There's no Wal-Mart in the wilderness: A thread on making needful things.

I have, over the years, mentioned the importance of a survival journal. A small blank pocket sized diary of handy information that can be carried and referred to when the brain just needs the extra help. I intend this thread to be an ongoing thread that I will visit with new information from time to time in a handy one stop spot (for easy reference). I also encourage others to add and comment on the projects, otherwise why post, right? All these projects are listed within my journal or will be added to it. Of course in mine things are not as detailed as the links I will post. Part lazy writing and part note taking to jog the memory.

I should point out that on the inside cover that I wrote my name and date of birth and added a small note that anyone finding this and my remains are welcome to this journal and any of my possessions. The information inside may be handy for you and yours. All I ask in exchange is a decent burial and a word of thanks whenever you find something useful.

The Rope Bed

After setting up a permanent base, be it a log cabin or some other established new home, the one comfort we will want is a good bed. this link

Will help you get started with the general idea of how to make your own. It was written by an SCA member and no doubt is used for larger week long events in a pavilion tent as opposed to weekend trips.

Now obviously we would not be carrying this setup with us. But a fair amount of rope is not out of the question. And the likelihood of having the tools to fashion boards or even drilling holes is low. But by selecting a couple of small trees/older sapling of poplar or maple and chopping to appropriate lengths to form the frame. Notch the pieces (like a log cabin) leaving some overlap. We can lash the ends for the frame using cordage in an X pattern.

The weaving of your rope can be done by tying off an end and stretching the rope and giving a wrap to secure before retuning the run in the opposite direction. As the link pointed out, sagging will occur and the ropes will need rerun in our simple bed. And you will need to make a mattress of sorts of blankets, hides, clothes, etc.

Bedposts can be made by lashing the frame to logs that you have made a grove to fit the ends of the frame too. Or you could just rest the frame on rocks or larger logs that you have shaved/split the sides for a flat, stable surface to prevent them from rolling away.

Rope Making

No matter how much rope you bring with you, you will eventually run out. This video is on cattail leaves which are easy to identify and find in quite a bit of the Eastern US Cattail leaves Unfortunately this video does not show splicing in new leaves nor the splitting the leaves for thiner cordage.
However this video does show splicing in new fibers and also shows how to extract fibers from willow as well as using natural tannins for strengthening. Willow

Now that we have cordage, we can begin to make rope. We can braid (like girls do their hair) three strands of equal thickness for a flatter rope that is not overly strong nor easily braided again. Or if we have a helper, we can make a standard twisted braid rope which is both round and can be done again and again for thicker rope. This video Rope making machine shows a very good hand machine in action. While the crank is sophisticated, notice how the traveler is able to move on its own versus many other videos where the traveler is moved by hand. Now this could be due to the metal alone or by the two part separation used by this traveler. Either way, this travel has to be fairly heavy to keep from becoming twisted in the round braid.

Hand Tools

Hand tools are going to be hard to find and in some cases be able to fashion. An important factor to keep in mind is weight and usefulness. This list is by no means definitive. And I will skip over the obvious hatchet/axe.

Multi-tools. Many people have their favorite multi-tool Gerber, Leatherman, etc. Mine is the one made by Craftsman a number of years ago and has since been discontinued, much to my disappointment. While multi-tools are handy, they do a poor performance compared to the actual tools they replace to remain a compact toolbox.

Pocket Chain Saw. pocket chain sawVery handy, light and at $20-$25 very inexpensive. I recommend replacing the included metal hooks with a pair of quality keychain rings that will better hold up under the stress of work. This blade can also be used to fashion a bucksaw out in the woods. Much like how a hacksaw blade can. You may want to keep in a small leather bag and save the can for something else.

Hand Files. You will spend a good amount of time working with wood and using knives, hatchets and axes. Finding pieces of metal to fashion into new knives or other items will call for a way to work them as well. I suggest a good wood/metal file and a couple small precision files such as sharpening fish hooks or making nocks on arrows.

