The 18th
Century Woodsman as a Survivalist.
Plant tinders in the author's tinderbox.
Being an 18th
century woodsman and participating in Historical Trekking means more than just
posturing. Yes charred cloth was used in the 18th century as a
tinder for making fire, but it was not used by woodsmen in the wilderness. Some
would be woodsman choose to carry a percussion gun, but the fact is, woodsmen
did not carry a percussion gun because (a) it was not invented in the 18th
century, and (b) which is more important, percussion locks are not suitable for
survival in the wilderness. You are better off flinching and getting used to a
flinter than you are relying on percussion caps.
The woodsman’s hunting
knife was more often than not a butcher knife. With a blade between 7 and 12
inches it was well suited to skinning, butchering and self-defence. So think
about what your hunting knife is meant to be used for before purchasing. The
same goes for the tomahawk. The tomahawk was the 18th century trade
axe, and it was designed as a practicle tool and weapon. The round poll and the
square poll tomahawks were used for shelter construction, making pegs and
stakes and driving them into the ground. They could also be used in the
butchering of game, for fighting, and for throwing; either for hunting or in
battle. Hammer poll tomahawks will split stakes when driving into the ground,
and the poll on a pipe tomahawk is only of any use for smoking. If you want to
smoke a pipe, carry a pipe.
The author's blades that he always carries in the woods; tomahawk, hunting knife, friction clasp knife, and a legging knife.
Now here is a tip that
I learnt from a very close personal and family friend who went under some years
ago. Shane was an ex Ranger, and he suffered with painful feet when wearing
moccasins. But instead of looking for alternate footwear, he compromised authenticity
by adding just the foot part of a pair of modern thongs (flip flops, jangles)
as an inner sole. Personally I think this is a great idea. I guess if you are
like me and prefer not to compromise authenticity in this way, you could just
simply add leather inner soles and see if that does the job.
I do a lot of
research, but I can’t find information on a lot of things that I would like to
find. In order to determine what items might be carried by certain types of 18th
century people, it is necessary to use experimental archaeology. Again we must
think of the woodsman as a survivalist, but having said that, some woodsmen
were smarter than others. There is no definitive answer to why some people did
certain things and others did not. Family tradition would no doubt often play a
part, e.g. “my Father never bothered to carry an oilcloth so I don’t either”.
There are records of grose incompetence by some woodsmen that fairly boggles
the brain. The only thing we can do is actually use our equipment and decide
for ourselves on what we carry, how we carry it, and what period methods we use
to look after our equipment and tools.
You may only be able
to get into the woods for a weekend, but you must imagine that you are going to
be in the woods for a lot longer. This has a very practicle point to it aside
from an authenticity point of view. You can never be sure what is going to
happen to you out there. You may literally find yourself in a survival
situation. This has happened to me more than once, and if I had not payed
attention to carrying the right gear, I may not be here right now.
Think about it.
Keith.
Keith.
3 comments:
Are you saying hammer-poles split stakes worse than either round or flat poles?
Yes Gorges. The hammer part is usually too small for hammering in stakes, but okay for small cabin construction pegs. Some modern tomahawks have large hammer faces, & these would probably be okay.
Keith.
Thanks for clearing that up. Even though I have a tomahawk, I always use modern handaxes, since I don't actually re-enact.
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