>> because you'll never find someone else who understands any of these at a time when it would actually be useful. I understand what you are saying, but I'm go

>> because you'll never find someone else who understands any of these at a time when it would actually be useful. I understand what you are saying, but I'm going to make a guess here... you have never served in the military, have you? There is a whole subset of the population(veterans) around you, who had (from the article) smoke signals, hand signals, and morse code drilled into our heads. We may be rusty, but it's like riding a bike. It might not be as nifty as making a fire by rubbing 2 sticks together, but a couple of us each with a piece of broken glass can communicate miles away by signal flashing morse code. Also, the article was about communicating. Your reply seems to be more about self-preservation during an emergency. There is some overlap in those 2 domains, but they are not the same.