So What If Things Do Not Go Back To As Before?

a reply to: Ahabstar

Things never do. Why would they. Things were effed up!!! Things will get better or worse, but there is no way things go back to the way things were 6 months ago.

I live back in the woods you see
My woman and the kids and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun a rifle and a four-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive

I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk 'til dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke, too
Ain't too many things these old boys can't do
We grow good old tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

(even at my age)
Hank Williams Jr.
I resemble the song completely.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Oh my.

You started a thread about how to be self-sufficient and make things for yourself.

You made a good start at it that our new normal people won't understand or do...

But it's a lifestyle that you are talking about.

Normal people can't make soap, for instance.

Soap.

If they tried then a certain percentage of them would die trying.

~Do I put the lye in the water or the water in the.... AAAAHHHH!!!!!"

I commend your effort, I truly do.

But I think as a nation we are doomed.

a reply to: Lumenari

The things I can make with pocket change...

One of the things that always had to be pointed out is that things are easier if you can distribute the work instead of having to do everything yourself. Unfortunately that line of thinking was not prevalent in the early to mid 80’s when I started leaning all this stuff. Add in that some of it was taught as how to do or make things as a child and the knowledge really added up.

Still things I haven’t done nor looked up how to do yet that I may need to know sometime or another.

a reply to: Ahabstar

30 years after I started learning, I can recommend a few books.

John Seymour, The Self-Sufficient Life and how to live it.

The Foxfire series...

Ball... The Complete Guide to Home Preserving,

The Smoked Foods Cookbook.

It's all just part of a lifestyle.

I'm unhappy right now because I only know the basics of apiculture.

At the end of the day, you can only do so much without relying on a neighbor or two that is like-minded.

You can't do everything, after all.

a reply to: Ahabstar
Ray Mears, wild food or bushcraft are two RM TV series to check out on u tube.
He is the best I've seen.

Making soap would be a good skill

a reply to: Ahabstar

Chiming in from the UK here. Schools are also on shutdown. I'm using the time to teach them the school approved stuff but also teaching them foraging skills, fishing, fire building and archery. Yoube given me some extra things to teach them too.

a reply to: FredT

Hygiene is always a great skill to have. Even better when practiced. And while making lye soap is great if you are setup in your new permanent location and can render fat into tallow and produce quality lye safely. What about when on the move. How do you field expedient soap on the go?

The yucca plant is my favorite source. People grow them in the eastern US as an ornamental plant although you can find some wild one around a creek here and there. The root is a big ball of soapiness but too much work and way too great of chance of killing the plant and losing a source.

Fortunately those leaves have all the saponin you need. Remove the needle like thorns (yes you can use this as a sewing kit in a pinch) and collect the thread strands throughout a single leaf. A strand or two and a little water will provide you with enough cleaning capacity as the old handy wipes that used to come in the silverware kits are KFC.

Added bonus. A pinch of white ash from your campfire and maybe a pint of water and a few of those strands will clean your dishes and cookware. Including that black soot on the bottom of your pan/pot. As always, the greasier your pan the better as the oils and lye from the ash will form a weak lye soap.

a reply to: Lumenari

At the end of the day, you can only do so much without relying on a neighbor or two that is like-minded.

You can't do everything, after all.

Which is how specializations in small communities no doubt sprang up, then trade for necessities.

a reply to: Ahabstar

The yucca plant is my favorite source.

I'll definitely look into that. There are quite few yuccas growing on the property, which were planted years and years ago.

But soap is definitely up there. I usually buy cold pressed Amish made soap, but again, without the lye....

originally posted by: Liquesence
a reply to: Lumenari

At the end of the day, you can only do so much without relying on a neighbor or two that is like-minded.

You can't do everything, after all.

Which is how specializations in small communities no doubt sprang up, then trade for necessities.

You are exactly right.

You can't farm and blacksmith and make wine and fish and hunt and bake at the same time efficiently.

Trade between the specialties makes the community more efficient.

Which makes it more stable and thus safer.

a reply to: Lumenari

Even if you could do it all...you can’t do it all if your are sick or injured. I mentioned pocket change, let’s talk cold forging.

You can find good suitable rocks to serve as an anvil and hammer...but in this world gone mad scavenged tools might work better. Note: it is illegal to trespass along the railroad and stealing railroad spikes and mounting plates will be punished even if they are tossed aside for all the world to use and will never be reclaimed by the railroad again.

Plate is your anvil and the head of the spike is your hammer for this bit. Coins are malleable enough to be hammered into assorted goodies. For those lacking a knife or any kind, a quarter makes a great thumb knife. Hammer part of the coin and sharpen that edge until desired. Arrowheads are another nice item. Spoons for fishing tackle as mentioned above. Want to make a little bell for some reason? With effort you can make anything like a curve blade for making uniform round wood spokes like arrow shafts, crossbow bolts, atl-atl spears/darts or actual spokes for wooden wagon wheels...although you should be making iron straps by then if you are going to be a wheelwright or cooper.

The ability to work metal opens new worlds of gear/tool making.

a reply to: Ahabstar

A solid post and thank you for sharing.

Since I have some free time now maybe I will start a thread about knapping.

Metalwork is beyond me, but making an arrowhead, a scraper or a knife from stone is right in my wheelhouse.

a reply to: Lumenari

Cold forging is beating the metal until it submits to your will. Knapping is about finesse. If you recall the metal rollers mentioned above to press the paper. You can also manipulate metal by cold forging with that press (assuming a good one) especially with special rollers to induce a bend or bead to a long strip.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
a reply to: Lumenari

Cold forging is beating the metal until it submits to your will. Knapping is about finesse. If you recall the metal rollers mentioned above to press the paper. You can also manipulate metal by cold forging with that press (assuming a good one) especially with special rollers to induce a bend or bead to a long strip.

I would argue that I can get a better edge with obsidian than anyone could ever get with metal.

a reply to: Lumenari

Sharper yes, stronger, no. And bone gets pretty sharp as well without pressure flaking.

a reply to: Ahabstar

We will have to re-learn some things. One, how to get along without EVERY creature comfort imaginable. Two, how to forage possibly. How to fix things on your own. In short how to be more self reliant. Not totally a bad thing. Funny, I live in South Florida, we have had an iguana population explosion these past years, they really don't hurt anything, they are just there and not that easy on the eyes. Well, now we have a FOOD source that tastes exactly like chicken and is abundant. You have to look for the good in bad luck sometimes.

one of the things about the primates is how quickly they learn.

Most of them cannot make soap.

But cut their rations and give them unlimited free time, and watch them re-discover it, teach each other, sell to each other, and discover 3 new recipes before a month has gone by.

a reply to: Ahabstar
Things will not go back to the way they were before, but ask yourself, were they REALLY that great before anyway? Rampant consumerism, racism, social isolation, irrational greed, devastation of the environment, materialism over spirituality. We NEED a change. We have material plenty but have been living in a spiritual wasteland. Pain and loss strengthens the spirit.