Informative video, sexy young man. Can’t beat that combo!
Comment by venuspluto67 — 11 November 2006 @ 12:55 PM
That guy got an ember pretty quick. It usually takes me a bit longer (60-100 strokes). That might be due to wood selection. In Alaska I use birch for the drill and spruce cottonwood for the fireboard.
If you look closely, you’ll see that he uses manufactured twine as his bow-string. The natives of old would have actually used buckskin (leather from tanned animal-hides) strings. I asked the guy who made the video at YouTube about this and he said that same bow now has a buckskin string on it.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 12 November 2006 @ 1:39 PM
Huh, I thought you’d make cordage for that, say from various fibrous plants. Buckskin, you say? All right, I can see that.
The guy also said he had some backup cordage made from a particular plant. I left that out because I’m trying to be less long-winded. (Yeah, I know, good luck with that, venus. )
Comment by venuspluto67 — 12 November 2006 @ 11:54 PM
That might be due to wood selection. In Alaska I use birch for the drill and spruce cottonwood for the fireboard.
Resinous woods are harder to make a fire with, that’s for sure. And yeah, he got an ember pretty quick, but his technique wasn’t that great — and he didn’t know what wood he was using! His “advanced” method got a big kick out of the people watching here at the Drum.
Rawhide is the best material to string your bow. You can make it from cordage, but 1. that’s a lot of work compared to rawhide 2. you have to know what you’re doing in making it and 3. it has a tendency to snap anyway.
Devin, I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that you get internet access at the Teaching Drum. Primarily because the only pictures I’ve seen of Teaching Drum are of people building, living in, and hanging out in wigwams and such… I’m just imagining a bunch of people in deerhide shirts sitting in a wigwam, huddling around an iBook and laughing at YouTube videos.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 14 November 2006 @ 4:29 PM
Yeah, I’m not vouching for the details, it just seemed like a handy demonstration of the basic mechanics.
Haha. Yeah, we have satellite internet, and phones, and electricity (refrigerators, computers, etc)), and vehicles, and running water, and most of the amenities of modern civilization at the support camp.
Nishnajida (the camp where the folks are doing the Yearlong) is mostly primitive, with notable exceptions — canoes are made of modern materials, clothes are for the most part modern (although people are given the opportunity to make their own), among other materials used. They do the best they can here, but it’s slowgoing. The yearlong has already evolved to the point where it’s borderline too-intense — they’re thinking about making the current program sort of a “year two”, and having another sort of initiatory experience prior to allowing people to enroll.
Coming here, I’m realizing that people are a lot more stuck than they realize…
Coming here, I’m realizing that people are a lot more stuck than they realize…
Yep, that’s exactly why so many of us are resigned to being claimed by the die-off. But as for those who are preparing for the crash in some way, I often wonder whether its people in eco-villages or people planning on going primitive who have the right idea for the short term. Is it really viable for those are planning on surviving civilization to return to the old ways as soon as civilization is on its death bed? What I’m saying is that eco-villages and such set-ups could be a transition point between the end of civilization and a return to the old tribal ways.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 16 November 2006 @ 1:31 AM
Well, if you’re only planning on beginning that primitivist journey when civilization collapses, I don’t think you’ll do very well. You need to start now. You can actually get pretty far, even within the context of civilization, and then you can fill in those last details that are currently troublesome once the government is out of your hair.
Hello, its interesting to see my videos on this website. I’m honoured
Id like to respond to Devin’s comment, I do/did know what wood I was useing. I’m not sure what type of wood I was useing in that particular set for the hearthboard, but I do know the rest.
I used basswood (American Linden) for the spindle tip and Black Willow for the top end. Black Willow by itself works but its alittle denser.
I also use Yucca, cottonwood (branch and root), willow root, sage, and juniper. All of this depends on where I am however.
The reason I couldnt identify what the hearthboard is is because it was dead when I found it, and had no real distinguishing features. I assume it may be a type of maple, since theres a few maple sapplings in the area, but I cant be sure because, it had been dead for a spell.
