One is that it is a teamwork game. In order to solve quests or puzzles, you’ll need to work off of each other’s skills and talents to achieve your goal. You can also apply this in a crisis with your Doomsday team. If you are lucky enough, the same people you play D & D with might end up becoming that team. The person running the game, or Dungeon Master (DM for short), enjoys throwing curve balls at players, making you think on your feet. People who play often LARP (Live Action Role Playing), meaning they are great at sewing and knowledgeable in medieval weaponry.