Scrapheap...ish challenge

[Stanleythecat]

Many of us on this site find solace in the great outdoors and love honing our knowledge and abilities to utilise our surroundings for survival or just for the hell of it!

We do however live in a very populated country and there is great pressure on our natural resources and ultimately it is unlikely most of us would find ourselves in a true wilderness environment locally. With this in mind I was wondering what modern equivalents we might substitute (technically our rubbish) for those used by our ancestors i.e knapping glass instead of flint or using the magnesium anode from a hot water tank for fire lighting...

Does anyone have any experience/suggestions?

Leo

 

[rancid badger]

Many of us on this site find solace in the great outdoors and love honing our knowledge and abilities to utilise our surroundings for survival or just for the hell of it!

We do however live in a very populated country and there is great pressure on our natural resources and ultimately it is unlikely most of us would find ourselves in a true wilderness environment locally. With this in mind I was wondering what modern equivalents we might substitute (technically our rubbish) for those used by our ancestors i.e knapping glass instead of flint or using the magnesium anode from a hot water tank for fire lighting...

Does anyone have any experience/suggestions?

Leo

There is a very informative video on Youtube demonstrating glass knapping.

HTH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh7pc2Q6XFI&feature=related

mind the fingers! Oh and I'd wear eye protection too

cheers

R.B.

 

[JohnC]

The first knife I made was using a bit of metal I found by the roadside.. still holds a decent edge. This pm I was walking through the grounds at work and taking note of plants/trees to practice id on, (cherry laurel and walnut are the 2 from today) I have made a few meths stoves from drinks cans, and our rocket stove is from leftover bricks..

 

[launditch1]

Nearly all the metal i use for forging with is recycled or found.Ive found lots of wrought iron in the hedges around where i live.I also make firesteels and knives from old files and leaf springs.
All this is outweighed by the fact i use coke in the forge.....electric for the fan...

Without these luxuries i could make my own charcoal from coppice and use a simple forge made of clay in the ground with the air provided by handbellows.

 

[palmnut]

The Americans like knapping old toilet ceramic - they call it Johnstone!

Peter.

 

[Stanleythecat]

Sounds good!

I was also wondering what would be a ready cordage, there are plenty of fibres available but I was wondering anyone had any ingenious ideas in lieu of paracord? Might strips of denim work for the cord on a bow drill for instance?

The purist in me loves the natural but I do like the adaptability of some people, like the nepalese making flip flops out of old tyres and the afghans' using old oil drums to make satelite dishes etc

Leo

 

[jdlenton]

When i was in africa last year i saw a great replacement for paracord, string, cable ties basically any type of cord. the locals would get hold of old tyres and from the inside they would rip small strips of the canvas out they could with some skill get meter long lengths about 3 to 5 mm wide. It is amazingly tough and as its all impregnated with rubber very resistent to water and decay The man who showed me made his living by producing the cord and selling it on at the local trading post

 

[caliban]

That's an interesting subject Stan. I suppose that this crosses over into salvaging and frugal living, the art of exploiting the urban environment. Strictly speaking this would be "citycraft". The challenges I think are roughly the same: food, shelter, transport, recreation. A related topic would be urban camping. Urban campers, or stealth campers, are travelers who camp within the city limits on waste ground or landscaping around shopping centers etc.