SHQ is one of the best Australian survival forums, so if you have an interest in survival in any form, I suggest you visit this site & join. What have you got to lose?
http://survivalhq.info/index.php
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
No More Gunpowder. More.
The need for a blasting permit, fallout zones for powder storage- which leads to no dealers being able carry the product, and the National Harmonised Explosive Law.
The Survival Connection. PART 2.
In my recent post on "Taking Things Too Far" you will see the governments latest move to restrict the use of guns for Australians. First make it difficult to get black powder. Most firearms owners have modern guns, & frankly they don't give a dam about us muzzleloaders. So this legislation will be easy to push through. One that is done they can move on to smokeless gun powder. We never did have a right by law to protect ourselves in Australia. The law states that you have to be shot first before you can defend yourself. But soon we won't even have that option. This is way beyond the pail!
In WW2 the English had to ask America for guns for the home guard to use. They had taken most of the peoples guns off them you see, and they had nothing left with which to defend themselves. So if Australia is ever invaded, we will have to defend our homes & families with bows & arrows!
Okay, let us hope that something can be done to stop this legislation going through, & we will consentrate on other things for this post.
Not every settler had a horse or stock to carry their goods. Some travelled by boat & then on foot, other just on foot. Our situation is likely to put us on foot aventually, so let's consentrate on that situation.
We need to be very choosy when it comes to the equipment we carry with us. We can't afford a lot of weight, but at the same time there will be a lot of tasks that will require tools to complete once we reach our destination. So there must be a compromise between two principles; Minimum weight, and Maximum self-reliance.
Tools will make tools. A tomahawk/axe can make digging tools such as a pick, mattock, plough & a crowbar (English). But if you have enough people then you can distribute your larger tools among them. Don't forget, you can just carry the heads & make the stails & helves on site.
In WW2 the English had to ask America for guns for the home guard to use. They had taken most of the peoples guns off them you see, and they had nothing left with which to defend themselves. So if Australia is ever invaded, we will have to defend our homes & families with bows & arrows!
Okay, let us hope that something can be done to stop this legislation going through, & we will consentrate on other things for this post.
Not every settler had a horse or stock to carry their goods. Some travelled by boat & then on foot, other just on foot. Our situation is likely to put us on foot aventually, so let's consentrate on that situation.
We need to be very choosy when it comes to the equipment we carry with us. We can't afford a lot of weight, but at the same time there will be a lot of tasks that will require tools to complete once we reach our destination. So there must be a compromise between two principles; Minimum weight, and Maximum self-reliance.
Tools will make tools. A tomahawk/axe can make digging tools such as a pick, mattock, plough & a crowbar (English). But if you have enough people then you can distribute your larger tools among them. Don't forget, you can just carry the heads & make the stails & helves on site.
From Diderot. Carrying methods for tools.
The hoe.
A small mattock. You can make & fit a longer handle.
A small pick.
The pruning saw is very efficient at cutting limbs from trees or bucking. These were available in the 18th century.
Fascine knives.
Tomahawk/axe
Half-axe.
Felling axe.
Adze.
All of these tools will double as weapons, & have been used as weapons in the past.
Taking Things Too Far!!! No More Gunpowder!!!
--- In alhf_members@yahoogroups.com, Keith Burgess wrote:
*The consequences for this stupid piece of legislation are far reaching.
It might be worse than that, p9 of the Regulatory Impact Statement threatens:
"the harmonisation of explosives legislation across Australia by the Australasian Forum of Explosives Regulators which reports to WRMC.
This project aims to develop and implement a common set of r requirements for explosives-related licensing, authorisation, competencies, security and transport. The Intergovernmental Agreement
for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety states that:
`the primary role of the WRMC … is to work cooperatively to harmonise OHS legislation by 2011 or earlier if agreed by COAG'
Looks like we may have the same fight nationally soon. It is apparently "to address persistent security concerns in relation to the potential for the intentional misuse of explosives by terrorists"
This is an Email reply from a member of the ALHF (Australian Living History Federation). The government in all it's wisdom (NOT) has decided to make it compulsory for anyone wanting to purchase sporting grade muzzle-loader black powder, to have a blasters permit & a commercial standard gun powder magazine situated away from the suburbs!!!
