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16
Common Misconceptions / Re: Agriculture: villain or boon companion?
« on: November 12, 2011, 03:46:31 PM »
Hey Pete,
How about the role of birth control and family planning in that population thing? I've come more to thinking that the biggest influence agriculture has is cultural, in that it seems agricultural societies get rid of a lot of womens' abilities to control their own fertility. I think it has something to do with the myth and mores, in that agricultural societies tend to objectify people around them (particularly non-human peoples). Civilization is based on slavery for a reason, mostly because it takes force to get people to practice some of these back-breaking tasks. When women and people in general become objects to be owned and controlled, it becomes in the interest of those that own to have more people and not let women control their own bodies.
Not to mention that monocropping is inefficient. The food per acre ratio is too low, and the nutrient density is even lower.
Something to muse over.
How about the role of birth control and family planning in that population thing? I've come more to thinking that the biggest influence agriculture has is cultural, in that it seems agricultural societies get rid of a lot of womens' abilities to control their own fertility. I think it has something to do with the myth and mores, in that agricultural societies tend to objectify people around them (particularly non-human peoples). Civilization is based on slavery for a reason, mostly because it takes force to get people to practice some of these back-breaking tasks. When women and people in general become objects to be owned and controlled, it becomes in the interest of those that own to have more people and not let women control their own bodies.
Not to mention that monocropping is inefficient. The food per acre ratio is too low, and the nutrient density is even lower.
Something to muse over.
17
**READ HERE FIRST** / Re: Introductions
« on: November 12, 2011, 03:32:27 PM »
Welcome new folks!
Dan, I think I've heard your collective's music, and maybe even put a song or two on one of my mix CDs. Nice. From one Dan to another, good tunes!
Tim, I do hope you get here as much as you want.
Dan, I think I've heard your collective's music, and maybe even put a song or two on one of my mix CDs. Nice. From one Dan to another, good tunes!
Tim, I do hope you get here as much as you want.
18
**READ HERE FIRST** / Re: New Host, New Face
« on: November 11, 2011, 04:04:07 PM »
Alright, finally getting myself back into the habit of checking often enough to effectively moderate and contribute. With the dropoff in wilderness skills classes in the winter and the losing of my "day job", I'm effectively unemployed now anyway.
Yay! Now I just need to get back into regular foraging and hunting and trapping and such.
Yay! Now I just need to get back into regular foraging and hunting and trapping and such.
19
Common Misconceptions / Re: happy pyromaniacs
« on: November 11, 2011, 04:01:47 PM »
I've been experimenting a lot with coal extenders. Good way to keep the ability to make easy fire going without burning all of your fuel.
But a lot of traditional indigenous peoples have kept small fires going all the time. Or at least, it's attempted. Kids often maintain them, so maybe some of them don't care so much after all.
But a lot of traditional indigenous peoples have kept small fires going all the time. Or at least, it's attempted. Kids often maintain them, so maybe some of them don't care so much after all.
20
Common Misconceptions / Re: Agriculture: villain or boon companion?
« on: November 11, 2011, 03:58:37 PM »
Well duh, not all strategies work in all places. But the difference is that some forms of horticulture can be sustainable in some places. Agriculture (monocropping) is not sustainable. Period.
21
Flora Food & Medicine / Re: Uses for Acorns
« on: November 11, 2011, 03:51:07 PM »
I've usually boiled them which made a slightly hard meal. I only recently this year learned that cold water treatments create softer, more stick meals, which are better for things like tortillas. That means I'm one step closer to my goal of making wild tacos!
22
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: November 11, 2011, 03:38:49 PM »
Good for you, you're "enlightened" enough to ignore race.
But understanding that race is a cultural construct doesn't change the fact that cultural constructs have real effects. The anthropological community for the most part took that stance for decades, and in doing so missed the chance to affect real change and contribute to the discourse.
Just because you recognize something is a delusion doesn't mean you can ignore it. Race is real because people make it real. Recognizing that it has effects is also not the same as believing in it.
And am I the only one who notices that it's only ever white folks who make that sort of statement? It's easy to ignore the effects of a cultural construct when you're the one benefiting from it.
But understanding that race is a cultural construct doesn't change the fact that cultural constructs have real effects. The anthropological community for the most part took that stance for decades, and in doing so missed the chance to affect real change and contribute to the discourse.
Just because you recognize something is a delusion doesn't mean you can ignore it. Race is real because people make it real. Recognizing that it has effects is also not the same as believing in it.
And am I the only one who notices that it's only ever white folks who make that sort of statement? It's easy to ignore the effects of a cultural construct when you're the one benefiting from it.
23
Rewild Camps, Events & Meet-ups / Re: Ready for the zombie apocalypse?
« on: October 19, 2011, 06:22:31 AM »
I am hoping to have a zombies vs. humans paintball game at the end.
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Rewild Camps, Events & Meet-ups / Ready for the zombie apocalypse?
« on: October 16, 2011, 08:22:13 PM »
Hey everyone,
I wanted to mention this class I'll be teaching in CT soon. It's a crash course in long term survival, disaster preparedness, and self-sufficiency, with a bit of afterculture and wilderness skills thrown in. Since it's the Halloween season, we're calling it a Zombie Apocalypse Survival course.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=280409241993194
I wanted to mention this class I'll be teaching in CT soon. It's a crash course in long term survival, disaster preparedness, and self-sufficiency, with a bit of afterculture and wilderness skills thrown in. Since it's the Halloween season, we're calling it a Zombie Apocalypse Survival course.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=280409241993194
Quote
We're all worried about undead hordes driving us from our homes. Just this year the Center for Disease Control suggested that everyone keep an emergency bag ready in case you need to flee the zombies, or, you know, if a hurricane floods out your street.
