In The News. Aussie preppers show us their kits

https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/technology/aussie-preppers-show-us-their-kits/news-story/b3f6ab1bf2eb9a4ca0b2ed02a0370e1e

Survival Equipment for Beginners.

Survival Equipment for Beginners.

Advice based on experience.

1)      When packing a back pack for the trail, there must be a compromise between two principles; Minimum weight, & Maximum self reliance.

2)    Don’t waste money on modern gadgets that are NOT sustainable. Most of these gadgets are designed & sold for one purpose only, to make money for the designer & the seller.

3)    When purchasing survival gear, think practically, what are the items you actually NEED.

4)   Blades: Bowie knives & stilettos are all very nice, but think about what you blades will be actually mostly used for. Second hand blades in good order are just as good as modern blades if not better. 19^th century & early 20^th century butcher knives can often be found in second hand & junk shops. A tomahawk with a round or oval tapered eye is more versatile than a hatchet or a machete, but if you can’t find or afford a tomahawk, then pick up a light hatchet to get you by. I carry three knives & a tomahawk.

5)    A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush. You will need a hunting, defence tool(s).  You are better off with a flintlock pistol in your hand than a 9mm Glock still in the gun shop! Personally I carry a flintlock longarm & pistol from choice, but get what you can afford for now, even if it is only a single shot .22 rifle.

6)   When planning your equipment always think long term. We can’t possibly know what is going to happen in the future.

7)    Your survival kit should be your back pack/knapsack; all of your gear should be your survival kit, no fancy extras, just the basic needs that will keep you alive & in reasonable comfort.

8)    Learn primitive living skills. The more skills you have, the better chance you have of surviving.

9)   Practice makes perfect: Or at least as perfect as an individual can get. Use your gear, trek & camp & get used to using your equipment out bush.

10)Fire: Being able to make fire under all conditions is very important, so learn all you can about kindling, plant & fungi tinders & making fire. Learn how to char tinders directly in the fire & use the tinderbox to smother the glowing embers. I suggest you purchase or make yourself a flint & steel kit; fire steel/striker, tinderbox, & a piece of siliceous rock to strike the sparks from the steel. A good back up skill is being able to make fire with a fire-bow which you can make in the bush.

11)   Don’t rely on finding natural shelters, & don’t waste money on a modern tent. Get yourself a piece of canvas or oil cloth, it is more versatile than a tent, easier to erect, & you can take advantage of a fire for warmth & cooking without having to go out in the rain or snow.

12) A good pure wool blanket(s) is better than a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags in general will not keep you warm if they get wet, & they are difficult to get out of in an emergency. A good new blanket will always be better than a good old blanket, but two second hand wool blankets work just fine. You can also cut a blanket to make a “half-blanket” to use as a cape around your shoulders in winter, just as any blanket can also be used as a Matchcoat or a Great coat without any cutting or sewing.

13) Footwear: Hiking boots are good, but they can be noisy in the woods, difficult to repair & impossible to replace in the bush. If you make yourself a couple of pairs of center seam Woodland Indian moccasins (one pair to wear & the other pair to carry spare), then you will have the pattern to make new ones on your feet. They are light, leave less sign than a modern boot, easy to make a makeshift sole repair on the trail, easy to repair & replace. If you want to use your hiking boots, do so, but I suggest you make at least one pair of moccasins & carry them with you tied to your pack.

14) A good way to carry extra warmth with you is to roll up some spare warm clothing in your blanket roll. I carry a spare wool shirt & wool waistcoat which I put on over my other clothing on cold nights.

15) Make sure you carry a good modern medical/first aid kit. This is the only piece of modern equipment that I carry with me. Learn how to use it, learn first aid. There are first aid courses available in all cities.

16)Running a trap line. This is the most efficient way to make meat, carry your hunting tool with you & check the line every morning. Don’t carry any traps with you except small game snares & perhaps a rope for a large game snare. Learn how to make cordage from plant fibers’ & make your own traps.

