Survival Fabrication: Making useful things

[SkunkWerX]

We could just make a list of things, but that might be rather rote and uninteresting?

So we will make it a "scenario" , the good old "WHAT IF"

You are going to be in the wilderness for an extended period.
You are not necessarily stranded or lost.
Maybe you are writing a book, or taking the entire summer in the Alaskan wilderness because it's something you always wanted to do. Maybe you have decided to live off-the-grid for a while, whatever.

You had time to plan. No sudden emergency.

You packed in what you could, but, you will sooner-or-later need to make some things. Consider what you would take in a full pack.

Some things you would make are pretty obvious, Shelter, fire, walking stick, etc.

Using the tools you have with you (knife, hatchet, folding saw, cordage, etc.) and what nature can provide, what are the other things you will fabricate, wittle, assemble to make your existance a bit easier?

It can be any climate and any season of your choosing, just explain what it is you will "fabricate" , a little detail on how you will go about fabricating it, and how it will help you in the wilderness.

 

[Rescue Mike]

Mud/straw bricks.. With those, you can create a forge, a BBQ, Nice Fireplace, permanant shelter, etc..

 

[bubbacatfish]

Mud/straw bricks.. With those, you can create a forge, a BBQ, Nice Fireplace, permanant shelter, etc..

Mike Rowe did a bit on Dirty Jobs about mud bricks, "Cobb" bricks maybe? Can't remember what they called it but it was pretty interesting - they used mud, sand, straw & cow dung to make the bricks, didn't look hard.

 

[RescueRiley]

I could give a really long answer or an abbreviated one heres the abbreviated 1 I would choose the summer because I'm lazy...and I like the summer.... I'd either try to adapt a natural shelter like a small cave and than modify it or make some sort of tripod "teepee"style shelter with a tarp so I could rock a small fire insude if I wanted... I'd definitely weave some baskets for collecting things, and storage...maybe a few fishing wiers... a good fishing spear, a cooking tripod..some type of debris bed, some usefull camp tool such as tongs a spoon and a couple of forked sticks for cooking... a digging stick....a walking stick... maybe a bolo or a sling couple of simple traps perhaps (since this is a fantasy scenario I'm assuming there are no game laws in effect, if there are than no snares, traps, bolos, slings, at least in my state)I'm sure I'd think of more as the need for them arose but that's it for the abbreviated version

 

[Thomas Linton]

This would take a lot of thought.

Pack animal or canoe would change things.

If backpacking, I would pack in a full axe, file and bow saw (or at least saw blade). An adz and real froe would be nice. Some nails would make building a door easier. Salt and seeds would be essential for long-term living.

Make a maul.

Build a cabin. Wouldn't have to be large. I help an uncle take apart and rebuild an 18th century cabin. It was 10' x 12'. None of the logs were over 8" in diameter (could be cut with the folding saw that I carry backpacking). The chimney was just a pile of rocks - apparently only mud had held the rocks together, and time had its way. It was nice that there were two of us, but one guy could have done the work. We caulked it with traditional mud and grass. Next time I visited, he had rebuilt the chumney. He did cheat on the shingles, using "store-bought" cedar, but making shingles isn't tough. I'm a member of the "Lincoln Log" generations, but I do recall that the notches should slant outwards to retard leakage and rot.

cordage
bowls and oher containers
digging and plowing tools
traps
clothing
firewood

 

[j williams]

There is always gonna be the little things that you will come across to make when you discover a need for them. A smoker to preserve meats, maybe a rack to stretch hides. trot lines and fish traps, some sort of primitive place to do the doo, like a outhouse of some kind. A walking stick/ spear. This assuming that water,shelter,and fire are takin care of.

 

[loug]

This would take a lot of thought.

Pack animal or canoe would change things.

If backpacking, I would pack in a full axe, file and bow saw (or at least saw blade). An adz and real froe would be nice. Some nails would make building a door easier. Salt and seeds would be essential for long-term living.

Make a maul.

Build a cabin. Wouldn't have to be large. I help an uncle take apart and rebuild an 18th century cabin. It was 10' x 12'. None of the logs were over 8" in diameter (could be cut with the folding saw that I carry backpacking). The chimney was just a pile of rocks - apparently only mud had held the rocks together, and time had its way. It was nice that there were two of us, but one guy could have done the work. We caulked it with traditional mud and grass. Next time I visited, he had rebuilt the chumney. He did cheat on the shingles, using "store-bought" cedar, but making shingles isn't tough. I'm a member of the "Lincoln Log" generations, but I do recall that the notches should slant outwards to retard leakage and rot.

cordage
bowls and oher containers
digging and plowing tools
traps
clothing
firewood

Any alternatives for table salt? We need it and can't live without it. What you going to do if its not available?

