As geeks, we need to assume the worst and plan from it. Besides, a Carrington Event makes electronics useless.

You're assuming access to gas here.

Very little beyond coals, heat, and tools is required; Tillers is doing overseas work in Africa and showed the class pictures of a makeshift forge using a hole dug in the ground with coals and a make shift bellows from a trash bag. I suspect that in a SHTF scenario with the leftovers of an industrial society I could use a portable forge (Google it), use an existing forge (assuming it's not in use), or make my own. Oh and as far as metal goes, car springs are prime metal. (Read Gordon R. Dickson's 'Wolf and Iron' which put me on a quest to try to find this class)

The class had us make our own tongs and chisels. I am going to attend the foundry class and try to make my own hammer. I know I need more experience but that only comes with spending time on the forge.

I just did a blacksmithing class and it's not that simple and certainly not done on that small a scale.

No electricity = no soldering anything

I recently took Blacksmithing I and II at Tillers International for this *exact* reason. As a Network Architect, I'm the alpha geek for data transport and a Blacksmith is the alpha geek for a world gone straight to hell.

Moab and Rubicon Trails would rock with this!

...or just efficient for zero g?

I'm sorry, I was thinking Co-lo since my experience has been 'zero-distance' between ourselves and various carriers. My frustration has been being charged insane CAPEX and recurring charges for a 20' section of fiber to a carrier-class switch. Given the number of customers, it's obvious that the number of folks at the location have paid for the equipment, engineering, etc.

When your cross-connect is a $30.00 piece of fiber jumper cable into a switch that is replaced once every 7 years, the cost should be minimal. Even the CAPEX to replace those switches was paid for years ago by the Telco customer.

As a Network Architect, I can tell you that the CAPEX for that 'road' - and all of the equipment for it - was paid by the Telco/Cable consumer years ago so any objections that AT&T/Comcast may have is just flat-out greed at this point.

To be fair, there *is* one black player.

Jackson is a master of corporate shakedowns and this has *nothing* to do with equality except where his wallet is concerned.

The only way this could possibly work is point to point LOS between the nodes.