Spoke Shave This is a hand plane that is used for cutting a curved surface. Sure you could whittle with a pocket knife every single peg you will ever use. Or you could simplify your life by carrying an extra pound of weight and be able to make your pegs more uniform easily with this dedicated tool.

Block and Tackle Simple block and tackle ... Further review shows this item to be a bad product. Thank you Whitewave. I will look for a better item to link in a separate post. I will leave this here a nice picture so people will understand exactly what a block and tackle is. The one in the link does not have a locking mechanism and uses a 5 to 1 ratio. So to hit the 2000 lbs. limit you would have to pull with 400 lbs. of force. Which is not very likely. But you could lift up and hold a 500 lbs. log with only 100 lbs. of force. Which is very likely.



[edit on 14-3-2010 by Ahabstar]

If I may jump in with an idea also?

Agave plants are extremely useful also. There is one I know of where the tips of the leaves end in a very sharp, HARD, point. If you tear off one of the leaves a carefully mash the leaf, when you pull off the sharp point you can pull out a fairly long needle with fibers already attached. I have personally used this to sew up some tears while camping, the point is THAT sharp. The fibers are also fairly long, just depends on the length of the leaf. If you need a longer piece, just twist as you would to make rope.

You can also make baskets, tequila, and a substitute for sugar (called agave nectar), soap, all kinds of uses.

Casing

reply to post by Casing


Very good point. Another good plant for rope making is Yucca leaves, which will also give off a soapy oil that lathers well and can be used as soap to stay clean. Maybe a future post will go through many plant uses. Unfortunately my knowledge is limited, especially reciting off the top of my head. Yet another reason I advocate keeping a journal.

White spruce root can make some really durable cordage. It can be found at the base of white spruce. The roots are shallow feeder roots and can be easily split and sown or weaved or other handy uses. The Indians sowed their birch canoes and other items with the stuff, its tough and durable.

reply to post by sparrowstail


Pretty much any spruce roots will work for cordage, as will pine roots (they're like wire!), most connifers will do tbh.



If i may throw in one of my old threads here about Soap and Candle Making

I have not slept in a bed in thirty years. In a shtf situation a bed is definitely not needed. Don't waste your resources building beds.

Some clarifications are in order it seems.

Please jump in with any and all ideas here. Just because I started it doesn't mean it is by any means "my thread". Linking to older threads is more than welcome. I sort of seen this as a one-stop, quick reference area because the survival forum has become rather large in its 46 pages.

It may surprise some of the membership to know that ATS did not have a survival forum until a few years ago. It was just a couple of threads written by a few members that a person could only keep track of by bookmarking the url for the threads.

Plus I had mentioned a journal a few years ago and the main reaction was "Why would you want to lug a whole book around?" Over the years, I have noticed quite a number of members now including the idea in their kits and BOB's. I feel that the time is coming closer when people really need to start to prepare for an alternative (to their current) lifestyle and this thread reflects a part of that pooling resources.

a great plant to have around is aloe vera it's easy to grow and it helps greatly with cuts and burns. and i've heard it's healthy to ingest daily

In keeping with the theme of no Wal-Mart, I'd like to link one of my threads on
homemade groceries.

@ImaginaryReality
I enjoyed the thread about soap and candle making. Thanks for linking that. Guess I missed it the first time around.

@Ahabstar
Good idea about using keychain rings for a replacement. I have one of those pocket chainsaws and when I first got it I thought that it looked a little whimpy and would hurt the fingers to use it. Thanks for the tip. Also, that link for the block and tackle did not have good reviews but it may have just been that brand. The idea of a pulley hoist is definitely a good one but need to know that you're getting quality.

Howdy! I was talking to a friend about something similar to this, surviving in tough times with no electricity.

