Debarking Dead Trees, Shelter Roofing, Cordage Material & Bush Tucker B...

Debarked standing tree using a steel hatchet. This could have been done by a white woodsman or an Aboriginal.

At least two sheets of bark were removed from this standing tree using a stone axe, more than likely done by an Aboriginal.

The problems with some preppers today.

The problems with some preppers today.

One problem some preppers seem to have is the inability to prepare for a variety of disasters. This is really not that hard, yet many just don’t get it. They also have what is known as 24 hour & 72 hour bug out bags. Why not just have a bag that will carry you through long term? How do you know it is only going to last 24 hours?!!!

Modern gadgets are a big problem because they are promoted to look so exciting & necessary. When in fact many if not all modern gadgets are likely to fail or run out in the first 6 months. Then this so called prepper will find themselves living a Paleolithic lifestyle trying to learn primitive skills, or they will simply die.

Why don’t many preppers see the common sense in adopting sustainable equipment & skills from the 18^th or 19^th centuries? Well many treat prepping as simply a hobby, they like the idea of being self-reliant, but in fact they don’t really expect to ever have to face a major shtf situation. For these people it is all about going camping & using the gadgets. If a ferocerium rod breaks or deteriorates, they simply purchase another; in fact many carry a variety of fire lighting tools, none of which are sustainable over a long period of time.

Modern gadgets take up room in the pack & they add weight. Once they have become useless they are discarded, BUT, these gadgets were taking up room in the bug-out bag where real priority items should have been stored! Now there is neither!

Do yourself a favour, keep the life straw if you want, definitely keep the modern medical kit. Get rid of everything else & start again. Look to the 18^th & 19^th centuries for practical sustainable equipment that will keep you alive in relative comfort in a long term wilderness living situation, & don't forget to learn those primitive skills!

Keith.

A Look At What Sustainable Survival Means. Or, Learning From History.

A Look At What Sustainable Survival Means. Or, Learning From History.

The fur trade in America’s west lasted just 15 years, from 1825 to 1840. Why do I choose to use this place for this article? Because this event in this time period better explains the point I am trying to make.

These Rocky Mountain trappers did not travel on foot unless for some reason they had no choice. They needed a horse to get around & they needed more horses to carry the beaver pelts that they trapped & the steel traps themselves. The Rocky Mountains were & probably still are a formidable place. The biggest danger to the trapper’s survival was unfriendly Indians such as the Blackfoot, & the grizzly bear.

In this period of time the percussion gun became available, but the Mountain Men refused to use these more efficient guns because in the wilderness situation they were in, they were not reliable. Once a year traders would travel to the Rocky Mountains with supplies to trade for beaver skins, but they could not sell the percussion gun, there were simply too many things that could go wrong with this newer gun, & they were isolated for 12 months at a time. The flintlock however was reliable; it was one way or another sustainable. That flintlock was the only gun or rifle they carried although some may also have been carrying flintlock pistols.

The rest of their equipment also needed to be sustainable; they could not afford to carry anything that was not of the best quality. The ordinary butcher knife was their hunting knife, the tomahawk along with the hunting knife served as a working tool & for defence. The trade kettle served for the cooking of stews as a change from roasted meat. They carried flint & steel for making fire because again it was the most reliable & sustainable method available to them. They could also make fire using the lock of their flintlock gun.

So perhaps you might think about what equipment you have at the moment, or if you have not yet purchased any survival equipment intended for long term survival, you might consider purchasing the older style more sustainable items instead of the modern gadgetry that is not sustainable & will eventually let you down.

Difficult to say how many trappers actually survived until the end of this western fur trade, but we do know that some decided to stay in the mountains, & that others returned to the cities. History records that some of the notable trappers died in a very short time from catching a virus after returning to the city!

Keith.

Victorian Farm Episode I