17) Water is probably the heaviest thing you will be carrying, but always carry a water bottle/flask or canteen. I try to follow a water course when I can to make sure I always have water, but you never know when you may not be able to find any water.

18) Trail foods: Dry foods are lighter than canned foods. Always carry some foods that do not require cooking just in case it is not safe to make a fire.

19)Carry a light trade kettle or billy kettle. These are easy to make from a tin can & a piece of wire for a bail. These are good for cooking in, boiling water for sterilizing or making a hot drink, & for collecting rain water to top up your water bottle.

20)                       Carry some form of water filter. I carry linen & cotton water filter bags for straining dirty river water into my kettle for boiling.

21) Fishing Tackle: Carry a couple of lines & some spare hooks. You never know when you might get a chance to do some fishing.

22)                        A sewing kit is a must & it is pretty inexpensive to put together. This will be needed for repairs to your clothing, footwear & perhaps your shelter & back pack.

23)                        Whetstone for sharpening your blades. You can often find these second hand, but you can also find suitable stones in a creek or river bed.

24)                       Eating utensils.  You already have a knife, so all you need is a light wooden spoon.

Keith.

Equipment: Comfort & Ease of Living.

Equipment: Comfort & Ease of Living.

Choosing the right equipment for wilderness living is important, especially if you are carrying that equipment on your back. It is important to choose equipment that is sustainable, which many modern survival gadgets are not. So you really do need to give it some thought before you start collecting gear.

The ease & comfort that you achieve in your wilderness survival depends solely on the equipment you choose. Your survival per se depends mostly on your wilderness living skills. If you have the right skills, you can survive in the wilderness without any bought equipment, BUT, it will be a hard life & a lot of work. Choose the wrong equipment, equipment that is not necessary & not sustainable, & you will finish up living a Stone Age lifestyle!

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before purchasing or choosing items of equipment:

Is it sustainable? If it breaks can I repair it easily? Do I really need this or am I choosing it because it looks cool? What purpose will this serve? Can I use it for more than just one task? Is this suitable for the environment I am expecting to live in; example, jungle or forest/machete or tomahawk? (a tomahawk is more versatile than a machete). How versatile is this shelter option? If I choose a sleeping bag over wool blankets will the bag keep me warm when wet? In an emergency how easily can I escape from a sleeping bag? Do I need a firearm primarily for defence or hunting? How long will the ammunition last if I use a modern firearm for defence & hunting? Am I likely to get into a firefight? Will I be travelling alone? If I am travelling with a partner, how can I divide some of the equipment to our best advantage?

Bugging Out Equipment List. WHAT & WHY.

I decided to post this because when I read lists of other people’s modern equipment for bugging out I often see items that I can’t make sense of. Items that are NOT sustainable & seem of very little use. Some say “well I use this until it breaks & then I throw it away”. The problem with that is that this equipment has taken up room, added weight to the pack, can leave sign to track you by if you don’t dispose of it properly, & meanwhile you could have used this space & weight to either carry a better piece of equipment, or you could have left it out & saved room & weight. If you can afford to throw it away, then you don’t need it in the first place.

Anyway, here is my list. Please feel free to comment, different people sometimes see things in a different way & I like to hear other people’s point of view.

My Equipment List. WHAT & WHY.

.62 cal/20 gauge flintlock fusil. 42 inch barrel.

Why?  Large calibre smoothbore has a lot of knock down power with a round ball, very versatile using bird shot, buckshot, or round ball or a combination of any two of these, able to use other projectiles found in nature, only requires a siliceous rock for ignition which can be found in nature, the lock is easy to repair, if the lock breaks & there are no spare parts I can use it as a matchlock or tinderlock & keep using it, I can use the lock to make fire without the use of gunpowder, I can make my own black powder, I can retrieve spent lead from shot game & reuse it, I can mould my own round ball & shot.

.70 caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol.

Why? Same as above fusil, light to carry, easy to use, good for a back-up & self defence.

Gun tools and spare lock parts.

Why? To keep my firearms working long term.

Shot pouch and contents.

Why? For maintaining & using my firearms.

Leather drawstring pouch of .60 caliber ball (in knapsack).

