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31
Rewild Camps, Events & Meet-ups / Re: rewild massachusetts!
« on: March 17, 2011, 10:55:49 AM »
There are several of us in MA and the general southern New England area. I believe my website link is still for Rewild New England. Feel free to join.
32
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: March 14, 2011, 07:17:40 PM »
Talk to/with me, not past or at me. Please.
33
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: March 14, 2011, 04:42:31 PM »
If you're going to be honest about race and racial privilege in this society, then you need to understand it. You don't need to identify with it, but at the same time pretending you don't take part it in because you dislike it is dishonest and itself a part of white privilege in Western, particularly American, society.
So no, defining yourself by a fictitious racial concept is of course not necessary. That would be entirely counterproductive. But non-identification isn't an excuse to ignore race in this culture. So many white activists make that mistake.
So no, defining yourself by a fictitious racial concept is of course not necessary. That would be entirely counterproductive. But non-identification isn't an excuse to ignore race in this culture. So many white activists make that mistake.
34
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: March 13, 2011, 01:19:25 PM »
Nobody's saying to identify all of civilization as "White Man's" culture. But Western civilization is White society. It's characterized in large part by its self-defining by race and what Whiteness means.
Having been more involved in critical race theory for a while, I've come to really just call this what it is : white supremacist worldview. Western civilization is built on White supremacist assumptions, harbored even largely by people who don't hold specifically White supremacist opinions, or may not even by white.
Having been more involved in critical race theory for a while, I've come to really just call this what it is : white supremacist worldview. Western civilization is built on White supremacist assumptions, harbored even largely by people who don't hold specifically White supremacist opinions, or may not even by white.
35
Dangers & Risks / Re: Body Armor?
« on: March 11, 2011, 07:06:29 PM »
I've learned more about principles of armor since I first brought this up.
Soft bullet resistant armor can be made simply by layering fiberglass fabric, such as that used in repairing boats. It just takes more layers than kevlar. Layering tightly knit natural fabrics would probably do the same, since I know many layers of silk can stop lots of projectiles. It'd just be bulky. Apparently some firearms manufacturers test the penetration of the weapon by shooting at thick piles of denim.
Although controversial, one of the most effective military body armors being used right now is functionally very similar to medieval scale armor. It's called Dragon Skin, and is made from ceramic/Titanium composite disks that are overlapped in order to make a scale pattern, and then kevlar or similar material is wrapped around each one and also some just on top. The "scales", when hit, stop even rifle rounds, and instead of the disks fracturing the force is dispersed over several surrounding disks. The bullet is kept from flying around by the layers of fiberglass. Videos of this armor show it being peppered with armor piercing rounds and continuing to work.
I intend to make some light improvised versions using fiberglass fabric, and fiberglass mats treated with fiberglass resin to make the disks. I'm thinking I'll rivet the disk scales to a backing of the fabric, then attach (maybe by glue?) a strip of fiberglass fabric behind each row of scales, then attach 5 or so layers of the fiberglass on top of the whole thing again.
Using these principles we could probably come up with something really effective using natural materials, too. Tight knits of wool felt in thin layers might work well when many layers are put together. Adding some hard scales in between could increase that a lot. Like I said before, I'm interested in treating felt with tree resins. Lots to consider.
Soft bullet resistant armor can be made simply by layering fiberglass fabric, such as that used in repairing boats. It just takes more layers than kevlar. Layering tightly knit natural fabrics would probably do the same, since I know many layers of silk can stop lots of projectiles. It'd just be bulky. Apparently some firearms manufacturers test the penetration of the weapon by shooting at thick piles of denim.
Although controversial, one of the most effective military body armors being used right now is functionally very similar to medieval scale armor. It's called Dragon Skin, and is made from ceramic/Titanium composite disks that are overlapped in order to make a scale pattern, and then kevlar or similar material is wrapped around each one and also some just on top. The "scales", when hit, stop even rifle rounds, and instead of the disks fracturing the force is dispersed over several surrounding disks. The bullet is kept from flying around by the layers of fiberglass. Videos of this armor show it being peppered with armor piercing rounds and continuing to work.
I intend to make some light improvised versions using fiberglass fabric, and fiberglass mats treated with fiberglass resin to make the disks. I'm thinking I'll rivet the disk scales to a backing of the fabric, then attach (maybe by glue?) a strip of fiberglass fabric behind each row of scales, then attach 5 or so layers of the fiberglass on top of the whole thing again.
Using these principles we could probably come up with something really effective using natural materials, too. Tight knits of wool felt in thin layers might work well when many layers are put together. Adding some hard scales in between could increase that a lot. Like I said before, I'm interested in treating felt with tree resins. Lots to consider.
