“…he
was left to amuse himself all night a long side his fier (fire) which he made
with his gun.” ~A. McKenzie, 1804.
Showing posts with label long term survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label long term survival. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Flintlock Fire Lighting.
Friday, 8 June 2012
Guest Speaker, Listen Up!
My friend Vieuxbois is not only a follower of this blog, but he is a valued international member of our 18th century living history group. What he has to say below regarding knives & battoning is in response to my recent article. It is really good to get the point of view from another person whos life is spent in the wild and often depends on the blades he carries with him.
My sincere thanks to Vieuxbois for this information.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
Frozen wood is ``brittle`` and easy to split. But it’s also very hard. Furthermore, steel is also more brittle when it’s very cold (it’s better to keep the protected blade warm by holding it close your body). So if I need to split frozen wood (which is rare and exceptional) there is more risk to damage a knife than an axe : an axe edge is generally thicker than a knife, there is more material to support the stress.
In my opinion, there are no reason for batoning with a knife unless if :
1. It’s not your choice, you need to do it : you are in a survival situation (or a survival training) with only a knife to work with, so you do with what you have, and you do it carefully because you want/need to preserve what you have like a treasure because your life depends on it. If you are in a true survival situation why would you risk breaking your knife? Break your knife and your chance of survival goes down.
2. You are playing like a kid, so you pay the game price.
3. It`s your choice, you want to do it : so you will use a very strong knife with an appropriate design/materials and heat treatment if you want to keep this tool in good condition. But does this very strong knife will do the same job than a thin blade? Of course I can carry both.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
From Thin, Sharp, Knives - Posted: 9 September, 2011 in http://bfelabs.com/2011/09/09/thin-sharp-knives/ : `` If you look around the working world, at the knives that are regularly used to do work, you might notice some startling differences between those knives and what is prominent in the popular knife industry. Particularly the “survival”, “tactical”, and “hard use” arenas of popular knife-making (both custom and production).
In these arenas we typically see heavy knives, from thick stock, with study handles and generally robust construction. We are told that this robustness is desirable, even absolutely necessary, for these tools to withstand the rigors of hard use. And the market sucks them up about as fast as they can be made, with companies like TOPS Knives producing ever-new variants of these beefy blades for battle and conquering barren-wastes. But what is being bought, and what is actually being used, are far different. What people actually work with is often something very different. The prominent working knife is not a robust, stout, knife but rather a thin, sharp, knife.
I was at a branding recently, out here in cattle country, and took note of the knives being used. For those unfamiliar, when branding calves it is also common practice to ear-mark with a notch in an ear and castrate. These tasks require a deft hand with a sharp knife, particularly when the calf is not forced into an immobilizing squeeze chute, but is rather roped out and held down. I’ve taken part in and observed this process numerous times in my life, and there is a great commonality to the knives being used: They are thin, sharp, knives. The same knives most of the cowboys and ranch hands carry in their pockets daily, and use for everything.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
The thin, sharp, knife is not unique to this environment, but rather common to every other. Moving out from the traditional slipjoint folder common to the ranching west, a survey of other traditional folding knife designs would turn up a variety of styles, locks, and construction methods, but one commonality: Thin, sharp, blades. Moving from folders, to fixed blade knives, we see the same variety in design and construction in traditional designs, but a great many have the same commonality of thin blades. The traditional Scandinavian knives, as typified by the Mora so common to woodscraft, are an easily accessible example of the type.
Thin blades are not limited to small knives, either. Many old-time woodsmen, frontiersmen, mountainmen, etc. who used big knives carried ones that, rather than resembling the Iron Mistress of Hollywood, more resembled a butcher knife, being thin although long. Now, some may use the argument that we know more than they did, and thus make more appropriate choices, but that is simply nonsense. Anyone who makes a living with a tool, or depends on it for his own life, on a day-to-day basis, knows far more about selecting the right type of that tool than anyone who does not do the same, no matter the other mans “knowledge”.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
If so many who’s lives depended on their knives choosing thinner blades historically holds little sway, then the fact that the trend is a modern one too should tell us something. Today, if we take a survey of the knives being used routinely, we would find many of them to be far thinner than what we’ve come to expect (or been told to expect). And not just small knives: While so many Americans and others influenced by the major knife market are of the opinion that a heavy, thick-spined, knife is required for chopping or “serious” woods work, much of the rest of the world relies on something far different; The machete, or some variant thereof.
