Tip of the Week: Using & Caring for an Axe

A pair of great axe related videos from bushcraft guru Ray Mears. First up is on choosing and using a bushcraft/backpack/BOB sized axe, after the jump is how to care for your axe. Some Gransfors content for the axe afficianados...

Review: Makeshift Workshop Skills

Being able to repair and create from basic materials is an important skill for the survivor, both to save money today and for after a collapse, when you can't just stroll down to the hardware store or punch in an Amazon order when you need something new. James Ballou's Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance provides a great starting ground for developing these kinds of skills, using basic scavenged materials and simple hand tools.
A lot of this information is old-school techniques and information used by previous generations and largely forgotten in this day and age of power tools and disposable junk.

Makeshift runs through a variety of useful info, repair techniques and field expedient tools--stuff like improvised welding with a car battery, building simple tools out of scrap material and so on. It's an easy book to dive into and put to work--there are pictures and illustrations throughout, and the writing style is simple and accessible. It's a quick read, but one that you will refer to fairly often when working on these kinds of do it yourself projects.

Whether you're looking for some interesting projects, need some assistance on household repairs or planning for keeping things working post-collapse, Makeshift will have lots of useful information for you. If you're already a seasoned handy man or improvising pro, you'll still find some new ideas and clever designs. There's lots of good stuff.

Here's a short list of just some of the ideas and projects you'll find within Makeshift:

• Homemade cordage and useful knots
• Makeshift metal working, with plans for a makeshift forge, blower and other tools
• Improvised tools including hammers, drills, axes, knives, saws, files, vices and clamps
• Expedient repairs with things like super glue, tape, rawhide, pegs and rivets
• Doing your own welding, including field welding techniques
• Useful items you can make out of common things like hangars, saw blades, coffee cans and rebar

Makeshift can't make you into an expert all areas in just over 200 pages, but it's a good resource and starting point for exploring other areas. There's a recommended resources page at the end to help point the reader in the right direction for further study--a nice addition.

Overall, if you're looking to improve your makeshift repair/crafting skills, I'd definitely give this book a look. It won't turn you into a Randy Church-like guru, but it will help show you a few tips, tricks and projects to help make you more self reliant today and in times to come!

Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance on Amazon >

Open Thread: What skills are you working on?

We all know and talk about the importance of skill versus gear.

I've always got a couple different irons in the fire, but the area I'm focused on most right now is developing my physical abilities--getting in better shape. I have been using Rushfit as a starting point - it's a full body workout with functional/fight-ready fitness in mind. Mostly body weight exercises and some dumbells. The DVDs are a good way of pushing yourself, and it's refreshing to see a world class athlete like Georges St. Pierre struggling through the same workouts. Getting through one of these workouts is exhausting but very rewarding. The full set has DVDs with a variety of workouts--core strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, power & explosiveness and so on. I've enjoyed it so far.

More conventional skills-wise, I'm working on brushing up on some medical stuff--looking at taking some kind of wilderness first aid/first responder class within the next couple months. Doing reading, research too. May pick up a pig leg for some suturing practice.

I'm also doing some experimenting with meat preservation--aka jerky making :-). Initial results are quite good. Planning on working up another batch tomorrow.

What skills are you working on developing?

Origami Container

A small paper container made from a scrap from a pocket Moleskine cahier - 3.5 x 5.5" paper.

Containers are essential things, and this origami box/bowl is easy to make and pretty useful. Once you get the hang of it, you can crank these out in a minute or two.

You can use any old scrap of rectangular paper to make these - 8.5x11 works best, but they work fine with other sizes too - just need similar dimensions. They make for great disposable containers in an every-day situation - hold bones for buffalo wings, sharing candy or popcorn, holding bolts or screws, that kind of thing. They're good organizers for miscellaneous bits, too. You can use any piece of paper, so this is useful, free recycling here.

You can also make these containers out of foil, and if you use foil of a good thickness, they will hold water, which you could either boil or leave in the sun for SODIS. You could also use it to cook in if you need an impromptu pan and didn't want much cleanup.

The pictured container was made from a roughly 8.5x11 shaped piece of Heavy Duty foil; I'd want thicker foil, honestly, but it worked. The lighter duty foil is too thin to survive through the folds without tearing. It held about 10 - 12 ounces of water for about 5 minutes; it did start to leak on one corner, but it still retained structural integrity and stood up to heating water to the boiling point on a stove top. The leak was caused by too much water - the weight pushed out one of the folds slightly, letting water drip out. After the boiling, the container was fine and could certainly be reused.

I've embeded the best YouTube tutorial I could dig up after the jump. Try it - the first time will be a disaster, but after two or three goes you'll probably have it down. Handy trick to know.

Dave Canterbury is living in a yurt

If you haven't been following Dave Canterbury's YouTube channel lately, you should be. Amongst other things, he's decided to spend the winter (or at least a few weeks) living in a yurt. He's been posting up several videos per day - I think he's been pretty bored in the yurt. Anyways, he's posted up a lot of interesting and educational stuff, and it's all free on YouTube.

Dave is known for his wilderness survival skills, but he definitely also looks at things with a prepper mentality. Part of his reasoning behind the yurt would be using it as a semi-permanent shelter in a bug out situation. While I would probably go with another design than the yurt - it looked to be fairly complicated to set up - I think the idea has merit. With a yurt/tent and wood stove, you can survive in relative comfort and have the ability to relocate your "home" if needed. It ain't the Ritz Carlton, but a set up like this is within reach for many of us, versus a full-scale bug out compound. With the right location, water nearby, a few concealed fighting/observation positions, minimal solar set up and some good food stores, livestock and garden and you could do pretty well. A lot better than a debris hut or the dream bug out fortress that you're 30 years away from being able to afford.