Nice job. I need help with this. Every time I try this, I get a lot of black dust, smoke, but NO ember. I’m using an oaken spindle & a cedar hearthboard. I see that everyone who does this uses exotic woods llike Yucca, but I’d rather use woods commonly available in the NE-oak, maple, pine, etc. I got a little closer by using a longer bow, and trying to pull the full length of it with every stroke.
These folks are writing mostly from the West Coast. Not so exotic for them. The key, as I understand it, is to get a good, soft wood for the hearth, and a harder wood for the drill. Maple is a good drill, and willow makes a good hearth. Try that, and see what kind of success you have.
Sucess! My problem was technique, not materials. I used a poplar drill & a cedar fireboard. My board was 1″ thick, and I wasn’t building a big enough pile of punk. I found that the notch has to be FULL of dust, so that it contacts the hot point of friction in the hole. Also, I found that the coal doesn’t look red, because it’s covered with more dust. I tipped it into my nest (oakum), and Voila! blowing on it ignited.
Have we podfaded? Honestly, yes. We still harbor plans to bring back the podcast, once we have a place where we can record! Expect us back sometime in 2008.
The Directory gathers links to some of the best rewilding and primitivist sites we know of, gathers them in one place. Syndicated from the Anthropik Ma.gnolia Group.
Hey, taxes, hunting & fishing licenses and all the rest cost money. Besides, you'll need field guides, books, and some other gear anyway. The indigenous peoples of the world have spoken: the most useful thing to come out of civilization is the t-shirt.
Informative video, sexy young man. Can’t beat that combo!
Comment by venuspluto67 — 11 November 2006 @ 12:55 PM
That guy got an ember pretty quick. It usually takes me a bit longer (60-100 strokes). That might be due to wood selection. In Alaska I use birch for the drill and spruce cottonwood for the fireboard.
Comment by Andy — 11 November 2006 @ 5:29 PM
This is nifty. I’ve been working on The Fifth World. This was very useful for coming up with realistic TN’s for firestarting based on the wood used.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 11 November 2006 @ 6:09 PM
If you look closely, you’ll see that he uses manufactured twine as his bow-string. The natives of old would have actually used buckskin (leather from tanned animal-hides) strings. I asked the guy who made the video at YouTube about this and he said that same bow now has a buckskin string on it.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 12 November 2006 @ 1:39 PM
Huh, I thought you’d make cordage for that, say from various fibrous plants. Buckskin, you say? All right, I can see that.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 12 November 2006 @ 5:25 PM
The guy also said he had some backup cordage made from a particular plant. I left that out because I’m trying to be less long-winded. (Yeah, I know, good luck with that, venus.
)
Comment by venuspluto67 — 12 November 2006 @ 11:54 PM
Resinous woods are harder to make a fire with, that’s for sure. And yeah, he got an ember pretty quick, but his technique wasn’t that great — and he didn’t know what wood he was using! His “advanced” method got a big kick out of the people watching here at the Drum.
Rawhide is the best material to string your bow. You can make it from cordage, but 1. that’s a lot of work compared to rawhide 2. you have to know what you’re doing in making it and 3. it has a tendency to snap anyway.
Comment by Devin — 14 November 2006 @ 3:48 PM
Devin, I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that you get internet access at the Teaching Drum. Primarily because the only pictures I’ve seen of Teaching Drum are of people building, living in, and hanging out in wigwams and such… I’m just imagining a bunch of people in deerhide shirts sitting in a wigwam, huddling around an iBook and laughing at YouTube videos.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 14 November 2006 @ 4:29 PM
Yeah, I’m not vouching for the details, it just seemed like a handy demonstration of the basic mechanics.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 14 November 2006 @ 6:01 PM
Haha. Yeah, we have satellite internet, and phones, and electricity (refrigerators, computers, etc)), and vehicles, and running water, and most of the amenities of modern civilization at the support camp.
