If you had no tools at all ( Just the clothes on your back ) but just access to a diverse mixed Terrain Environment what items / tools could you make and source from Nature and in which order.
IE - What would be the first item you would craft and then how what other Items would you attempt to procure ( & why )
I was in two minds about replying to this because it’s a complex subject in my opinion that can’t be covered in a few paragraphs of a post. And, to be honest TeeDee, I think you are guilty of doing what you have accused others of doing in the past: not fully defining the rules of engagement
Where are we, what time of year is it, are we talking about the modern world or the past? Are we surviving a day or a month? In a modern world, just make your way to the nearest farm and, at the back, will be a rubbish heap that will have discarded tools, cutting edges, rope, wire and even an old tarp.
This is a fascinating subject and it is something I have spent a fair bit of time considering in my studies of Mesolithic and Neolithic British peoples. Having said that I don’t have answers because there are too many variables. So, please excuse the long post ....
If we are talking about UK climate but not within reach of civilisation and not in a modern world then few of us, despite our knowledge and training, would survive this situation. It is very difficult for a single person to survive – the calories available easily are not enough for all the work that needs to be done and the UK damp/cold environment is not easy to cope with. But we’d all try, so here’s my view on the priorities.
If the plan was to stay as opposed to get out, it is likely that the first priority would be shelter from the wind and rain – once wet and cold all other considerations go out of the window. A reasonable shelter can be built with no tools at all. You would only not give this high priority if you knew it was going to stay dry and mild and/or you had access to natural shelter. If you have a choice your shelter would be near a water source, so you don’t have to find a way of carrying it.
The next priority would depend on whether you are already wet or not – if you are, forget water or food, and concentrate on fire; once hypothermia sets in on your own you die. Making fire is far from easy and something very few can achieve from nothing – finding dry tinder in the UK at any time other than high summer (whenever that is) is very difficult in itself then making a means of getting a spark or an ember without tools is also extremely difficult. How many of us know how to get a spark from natural materials such as flint and pyrite (if it’s available) or could get an ember from friction without tools to make the components? I know we all like to think we can, but on a wet cold British day what success rate would we have? The truth is we should have been collecting dry and suitable material as we travelled exactly as Mesolithic man did.
I think we all agree, a sharp cutting edge would be nice but there are very few areas in the UK where they appear naturally which is why flint was traded across Europe. The probability of stumbling upon suitable geology is very low. However, smashed animal bones were used as cutting and scraping tools and are much easier to find. You could fashion a decent hearth and drill using bone or antler tools.
Having got ourselves shelter, besides a water source, and a fire to dry ourselves our next priority would be food. I have made a table of calorie sources for different food types that I’ve put up here in the past, but to summarise, you need around 5 trout a day or 7 rabbit, or 6 duck …are your hunting/fishing skills up to that without modern equipment? Trapping is hard enough with modern wire; my success rate is not good and even old-timers talk about one trap in twenty being successful – If I had to rely on natural cordage for my traps I think it would fall to near zero. However, making strong cordage is not energy consuming and would be worth the effort in an attempt to trap whilst doing other things. Fishing using natural cordage and bone hooks would also be worth the effort but, again, success rates are likely to be low (how many of us fail to make a catch fishing with modern equipment?). Of course, if we were lucky enough to find ourselves on a rocky seashore (as many Mesolithic settlements were) we have ample food resources in the shellfish and seaweeds.
I doubt if any of us could hunt successfully with a spear even if we had a metal tip let alone stone or just a sharpened stick. A bow and arrow may be more successful but only for small animals as we don’t have the tools to make a decent draw-strength bow (or at least, it would be difficult and bow staves need to season). Arrows would be crude – probably best with a club end rather than a point but a lot of Mesolithic arrow heads were just shards of flint not the beautiful ones you see Will Lord making.
Remember, if you’re consuming more calories getting food than you’re getting from it, you may as well just sit down and wait to die – you’ll actually live longer! There’s no point walking 10km and coming back with one rabbit or using a digging stick for an hour to get one root out.
So, after all that (which is the ‘why’ bit I guess), in summary:
- Shelter near a water source
- Fire by spark or friction if the climate dictates
- Food by foraging, trapping, fishing
All can be done without a cutting tool other than bone or antler IMO.