36
Grief & Praise / Re: the "white man"
« on: March 11, 2011, 05:08:26 PM »
The first point really is that race is fictitious. It exists solely as a feature of culture. It's a social construct created around our outward appearances with some tenuous ties to vague categories based on ancestral habitation, and as such is fluid and changing.
The big point in this is that in Western culture, "Whiteness" has significance. Attached to the idea of "Whiteness" is the idea of what it means to be "White", and in American that basically means being straight, Christian, Capitalist, etc. This is why you see, as Derrick Jensen makes apparent in "Culture of Make Believe", that people in racist white culture lash out at culture deviants and allies to people of color much in the same way to do to people of color themselves. Look at the lynching and torturing of white Wobblies in manners reminiscent to lynching of black folks in the South by the Klan. They'd given up their "Whiteness" in the eyes of the dominant society, and were therefore race traitors. In big part, I think this occurs because it forces people to confront the fact that what they derive their identity, and probably their entire worldview, from is fundamentally challenged.
"Whiteness" is also treated as property. Check out what Cheryl Harris has to say about that: http://www1.bmcc.cuny.edu/faculty/upload/published%20critical%20soc%20whiteness.pdf
I don't think it's a logical result of any of this to say that civilization is defined by white males, nor is it definitive to it. Nor does having light skin and being of European descent necessarily make you take part in Whiteness. But Western culture has had the concept of Whiteness as one of its major driving forces for some time, even if it is also something that is constantly changing.
The big point in this is that in Western culture, "Whiteness" has significance. Attached to the idea of "Whiteness" is the idea of what it means to be "White", and in American that basically means being straight, Christian, Capitalist, etc. This is why you see, as Derrick Jensen makes apparent in "Culture of Make Believe", that people in racist white culture lash out at culture deviants and allies to people of color much in the same way to do to people of color themselves. Look at the lynching and torturing of white Wobblies in manners reminiscent to lynching of black folks in the South by the Klan. They'd given up their "Whiteness" in the eyes of the dominant society, and were therefore race traitors. In big part, I think this occurs because it forces people to confront the fact that what they derive their identity, and probably their entire worldview, from is fundamentally challenged.
"Whiteness" is also treated as property. Check out what Cheryl Harris has to say about that: http://www1.bmcc.cuny.edu/faculty/upload/published%20critical%20soc%20whiteness.pdf
I don't think it's a logical result of any of this to say that civilization is defined by white males, nor is it definitive to it. Nor does having light skin and being of European descent necessarily make you take part in Whiteness. But Western culture has had the concept of Whiteness as one of its major driving forces for some time, even if it is also something that is constantly changing.
37
Transition Tech / Re: Firearms Care
« on: March 11, 2011, 02:54:21 PM »
Here's a thought I had: beaver or bear fat would probably make a decent gun lube. And obviously beef tallow, which is what a lot of people who like traditional muzzleloaders use.
38
Transition Tech / Re: civilization's few 'good ideas'
« on: March 07, 2011, 01:51:55 PM »
I bought a ceramic element from here: http://www.monolithic.com/stories/a-practical-life-sustaining-water-filter
I'm basically following their directions, which are basically to drill a few holes in the buckets, put one on top of the other with the filter in it, so that the water drains from the top one through the filter element, and down into the bottom bucket.
I should note, too, that ceramic filters can be made entirely using primitice technology. The main idea is to make a ceramic vessel that is porous with holes that are so tiny we can barely see them, if we can at all. To do so you just mix superfine organic material into the clay while you're working it, like coffee grinds (an espresso grind would be best) or sawdust. As the piece is firing, the organic material burns off, leaving tiny pores through which water can flow, but not silt or microbes.
When I finish building the system, I'll take some pictures or something.
I'm basically following their directions, which are basically to drill a few holes in the buckets, put one on top of the other with the filter in it, so that the water drains from the top one through the filter element, and down into the bottom bucket.
I should note, too, that ceramic filters can be made entirely using primitice technology. The main idea is to make a ceramic vessel that is porous with holes that are so tiny we can barely see them, if we can at all. To do so you just mix superfine organic material into the clay while you're working it, like coffee grinds (an espresso grind would be best) or sawdust. As the piece is firing, the organic material burns off, leaving tiny pores through which water can flow, but not silt or microbes.
When I finish building the system, I'll take some pictures or something.
39
Transition Tech / Firearms Care
« on: March 05, 2011, 05:57:03 PM »
Plenty of us have talked about using firearms to hunt and protect ourselves in our rewilding journeys, so I think it reasons that we understand how to keep them in working condition as long as possible. They won't be around forever, but they might make transition easier. Since I started here years ago, I've become a bit of a "gun guy". Okay, not really, but I now own a few and know how to take care of them and such. This might be more important as the collapse unfolds, since you eventually won't be able to just mosey into a big box store and buy some fancy cleaning kits.