Why? Back-up supply.

Powder horn.

Why? For carrying gunpowder for immediate use with firearms.

Ball mould, swan shot mould & Lead ladle.

Why? So I can reuse spent lead by remoulding.

5 Gunpowder wallets.

Why? For carrying extra gunpowder, the leather wallet is lighter than a powder horn, once empty they are good for storing spare tinder for fire lighting.

Butcher/Hunting knife.

Why? A good basic working knife made for skinning & butchering game, good self defence knife, long blade but light to carry & use.

Legging knife.

Why? Good back-up knife for hunting & self defence, easy to access, light to use & carry.

Clasp knife.

Why? Good back-up knife, mainly used for camp chores, making kettle hooks, making trap parts, easy to carry.

Tomahawk.

Why? Lighter than a modern hatchet, the helve fits in a round or oval eye & is easy to make in a wilderness situation, the helve can easily be removed to use the head on its own for making a new helve or scraping hides for making leather or rawhide, good for trap making, good for hammering, can be thrown for hunting, defence, offence & entertainment.

Fire bag.

Why? Greased leather waterproof  bag for keeping my tinderbox & contents dry.

Tinderbox.

Why? For preparing plant & fungi tinders for flint & steel fire lighting, contains prepared tinder for fire lighting, is used for fire lighting by striking sparks into the tinderbox.

Flint & Steel. (NOTE: Not a ferocerium rod).

Why? For making fire. This method is sustainable long term.

Belt pouch.

Why? This pouch is carried on the waist belt at all times & contains my fire bag, my fishing tackle container, my sundial compass & my fire steel/striker which is tied to the pouch buckle.

Fishing tackle in brass container.

Why? For fishing & for trapping fowl.

Two brass snares.

Why? Small game snares for trapping .

Roll of brass snare wire.

Spare wire for making small game snares, can be used for making leaders for angling, can be used for repair work.

Knapsack.

Main pack for carrying equipment & food supplies, carries my blanket roll & oil cloth shelter & secures my market wallet.

Scrip.

Why? This haversack is carried just for foraging purposes. I often forage along the trail when trekking.

Market Wallet.

Why? This is secured under the flap closure of my knapsack & is used to carry extra items. This wallet can also be carried indendently.

Tin Cup.

Why? For drinking tea & eating food.

Kettle (Billy Can).

Why? For boiling water for sterilising & making tea, for cooking.

Water filter bags (cotton & linen bags).

Why? For filtering dirty drinking water before boiling, light & compact & easy to carry, unbreakable.

Medical pouch.

Why? Contains medical equipment & supplies, lighter than a hard container, easy to pack & carry in my knapsack near the top.

Housewife.

Why? This is my sewing kit for making repairs to clothing, making moccasins, needles can be used to remove splinters & if necessary to stitch wounds.

Piece of soap and a broken ivory comb.

Why? For bathing & looking after my hair.

Dried foods in bags.

Why? Dried foods are lighter to carry, easy to pack & preserve well for long periods.

Wooden spoon.

Why? For cooking & eating, light to carry.

Compass.

Why? A compass makes it easier to tell direction on very overcast days & nights, makes it easier to maintain a straight direction & travel quicker.

Whet stone.

Why? For keeping my blades sharp, for working on gun lock parts if needed.

Small metal file.

Why? Same as whet stone above.

Oilcloth.

Why? The oil cloth is for making a quick shelter, easy to set up & versatile, enables me to use a fire for cooking & warmth close to my bed, can be used as a rain coat, can be used for water collection, can be used to make a boat, gives me more vision around me & an easy exit if needed.

One pure wool blanket (Monmouth cap, spare wool waistcoat and wool shirt rolled inside blanket).

Why? The blanket roll is easy to carry, does not restrict my movement/escape at night like a sleeping bag will, can be used as a matchcoat, can be used as a Great Coat, retains body warmth even when wet, light to carry.

Spare pair of moccasins.

Why? To wear if my other pair get wet, to wear whilst I make repairs on the other pair, to wear if the other moccasins need replacing & whilst I make a new pair.