Nishnajida (the camp where the folks are doing the Yearlong) is mostly primitive, with notable exceptions — canoes are made of modern materials, clothes are for the most part modern (although people are given the opportunity to make their own), among other materials used. They do the best they can here, but it’s slowgoing. The yearlong has already evolved to the point where it’s borderline too-intense — they’re thinking about making the current program sort of a “year two”, and having another sort of initiatory experience prior to allowing people to enroll.
Coming here, I’m realizing that people are a lot more stuck than they realize…
Comment by Devin — 14 November 2006 @ 8:22 PM
Yep, that’s exactly why so many of us are resigned to being claimed by the die-off. But as for those who are preparing for the crash in some way, I often wonder whether its people in eco-villages or people planning on going primitive who have the right idea for the short term. Is it really viable for those are planning on surviving civilization to return to the old ways as soon as civilization is on its death bed? What I’m saying is that eco-villages and such set-ups could be a transition point between the end of civilization and a return to the old tribal ways.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 16 November 2006 @ 1:31 AM
Well, if you’re only planning on beginning that primitivist journey when civilization collapses, I don’t think you’ll do very well. You need to start now. You can actually get pretty far, even within the context of civilization, and then you can fill in those last details that are currently troublesome once the government is out of your hair.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 16 November 2006 @ 12:43 PM
Why make life harder than it needs to be?
http://www.onagocag.com/piston.html
Comment by RobWindt — 17 November 2006 @ 3:10 AM
Hello, its interesting to see my videos on this website. I’m honoured
Id like to respond to Devin’s comment, I do/did know what wood I was useing. I’m not sure what type of wood I was useing in that particular set for the hearthboard, but I do know the rest.
I used basswood (American Linden) for the spindle tip and Black Willow for the top end. Black Willow by itself works but its alittle denser.
I also use Yucca, cottonwood (branch and root), willow root, sage, and juniper. All of this depends on where I am however.
The reason I couldnt identify what the hearthboard is is because it was dead when I found it, and had no real distinguishing features. I assume it may be a type of maple, since theres a few maple sapplings in the area, but I cant be sure because, it had been dead for a spell.
-Owen
Mitakuye Oyasin
Comment by Owen — 4 December 2006 @ 4:49 PM
Welcome to the Anthropik Network, Owen, and thanks for the clarification, and the video itself.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 4 December 2006 @ 5:56 PM
Nice job. I need help with this. Every time I try this, I get a lot of black dust, smoke, but NO ember. I’m using an oaken spindle & a cedar hearthboard. I see that everyone who does this uses exotic woods llike Yucca, but I’d rather use woods commonly available in the NE-oak, maple, pine, etc. I got a little closer by using a longer bow, and trying to pull the full length of it with every stroke.
Comment by Jim — 18 December 2006 @ 12:05 AM
These folks are writing mostly from the West Coast. Not so exotic for them. The key, as I understand it, is to get a good, soft wood for the hearth, and a harder wood for the drill. Maple is a good drill, and willow makes a good hearth. Try that, and see what kind of success you have.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 18 December 2006 @ 10:15 AM
Heck, I live in central Ohio, but so many suburban homes and surrounding businesses use yucca as a care free ornamental, it’s actually pretty common.
Comment by jhereg — 18 December 2006 @ 2:22 PM
I’ve seen yucca rewild itself all over the place even in the midwest…
I like the staghorn sumac for my fire making material. Kind of interesting, their blazing red berries clinging to their branches all winter long…
Comment by TonyZ — 18 December 2006 @ 2:59 PM
Sucess! My problem was technique, not materials. I used a poplar drill & a cedar fireboard. My board was 1″ thick, and I wasn’t building a big enough pile of punk. I found that the notch has to be FULL of dust, so that it contacts the hot point of friction in the hole. Also, I found that the coal doesn’t look red, because it’s covered with more dust. I tipped it into my nest (oakum), and Voila! blowing on it ignited.
Comment by Jim — 18 December 2006 @ 7:21 PM