If you own firearms, the first thing to do is make sure you know how to disassemble it for cleaning. Most of the time this can be found in the manual, but if it isn't or you didn't get one, you can usually find guides online. If you're using firearms with detachable magazines, the same goes for them. Most have a button or something that allows a piece to slide out, so you can clean and lube the spring.
Fernando Aguirre wrote about taking care of his firearms after the economic collapse in Argentina a decade ago. His advice built on the usual stuff: clean off any rust, make sure all the parts are lubed, clean the barrel out as soon as possible after shooting, etc. He added the practical advice of everyday stuff that can be used in place of high priced lubes and solvents. This is pretty obvious: motor oil makes great gun lube, and solvents like kerosene are great for cleaning out residue and taking off rust. Cotton rags are perfectly good for cleaning.
Another great example I think we should pay attention to is the Bourgainville Resistance Army. In the movie "Coconut Revolution", which was about their struggle for sovereignty as a colonized indigenous group, we see that they cleaned and lubed their captured and improvised weapons with coconut oil. I know some people who use muzzleloaders prefer tallow to anything else. So it seems natural oils work just fine. It might be best to use saturated fats, I'm not sure if it makes a difference. I know saturated fats tend to have lower smoking points, so maybe that makes a difference. I'll try olive oil sometime and let you know if it gums up or anything.
If you own firearms, the first thing to do is make sure you know how to disassemble it for cleaning. Most of the time this can be found in the manual, but if it isn't or you didn't get one, you can usually find guides online. If you're using firearms with detachable magazines, the same goes for them. Most have a button or something that allows a piece to slide out, so you can clean and lube the spring.
Fernando Aguirre wrote about taking care of his firearms after the economic collapse in Argentina a decade ago. His advice built on the usual stuff: clean off any rust, make sure all the parts are lubed, clean the barrel out as soon as possible after shooting, etc. He added the practical advice of everyday stuff that can be used in place of high priced lubes and solvents. This is pretty obvious: motor oil makes great gun lube, and solvents like kerosene are great for cleaning out residue and taking off rust. Cotton rags are perfectly good for cleaning.
Another great example I think we should pay attention to is the Bourgainville Resistance Army. In the movie "Coconut Revolution", which was about their struggle for sovereignty as a colonized indigenous group, we see that they cleaned and lubed their captured and improvised weapons with coconut oil. I know some people who use muzzleloaders prefer tallow to anything else. So it seems natural oils work just fine. It might be best to use saturated fats, I'm not sure if it makes a difference. I know saturated fats tend to have lower smoking points, so maybe that makes a difference. I'll try olive oil sometime and let you know if it gums up or anything.
40
Health, Healing & Movement / Re: womb health , tampon alternatives.
« on: March 05, 2011, 05:25:19 PM »
I hear good things about cattail fluff as a pad stuffing.
41
The Fabulous Forager / Re: face/body paints
« on: March 05, 2011, 05:17:26 PM »
Something in the curry I just made turned the whole batch a bright pink. Could be useful for painting oneself. Also, the Thai iced tea my partner made me today stains everything orange. Apparently today is the day for colorful foods and drinks.
42
Flora Food & Medicine / MOVED: composting
« on: March 05, 2011, 05:13:02 PM »
This topic has been moved to the Land board, because I couldn't figure out a better one.
http://www.rewild.info/conversations/index.php?topic=1601.0
http://www.rewild.info/conversations/index.php?topic=1601.0
43
Transition Tech / Re: civilization's few 'good ideas'
« on: March 05, 2011, 05:05:29 PM »
AK-47. I wish we didn't have a world where such killing machines were mass produced, but damned if I won't use my Kalash to hunt and defend through the collapse. I guess this goes for firearms in general.
Machetes. I guess that sort of falls under steel knives.
Ceramic water filters. Many are portable and convenient, and some can be set up for large scale gravity powered filtering systems. I'm building a 5 gallon capacity one with buckets right now.
Machetes. I guess that sort of falls under steel knives.
Ceramic water filters. Many are portable and convenient, and some can be set up for large scale gravity powered filtering systems. I'm building a 5 gallon capacity one with buckets right now.
44
Grief & Praise / Re: How to argue with person w/ Civ worldview
« on: March 01, 2011, 01:26:14 PM »
As far as the money thing goes, just bring up gift economies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy). This is central to indigenous living.
P.S.
Yea, White culture. But there is a fundamental difference between White people and white people.
P.S.
I have a slightly off topic request here that's also probably a pretty futile request:
CAN WE STOP BLAMING "THE WHITE MAN" FOR WHAT IS BEING DONE TO NATIVE AMERICANS?! The Native Americans aren't abused by a specific race or gender, they are being abused by a culture!
Yea, White culture. But there is a fundamental difference between White people and white people.