Two water canteens.

Why? For carrying drinking water.

Bottle of rum.

Why? Only a small bottle but I like a tot of rum & it helps me relax a little.

My Views On Carrying Modern Gadgets.

Something I posted on a UK survival forum recently after receiving so much negative feed back & comments. 

Keith.

My Views On Carrying Modern Gadgets.

Okay, this is my take on the carry situation, or your Bug Out bag contents for long term wilderness/country living.

People are for ever saying that they will rely of modern gear because it is easier to use & when it is used up or broken they will simply discard it. Many state that they carry multiple items for making fire. Maybe they do the same with other gear as well, I don't know.

Personally I have gone to a lot of research & experimentation to arrive at the best kit I can possibly carry that will last me a lifetime in the wilderness. This equipment is backed up with the skills needed to use this gear.

Now if I were to take advice from many people who advocate the carrying of modern gear & extras for insurance, then some of the items I already have in my pack would have to be taken out to (a) make room, & (b) lighten the load.

Putting it another way, when one has to discard a modern gadget, there is nothing to replace it unless you can make a primitive item to replace it. You were carrying this gadget at the expense of carrying something more suitable. You have compromised your safety & security by leaving important items out of your pack to make room for your gadgets. Does this make any sense to you?

Okay so you do know how to use a flint, steel & tinderbox & you carry one with you. You know all about plant & fungi tinders & where to find dry kindling in the pouring rain & snow. But you still want to carry a cigarette lighter, a ferocerium rod & magnesium block because? I can probably make fire faster with a tinderbox than many people can with a lighter, so why would I want to carry a lighter? I would sooner carry that extra weight & bulk in gunpowder, water, food, modern medical supplies. These items are far more important than carrying battery operated torches, magnesium blocks, ferocerium rods, cigarette lighters, plastic or tin plates, fold away solar panels, eating utensils, fuel stove, multi-tool, or the myriad of other modern gadgets that are on the market today.

A ferocerium rod is NOT a good substitute for a tinderbox. So why have one? Why are you not practicing with a real flint steel & tinderbox? If this is just a hobby for you, just a game or something you like to do when camping out, fine, I am not saying that is NOT a legitimate thing to do, but do NOT try to convince me or anyone else that this is what you should do if you seriously want to survive should it all hit the fan.

I have been doing this stuff since before it became known as prepping, I have been doing this for most of my life in all weathers. I have survived attacks from people & wild animals, I survived cyclone Tracey in 74. I have lived off grid in the bush for most of my life. I try to pass on my findings, my knowledge & my experience because I am an old man & the things that I know are rarely practiced these days. And yet I am for ever finding people getting upset by what I say & am immediately put on someone's hit list. Is it jealousy? Is it because these people were used to being top dog on the forum until I came along & upset their ratings? Or is it because I no longer live in the UK & therefore can't be considered a reliable source of information?

Yes I am out of touch with matters in the UK, I would imagine things are far worse there now than they were when I was living there. I saw my old forest & field haunts being cut down, leveled & built on. I was running out of room to "play". So I got out, came here & bought myself a forest that no one can destroy. But that does not mean that you can't take what is of use to you & discard the rest. Basic survival needs are still the same no matter where you are in the world. Even some of the plants here are the same as in the UK & other countries. Before climate change took a hold it was the same weather conditions here in New England NSW as it was in parts of the UK.

There is different equipment to suit the individual, & there is the WRONG equipment to carry. No matter how big & strong you are, no matter that you can carry a child plus your backpack, it still comes down to carrying the right gear & NOT compromising your safety. There will already be a need for some compromise when packing for a trip between two principles : minimum weight & maximum self-reliance.
Keith.

Bush shelter saved dad and son lost in Tasmanian wilderness for days

ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO CARRY SURVIVAL GEAR IN YOUR VEHICLE IF YOU ARE GOING BUSH, BUT THERE IS NO POINT IN LEAVING THAT GEAR IN THE VEHICLE IF YOU ARE GOING TO LEAVE THE VEHICLE!

