Tools for the end of civilized life.

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Lawless

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We need a thread about all the nifty things that will be oh so useful when this pig goes tits up.

I will start with my new Fiskers splitting maul. If you have not used a modern maul vs. an oldie goldie, you are in for a shock.

It splits oak so much easier and with so much less effort as to beg the question "why the sam hill aint nobody ever tolt me bout dis?"

It is very nicely made, weighted perfectly and was about $50 at Lowes.

Worth. Every. Penny.

5b7771d5-1978-413e-96b7-201216aec4b8.jpg


 
I'm exhausted watching that guy swing that thing... I'll stick with the gas splitter...
 
Knowledge. I'm to old and out of shape to survive on strength of arms. But I can reload and cast bullets, butcher critters, make bacon and sausage, brew beer and wine, build, plant and grow food, preserve same. Did I mention make booze.
I want to learn blacksmithing next.
CF
 
I must be a manly man since the old school maul I use works really well. I actually kinda like splitting wood by hand. I knocked out a crap ton of pine up in NY a few years ago my in-laws place one morning. With pine you can almost use a butter knife. They all came back from a trip to the outlet mall and my hands were a bloody mess, the wood was stacked and I was putting a large dent in the keg. Ah, the simple life. Now the oak, maple and locust I have up at the cabin takes a little more effort.

I did grab a new Condor machete from @thrillhill to take care of some huge vines up in the mountains. I'll test that bad boy out this weekend.
 
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Chihuahua Floyd said:
Knowledge. I'm to old and out of shape to survive on strength of arms. But I can reload and cast bullets, butcher critters, make bacon and sausage, brew beer and wine, build, plant and grow food, preserve same. Did I mention make booze.
I want to learn blacksmithing next.
CF
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Yep, we should know each other. my back ain't broke yet, but I need to relearn the rest of that stuff,:D
 
Having the knowledge/material/ability to make tools would be invaluable.

One thing I believe will be the downfall of many is wastefulness. Unfortunately, it's a mindset all to prevalent in much of society. It breaks? Throw it out and buy a new one. It's left over / extra? Toss it.

Give you a couple of examples:

I have a Craftsman self-propelled push mower I found in a "trash" pile a few years ago. It was during bulky item pickup. Dude was carrying stuff out to the heap. I stopped and asked if he was throwing out the mower. He said he was because, " It didn't work" and if I wanted it, take it. Offered him some money for it, but he wouldn't hear of it. Took the mower home, cleaned out the jets on the carb and it has run well ever since.

I've found usable sections 12/3 romex, boxes of 10d nails, boxes of 3" deck screws, water hoses and extension cords in dumpsters I hauled.
 
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No power? Limited gas? Hand tools like planes, adz, saws draw knife ect ect ect. Mule., ox, or draft horse. Wagon or buggy for mule to pull, plow if you choose to grow that way. Tons of knowledge. How to make canned goods, sugar, flower, butter, so forth and so on. Im working on all of this. Its crazy what we have forgot.
 
SPST said:
I thought everybody already stocked up on this stuff because Obama was going to declare martial law in 2016?
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Some folks have stuff like this set back to help them/their own weather difficult days, not because of who's President.

Honestly, it doesn't matter who occupies the office...hard times are coming and no President / party will stop it.
 
If you don't know how to do most of this stuff I'd recommend that you start a useful library of GOOD "How-To" books right away. The original Foxfire series is excellent. I'm lucky I inherited a lot of hand tools from my great-uncle. Most are older than I am and were made around 1900-1950. Some people would call them antiques, but then they call me that too.
 
Hand pump for water in a fresh water well. Old school building knowledge example mortice and tennon joints dove tails for a poplar cabin. Basket making. Knowledge of trees and the uses of them such as burch bark and poplar bark for baskets and hickory bark soaked for making string. White oak wood peels apart to make baskets. Dogwood for arrows. Oak bark for water proof vegetable tan on furs.. Pine for pine tar. You can eat pine bark when cooked make tea from the needles. Sycamore for chair seats. Black smithing tools, forge.
 
Chihuahua Floyd said:
Knowledge. I'm to old and out of shape to survive on strength of arms. But I can reload and cast bullets, butcher critters, make bacon and sausage, brew beer and wine, build, plant and grow food, preserve same. Did I mention make booze.
I want to learn blacksmithing next.
CF
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You are too far away from me!
 
Mightyox04 said:
Hand pump for water in a fresh water well. Old school building knowledge example mortice and tennon joints dove tails for a poplar cabin. Basket making. Knowledge of trees and the uses of them such as burch bark and poplar bark for baskets and hickory bark soaked for making string. White oak wood peels apart to make baskets. Dogwood for arrows. Oak bark for water proof vegetable tan on furs.. Pine for pine tar. You can eat pine bark when cooked make tea from the needles. Sycamore for chair seats. Black smithing tools, forge.
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Wished I lived closer to some of y'all....
 
Get a subscription to The Backwoodsman magazine.
They also have 5 best of issues to also get.

Foxfire books 1 thru 6 will cover a ton of things you need to know.

One item I picked up several of is Danish carpenters backpacks, I have 4.
I've added several things to them to help round out my needs.
 
No doubt.
I need next year or half of it to get my house totally in order/debt free.
Then I'm looking to sell the place here and move west....
 
ronn47 said:
Get a subscription to The Backwoodsman magazine.
They also have 5 best of issues to also get.

Foxfire books 1 thru 6 will cover a ton of things you need to know.

One item I picked up several of is Danish carpenters backpacks, I have 4.
I've added several things to them to help round out my needs.
Click to expand...
What are these Danish carpenters backpacks you speak of?
 
CZfool68 said:
I must be a manly man since the old school maul I use works really well. I actually kinda like splitting wood by hand. I knocked out a crap ton of pine up in NY a few years ago my in-laws place one morning. With pine you can almost use a butter knife. They all came back from a trip to the outlet mall and my hands were a bloody mess, the wood was stacked and I was putting a large dent in the keg. Ah, the simple life. Now the oak, maple and locust I have up at the cabin takes a little more effort.

I did grab a new Condor machete from @thrillhill to take care of some huge vines up in the mountains. I'll test that bad boy out this weekend.
Click to expand...

When I want to feel like a man I get me a load of poplar to split.
 
Chdamn said:
When I want to feel like a man I get me a load of poplar to split.
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My brother has a lot of Ash and that can be some tough stuff. I just split and use what I have on the hillside. The soft pine and junk stays for the outdoor pit, and the good stuff usually ends up split for the fireplace.
 
OK, here is the "Kit" I mentioned above.
They are a Danish Civil Defense Backpack Kits I got from Numrich some years ago.

Stock Kit
Stock Kit.jpg Stock Kit Parts List.jpg

Modified Kit

Modified Kit Overall.jpg Modified Kit Rightside.jpg Modified Kit Center.jpg Modified Kit Leftside.jpg

The ONE Tool to have is a Fence Tool, hammer, pliers and hook to pull wire all in one
 
Split more today early. Good exercise and serves a purpose.
 
The sprialed pyramid splitting wedges are awesome. When i was a wee chap....... All we had were the regular wedges........they were so much work.
 
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