Primitive skills: Starting a fire without matches is empowering.

[MEinWV]

Very true!

Learning these things before you need them is a must.

truckinbutch, your last sentence is great! Right on the money! OJT works in some areas, but not in survival situations. Common sense and a will to live are other things that can't be learned. We would once again be equal in nature, where the strong survive and the weak die.

To some folks everything tastes like chicken, but to Euell Gibbons, everything tasted like wild hickory nuts. I invited him over for a BBQ once and he ate my picnic table.

 

[truckinbutch]

Very true!

Learning these things before you need them is a must.

truckinbutch, your last sentence is great! Right on the money! OJT works in some areas, but not in survival situations. Common sense and a will to live are other things that can't be learned. We would once again be equal in nature, where the strong survive and the weak die.

To some folks everything tastes like chicken, but to Euell Gibbons, everything tasted like wild hickory nuts. I invited him over for a BBQ once and he ate my picnic table.

And as any good host in our fair state I am sure you asked him if he would like a second helping

 

[treasurefiend]

Yep, I have started many a fire by using a bow and made plenty of slingshots over the years. Nothing was more fun than when I paired up my slingshot and an arrow, that thing would fly!!!! I also got pretty good at making traps for small animals too.

 

[Lowbatts]

So much of this knowledge is regional, once the basics of fire and fish are handled. Bow making is a very material dependent thing, like shelter and clothing.

Do we dig for shelter here? What materials can be worn and how are they gathered? What can be used in this desert of concrete, corn and soybean we call Northern Illinois? Very little of it might work in Southern Illinois.

So if we go primitive on a road trip, boy am I in trouble.

Growing up in the fen we called the swamp nearby here I was sometimes tasked with getting fish for dinner. Took the cane pole and the little red wagon through the reeds and tried to fill it up, but them little things were not gonna feed us.

So I learned to lay flat and glide across the mud bottom feeling them out and snatching them up, tossing 'em to shore as quick as they'd flop.

I'd hate to do that in cotton mouth country, or even where them big snappers live, got hit by more than a few of them. Thank God for lightning strikes!

 

[camperlee]

about 3 years ago I purchased a fire piston after reading up on it's history it was first discovered in the far east on one of the islands by English explorers around 1800 and the idea taken back home and was becoming real popular then guess what the match was invented. but it is a good survival tool and lots of fun to use.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

I'll let camper do this, it is his story and thingie. the fire piston does work my friends.
\
Tex luv, from your brief description, I see that you have actually caught trout with your hands . The key is let your hands cool to the temp of the water first by placing them in the water, then move slowly. One can clean out a pool this way.

Don jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

In the Pacific Islands I shot many a fish dinner out of the mangrove trees. Not the best eating, but food is food.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Cachefinder]

.  My job was to start the fire.  So I made a nice ring with rocks, cleared all the leafs away.  I loaded it up with dry wood because dad said he wanted a hot one.  It burned for quit a while and I saw my dad moving all the coals outside the ring..."whatca doing dad?"  He then took a Pheasant, some onions, some apples, a couple of potatoes and put them in some heavy foil.  He dug a hole where the fire was and placed it in the hole and started covering it back up.  He put the coals back on top and rebuilt the fire. 


hey how long do u keep it under the fire for??

Thanks ***  making me very hungry!!

Cachefinder-

 

[MEinWV]

Wow! This thread is moving!

Pheasant-hole-pheasant? It must be the same as bean-hole-beans, only different. Sounds utterly delectable!

Fire pistons are one thing I really am interested in! It has something to do with the rapid compression of air molecules. When air molecules are compressed, they heat up. That's all I really know at this point. The fire piston can be made out of almost any material, from steel to bamboo. Aside from the fire piston, I think the magnesium fire starter is a must have for the survival kit.

Green Dean! That is cool! I must spend some time learning from him! Thanks ETB!

I caught a sunfish with my bare hands once upon a time. I tried to pick up a smelt once that was laying on a flat rock covered with a green moss. Just as I touched it, thing little bugger took off like a shot and scared the crap out of me.

Lowbatts, We all must adapt to our different regions! I know I would hate to have to survive in the Everglades, but others would feel perfectly comfortable. Others of us may find urban and city survival more to there liking.

Good luck!

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey T, that's also the best way to cook rabbit, pigeon and a host of critters. Few actually come off better and better for you than those put through the beach barbie method.

When I was a street urchin in these parts (I was living on the street from around 14 to 16 on and off) I'd have a cooksite out past the edge of town where I'd do this whenever I came across game from rabbit to turkey. Had the best holidays of my youth out there.

No one else would smell your cookin' and come a lookin', either.

 

[ivan salis]

lint from a dryer -- is great tenderbox matter * highly flammible stuff put a bit of it in a match box or metal mint tin witha tiny magnafing glass ( for quick and easy fire starting if its sunny) and a few of the large (water proof) type strike anywhere type matches -- break the wooden matches to fit into the match box / tin if you need to ( their for just in case its not sunny ) and your good to go ( rain or shine )

 

[Tomas Frijole]

Don't underestimate us Hippies!

I was digging today through boxes I stored in the old outhouse in the 70's and found a brass solar lighter I had forgotten about. It looks like a 3 inch satilite dish, put tinder in the tip and point it towards the sun and the tinder ignites in about 10 seconds. Anyone remember these?

If not it is because they sold as solar joint lighters in head shops in the 60's and 70's.

 

[Tomas Frijole]

my camera is loaned out now but I'll get a photo up when I get it back. It will be a few days.

 

[45-70Ranger]

Don't underestimate us Hippies!

I was digging today through boxes I stored in the old outhouse in the 70's and found a brass solar lighter I had forgotten about. It looks like a 3 inch satilite dish, put tinder in the tip and point it towards the sun and the tinder ignites in about 10 seconds. Anyone remember these?

If not it is because they sold as solar joint lighters in head shops in the 60's and 70's.

Oh lord !
I think I had one of those...
Didn't the tip fold ?

 

[ivan salis]

yep

 

[45-70Ranger]

I have just dated myself !

 

[MEinWV]

Dryer lint is a good idea, in fact, it is another method of recycling too! I have made small "fire logs" by taking narrow strips of rolled and tied newspaper and dipping them in wax. They are waterproof and keep a fire going until you can add enough wood.

That solar lighter is way cool!

There are many methods being talked about here. We just need to put the "use" priorities into practice. Use the non consumable methods first, and the matches as our last resort. I really want to master the bow and drill method, but I know that it is a tough way to make fire, and with all the other ways out there, I don't think it is necessary beyond our own experience and the gratification of knowing how it is done.

Hey! Anybody ever use those solar ovens from the Boy Scout Manual? (Curious as to how well they work)

Good luck!

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

i have used solar ovens...in arizona. whew...careful..they get hot...great cookers.

 

[MEinWV]

i have used solar ovens...in Arizona. whew...careful..they get hot...great cookers.

AZ would certainly be a great place to use one . Are there certain things that you can cook on them? How do you know when its done? By looking I guess!

Did you make the ovens, or can you buy them?

Thanks!

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

in arizona, they will cook anything you put in there...
had a small backpack one...used it to heat water.
i have made a few...a friend had a solar oven company in the 70's...
making a stand to point it at the sun, portable enough to follow the sun is the most work...box lined with tin foil....rack in the focus area...glass lid.