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    potassium fire

    You can also mix it with magnesium shavings off your fire lighter to make an improvised flash powder - handy if you stumble across a yeti, forgot the flash gun and it's too dark to take a photo.
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    Iron Pyrite question

    I got some nodules of someone on the group ( can't remember who ), I can strike a spark off them with a piece of quartzite. You need to find the right spot on your nodule and use a very glancing blow - almost just dropping the stone past the nodule. The sparks are dull red, few and drift...
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    Tanning

    It's a nice method but has one problem - acid tanned skins absorb water easily and go clammy on cold damp days. Of course you can oil them to get round that, does neat's food oil still exist?
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    Using Jasper as a flint substitute

    I've made arrowheads out of bloodstone which is just another form of jasper. It pressure flakes well but getting a suitable piece off the main block was a bit hit and miss.
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    Best Wood For Carving

    That's kind of like asking which beer is better. I love blackthorn for carving but large pieces are hard to get hold of - it's what I taught myself on though. Anything not too hard is worth a try - even a chunk of pine offcut from the DIY can turn out a treat. You can't beat a nice piece of...
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    Artificial Tinders

    I use hemp char simply cos that's what most of my clothes are made from - again it seems to burn much hotter than cotton.
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    potassium hydroxide or KOH

    Not quite the same - NaOH will go as a far forming a solution ( if you can call a highly corrosive opaque syrup a solution ) from atmospheric water. KOH isn't that bad but it does absorb CO2 from the air - our lab grade stuff needs replacing once a year or so ( depending on how many times it's...
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    A modern Herbal

    Someone's also done a fine job of converting it for the web: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html
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    Fishing - restart

    Yes you can still get the license at a post office - or buy it on line. No trout license anymore - what was coarse license at 17.50 now covers non migratory salmonids too. Sea run trout and salmon need the pricey license and you now have a compulsory catch return to fill in once a year - even if...
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    How to make Flame Torches

    Try these guys: http://www.rushlight.org/ all sorts of antique lighting methods
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    Firestarter

    Anyone know where I can get a biggish piece of the wood from - it's got a bizzare translucent quality and I love to carve something from it. Realgar
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    Single flame

    They're also not matches in our sense - they have to be lit from another source. they were just easy to light from a piece of smouldering tinder. More like a taper if anyone remebers those from chemistry....
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    tutorial, Pitfiring earthenware (With images)

    To puddle your own clay isn't difficult. Dig out a bucket full of the stuff, add to water and mash up until you have a homogenous slurry. Leave to settle for ages. Pour off the the water and the top layer - which is mostly organic matter, then start digging out the clay stopping when you reach...
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    tutorial, Pitfiring earthenware (With images)

    Don't think it's possible in a pit kiln - far too little oxygen. I've built raised wood and charcoal fired kilns that'll do glazing though, once I've had it far enough for the clay to sag and melt a little. The fun bit's trying to get close enough to refuel without getting hurt. Have you...
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    Birch bark basketry

    that's so bleeding obvious I should have thought of it a long time ago - cheers Realgar
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    Birch bark basketry

    I only get really good bark when a tree falls and I get to skin it. The main problem I've found is it tends to dry and curl horribly when kept in a modern house. You can make a nice join using a slot in one side and a tab in the other. Kept some of my fishing gear in birch bark pouches until...
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    Smartphones

    Maybe it cos I spend my entire day at work with high tech stuff. My phone cost me ten quid, I bought it under duress and I do my best not to have it turned on. I've never seen the point of a PDA ( I had to ask what one was ).Mind you the phone's useless here - the whole damned building's...
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    How to make Flame Torches

    I'll get some pitch forks and we can head on up the castle. You never get a decent mob these days.....
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    Direction indicators

    That doesn't always work though -you do get bizzare local happenings that mean that individual churches might not be facing where you might think. If you've got a piece of iron or steel ( such as a pin ) five or stout blows to the top usualy magnetises it enough to act as a compass. My punch...
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    funniest site of the week

    Yeh, mine's set for manual update,, now how do I get rid of the sodding balloon that keeps telling me updates are available? And the reminder to reset the machine that pops up every five minutes after an update. I KNOW! I don't CARE you can finish updating after I've finished my own faffing...