Levering firewood

[your_comforting_company]

On our camping trip two weekends ago, we didn't go all primitive like I would have liked it. Mostly because my wife and the boys like to have snacks and games and doodads available.
So I packed the regular gear, including an axe for firewood. We decided to apply primitive methodology to our fire on this trip, sort of as a reinforcement for the boys. On the way in, we scanned for downed trees. Saw lots of good firewood, so made mental notes, and that's what we gathered.
I explained to them that an axe was not a primitive, although it is manual, way of reducing the wood to usable sizes.. they said "How are we gonna chop it if we don't use the axe?"
The answer was simple and a good example of how hard it can be sometimes to get into "backward thinking" mode. So applying a little physics to keep it interesting for our inner geeks, I explained the ideas of leverage to them, short and sweet.
There was a perfect forked tree right beside the camp. I stuck a log in, gave it a twist and POP! The youngest wanted to try it immediately because he just loves science.
The following is my 11 year old applying physics and elbow grease to "chop firewood". We never did use the axe. It turned into a bit of a spitting competition between the boys to see who could get the big log to break hahaha!
(apparently I can't put slideshows directly in the thread, so here's the link!)
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Hey, if this little guy can snap logs with just a few steps, anyone can! Far more efficient than an axe.

[crashdive123]

Looks like a great lesson for the kids.

I didn't know that "primitive" cigarettes had filters.

[Rick]

Beyond teaching them how to make firewood you are also teaching them to think through a problem. To examine alternatives. That's a very useful skill for life. Nice job. It looks like you had some great weather, too. Thanks for taking us along.

You know, of course, that we've all done that across our knee only to find out the stick was slightly stronger than our knee was. Ouch.

[Sourdough]

That is how I bend ReBar for footings.

[your_comforting_company]

I didn't know that "primitive" cigarettes had filters.

LOL.. they also weren't "tobacco". Interesting enough, a lady at the festival this weekend announced to me that "The big indian chiefs didn't smoke cigarettes", to which I replied "No, ma'am, they smoked other things ritually, many times a day" and meandered off.
For all you kids at home: Smoking is BAD for you!!

Leverage is a good thing, but let's not use our bodies as the fulcrum. All too many times I've gone to snap limbs with my feet or legs or knees and ended up gouging myself, or cutting myself or falling over and looking like a jacka$$, only to pick up an axe and look even more like one...

Even the logs that were too big to break were burned in two. Think "whats the lazy way to do this?" and you're all set!

[NightShade]

Good post YCC... This is a method I use often as I like to travel light and an axe can add a bit of weight.
I was at a cookout this past summer with my family... It was my wifes friends house , the friends boyfriend decided we should have bonfire ... The only saw he had was a cordless sawzall... He got to work using the saw to cutup the logs... There was 1 tree in the yard and don't you know it had a perfect fork in it..
This was the first time I met the guy and I said " bet you $20 bucks I can split the logs quicker with my bare hands". He looked at me and said " doubt it" within a minute I had broke up all the logs to small pieces using this exact method.
His reply.... A smile and he said " remind me not to bet with you again"

[shooter_250]

YCC...not to steal this thread,,,i noticed you wearing you buckins,,,when are the kids and the wife gonna get thiers...LOL...i'm working on a coat for myself,,,if i run into probs may i pm you for help?

God Bless

Lee

[your_comforting_company]

The oldest boy is just about big enough I think, to fit him with one a little oversized. The youngest is growing so fast, I'm afraid that if I make him a pair this year, even if I leave it with room to let out, that he'll outgrow them really quick. The wife has a dress, but it was a little cool out that morning, so she elected to put on the jogging britches and long sleeves.

I'll offer all the help I can. I'm not too good with patterns and such, you see most of my stuff there is freeform (so is the wife's dress, shown here), except the pants where I used an old pair as a pattern. As far as the tanning aspect, I'm pretty good at that and can offer more experience in that area. Feel free to contact me through PM or on the boards. There are a few other braintanners on here that stop by from time to time. It would be my pleasure to pass braintanning on to someone else.

[Rick]

You bring up an interesting point, YCC. It must have been really frustrating and a lot of work to keep early youngsters in clothes in the winter. I suppose in the summer a loin cloth would suffice but I've learned a thong in winter is NOT a good thing...if you know what I mean.

[crashdive123]

I imagine that unless you were the oldest child in a family, you never saw any "new" clothes. I'll bet that even being the oldest was no guarantee of new.

[your_comforting_company]

This area is so rich in resources, that it only took about 4-6 hours a day, even in winter to forage, hunt, fish, find sustenance, and then the rest of the day they could sit, work on projects, or just do whatever. The women did most of the tanning and 95% (according to Mr. Kirkland) of them were wet-scraped (my preferred method).
In summertime they wore almost nothing, but winter garbs were a lot of extra large blankets to wrap up in, except for the hunters who needed a little more protection from the elements in the field and required use of their arms and gear so bulky blankets were out.
While I will definately agree that it was a lot of work to keep little ones in clothes, I do think they had plenty of fur blankets, and winter clothes, old and new, as the winter pelts would have the thickest furs. Buckskin alone is quite warm on cooler days and when it was downright cold, a stockpile of furs would provide adequate insulation. The great thing about blankets... they are one size fits all.
I also don't think they were wasteful, hand-me-downs would be the best way to clothe a youngster with an older sibling. As I mentioned above you gotta think "Whats the lazy way to do this?" Efficiency is key. Burn as few calories as possible to accomplish said task. As with the levering of firewood above, there is usually a better way to do things, even with modern tools at our disposal.. it's just that we are taught to do things the hard way.. like chopping firewood.. but that's so it will fit into our fireplace. Clothing themselves was not looked at any differently. Certainly you wouldn't chop a tree into firewood size with a stone axe..
Whether just out camping, or caught up in a life/death situation.. always think to yourself "What's the lazy way".