We were discussing what to do about water. I am a total survival newb so i am sorry to ask this but what are the best options for water? Do you find a stream, a lake? I always imagined a stream would be the best choice, but i am not sure.

He told me his next purchase was a UV water filter. It was a small hand held mini light saber looking thing that you stick in a container of water for 90 seconds and it kills BACTERIA only.

I thought that was interesting but on the website it didn't eliminate a bunch of other important things like iron, minerals and so on.

If there is some kind of nuclear attack where the sky and water is contaminated, what is the best solution for obtaining safe drinking water?

I remember Stephen Colbert had a guest on a few years back who created a huge device that could take ANY Liquid and make it safe to drink. Piss, mud, oil, blood, whatever. It would squeeze out any water. I am not sure if it was filtered or not but i think it was. Is there something like this that is small and ideal to buy?

What do you do about water! Thanks guys, i love this topic and that rope bed looked awesome.. makes me want to build one now!

Hey man, It may sound old to anyone that pays attention to my replys here...but "Foxfire Books" are the answer to almost all your concerns.

Pretend you are a pioneer, a homesteader and have virtually no resources except a few basic tools...an axe, a maul, a cross-cut saw, and a hand turned wood auger, a good butcher knife, a couple of cast iron frying pans, and a cast iron dutch oven... thats it. Its just about all you'll need...and yes, bring lots of rope, but don't waste it one furniture, use it like a tool and take care of it.

You can make a bed by using the auger to drill holes in the corner post/head board and making mortise and tendon joints...lock together with pegs shaped by pocket knife, use a "fro" to split slats from oak logs and run across your bed as a base to lay your matress of canvas and corn shucks on, switch out at the end of each harvest season.

Make tables and chairs and benches same way.... you can drag logs without a truck or horse by cuting a hardwood tree about 8" that splits into a y about midway up....turn the wooden "Y" upside down, tie a rope around inverted Y just above where it splits, lay it down on your log and tie end of rope around log, have enough rope at the split to pull with...the length of rope from Ysplit to log should be about a foot shorter than distance fromsplitY to ground....so that each time you pull the rope and you pull the inverted Y upright it lifts the log up and forward....once you get the hang of it, you get a rythym and can pull an 800lb log across a couple of acres with little effort. To explain it is harder than it really is.

Take 2 wooden treetrunk "Y"s, take the long single end and set it into the Y of the other, they will lock by gravity and create a 3 legged work bench...make 2 sets and you have saw horses for cutting wood, splitting wood with a fro...a fro is a L shaped tool...wooden handle and a long slender blad at the base sharpend on the bottom...use it to take logs sawn into 1-2 foot lengths, stand upright like gonna split for firewood...BUT, the fro allows you to split off shingles or shakes...use for roofing, siding, take longer pieces to make boards.

with a frow or sharp knife and a hand auger...you take a green white oak sapling trunk..about 2-3 inches across...split the end into 2...then split the splits into 2....make the cuts/splits down about 1-2' on a 6 ' pole...now you have the basis for a fork, pitch fork, or rake....cross tie by drilling small holes and cross tie with green white oak branches....while it is green/wet/fresh the wood is plyable and shapable....set aside to cure/dry and keep its shape

I could go on, but think of how your grand daddy lived about 1900...or the pioneers...the tools are out there at flea markets/auction houses.... use them know them, develope the skills now.... all of these things and more are in the Foxfire Book series... entertaining and a valuable resource to have.

My wife and I live the life...we love it...I love it more than she, she tolerates it...but I have to tell you, this knowledge has been a God-send in these economic times.

Also, don't forget a push plow...the good ones with heavy wooden handles and steel forged wheels and plows... will cost you but worth every penny, and learn to can and farm.