Basically this means that most of us will no longer be able to purchase black powder for our guns. What is the likely results of this stupid piece of legislation?
1) The bad guys only have one place to go to get all the black powder they need, and they will know where to find it.
2) Most people will not be able to purchase black powder anymore.
3) People will start stockpiling without a magazine.
4) This will produce a black market in gunpowder & there will be no control over its suitability for use in muzzleloading guns.
5) People will be forced to start making their own gunpowder if they wish to continue using their flintlock guns.
6) Sales in black powder & muzzle-loading guns will drop drastically.
No doubt you can think of a lot more! And what about smokeless gun powder? Or are Terrorists not allowed to use smokeless!!!
This just does not make sense. I suggest all you Aussies start writing to your local members ASAP if you wish to keep using your guns. This was bound to come, this is what happens when you let the government ban certain guns. The wedge is in a little deeper now.
*The consequences for this stupid piece of legislation are far reaching.
It might be worse than that, p9 of the Regulatory Impact Statement threatens:
"the harmonisation of explosives legislation across Australia by the Australasian Forum of Explosives Regulators which reports to WRMC.
This project aims to develop and implement a common set of r requirements for explosives-related licensing, authorisation, competencies, security and transport. The Intergovernmental Agreement
for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety states that:
`the primary role of the WRMC … is to work cooperatively to harmonise OHS legislation by 2011 or earlier if agreed by COAG'
Looks like we may have the same fight nationally soon. It is apparently "to address persistent security concerns in relation to the potential for the intentional misuse of explosives by terrorists"
This is an Email reply from a member of the ALHF (Australian Living History Federation). The government in all it's wisdom (NOT) has decided to make it compulsory for anyone wanting to purchase sporting grade muzzle-loader black powder, to have a blasters permit & a commercial standard gun powder magazine situated away from the suburbs!!!
Basically this means that most of us will no longer be able to purchase black powder for our guns. What is the likely results of this stupid piece of legislation?
1) The bad guys only have one place to go to get all the black powder they need, and they will know where to find it.
2) Most people will not be able to purchase black powder anymore.
3) People will start stockpiling without a magazine.
4) This will produce a black market in gunpowder & there will be no control over its suitability for use in muzzleloading guns.
5) People will be forced to start making their own gunpowder if they wish to continue using their flintlock guns.
6) Sales in black powder & muzzle-loading guns will drop drastically.
No doubt you can think of a lot more! And what about smokeless gun powder? Or are Terrorists not allowed to use smokeless!!!
This just does not make sense. I suggest all you Aussies start writing to your local members ASAP if you wish to keep using your guns. This was bound to come, this is what happens when you let the government ban certain guns. The wedge is in a little deeper now.
Friday, 1 April 2011
The Survival Connection. Part One.
There have been several survival scenarios built on the premise that we have to leave home and survive in the wilderness. In some circumstances with a large enough group of people you may be able to retire to your retreat, your small farm in the bush. But many worry about raiders once the food supplies run out in the towns & cities. Of course if this is an invasion by a foreign power, then you will have to leave your retreat and move further into the wilderness.
Think about that scenario, travelling to a new area to start from scratch. The journey, dangers, tools & equipment required, the skills needed, the ever present threat of attack, the need to grow your own food, to hunt & to trap. The constant work involved in just living, especially when you are first setting up. I think this is what Karl was saying in his recent post, many hands make light work. But if you are alone you will be working long hours until you get it all up & running.
Does this remind you of another time in history when people had to travel into the wilderness to settle? Yes, the settlement of the New World. Someone many years ago wrote in a popular US magazine that if anyone stood a chance of survival after TSHTF, it would be 18th century living historians. Why? Because this is what we do. We interpret & recreate that journey into the wilderness through Historical Trekking. We learn & practice the skills required to live in the wilderness. If we are a part of a group, then that group is our support, we all leave together. No fuss, no panic. We have done this a hundred times before. We are trained, skilled & fully equiped. That is why we stand the best chance of survival.
What if it never happens? Personally I hope it never does. Meantime I am having a lot of fun.