Learn primitive skills & equip yourself with suitable equipment before going bush.

Full story here: http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/04/27/08/35/father-son-still-lost-in-tas-wilderness/?ocid=nann170428

Comfort Equipment.

http://www.unz.com/pfrost/did-human-evolution-accelerate/;

Comfort Equipment.
Definition of Paleolithic. Of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements. Merriam Webster Dictionary.

Humans have been surviving for thousands of years, back in the Paleolithic period life was hard, even so these people must have had some creature comforts, perhaps local flora placed on their beds to make it softer and keep them up off the ground. Tools were very basic being made of wood, stone bone, horn or antler, and yet these people survived.

Make no mistake, most of the equipment we carry today is for comfort, to make life easier, but we could survive as a people without the equipment we carry. Some items I deem essential, a good medical kit for instance. But as for the rest, no it is not a necessity, just a preference. So why all this modern so called “survival gear”? Does it add to our comfort? In some cases perhaps, but it also has drawbacks. Take the sleeping bag for instance. Great until it gets wet, then it will not retain as much of your body heat as an ordinary pure wool blanket! I am not going to list all the fancy gadgets here that are basically designed to attract people that like gadgets, people that have no real sense of what is needed to survive long term in a wilderness situation. But I would like you to think about this. Every time you add a piece of equipment to your pack, ask yourself these questions: Do I need this? Is this piece of equipment sustainable? If it breaks can I fix it? Will this piece of equipment serve a needed purpose, or is it just taking up room where I could be carrying something else that is more important, such as water, food and ammunition?

Think about the tools that you carry or are about to purchase, think about their purpose. The knife, what is it used for? Skinning and butchering game, and for defence; Is the blade long enough for defence use? Can I kill with this blade or is it too short? The axe, used for many tasks that involve the cutting and shaping of wood as well as for defence and possibly needed for hunting. How easy would it be to replace a broken helve? How heavy is it? Can I use the poll as a hammer to drive stakes into the ground? And so on and so on. Your equipment needs to be versatile & sustainable, it needs to be able to perform the function that it’s namesake was originally designed for. Paleolithic flint knives were not used for cutting down small trees; they made flint hand axes for that purpose. In today’s modern world of survival equipment manufacturers seem to have forgotten this common sense approach that those primitive people in the Paleolithic took for granted. Think about that, your life may depend on it!
Keith.

By David Wright.

A Correlation Between The Equipment You Choose and The Skills You Learn.

I believe that when choosing equipment for survival use in the bush, there is more to consider than just ease of use and sustainability. Obviously when preparing for long term wilderness living, you need to choose equipment that will survive the years of use, but what about a correlation between the equipment & the skills you learn from using this equipment?

As an example, anyone can learn primitive fire lighting skills, they can learn about native plant tinders & the difference between tinder & kindling. They can learn about wet weather fire lighting & where to find dry kindling in the rain, but how many people do you think will actually learn these skills if they are using a BIC lighter or a ferrocerium rod & Vaseline cotton balls to make fire? Let us take another example; using bow & arrows for hunting. If you are using a bow for hunting, or even a muzzle-loader, you need to know how to stalk your game in close. You may only get the one shot, plus you need a clean kill or at the very least a disabling shot. But how does this compare to someone using a long range modern breech-loading rifle?

Now for those of you that now ask the question what does it matter? I say this, IF you are unable to get a fire going with your BIC lighter or if you should take a fall & break your lighter, how are you going to make fire? If you run out of ammo or your modern rifle malfunctions, how are you going to be able to hunt for food? Yes I know, you may have learnt how to make traps & learnt about trapping, you may also have more BIC lighters on your person, but you can surely see where I am coming from. I believe that a person who is primitive oriented & chooses to carry primitive equipment (pre 19^th century), is likely to be more knowledgeable regarding primitive survival skills than someone who uses modern equipment.

What equipment do you use? What primitive survival skills have you learnt? Think about it!
Keith.

What is Apocalyptic Survival?