Emergencies and disasters happen all the time, and they don't all have to be the end of the world as we know it to be the end of your world. Between economic downturns, hurricanes like Irene, tornadoes, earthquakes, and just everyday emergencies like job loss, car accidents and breakdowns, and the occasional undead cannibal, everybody benefits from being prepared. Knowing skills and how to prepare supplies can even save you money, rather than be a financial drain.
Wilderness skills and survival instructor Daniel Quiray has been learning the ins and outs of survival skills and emergency preparation for over a decade, and combines his skills and knowledge of short and long term survival, preparedness, sustainable living, self-sufficiency, and afterculture to create a system that will allow you to live a resilient life and be capable of weathering emergencies up to and including the zombie apocalypse.
25
Rewild Camps, Events & Meet-ups / Re: Rewild Vermont?
« on: August 18, 2011, 07:28:54 AM »
I'm in MA, not VT, but I go up there sometimes. I think there are some rewilding type folks up there. I know I've met a few on the DJ forum.
26
Fauna Food / Re: rendering fat w/out pot
« on: August 08, 2011, 11:29:44 AM »
I imagine hollowing out a soft stone to make a container would work well. Technically not without a pot, but it is without clay.
27
Transition Tech / Re: Firearms Care
« on: June 30, 2011, 05:32:42 PM »Do you think that a simpler gun like a revolver or shotgun would be easier to care for and find parts for than an automatic? Or does it matter?
Revolvers are often just as complicated and at least as hard to repair as a semi-automatic pistol. Single shot shotguns are extremely easy to repair, as are bolt action and pump long guns. In most modern firearms, the most commonly damaged parts are the springs and firing pins; springs can be replaced with a similarly strong piece of spring, and the firing pin can be replaced by a tiny bar of decent strength steel.
To show the simplicity of single-shot shotguns:
A simple improvise shotgun used by the Filipino resistance during the Spanish American war was made up of a 3/4" steel pipe, a 1" steel pipe, a cap for one end of the 1" pipe, and a short nail (maybe something to fix it in place). The nail is affixed in the center of the cap, which is screw onto the 1" pipe, the two pipes are filed down slightly so that the smaller one easily slides into the larger one, and the 12 ga cartridge is inserted into the back of the smaller pipe. When the smaller pipe is quickly slammed back into the larger one, the small nail strikes the primer of the cartridge and ignites the powder.
Also, I saw an epsisode of Dual Survival recently in which Dave used the grease gland from a dead beaver to oil an old muzzeloader. Guess I was right.
28
Misc. / Knife Handling Technique
« on: April 24, 2011, 01:25:47 PM »
One thing that I've learned working with kids is that having proper technique for handling knives makes a world of difference in a lot of the traditional skills we teach them. Most adults don't even necessarily use their knives effeciently or with maximum control, and for the most part it seems wilderness skills and survival guides don't go over it much. So here's a couple tips to get the thread started.
Positioned with one knee on the ground and one up, an easy way to shave down a small to medium piece of wood is to hold the spine of the knife to your knee to stabilize it, holding the knife in your dominant hand, and the drawing the piece of wood backwards across the blade to cut.
Again while on one knee, you can cut into a piece of wood, say while making a feather stick, by keeping your dominant arm straight, knife at a right angle to your arm in your hand, and use your upper body weight to drive the blade down. It gives superb control.
Anyone else got some good tips? I can come up with a few more.
Positioned with one knee on the ground and one up, an easy way to shave down a small to medium piece of wood is to hold the spine of the knife to your knee to stabilize it, holding the knife in your dominant hand, and the drawing the piece of wood backwards across the blade to cut.
Again while on one knee, you can cut into a piece of wood, say while making a feather stick, by keeping your dominant arm straight, knife at a right angle to your arm in your hand, and use your upper body weight to drive the blade down. It gives superb control.
Anyone else got some good tips? I can come up with a few more.
29
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: March 19, 2011, 03:56:02 PM »
thunder thighs,
I apologizing for being a bit curt, and not giving explanation. What I meant was that I did not feel you are adequately reading and recognizing my contributions to this discussion, but rather have basically repeated the same points throughout. Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I thought, but looking back I still don't think that's the case. Sometimes I've been using certain words and language in a non-typical way for so long I've forgotten the "normal" meaning.
I apologizing for being a bit curt, and not giving explanation. What I meant was that I did not feel you are adequately reading and recognizing my contributions to this discussion, but rather have basically repeated the same points throughout. Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I thought, but looking back I still don't think that's the case. Sometimes I've been using certain words and language in a non-typical way for so long I've forgotten the "normal" meaning.
30
Dangers & Risks / Re: Body Armor?
« on: March 17, 2011, 11:14:43 AM »
Tests are inconsistent. The publicly verifiable ones seems to show the stuff is basically invincible to anything short of an RPG, but some officers in the Army say it doesn't work according to their secret tests. The wording of the stuff I read reminded me that officers often suck up to established military contractors to get jobs after they leave the service. My guess is that these guys just wanted to get a job with whoever is making the Army's current ceramic plate armor.