 

[Thomas Linton]

"Honey, that dress is beautiful."

Any alternatives for table salt? We need it and can't live without it. What you going to do if its not available?

You can get salt from the blood of most mammels. It's the same salinity as seawater. Other than that . . . . ? Die?

 

[Buddiiee]

after i built my initial hooch, id set out my gill net, and snares, and then id get my fire goin. unpack and chill after that.
then, id improve my hooch. afterwards, id first try to make some sort of little chair. not sure how id do it though. id figure it out, as im really good with my hands, and wood.
after that, id hook up a little endtable type deal. and maybe try to build a little bed as well. something to get me up off the ground. It would be an enclosed frame of some sorts, so that i could fill up the bottom with needles and leaves, then put the top on it, and lay my puss pad back down, so the wind couldnt blow up underneath it, and cool my backside down. so i have somewhere nice to sleep, a chair, and little table. that would be my minimum from there. i guess anything else would have to come later. id have to be there to see what else i could build.

 

[GibsonFan]

Wow, this is a cool thread. I'll pick the northwoods of WI or the UP in the summer.
A couple things I CAN'T make, are: an assortment of screws and eyehooks to bring with. (someone already said nails). Yes, that summer off the grid would be a great time to master cordage skills, but sometimes modern hardware is just handier.

GOT to have a guitar. Well, I could make a guitar but I'm not bringing the whole shop with me. And some kind of crank/solar two-way radio in case I break my dang leg or something.

And a pillow. Not my ruck full of leaves, my favorite pillow

Things to make: soap! I was trying to figure out how to make or find lye (there must be a way, someone invented it!) when I found this, using wood ash for the alkali and vegetable or animal oil. (many recipes use melted tallow.) http://www.paralumun.com/survivalsoap.htm

Beer wine or cider. I mean, beer wine and cider.

Bug dope! Itch salve of some kind.

Black powder.

Netting. Hammock, fishing nets, storage etc.

Things to look for: a spring! On my uncle's land there's one, it's cool enough to keep food fresh; not as long a a fridge would in really hot weather, but a big help. Plus, cold water just tastes better. Gotta build a box around it to keep the critters out.

I should call my uncle; he lived in his cabin without electricity or running water for a year or two, I'm not sure. (I was like 5) Mind you, he had a truck, and a job in town, but still I bet he'd have some tips.

 

[bigbcustom]

You guys want to check out a master at work on this kind of stuff. Do a search for "alone in the wilderness" or watch the vid on pbs. That guy was flat amazing in what he did. Built and lived in a cabin way out in the boonies in Alaska for years with just some basic tools....he even stayed there through the winters chopping through three feet of ice almost daily for water. carved hinges for his door, made shelves you name it.

 

[pict]

Here in Central Brazil I can think of quite a few things I would want to make if I was in the bush for more than a few weeks or so.

#1. A decent bed off the ground. I would most likey make it about two feet off the ground, open frame cot with woven Imbira bark cordage. I would then make a grass bundle mat to cover it by bunching up dried grass into tight bundles and tying them together with bark splits. I find that if I can get a full nights sleep and not wake up with body parts falling asleep or pressure points I do alot better.

Imbira has a really strong inner bark that makes excellent bindings even raw, cooked in ashes it would make excellent rope or cord and I would make alot of it.
This photo shows a bedframe with Imbira lashings.

#2. I would site my shelter right next to a large termite mound and dig it out to use as a fireplace. This isn't the kind of thing you do on an overnight trip as it will take you all day to do it right and then you have to cook the thing with a roaring fire to kill the colony. This sounds very un-PC ecologically speaking but there is no shortage of termites in Central Brazil and destroying their mounds with fire is routine and accepted practice when they compete for grass with cattle. A fireplace made from a mound is like an oven and open top woodstove. They also conserve fuel and allow a wide variety of ways to cook. You can almost always find live coals in the bottom the next day.

#3. I would make as many cage-type bird traps as possible. Locals use these to catch wild birds to sell as pets. They also can be used to catch game birds. Basically it is a box make from reeds or split bamboo that has a hinged top that falls when the bird lands inside. As there is no blood they will produce and keep on producing live birds forever. A string of these distributed in the bush will keep you fed easily if you bait them for pigeons.

This is a very elaborate double sided bird trap. They can be made much simpler.

#4. I would make several armadillo traps. These are a tall cone made from splits that you hammer down over the top of an armadillo hole. Pack the hole with a tight wedge of rolled up grass. The creature decides to leave and pushes the grass plug up into the cone and it just keeps getting tighter. As he forces it up the body of the trap grips his sides and he will wedge himself into the cone.

I would also build figure 4 deadfalls for large lizards; large raised log with spike on the end, bamboo fence on the sides. This photo shows the working parts, in use it would be fenced along the sides and past the end of the "log" to allow only one way in and no way out.