There are many terms used for serious survival, apocalyptic, SHTF,TEOTWAWKI, in my book all mean the same thing; something big has gone down that seriously changes the way we live and the way we look at things around us (I do not include a nuclear strike in our vicinity that most people could not survive). It could be an invasion from another country; it could be an Alien invasion. It could mean that the grid is down from a terrorist strike. What it is not is a normal temporary black out. It is not a chemical truck turning over in your neighbourhood. So let’s get this straight, a real serious survival situation is not for hobby survivalists. A hobby survivalist can go bush for a weekend or even a weeks camp-out and they will probably be okay providing no natural disasters occur or the camp is attacked by feral humans.

Now I must say that there is nothing wrong with being a hobby prepper, providing you stay within the limits of your expertise, you should be fine. Enjoy yourself. I do not mean this to sound demeaning, but facts are facts. If someone’s main fire making tools are a ferrocerium rod, some bic lighters and a box of matches, then they are not thinking long term. They are only prepared for a short term survival situation. Anyone who carries only one knife and that knife is used for multiple bushcraft tasks is not thinking long term survival. Now a lot of these people will defend their choices of gear, and that is fine. I see no point in arguing the point. But the fact is that in a major survival situation, these people will not survive.

If you are a serious prepper/survivalist you will be using flint, steel and tinderbox as your main fire lighting tool, and you will have learnt at least one other primitive method of fire lighting as a back-up. Your main knife will be for skinning, butchering and defence, and your choice of blade will reflect this. You will have at least one other blade which will be for camp chores and general usage. You will also be carrying a belt axe/hatchet or tomahawk for the heavier cutting chores and for defence, and you will know how to use these tools to their best advantage.

My hunting knife.

My legging knife.

My friction blade clasp knife.

The serious survivalist will have some form of hunting tool suited to long term wilderness living, be it a traditional bow or a firearm. If it is a firearm then you need to think very carefully before making your choice. You know what sort of game you may encounter, and you know that you may also have to depend on this tool for defence. Do not compromise other important survival needs in your pack by carrying too much weight in ammunition. I choose to carry flintlock guns. A flintlock gun has many advantages over a modern firearm and some advantages over the use of a bow. But having said that I am still very much in favour of carrying a bow, both the bow and the flintlock gun are long term sustainable tools for wilderness living. They may have a disadvantage in a fire fight compared to a modern firearm, but I firmly believe that both are better than a modern firearm regarding their versatility and long term sustainability.

.62 caliber flintlock fusil.

.32 caliber flintlock rifle.

.70 caliber flintlock pistol.

Knowing how to make and use traps is important, their use on a trap line will save on ammunition, and they are working for you day and night. Learning primitive skills is very important; they will help keep long term, as will primitive equipment. Modern equipment will eventually run out or break down, and the hobby prepper who only carries modern gear will gradually find themselves living a Stone Age lifestyle. Those people who invest in pre 19^th century equipment will not likely ever have to drop below that level of comfort, be it 18^th century or 12^th century because again, it is sustainable.

A quick word about so called 24 and 72 hour survival packs. As a get home pack I think these are a good idea, but as a survival pack to take bush, I personally would not advise it. None of us can predict how long we may have to survive in any given situation. Limiting your pack to mere hours instead of a lifetime in my opinion is pointless. Use your main survival pack all the time, whether it is just for a weekend camp or longer. This will make sure you are well prepared and it will make you more familiar with your gear.

Here below is a list of skills our group members learn and practice; also there is a list of benefits of using a flintlock muzzle-loading firearm. If you are serious about being able to survive in the future should anything major happen to affect our quality of living, then I urge you to be honest with yourself and evaluate the skills you have and the equipment you carry.

New England Colonial Living History Group 1680-1760.

This is a list of basic skills in which we expect an 18^th century woodsman or woods-woman to have some experience with in our group. There is no time limit set, learn in your own time & if we can help just ask.
Keith.

·      Flint & steel fire lighting

·      Wet weather fire lighting

·      Fire-bow fire lighting

·      Flintlock fire lighting

·      Flintlock use, service & repair

·      Marksmanship with either gun or bow.

