Primitive & Paleo Kit

Here we go:

This is most of my Primitive/Paleo gear at the moment.

From Bottom to Top:

Bamboo Atlatl

Atlatl with Bannerstone

Atlatl with adjustable finger loops

Atlatl Dart

Atlatl Dart with three fletches

Hand Drill Fire Board & Ember Catcher

Hand Drill Spindle

Braided Hemp Sling with Leather Pocket

Obsidian Knife with Elk Antler Handle, Walnut pommel, bound with Artificial Sinew (not my work)

Scraping Stone, Percussion Flaker, Pressure Flaker, chip of Obsidian

Not a bad start, but I need the bag, clothing and so on yet.

Eledhwen

Paleo Pursuits

Today I am going out to the Range. Aside from archery, I will be testing out the first completed atlatl dart I have. If it flies satisfactorily I have three others to complete as well. I will have my sling along as well. Since I haven't made any flint tipped thrusting spears..yet..I shan't have one of those along. ;)

I do have a nice obsidian knife. The blade is mounted in an elk antler grip with a piece of walnut capping the end. Artificial sinew binds it in place.

Knapping has begun. So has hunting up appropriate stones for such use in my area. Also, the use of clay for making various things.

Use of the hand drill, bow drill, fire piston and other items continues. I am also experimenting with using a rolled tube of birch bark, grass, and other items as a kind of smudge stick..really for keeping embers alive for making a fire elsewhere. That is also where the clay comes in for a pot to carry such in comfortably is in my mind.

I am sorely tempted to have a to at Ötzis' shoes. They are surprisingly complex consisting of a bear hide sole and a woven net for the uppers, over which is deer hide and inside of which is straw. Reconstructions show them to be very comfortable and quite warm except in the rain, which they soak up fiercely. The uppers are fur out, by the way. I strongly suspect some kind of tallow-beeswax mixture for making them water resistant.

His patchwork leather leggings are interesting, but I do not think I will be copying those..tempting as it is. One piece each please. LOL

Shifting my eating habits, I won't call it a diet because it isn't one, has been ongoing. Eggs are a big staple here, and these days meats tend to be carefully chosen and processed food is finally disappearing (mostly) from the routine. In time perhaps completely. I still need to increase consumption of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. I do eat bread, but we are more and more making our own and often things like Iron Age bread types. So no, it isn't that dratted faddish 'paleo diet' that takes up every reference to the Paleolithic on every search engine. We are, however, eating far more healthily than before and will continue to increase it.

The world is broken, from a societal perspective. In my opinion, it cannot be fixed without tearing everything apart and starting over. That won't happen without massive trauma of some kind. So I am, in a way, 'checking out' and really focusing on a far simpler, if far more difficult, way of living. It makes me happy. There is the key.

At the moment I am pretty much alone in my Paleo pursuits, but that is fine. Others may come and go, but I will remain. For a while. Until She calls me to Her. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Eledhwen

The Goal

Well, I got back to the Paleolithic all right. :)

Yesterday we went on the usual hike up the steep face of Mount Toby. I was wearing ordinary clothing for the most part, St. Hubert's Rangers T-shirt, canvas capri style pants, ankle socks, a straw hat. I also wore my shoe packs, elk hide shoulder bag, and bota. It was my first outing with soft footwear for the year.

We made the summit without difficulty, but once there found an essentially hidden path leading down the western slope that we had no idea was there. The main climb comes up the North slope. This new path is behind the Fire Tower and its attendant power block.

We chose to descend the new path to see where it went. Coming down the steepest portion of the slop we came at length to a 'T' in the trail. I suspect the South branch eventually hits Sugar Farm Trail and/or North Mountain Road, something I will have to confirm down the line. However, we chose the North branch, partly because the parking lot where our conveyance was is in that direction. After about 100 meters the trail petered out entirely. Instead of reversing course, we decided to 'break brush' and trekked along the flank of the Mountain for well over a mile before coming back to the main trail on the North side of the Mountain. We hadn't descended that far and were just above the junction with Upper Link Trail. 

My feet and legs never got tired until just before the end. The trek itself, with its starts and stops, workarounds and detours, was very Paleo in nature. It was fun, although I am incredibly stiff this morning. I am not surprised by it at all. 

I'm going out to the range today with my bow, atlatl, and sling. Practice, practice, practice. While I cannot hunt with the latter two..at least as things are...the time may come where I can and will have to, so being skilled with them is a good thing. They are the kind of weapons that can be made on the fly so efforts to confiscate or ban them are essentially unworkable.

Soon I should have some nice linen or hemp clothing to go with the leather pieces, and for Winter even some furs to use. Yes, very much Paleolithic. I am working with hand fire drills, bow drills, fire plows, fire pistons, flint & steel...all sorts of methods. Basket making, sling making, rope and line making. A complete set of 'primitive' (as in the archetypal) skills...to include knapping flint and its relatives.

When I can do these things as second nature, nothing that happens to me short of maiming or actual death can daunt me in the world. I will have everything I need to live, even thrive, and better my condition.

That's the goal.

Eledhwen

Back to the Paleolithic!

Been a while. 

Back to the Paleolithic! :)

I have three atlatls, one of them with a stone weight, the others without. I have a nice braided sling with a leather pouch. So what else? I have bow blanks. Hickory blanks. I have acquired the specifications necessary to make these into truly ancient bow replicas...say replicas of 10,000 year old bows. Yes, I am going to have at it with one of them to see what it takes. Aiming at 45 pounds of draw at 28".

Also, beginning to knap obsidian..and searching for local chert, jasper, flint, and similar stones. I have every intention of making scrapers, axes, spear and arrow points, and related tools an implements. Also going to use antler to make some things as well. 

It is all part of owning our past...really owning it, rather than just reading about it and stepping on top of that. Hand fire drills, bow fire drills, fire plows, fire plungers, and even flint & steel. Mostly I like the hand drill, oddly enough.

I have three atlatl darts although they have field tips. Once I get good enough with flint knapping I intend to make some with flint tips. Ditto arrows. I have clay I can harden to make sling stones, hemp I can braid into cords to make more slings.

Along with all of these come the Ötzi arrow quiver and bow sheath, a kind of quiver for atlatl darts, and of course, leather clothing of various sort such as leggings, footwear, and what have you. Really the clothing portion is not very different from a lot of Native American outfits.

Combined with this is a more paleo-like lifestyle in general with much outdoor time, much general activity involving a lot of various things, Dance, gardening, hiking, hunting, and so on. Going along with that is a more paleo-like eating pattern. Note, this is not the faddish paleo diet...not even. Yet there is something to be said for eating non-processed foods as much as is practicable.

Feeling better already. Real skills testing in this sort of pursuit. It really is about you and what you can do. 

Eledhwen