Woodsrunner’s Skills.
This is a list of basic skills in which I personally would expect an 18th century woodsman or woods-woman to have some experience with.
• Flint & steel fire lighting
• Wet weather fire lighting
• Fire-bow fire lighting
• Flintlock fire lighting
• Flintlock use, service & repair
• Field dressing & butchering game
• Blade sharpening
• Tomahawk throwing
• Making rawhide
• Brain tanning
• Primitive shelter construction
• Cordage manufacture
• Moccasin construction and repair
• Sewing
• Axe and tomahawk helve making
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Evasion
• Tracking
• Reading sign
• Woods lore
• Navigation
• Primitive trap construction & trapping
• Open fire cooking
• Fireplace construction
• Clothing manufacture
• Drying meat & other foods
• Knowledge of plant tinders & preparation
• Knowledge of native foods & preparation
• Scouting
• Basic first aid
Some of our group member's skills go beyond this list, some do not meet these requirements but have other skills which we need. One is a bowyer & knife maker, another is a nurse. Two are ex security & others have managerial and organisational skills. We have weavers & knitters, gardeners, seamstress, archers & skills instructors. This is the advantage of being a member of a well established group.
New England Colonial Living History Group 1680-1760. http://eighteenthcenturylivinghistory.freeforums.org/
Think about that scenario, travelling to a new area to start from scratch. The journey, dangers, tools & equipment required, the skills needed, the ever present threat of attack, the need to grow your own food, to hunt & to trap. The constant work involved in just living, especially when you are first setting up. I think this is what Karl was saying in his recent post, many hands make light work. But if you are alone you will be working long hours until you get it all up & running.
Does this remind you of another time in history when people had to travel into the wilderness to settle? Yes, the settlement of the New World. Someone many years ago wrote in a popular US magazine that if anyone stood a chance of survival after TSHTF, it would be 18th century living historians. Why? Because this is what we do. We interpret & recreate that journey into the wilderness through Historical Trekking. We learn & practice the skills required to live in the wilderness. If we are a part of a group, then that group is our support, we all leave together. No fuss, no panic. We have done this a hundred times before. We are trained, skilled & fully equiped. That is why we stand the best chance of survival.
What if it never happens? Personally I hope it never does. Meantime I am having a lot of fun.
Woodsrunner’s Skills.
This is a list of basic skills in which I personally would expect an 18th century woodsman or woods-woman to have some experience with.
• Flint & steel fire lighting
• Wet weather fire lighting
• Fire-bow fire lighting
• Flintlock fire lighting
• Flintlock use, service & repair
• Field dressing & butchering game
• Blade sharpening
• Tomahawk throwing
• Making rawhide
• Brain tanning
• Primitive shelter construction
• Cordage manufacture
• Moccasin construction and repair
• Sewing
• Axe and tomahawk helve making
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Evasion
• Tracking
• Reading sign
• Woods lore
• Navigation
• Primitive trap construction & trapping
• Open fire cooking
• Fireplace construction
• Clothing manufacture
• Drying meat & other foods
• Knowledge of plant tinders & preparation
• Knowledge of native foods & preparation
• Scouting
• Basic first aid
Some of our group member's skills go beyond this list, some do not meet these requirements but have other skills which we need. One is a bowyer & knife maker, another is a nurse. Two are ex security & others have managerial and organisational skills. We have weavers & knitters, gardeners, seamstress, archers & skills instructors. This is the advantage of being a member of a well established group.
New England Colonial Living History Group 1680-1760. http://eighteenthcenturylivinghistory.freeforums.org/
Southern Cross Free Trappers Newsletter.
http://freetrappers.org.au/2011/04/01/vol-30-april-2011/
This is of course one of our Australian groups. The Southern Cross Free Trappers welcome new members with an interest in colonial living from the late 17th century to the mid 19th century. So if you have an interest in this period, I suggest you check this group out. They are a great bunch to sit around the camp fire with.
This is of course one of our Australian groups. The Southern Cross Free Trappers welcome new members with an interest in colonial living from the late 17th century to the mid 19th century. So if you have an interest in this period, I suggest you check this group out. They are a great bunch to sit around the camp fire with.
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