Different tools are appropriate for different tasks. There is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a place for robust knives. One of the most valuable characteristics of contemporary knifemaking is the rise of robust locking systems for folding knives. The matching rise of the robust blade, however, may not be the best thing. But it is important to recognize that place, and use the right tool for the right job. For the majority of tasks for which a knife is used, a thick bladed knife is not the right tool. This includes many “hard” tasks, from woodscraft to cowboying to “tactical” environments (whatever those are). You aren’t necessarily wrong is you carry a robust knife for these, or even more mundane, daily uses, but you should ask yourself if that is truly what you need. Give some thought to whether cutting performance is a greater need than brute strength, and take a thinner knife better suited for cutting out for a spin sometime.``
Regards,
My sincere thanks to Vieuxbois for this information.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
Frozen wood is ``brittle`` and easy to split. But it’s also very hard. Furthermore, steel is also more brittle when it’s very cold (it’s better to keep the protected blade warm by holding it close your body). So if I need to split frozen wood (which is rare and exceptional) there is more risk to damage a knife than an axe : an axe edge is generally thicker than a knife, there is more material to support the stress.
In my opinion, there are no reason for batoning with a knife unless if :
1. It’s not your choice, you need to do it : you are in a survival situation (or a survival training) with only a knife to work with, so you do with what you have, and you do it carefully because you want/need to preserve what you have like a treasure because your life depends on it. If you are in a true survival situation why would you risk breaking your knife? Break your knife and your chance of survival goes down.
2. You are playing like a kid, so you pay the game price.
3. It`s your choice, you want to do it : so you will use a very strong knife with an appropriate design/materials and heat treatment if you want to keep this tool in good condition. But does this very strong knife will do the same job than a thin blade? Of course I can carry both.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
From Thin, Sharp, Knives - Posted: 9 September, 2011 in http://bfelabs.com/2011/09/09/thin-sharp-knives/ : `` If you look around the working world, at the knives that are regularly used to do work, you might notice some startling differences between those knives and what is prominent in the popular knife industry. Particularly the “survival”, “tactical”, and “hard use” arenas of popular knife-making (both custom and production).
In these arenas we typically see heavy knives, from thick stock, with study handles and generally robust construction. We are told that this robustness is desirable, even absolutely necessary, for these tools to withstand the rigors of hard use. And the market sucks them up about as fast as they can be made, with companies like TOPS Knives producing ever-new variants of these beefy blades for battle and conquering barren-wastes. But what is being bought, and what is actually being used, are far different. What people actually work with is often something very different. The prominent working knife is not a robust, stout, knife but rather a thin, sharp, knife.
I was at a branding recently, out here in cattle country, and took note of the knives being used. For those unfamiliar, when branding calves it is also common practice to ear-mark with a notch in an ear and castrate. These tasks require a deft hand with a sharp knife, particularly when the calf is not forced into an immobilizing squeeze chute, but is rather roped out and held down. I’ve taken part in and observed this process numerous times in my life, and there is a great commonality to the knives being used: They are thin, sharp, knives. The same knives most of the cowboys and ranch hands carry in their pockets daily, and use for everything.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
The thin, sharp, knife is not unique to this environment, but rather common to every other. Moving out from the traditional slipjoint folder common to the ranching west, a survey of other traditional folding knife designs would turn up a variety of styles, locks, and construction methods, but one commonality: Thin, sharp, blades. Moving from folders, to fixed blade knives, we see the same variety in design and construction in traditional designs, but a great many have the same commonality of thin blades. The traditional Scandinavian knives, as typified by the Mora so common to woodscraft, are an easily accessible example of the type.
