Responsibility

Originally posted on Shavings:
I had this crazy idea about the world and how I’d like to change it today. Hear me out. What if folks acted as if they were responsible for their actions? That whatever they did out in the world had a pond and ripple effect? That they are not alone on…

Leatherworking Images from the Middle Ages

Some things never really change… While looking through my image archive I came upon some leather working illustrations dated to the early 15th century. All but one of the images below is from the extremely informative Mendel manuscript dated 1425 created at Nuremberg, in what is now Germany. Creating leather from animal hides has been […]

Archaeological Work in Progress

I don’t normally share my professional work on this blog but thought it might be of interest. We were out re-recording a rock shelter yesterday known for some rather mysterious pictographs. Mysterious in that they are vague and probably mostly wiped out due to weathering. Only the protected portions of the shelter contain clear images […]

Bird Traps

I’ve been researching more ethnographic data for trapping techniques to get beyond the same handful we have all seen since our Scouting days; the Paiute, Figure-4, spring snares, etc. While not looking at all I came across this interesting image from the archives of the Smithsonian from 17th century Italy. The more I research, the […]

Dép lốp or “Ho Chi Min” Sandals

I was looking up a link for someone and rediscovered the video today showing how to make tough and durable sandals from discarded tires. This style is well-known in Southeast Asia, particularly in poorer areas. If you are interested in sandal-making, you can hardly go wrong with this design if you have access to old […]

Making a Pack Basket

From one of my new favorite blogs Running With Sheep. Johan and Sanne are a couple of remarkable outdoors – bushcraft – survival enthusiasts with more than a touch of philosophy thrown in. Their most recent project shows how to convert a run-of-the-mill thrift store find into a functional pack basket. From what I can […]

The Lads O The Fair

I found this video over at the Scotianostra Tumblr so thought I’d add a bit to it. The Battlefield Band has been part of my life for decades. I particularly appreciated their sentiment of “Home is where the Van is…” Happy Birthday local Bairn, Brian McNeill born on April 6th 1950 in Falkirk. Brian was […]

Exploring Old Caravan Images

There are quite a few images from the Golden Age of the Gypsy Caravan* floating around the web, many without appellation. Still, they have much to offer the potential traveler or yearning nomad today. I quite like seeing the nearly universal items one needs for living on the move such as the folding tables, water […]

The Nuts of “Ingenious Mechanicks”

Originally posted on Lost Art Press:
While researching “Ingenious Mechanicks” Chris Schwarz and I found many workbenches with face vises and some of them actually had vise nuts. In the montage above there are selections from paintings from Spain, Italy and what is now present-day Ecuador. As you can see, they range from the basic…

Wooden Mug, the end is in sight

Finally, after stepping away from this little project for two months, I’m nearly finished with this wooden noggin cup. I set it down in despair early on when the block started to check along the radial grain. Luckily though, storing it in a moist bag seems to have saved the project and I was able […]