I'm sure most people here have heard of the Russian family that fled from the Soviets and lived isolated for more then 40 years. They made their own clothes, grew their own food, and lived off the
land. Somehow, even though they fled at the spur of the moment when the Father's brother was shot, they took with them seeds, pieces for a loom and spinning wheel, and a few tools.
One of their biggest problems was a lack of means to boil
water once their kettles rusted out. What could have they done then? How could they boil water? Smelting and casting metal would have been difficult or impossible.
They had no way of easily killing animals. Guns or even bows would have made a huge difference.
Salt was a problem. I suppose their might have been a salt spring, but baring that, not much to do.
More diversity of crops might have helped; some were lost to them when they failed two years running, and that was the end of the
seed.
And the biggest lack of all; a few more families to flee with. They could have done all sorts of things with more people.
But all in all, an amazing survival story. Here is a link for those who don't know about it.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-russian-family-was-cut-off-from-all-human-contact-unaware-of-world-war-ii-7354256/?no-ist
NOT saying they did badly! I consider it quite an achievement that most of them survived.