I Went to a Survivalist Festival and It Prepped Me for Pandemic End-Times

Last summer, I decided to learn how to survive. Nothing too serious. Build a fire. Identify poisonous plants. Maybe hunt a small animal. I was never a Boy Scout, but I’ve always had an ambient distrust of the modern world. I figured that having some survival skills might come in handy when things get bad a couple of decades from now. So I drove up from South Florida to a 940-acre farm just outside of Asheville, NC, to attend the Firefly Gathering, the country’s largest primitive technology festival. There, smiling New Age-types promised to teach and celebrate the spiritual and technical skills of our ancestors in order to live in harmony with the Earth. But beneath all their good vibes I could make out an ominous vision of the future.

I didn’t expect them to be so right so soon.

On the campgrounds, I anticipated a lot of woo-woo earnestness. After all, this was a festival without electricity or running water, no internet and no smartphones. The crowd .... Continue Reading at Men's Journal Adventure