I thought I'd take a chance of posting here. I'm trying to learn more traditional skills like bow making, flintknapping. I have bought a couple books and dvds. But I'm looking for local shops, sources, groups.. I'm in Canada, atlantic area.
I was hoping someone here might steer me in the right direction. Google has been no help so far. Does anybody know of any traditional skills, survivalist shops/groups in Canada I could contact. And does anybody know how to find out good places for flintknapping materials/tools?

Thanks for stopping by

Freeballer,

I don't have a source for flintnapping, but for other traditional skills (mostly woodworking stuff) consider these:

workwearcanada.com is Canadian owned and offers some traditional crooked knives, old school flint and steel etc. The owner is a real solid dude and has a very good rep with all those he deals with. Orders over 100 bucks ship free within Canada.

crazycrow.com is and American company selling mostly native type stuff (beads, feathers etc) but they do have an excellent selection of raw leather, horn and other things worth taking a look at if wanting to craft a few knife sheaths or the like.

I shoot traditional recurve but I couldn't imagine the skill needed to properly make one of any value. Good luck, that would be a huge accomplishment indeed.

Not exactly what you asked, but I hope it helps.

Great sites, Stephen-thanks
primitive archer website is a good place to look, too. Many museums offer classes in traditional skills, too. good luck-

Try www.bushcraftusa.com .good people and a good site....


BOATMAN
John

thanks
those sites did help.

I ended up buying a few supplies (tools) and a book. I'm not sure of success or failure but it should be interesting. The forum so far has been helpful too but still searching before posting.

I shoot a recurve while hunting and my use of a firesteel is as skilled as anyone I know. That unfortunately is the limit to my ancient knowledge. I would like to perfect other skills but I just can't find the time (or desire) to spend countless hours flint napping an arrowhead or carving a spoon.

That being said, good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

A few phone calls may unearth an unlikely source: the archaeology department at your university.

I have read numerous stories of researchers who learn flint knapping skills (based on found tools) and apply them to green bone, to discern whether marks on the bones of ancient remains are of human origin. Very interesting stuff.

Others here can no doubt comment with authority on the subject.

I've picked up a few odd skills as an historic reenactor (Colonial- French & Indian/Seven Years War). You may find groups up there that are more NA than Euro.

Mark Baker has a section on flintknapping in his Pathfinder video #1.

Really good flintknappers are highly skilled, and typically have spent years perfecting their craft. Modern flint workers can replicate any of the older, highly intricate points perfected in the past. If you know what you are doing, making a point usually takes very little time - perhaps five minutes or so.

Then there are the rest of us. We can get by at a much more basic level. Take rock, hit it with something hard. Sort through the pieces and find one with a suitable edge. Use it (it will dull rapidly). Discard and hit rock again. Repeat as needed.

A lot of cutting was done with random scraps of flint, obsidian, or whatever was around that are virtually indistinguishable from natural bits. They are quite effective. One of my professors carved up an unexpectedly deceased circus elephant with such "tools" and the job went quite well.

The trick is having suitable rock. Good chipping material is quite rare, highly valued, and was often traded over long distances prehistorically - obsidian from Yellowstone has shown up in Illinois and Ohio. You may have to work with less desirable material. It happens that some of the best material to knapp is glass - it is more uniform and predictable than most natural stuff.

There is a reason why metal knives were a popular trade item to group depending upon stone cutting tools. Metal is stronger, more durable, and holds an edge longer than stone.

Frankly, I would not put a lot of emphasis on flintknapping as a survival skill. The easiest way today to obtain a flint knife or arrow head is to find one discarded or lost in the past. It is even easier to carry the cutting instrument of your choice.

I wouldn't either, but the same could be said of traditional firemaking. Some people just enjoy it as a hobby as opposed to a critical survival skill.

Au contraire, mon ami! By contrast, building a fire is a bedrock, absolutely necessary, fundamental survival skill. If by traditional, you mean a non industrial (i.e., no match, lighter, etc) but flint and steel, bow drill, etc. and natural tinder, I suppose it might be a peripheral kind of pastime. But you never know when a hobby might be useful....

Well yes, learning to light a fire is essential. I guess I worded that poorly. By traditional I meant with hand drill, steel and flint.
Although certainly nice to know, there is no excuse to be in the woods these days without proper modern firemaking equipment.

It might be worth noting that groups that lit fires using pre-industrial, matchless methods of creating fire often kept fires going for long periods and frequently developed techniques for carrying hot coals along with them when moving camp. Building a fire was not a trivial or an easy task under normal conditions.

I don't have much locally for museums but who knows? I can see someone who's seen intricate flintknapping, like myself, and wondered how its done. Definitely a highly skilled art. For now, to find the pathfinder video and maybe I can hit up google for other videos..

Its an interesting debate here. Traditional skills like firemaking I think are interchangeable with survival. While I agree with Stephen and I keep mostly all modern firemaking tools I still know (basic) flint/bow. I had even toyed with getting a "flint and steel" set - just for entertainment purposes mostly.

obsidian as I understand can be sharper than some blades and used in myan "swords" because it would flake off and bury itself in the opponents skin. Nasty! I think being in canada too, my best bet is obsidian from out west. It'd be nice to have enough skill to make a basic sharp edge if needed and try to learn the skill as a hobby/skill.

I ended up with one of those old school steel horseshoe steel flint thing-a-giggys as a gift. Really hard to use on a good day let alone when the weather is not playing along. In the old days, I am assuming people were so darned good at it because there just wasn't any other option.

I am willing to bet if I could travel back in time and trade my lighter with one of the early pioneers they wouldn't refuse. After all, the reason no one uses bowdrills, steels and the like anymore is because we invented something a hell of a lot better. Lighters, matches and the like are just to easy to acquire and use to not have some on hand, plus a modern type firesteel JIC everything else gets wet.

But, that being said. There are some who still do it for fun, nostalgia, hobby or other reasons (althought I am willing to bet anyone who takes a bowdrill into the woods still has a ligter stashed away somewhere)

Ray Mears has a lot of good watching/reading with the more primitave arts. A lot can be found on youtube.

oetzi was carrying one or two birchbark containers insulated with leaves and holding an ember from his last fire. there was evidence that he had previously carried pyrites, which will spark with flint. Oetzi used the best technology available-copper axe, imported flint, carefully selected plant products for each application. If oetzi wanted something easier than flint and iron pyrites, I do, too.

feros rods and new flints are definitely a world appart. I keep a large firesteel in every kit except my edc. Its even good for just starting a campfire or small bbq.

They'd have ot be out of their mind to refuse a nice zippo lighter or butane lol
There's something to be said about a flint/bow.. Maybe I like to collect odd skills. (I happen to also like knife throwing, and lock picking).

Yes! Les Stroud (Survivorman), or Bear Grylls made a tinder bundle (I think that was the term) and kept his fire going from one camp to the next. If I remember he either was too tired or it was too late to make a new fire anyways (through bow/flint like he usually does). Thank you for that article nurseMike, I definitely enjoyed reading of oetzi life and tech. Thank you Stephen, someone mentioned Ray Mears to me a while back in a game I play but couldn't remember his name....
I think I'm going to download some shows tonight lol

Sounds like Oetzi had been to Bronze Orientation Day..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EGAtLGDU7M