·      Field dressing & butchering game

·      Blade sharpening

·      Tomahawk throwing

·      Making rawhide

·      Brain tanning

·      Primitive shelter construction

·      How to stay warm in winter with only one blanket

·      Cordage manufacture

·      Moccasin construction and repair

·      Sewing

·      Axe and tomahawk helve making

·      Fishing

·      Hunting

·      Evasion

·      Tracking

·      Reading sign

·      Woods lore

·      Navigation

·      Primitive trap construction & trapping

·      Open fire cooking

·      Fireplace construction

·      Clothing manufacture

·      Drying meat & other foods

·      Knowledge of plant tinders & preparation

·      Knowledge of native foods & preparation

·      Knowledge of native plants in the area and their uses for other than tinder and food.

·      Scouting/Ranging.

·      Basic first aid.

·      Finding and treating water.

General leather work.

Advantages of a Flintlock Muzzle-loader.

1)   Ammo is less expensive than a modern equivalent caliber firearm.

2)  The smoothbore is very versatile, being able to digest round ball, bird shot, & buckshot, or any combination of two of these (can also use minies).

3)  The fusil is lighter to carry than a modern equivalent sized gun.

4)  You can vary the load if needs be.

5)  The smoothbore will digest other projectiles besides lead.

6)  Lead can be retrieved from downed game & remoulded with a simple mould & lead ladle. This means that you can carry less lead, & more of the lighter gunpowder.

7)  You can make your own gunpowder.

8)  You can use the lock to make fire without the need for gunpowder.

9)  You can use gunpowder for gunpowder tinder fire lighting if needs be.

10)        IF the lock should malfunction (these are very robust & it is not likely) you can easily repair it if you are carrying a few spare springs & a few simple tools.

11) If you do not have any spare parts & the lock malfunctions, you can easily convert it to a tinderlock or matchlock & continue using it.

12)        You do not need a reloader, brass shells, caps, or primers. The latter have been known to break down in damp conditions or if they are stored for too long.

13)         Wadding for ball or shot is available from natural plant materials or homemade leather or rawhide.

14)       Less chance of being affected by future ammunition control legislation.

15)        Gunpowder is easily obtainable providing you have a muzzle-loader registered in your name regardless of caliber (NSW)

16)        A .32 caliber flintlock rifle is more powerful than a .22 rimfire, less expensive to feed, more accurate over a greater distance, able to take small & medium sized game, & other than not being able to use shot (unless it is smoothbore), it has all the attributes of the other flintlocks.

17)        Damage from a .62 caliber-.75 caliber pistol or long arm is in the extreme. Wounded prey is unlikely to escape.

18)         By using buck & ball you are unlikely to miss your target. This load is capable of taking out more than one target.

19)        There is less kick-back to a muzzle-loading gun.

20)       Antique Flintlock muzzle-loading guns do not require a license, registration, or a permit to purchase in NSW Australia.

Here is a list of the equipment that I carry. As in everything, equipment is a personal choice based on experience.

Equipment List.

.62 cal/20 gauge flintlock fusil. 42 inch barrel.

.70 caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol.

Gun tools and spare lock parts.

Shot pouch and contents.

Leather drawstring pouch of .60 caliber ball (in knapsack).

Powder horn.

Ball mould and swan shot mould.

3 Gunpowder wallets

Lead ladle.

Butcher/Hunting knife.

Legging knife.

Clasp knife.

Tomahawk.

Fire bag.

Tinderbox.

Belt pouch.

Fishing tackle in brass container.

Two brass snares.

Roll of brass snare wire.

Knapsack.

Scrip.

Market Wallet.

Tin Cup.

Kettle.

Water filter bags (cotton & linen bags).

Medical Kit.

Housewife.

Piece of soap and a broken ivory comb.

Dried foods in bags.

Wooden spoon.

Compass.

Whet stone.

Small metal file.

Oilcloth.

One blanket (Monmouth cap, spare wool waistcoat and wool shirt rolled inside blanket).

Two glass saddle flasks.

Length of hemp rope.

Bottle of rum.