Go to historic homesteads and living re-enactments and pay attention to what is being done and how... why do you need a broad axe with a bent handle to shape timbers? Why is poplar good for cabins? Why is pine good for cabins?... when the bark is striped off the pine when frsh cut, the sticky pine resin will eventually dry and harden and seal the log...almost water proof...as long as 6-12" off the ground. In fact, if cut on the right side of the moon, the wood will eventually ring like steel when it cures/drys... seriously...oh, the moon? Yup, you're gonna need a good Almanac.... Blum's Farmers Almanac is the best.

Anyway, happy survivalist homesteading.

reply to post by BeastMaster2012


Do you believe in dowsing? It really works...take a fresh cut branch shaped like a Y from a peach tree...oh, about 3+ foot long. Turn the Y like it is handle bars, with a hand on each branch of the Y, with stem pointed out...hold it under handed, not over like you would a bike, but under....go back and forth north and south as under ground aquifers go east to west usually. Go back and forth in lines parallel to each other, ...

eventually the front stem will point and pull down when you cross the underground stream...swear to God it will.... drive a stake there....keep going along another parallel line...soon a line of stakes will take shape...connect the stakes or dots as it were...there is your underground stream....follow this stream and find where the pull is greatest...there is where you dig your well.

The other option is to find a spring..water coming out of the ground.... the ground will filter most impurities, and fresh water comes out at a source...follow a creek or stream to it's end... clean out the area, careful not to disturb the spring and dam up, making a shallow pool..use cinder blocks, rocks, whatever....you can then put in a spillover at the right or left edge so the flow of water is not disturbed and the pool doesn't flood..... now set some flat rocks in the pool as shelves and the cool water keeps food containers cool,...refridgeration.... even put a roof over it or even build a spring house...works really well too.

Yes, I have one, have seen them in the Blue Ridge Mtns....and they work.

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
reply to post by BeastMaster2012

 

Do you believe in dowsing? It really works...take a fresh cut branch shaped like a Y from a peach tree...oh, about 3+ foot long. Turn the Y like it is handle bars, with a hand on each branch of the Y, with stem pointed out...hold it under handed, not over like you would a bike, but under....go back and forth north and south as under ground aquifers go east to west usually. Go back and forth in lines parallel to each other, ...

eventually the front stem will point and pull down when you cross the underground stream...swear to God it will.... drive a stake there....keep going along another parallel line...soon a line of stakes will take shape...connect the stakes or dots as it were...there is your underground stream....follow this stream and find where the pull is greatest...there is where you dig your well.

sounds a bit too magical for me i'll stick with the rope and pioneer tools

Any serious minded survivalist should lap this video up in its entirety.

I just love it and would have given anything to have spent a season with Dick.

www.tudou.com...

reply to post by Ahabstar


Good thread. Probably the way things are going it will be a wealth of information fior the hard times ahead.

If I may suggest a TV show that has me doing as the OP suggested...putting it on paper.
Survivorman is a Canadian guy that travels across the globe and puts himself alone for 7 days into survival situations. He has some of the most interesting ways of utilizing what he has at hand or whats available where he is.

Prior to going out he spends a few days with locals of the area or country and gets tips on plants and ideas for him to survive.

Many are from North America

Enjoy! I look forward to filling my pages with ideas from ATS'ers now as well

reply to post by Ahabstar


Very nice post, Ahabstar!

I've always thought that people all too often forget some of the very basic skills needed to survive - by that I mean survive in a world without televisions, walmarts and Ikea, etc.

I'm not actually a tin-foil-hat wearer and I don't think there's an impending world disaster on its way.

However, fortune favours the prepared and these sorts of skills are just "common sense" things that people should have some basic idea about.

Am I a weirdo in thinking such basic survival skills should be a mandatory course for school kids?

Originally posted by noonebutme
reply to post by Ahabstar

 

However, fortune favours the prepared and these sorts of skills are just "common sense" things that people should have some basic idea about.

Am I a weirdo in thinking such basic survival skills should be a mandatory course for school kids?

I agree, I always remember the old survival saying: "I wise man gathers tinder before it rains."