IMPORTANT: This web page
has moved to
Primitive Technology and Wilderness Survival
NEW: This website is moving to the address www.survival.org.au.
The ancient caves and campfires of our pasts call
to us from within. Primitive technology is our inheritance. It is
a shared thread that links us to our prehistory and binds us all
together as human beings.
Steve Watts, President of the Society of Primitive Technology.
The aim of site is to give some direction for people who would like to learn the primitive technology, wilderness living and/or local farming skills of the ancients. That includes myself, i.e. I am learning this as I go—I am not by any means an expert or in any way (yet) qualified as an instructor of these skills.
Why would I want to learn sustainable living and wilderness survival skills?
One thing I have always loved is to spend time outdoors, in unspoiled, natural settings. This came quite naturally to me as a child. My home in the Blue Mountains backed onto bushland and a large amount of my time was spent exploring this green world. Almost every rock and every tree had a name or some kind of significance.
The idea I have adopted for myself, as a path to learning primitive technology, sustainable living and wilderness survival skills, is to isolate a small enough number of core topics that I can feel somewhat proficient in them, after having practiced them myself. The skills I have chosen are in four categories: Plant food, animal food, fire, and cordage. I have left out water, since in the area where I live it is very easy to find water. I have left out shelter, since I think it would be possible to make some kind of shelter without a lot of knowledge. I think I could figure out the essentials of shelter if I really needed to, and more than that can be learned later.
The site will start off very small, and simple, and I will add content to it as I go. Photographs of how to perform the techniques will be included as I get around to it.
Why This Site?
There is a wide variety of (mostly non-Australian) primitive technology, sustainable living, self-sufficiency, and wilderness survival material existing on the web already. I am not intending to reproduce what is already available, but rather to provide a record of my own development that could be used as an introduction to the techniques.
I feel that much of what is already available is written for people who are already experienced. Or, is written for beginners, but does not include enough details for a person with little or no experience to be able to follow easily. Or, it is written by North Americans and featuring North American plants and animals, which are mostly fairly different from what we have here in Australia.