Back to the land with stone tools ....

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 13 Aug 2018, 16:30

This series of videos is very interesting on how to survive by going back to the land with stone tools.

The only other thing you would need would be a climate that produced large quantities of bamboo, a clay soil near to water and a source of chalk or limestone together with rocks which do not split or explode when heat is applied.

Where I live now is probably one of the closest that we have in the UK as we have hazel coppice instead of bamboo. We have chalk a couple of miles away with flint there and also in some of the alluvial local soils.

Some of the techniques are very interesting especially water proofing a wicker basket with wood tar. Wood tar would have to do instead of latex for waterproofing concrete block structures unless sufficient resin could be accessed from pine trees locally.

I have the knowledge to build a mud walled house on an historic foundation that could survive a few hundred years and the materials to do it are all available locally. Whether it had glass in the windows or not is a different matter. And as to the quality of the woodwork??! I might need a few goes at thatching it though!

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 13 Aug 2018, 22:31

I might need a few goes at thatching it though!

Sod it.

BritDownUnder · Post by **BritDownUnder** » 13 Aug 2018, 22:48

That comment "Sod it" can be taken in at least two ways.

There was an interesting story about the decline of Homo Erectus recently and the fact that they were too lazy to make good stone tools and plan for climate change. Sound familiar? Perhaps they had climate change deniers too.

Link

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 14 Aug 2018, 02:35

I can't imagine why anybody would chose to go back to stone tools when there is so much steel, copper and aluminum laying about. One wrecked automobile would keep a doomer homestead in metal for years. And then you have all the steel posts and guardrail beams on both sides of the interstate to use. The posts for thick sections and the panels for thinner objects and tools.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 14 Aug 2018, 11:18

I agree WB. Although I would probably want to put something waterproof under it; birch bark possibly.

I presume that they're using stone tools just to how that a good standard of living can be achieved using them alone.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 14 Aug 2018, 11:24

As an alternative to thatch or sod there are shingles or shakes that could be made and used instead. They would probably require nails although wooden pegs could be used; at an angle rather than square on to the shingle so that they resist wind uplift to an extent. Drilling them with stone tools would be fun!

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 24 Aug 2018, 23:31

vtsnowedin wrote:I can't imagine why anybody would chose to go back to stone tools when there is so much steel, copper and aluminum laying about. One wrecked automobile would keep a doomer homestead in metal for years. And then you have all the steel posts and guardrail beams on both sides of the interstate to use. The posts for thick sections and the panels for thinner objects and tools.

In the UK we have guardrails called "Armco", which would make a very substantial roof if laid like pipe-tiles.

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/old-til ... 759504.jpg

The only things in short supply will be hacksaw blades and files

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 15 Sep 2018, 15:53

You would just have to make sure that all the bolt holes in the Armco were filled or covered by the lap.