Natural ways to boil & store water....?

[EMT_Lee]

Provided you can find them, turtle shells will work. Rub a layer of mud along the outside and stick 'em over the fire. We make turtle soup on the Amazon by stewing the turtle in its own shell.

Ok, well you took my suggestion. In my area, finding a turtle would not be that difficult. But, yeah, a turtle shell has been used for many, many generations as a bowl/cup. They work. If you live in a coastal area, then obviously there are numerous other types of shells you can use. Shells.

 

[DWK2]

paleojoe,

I also had a tiny bit of surface mold start to form when I left my gourd bowl wet for too long. I sanded it off.

The fellow who showed us how to make the gourd bowls said that he eats with his every day. He said that the natural "patina" from the foods he's eating eventually conditions the interior of the bowl so it won't mold under any normal use. This seems pretty consistent with your experience in treating them with oils, fats, etc.

Thanks for your considerable knowledge on the subject!

DancesWithKnives

 

[koyote]

In the local environment it's tough. Nothing naturally occuring here does a great job, but there's a lot of clay around. I'd feel okay making a clay cistern and a clay cooker/pot, but I'd not want to be relying on them for moving around.

The rawhide trick should work fine, leather absorbs water really quickly when it's not protected with an oil or wax. Only problem is... you have to get your skin first- and sew/form it.

Local aboriginal cultures were heavy weavers, all types. and waterproof baskets are doable.

 

[Mistwalker]

I read somewhere a long time ago about primitive cultures using either hides, stomaches, or both to boil stuff in.

 

[Chris_Norden]

http://www.wynja.com/arch/cooking.html

Found this... Like I said, I seriously doubt suspending over a fire is possible. Leather and rawhide are permeable to water, but the water will have to soak through before it dries out. I would like to experiment myself using thin hides, and hopefully will get a chance to, but until I see a success I'm putting this one down to myth. I know primitive cultures cooked in biological membranes like bladders etc by dropping in rocks, but over the fire... not gonna happen (until proven otherwise). I'll hopefully get a kangaroo hide to experiment with over the next month or so, I will report back with any new results, I really would like to see this happen.