Thin blades are not limited to small knives, either. Many old-time woodsmen, frontiersmen, mountainmen, etc. who used big knives carried ones that, rather than resembling the Iron Mistress of Hollywood, more resembled a butcher knife, being thin although long. Now, some may use the argument that we know more than they did, and thus make more appropriate choices, but that is simply nonsense. Anyone who makes a living with a tool, or depends on it for his own life, on a day-to-day basis, knows far more about selecting the right type of that tool than anyone who does not do the same, no matter the other mans “knowledge”.
Vieuxbois has left a new comment on your post "Knife Battoning! NOT!":
If so many who’s lives depended on their knives choosing thinner blades historically holds little sway, then the fact that the trend is a modern one too should tell us something. Today, if we take a survey of the knives being used routinely, we would find many of them to be far thinner than what we’ve come to expect (or been told to expect). And not just small knives: While so many Americans and others influenced by the major knife market are of the opinion that a heavy, thick-spined, knife is required for chopping or “serious” woods work, much of the rest of the world relies on something far different; The machete, or some variant thereof.
Different tools are appropriate for different tasks. There is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a place for robust knives. One of the most valuable characteristics of contemporary knifemaking is the rise of robust locking systems for folding knives. The matching rise of the robust blade, however, may not be the best thing. But it is important to recognize that place, and use the right tool for the right job. For the majority of tasks for which a knife is used, a thick bladed knife is not the right tool. This includes many “hard” tasks, from woodscraft to cowboying to “tactical” environments (whatever those are). You aren’t necessarily wrong is you carry a robust knife for these, or even more mundane, daily uses, but you should ask yourself if that is truly what you need. Give some thought to whether cutting performance is a greater need than brute strength, and take a thinner knife better suited for cutting out for a spin sometime.``
Regards,
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Alexander Selkirk aka Robinson Crusoe's Drinking Cup.
The drinking cup, formed of a small
cocoa-nut shell, presents a simple ornament
scratched with a knife with Selkirk's
own hand, is three inches and a quarter
deep, by two and a half inches diameter.
Mrs Gillies assured the writer, it had
formerly a silver foot and stem, but that
her father had disposed of it. Wanting
that appendage, Sir Walter and Constable
took it to Edinburgh, where the present
foot and stem of rosewood, nearly three
inches high, was added, making the whole
about six inches in height. They also
added the silver band or fillet that
encircles the outside of the cup, bearing Drinking-Cup of Alexander
Selkirk,
this inscription—The Cup of Ala. Selkirk,
whilst in Juan
Fernandez, 1704-9.
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_008/8_256_265.pdf
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_008/8_256_265.pdf
Robinson Crusoe's Sea Chest.
This wooden sea-chest (pictured here closed) was used by Alexander Selkirk during his solitary stay on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean from 1704-9. Born in Largo in Fife, Selkirk was the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe'.
Sea-chest of Alexander Selkirk of Lower Largo, Fife, used by him during his solitary stay on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean, 1704 - 1709
In 1704, after a quarrel with his captain, Selkirk asked to be put ashore on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez, 800 miles off the coast of Chile. In 1713, four years after his rescue, his experiences were published, giving Defoe his inspiration.
http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-001-706-C&scache=69ic83r8d3&searchdb=scran&PHPSESSID=t9ahgtgmps3643vradjlgm7h75
Sea-chest of Alexander Selkirk of Lower Largo, Fife, used by him during his solitary stay on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean, 1704 - 1709
In 1704, after a quarrel with his captain, Selkirk asked to be put ashore on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez, 800 miles off the coast of Chile. In 1713, four years after his rescue, his experiences were published, giving Defoe his inspiration.
http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-001-706-C&scache=69ic83r8d3&searchdb=scran&PHPSESSID=t9ahgtgmps3643vradjlgm7h75
Author's edited images below.