Thought I'd pass along a heads up to those of you who don't subscribe to Dave's YouTube channel or check it very often. As of writing, he's up to Journal of the Yurt #28, which is about the spices that he packs in his long term kit.

Prior to his Yurt adventures, Dave did another interesting series of videos on field reloading/improvised loads for the 12 gauge shotgun. Good stuff to watch, even if it's just for educational purposes. I've embedded a couple of my favorites from both series after the jump.

You've got to appreciate how Dave has stayed true to his roots after the success he's had with Dual Survival on Discovery. Massive thumbs up and thanks to him for continuing to do what he's doing.

HOPE is finished!

Randy Chuch has completed the prize knife for the TEOTWAWKI Blade contest, and it is drool-inducing! Turns out it's not one, but two blades! From the master blacksmith himself -

Forged on charcoal, the “Roach” style blade was left as file-like as possible, the file handle end is curled over and a glass breaker filed in the end. Hot cut and filed, quenched in brine water, sharpened on stones. Shellac soaked Hemp wrap on the handle. Also an Antler button on a leather thong in case....you need a button.. No distal taper on this one, I wanted the end as strong as the back for sticking and chopping.

The sheath took some thought. Everything has to already be here. I looked threw the scrap box and found some horse hide scraps traded from a saddler and a piece of Warthog hide given to me by a exotic taxidermist friend. I’ve always been a fan of “Crow” style sheaths from the mid 1800's so this is what I came up with. Your belt goes over and threw the slot so you can move it around the body as needed. I wear them cross-draw on the left side.

I used the Kiridashi to cut out the leather and as a space holder for the Warthog pouch so it deserves to be a part of the package, plus with a hard rock you can start a fire with the back of it.

I enjoyed doing this set….Randy

Specs: 12" overall x 1 1/2" at the belly x 5 1/2" sharp

More after the jump! Huge thanks go out to Randy for providing the prize. If you want to lock your own Church & Son blade down, head on over to his website.

Behind the Scenes at the Redbud Forge

Here's some behind-the-scenes pictures from Randy Church's forge. Yes, these are work-in-progress shots of the knife that Randy is making for the grand prize for this month's TEOTWAWKI Blade contest. I recommend checking out the Church & Son blog and picking up one of their great blades for the holidays. He's done a series of apocalypse-themed blades (four so far), as well as a slew of other great stuff, from kiridashis to big, mean bowie knives.

No better gift than hand forged blades :). Anyways, onto the serious business.

From Randy:
Since the contest is about the one knife you can have after the event, I'll be making this one with only things already here, as I would have to do in the event of disaster. I walked out to the forge, opened the door and an old Nicholson file was the first iron I saw. As I was cranking on the forge I thought about that after all the preparations I sincerely hope we never have to actually use all these skills for anything other than fun, so I named the prize knife.....HOPE.....Apocalypse # 5.


You don't need much. Welcome to the Redbud Forge. It's a big place with a little stuff in it. A forge made from a washtub, a 1905 handcranked blower, a hundred year old broken anvil, a post anvil made from a truck axle, a 1899 post vice and an old horse trailer from a former lifetime to throw all my steel and stuff in. And a desire to make tools and weapons in the ways before electricity....or after.

Tip of the Day: Zeer Pot/Clay Pot Fridge

Need to cool down some brewskies after the collapse? How about keep food from rotting? Medicine from expiring? Ancient tech and simple science combine in the zeer pot. Pretty cool!

Bucket Planters

Pretty cool, low-cost design for bucket planters. I'm currently one of those with limited planting space, may look to put some of these together and see what we can grow.

Bacon Candle

Lighting is an important thing, and when the batteries run dry, you can improvise a simple candle or lamp with whatever fat, oil or grease you have around. This lamp was made with an extra tin, the fat/drippings from about 3/4 of a package of bacon, a wick made from half a cotton ball and a wick holder made from a twisted paper clip. That's it - pretty simple and easily improvised with what you have on hand.

People have been using candles and simple lamps for thousands of years, and they work, even in our modern age of LED flashlights. A fuel and a natural wick material (cotton works well and is readily available, but a variety of other materials work, too) are the consumables that you'll need - no grid or modern tech needed.

So far, this particular lamp has provided about 1.5 hours of light, completely uninterrupted. It doesn't kick off a massive amount of light, but definitely better than a tea light and enough to provide navigation light for a normal room. Simple tasks, sure. Reading...probably not so much, at least for my eyes. We're heading off to bed soon so I blew the candle out; I would guess it's got another hour and a half or so of life left in it, maybe more. I'll light it back up tomorrow.

A shot of the interior of the can, wick and holder after the jump below. For scale, the can is around the size of a tuna can - it held blueberries for a packaged muffin mix.

Cleaning Post-Collapse: Making Traditional Soap

Sanitation and cleanliness will of the utmost important after a TEOTWAWKI-event. Our immune systems aren't up to snuff when compared with our ancestors. We'll be doing manual, hands on, dirty work in order to survive. Getting sick may not just be an inconvenience; it might kill you. 

Something as simple as soap will be of great value to the survivor. We take soap for granted now -- buy the gel anti-bacterial stuff a few times a year and forget about it. But not so long ago, soap was a much more core, essential thing to daily life. And not so long ago, people used to make their own soap.

Soap is not a particularly complicated thing to make and the basic ingredients required are simple - some kind of fat or oil and lye water. Some knowledge and practice in traditional soap making could be a great help, source of barter and a literal lifesaver in a post-TEOTWAWKI world. Here's some information, links and videos that explain the process.