A short demonstration of the essential skill of fire-making. Practice is everything. Info about my fire starting tool of choice is here
January 2010 Archives
A short demonstration of the essential skill of fire-making. Practice is everything. Info about my fire starting tool of choice is here
Here you can see the hole prepared for the foundation pour. The abandoned filter pipes would be re-purposed to carry city water into the RECESS, and the pool light would become a central power feed. The filter return line was used to irrigate the new back yard.
A firesteel is one of the most tried and true tools of human civilization. Flint or flintstone is a naturally occurring type of sedimentary quartz that when struck with a sharp edge (especially steel) will produce a burning ember.
As with most skills, practice improves results.
The hard flint edge shaves off a particle of the steel that, heated by the friction, reacts with with the oxygen in the atmosphere and will ignite your fire.
Striking sparks with flint and steel is not a particularly easy or convenient method to start a fire. But I wear a flint around my neck every day - comforted by its potential. Firesteel is one of the most reliable and trustworthy tools in my survival arsenal. In a long term crisis, fire becomes essential for cooking, sterilization, defense, and communication. A flint will start hundreds of fires, long after the supply of butane in your emergency kit is exhausted.As with most skills, practice improves results.
When I started the excavation I assumed I would come up short on dirt. I was removing an enormous volume dead space where the water had once been. It seemed as though that volume would need to be made up somewhere. I was wrong; there was always more dirt than I imagined. This phase of the project involved weeks of shifting drifts of dirt and sand around my yard.
The trickiest piece was to excavate yard after yard of material without giving the neighborhood a clue that I was in the midst of a major renovation. Thank you Craigs List. Over the following weeks and months small groups of eager homeowners would descend on my property to haul away my problem bucket by bucket - and sometimes by the truck load. As the drifts subsided I began preparations for phase 2: clearing the site for the first concrete pour - the foundation of the inner RECESS.
Easy to carry, easy to pack, ergonomic and deceptively agile; this is the perfect saw for your raiding satchel.
You may want to get two of these, and keep a quiver of extra blades stashed away for the future. Before you store: a mist of light duty oil will stave off rust for decades.
Don't pay any attention to brand - look for a solid build with a lot of metal.
You may want to get two of these, and keep a quiver of extra blades stashed away for the future. Before you store: a mist of light duty oil will stave off rust for decades.
Don't pay any attention to brand - look for a solid build with a lot of metal.
In this shot you can see that only the ghost of my pool remains. Gradually, over the course of many months, the remaining materials were smuggled out with the Sunday trash - until my yard became a blank slate. While your RECESS is under construction it is vital to keep the site masked behind a veil of secrecy.
Try to minimize the number of workers who have access to the space, and if possible, do the majority of the excavation and construction work yourself. I routinely hired vagabonds and the homeless to assist my efforts, reassured that their concerns and aspirations were only momentarily intersecting my own.
Public records and permits can be used against you. Don't get them. In a true crisis you'll be reassured that public record of your RECESS exists. Keep is secret and keep it safe.
Shelter, secrecy, security, and sanctity are essential functions of your RECESS. Above all else, the most important use of your space is long-term water storage. A safe and and adequate supply of potable water is your families' greatest insurance policy in the event of a resource catastrophe.How you store that water is a question of function and comfort. Some survivalists recommend using any food safe storage container you have available (glass jars, recycled juice containers, milk jugs, etc). My preference and recommendation is to use a number of large storage containers supplemented by a group of jugs small enough to be handled and to move in an emergency.
For that reason, I shelve a handful of Aqua-tainer 7 gallon jugs in my RECESS. 7 gallons weighs about 60 lbs. The square format of the aqua-tainer makes it stackable, it has an integrated spigot, and they are now BPA free. Add about 3/4 tsp of bleach to each container and keep them in relative darkness and your water cache will keep safe for years.
In my "normal" day to day, I rarely use knives. In the wilderness, or in a RECESS situation, a trusty sharp edge is your single most versatile tool.
Knives help you strike fire, forage, make tools, repair gear, hunt, and defend. There is no end to their utility.
Stash them everywhere: in the car, around your home, strapped to every bag, in your kit, and on your person. Non-reflective blades are discrete; and I prefer a combo edge. You don't need to spend a lot, just look for a solid build.
Knives help you strike fire, forage, make tools, repair gear, hunt, and defend. There is no end to their utility.
Stash them everywhere: in the car, around your home, strapped to every bag, in your kit, and on your person. Non-reflective blades are discrete; and I prefer a combo edge. You don't need to spend a lot, just look for a solid build.
If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. Excavation became my ritual, training, and the source of a growing spiritual connection to the place I call home.
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