#5. If I had large bamboo available I would also make a charcoal and sand water filter to cut my workload. Top section would be filled with fine sand, this would drip into a section filled with crushed coals from the fire.

#6. For really long term I would make a house with wattle and daub walls. You can see these in the interior where long dry seasons make them last. They consist of a woven wall of split bamboo smeared with thick mud.

#7. I would make a bow and arrows for hunting.

This sounds like alot of fun actually. A book... Mac

 

[Tballetta]

With enough time in the bush I would bring a bunch of vegetable seeds and plant a garden right away. Nothing like having fresh food at hand all the time. Easy to do and fun to grow, build fences, cook. Just very satisfying.

 

[Fiddleback]

Great thread. Awesome post pict!!! A comfortable shelter, water filtration, traps and a gill net (chordage). After that you could upgrade, improve, and enjoy.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

#3. I would make as many cage-type bird traps as possible. Locals use these to catch wild birds to sell as pets. They also can be used to catch game birds. Basically it is a box make from reeds or split bamboo that has a hinged top that falls when the bird lands inside. As there is no blood they will produce and keep on producing live birds forever. A string of these distributed in the bush will keep you fed easily if you bait them for pigeons.

This is a very elaborate double sided bird trap. They can be made much simpler.

Mac

Hey Pict,

Would it be possible to see the trigger details for the bird trap?

Doc

 

[runningboar]

I would without a doubt bring seeds and a couple or 3 conibears. Then I think it would be making a long term shelter, a raised bed, table and chairs. Fish, hunt, garden and run my traps.....A whole lot like what I do now, if it wasn't for this pesky job.

 

[pict]

Doc,

If you look close at the trap you can see the trigger. The lid has a rock wired to it to make it heavy. The stick is simply shaved to a fine edge at the bottom and set into a notch. The floor pivots in the middle. As the bird enters he aligns himself to the bait trays at the back and then tips the floor down away from the notched stick, gravity takes over and the lid falls shut. It is designed to not let the lid fall until the bird is facing away from the opening.

The rest of that cage is simply for storing live birds already caught. The trap is only the part on top. In use they would leave this thing set up and check it several times a day putting the birds in the bottom. Mac

Heres some other bird trap shots...

Box trap

From the side

This is an "arapuca" the most common bird trap in Central Brazil. These can be made with a pocketknife and some string. Once the bird upsets the inner strut the "Y" held up by the short stick will collapse inwards.

 

[Pritch]

You guys want to check out a master at work on this kind of stuff. Do a search for "alone in the wilderness" or watch the vid on pbs. That guy was flat amazing in what he did. Built and lived in a cabin way out in the boonies in Alaska for years with just some basic tools....he even stayed there through the winters chopping through three feet of ice almost daily for water. carved hinges for his door, made shelves you name it.

Big Custom, I love Alone in the Wilderness! I've always had a dream to hand build a small log cabin and then living in it. This film of someone actually doing it was inspiring. Dick Proenneke was an amazing craftsman.

-- FLIX

 

[SkunkWerX]

I would make/find a flat work surface like a table.
It may be as simple as finding a fallen tree of substantial diameter, skining the bark and shaving it a little flatter, or, as complex as building a 3 legged table. Makes food prep and building other things much easier.

I would bring a piece of carbon steel bandsaw blade and make a frame saw (or bow saw). Sometimes you have to make a bow saw, in order to cut the pieces for your frame saw.
A frame saw would be that tool that would allow more complex fabrication with wood especially by means of different types of joinery.

A wooden mallet. Same idea as the frame saw, it's making something that is going to allow you to build things bigger, better and quicker. Call it a club or a baton, or wooden hammer, but it needs to be stout, with good weight at it's "pounding" end.

Bringing along a 1"+ chisel to pound on with your wilderness mallet would also be a big help to assist with wood joinery.

A 1 inch wood auger bit would really help as well.
They make auger bits with an eye hole, and you supply the "tee" arm at the top for spinning the auger on site.
Also, a bow drill with a stone fastened to the bottom of the drill can bore a nice hole in wood, as well.

A measuring stick. Find a straight stick 3 to 4 feet long.
Make it like a yard stick. Multitools can be used to transfer "inch" marks onto the stick. It's amazing how handy it is being able to lay out using basic units of measurement. Even if you had no known units of measure, you could make your own reference units, using the width of your knife blade, your fingers, forearm, your own height, etc.

Once the basic "tool box" has been cared for, then you can get down to the business of making chairs, animal cages, half lap joints, fences, and even basic furniture.

 

[Liam Ryan]

Proenneke was a pretty amazing craftsman, how'd you like those door hinges he made from the knot of wood?

A bow and arrows would be high on my list, I would have to wait for the wood to season for a while though.