My sincere thanks to Jenny Baker for bringing this to my attention.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
So, 2012 has arrived!
Many think that this year is the beginning of the end of the world as we know it. Personally I keep an open mind. I have seen some things in my time that some would not believe or understand. I am pretty sure that I can handle anything that comes my way short of a nuke!
Here I must thank all of you that have followed this blog for as long as you have. To those who have taken the time to comment on my posts, my sincere thanks. Your questions and feedback are very much appreciated, and often they prompt me to do further research and give me ideas for more posts. It is you that keeps this blog going. Without you I would have no need to keep posting.
My very best wishes to you all for a good year in this 2012 and beyond.
Here I must thank all of you that have followed this blog for as long as you have. To those who have taken the time to comment on my posts, my sincere thanks. Your questions and feedback are very much appreciated, and often they prompt me to do further research and give me ideas for more posts. It is you that keeps this blog going. Without you I would have no need to keep posting.
My very best wishes to you all for a good year in this 2012 and beyond.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Colonial Games. Old Video.
Skittles or Nine Pins.
Devil Among The Tailors.
Fox and Geese.
I think this may be called Graces or Circles.
"Skittles" By Hans Zatzka.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Monday, 19 September 2011
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Making An Australian Native Bark Canoe.
This film clip from "Ten Canoes" does not show the whole process, but I think it shows enough for you to get the idea.
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Uses For Ashes In The Wilderness.
Uses For Wood Ashes.
1. For removing fur from animal skins.
2. As lye for making soap.
3. I have washed my hands using water and wood ashes.
4. Spread around plants to stop slugs and snails.
5. As garden fertilizer.
6. For controlling mites on chooks and other fowls.
7. Charcoal as a water filter.
8. For protecting dry foods.
9. Using in the toilet pit.
10. For testing wind direction.
11. Laying down to catch animal tracks.
12. Bury a fire in ashes to keep it in at night.
13. Charcoal will attract moisture.
14. Charcoal as an antidote for poisons.
15. For drawing, writing, and marking patterns on animal skins.
16. For camouflage on your face and hands.
17. Charcoal used as a slurry in a poultice for insect bites.
18. Charcoal for controlling Diarrhea
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/255/1/Uses-for-wood-ashes.html
http://afrisciheroes.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/grandma-found-a-lot-of-uses-for-wood-ash/
http://www.frontierfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105
http://www.diylife.com/2010/02/12/unusual-uses-charcoal/
http://healingtools.tripod.com/thn5.html
http://healingtools.tripod.com/char3.html
http://www.parkridgecardiology.com/index.php/health-facts/health-nuggets/92-charcoal
1. For removing fur from animal skins.
2. As lye for making soap.
3. I have washed my hands using water and wood ashes.
4. Spread around plants to stop slugs and snails.
5. As garden fertilizer.
6. For controlling mites on chooks and other fowls.
7. Charcoal as a water filter.
8. For protecting dry foods.
9. Using in the toilet pit.
10. For testing wind direction.
11. Laying down to catch animal tracks.
12. Bury a fire in ashes to keep it in at night.
13. Charcoal will attract moisture.
14. Charcoal as an antidote for poisons.
15. For drawing, writing, and marking patterns on animal skins.
16. For camouflage on your face and hands.
17. Charcoal used as a slurry in a poultice for insect bites.
18. Charcoal for controlling Diarrhea
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/255/1/Uses-for-wood-ashes.html
http://afrisciheroes.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/grandma-found-a-lot-of-uses-for-wood-ash/
http://www.frontierfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105
http://www.diylife.com/2010/02/12/unusual-uses-charcoal/
http://healingtools.tripod.com/thn5.html
http://healingtools.tripod.com/char3.html
http://www.parkridgecardiology.com/index.php/health-facts/health-nuggets/92-charcoal
Monday, 25 July 2011
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