Modern Problems require MEDIEVAL Solutions
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2023
- When modern appliances fail, we rely on teachings of the past. Medieval/Fantasy Adventuring taught me skills I seriously needed this week.
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Kramer - Perfect time to live like an adventurer
Kramer’s family - Shivering by the space heaters
Fire Hot. Kramer make wood. Wood Make Fire. Kramer Family is hot
@@marcogenovesi8570 😂
It feels good to do something that simply needs to be done.
It can become tedious too, espicially when you are ill and/or old
@@Donnirononon That's why medieval people had lots of kids 👌
@@NastyCupid imagine being young and ill
There are no feminists in a communal society where man relies on a woman and woman relies on a man while both rely on the community, their family and children.
In other news, AB inbev is down near $40bil.
Ah yes, the video when Living Anachronism began to transition into a bushcraft/alternative technologies channel.
Will there be mediaeval prepping?
@@kellysouter4381 I mean, he's already done an EDC video...
Is it an overlap, or a pipeline?
Life lessons here:
1. Having a good attitude goes a long way.
2. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter what the task is.
3. Being comfortable where others are uncomfortable toughens you up.
I had the same thing, my heating broke last year, at expected when it was the coldest time. Normally it's just about freezing here, then it was like -20C. And it took over a month to get the Craftsman and the spare parts etc. Luckily I had the wood store for heating the living room.
My chimney sweep has a saying:
Wood keeps you warm three times: when you collect is, when you split it and when you burn it ;)
Some observations from someone that has done this a bunch
1- get a wheelbarrow to move your wood
2- wrap some cord around your tomahawk handle near the top just below the head to keep the head from coming loose
3-Hang blankets on the walls to reduce drafts ( that's basically what tapestries were for )
4- stock you felled wood off the ground so it can dry out a bit before splitting
5- bring a file with you to touch up the blade on your axe as you chop to keep the edge as sharp as you and prevent chipping of the blade
My mom (yes, my MOM) used to "chop" wood using a wedge and a sledge hammer. We used wood to supplement our furnace when I was a kid.
Somebody needs a proper splitting maul. But hey props for using what you got at the time and making it work.
Splitting wood is a thing I do on a regular basis all through out the summer in prep for the winter. We got a wood stove and an outdoor wood-burning furnace to keep fed all winter. Even with the right tools for the job it's never easy.
I sincerely hope your heating system gets repaired soon. In the mean time hang in there and stay warm.
Came here to say that. It's a massive difference using the right tool. And no-one would process house level amounts of wood with a hatchet. When you are out and about you can cut firewood with them, for a campfire.
But... seeing the logs were chainsawed, you can start the cut, and then use the hatchet to continue it. Or that works with a splitter anyway.
@@dogmaticpyrrhonist543 of course context is always key
No harm in him going out there and learning that lesson for himself. It's good to get your tools out into the real world and learn some of these things that he probably wouldn't have learned had he not bothered to try. To me, that's one of his main points here.
@@blakkout86 Exactly
6:37 "that's exactly what a town is" - or village. You don't need that much people to help each other. Many people, "were jack of all trades, master of none", and if they needed a specialist skills in remote place, they either go to town or another village, or wait for a wandering specialist to come again. For example in 1930s Finland were still wandering shoemakers, who visited in every house once a year, and made new pair of leather boots for everyone (if needed).
My dad and I had this exact line of thought this morning. I've been learning how to bake sourdough bread on a consistent basis ( 1 to save money and 2 its healthyer), and I've gotten pretty good. As my dad was enjoying the bread he said if you showed this bread to a victorian person they wouldn't think anything of it. It's just bread, but to us it's a luxury.
You adding some chalk, ash and/or alum for the *true* Victrorian experience, too? 😅
@@Alastherra That's the real reason most Victorians were a whiter shade pale.That's what you get on a chalk and cheese diet🤢🙄😟
typically, the down time in winter was used to do things like sewing, knitting, leather crafts, and making small things from wood like bowls cups spoons etc. the wood cutting would have been done year-round to build up a good supply of wood and let it have time to dry and age. I do that myself and there are several benefits. the ash from the fire is used in the garden (potash) and as a dust bath material for the chickens which keeps down mites and parasites. and hard wood fire ash makes good lye soap.
Cutting and splitting wood is easily one of the most fulfilling activities physical activities you can do (not to mention the exercise aspect of it).
And your comment about the difficulty of heating your home with wood these days versus in the medieval era is something I've wondered as well. We have fireplaces as more cosmetic features than functional, and the design of our homes does not help that.
Modern homes have 2 major advantages in design over most medieval ones: Insulation, and circulation.
Modern insulation is actually quite good, so once the home is heated, it tends to stay that way longer. And with circulation we get less mould, less buildup of unhealthy gases, and a more even distribution of heat.
The major disadvantages are that circulation assumes a steady source of heat/cooling, and most fireplaces (Thanks to modern health requirements) lose over 80% of their heat to ventilation systems for the fire.
And because we have such good insulation and such efficient heating systems, our homes are tall and large, which means getting them up to heat without modern systems is very hard.
A lot of things you wouldn't necessarily think of are really healthy and useful additions to your lifestyle. Cutting wood is one, and things like gardening, metal working, dancing, etc, are all good ways to get your body to move in ways you don't normally in modern daily life. Not only are you exercising but you're using muscle groups that the average office worker or waiter or accountant or whatever would never normally use
Videos like this as well as videos on Townsends are very cool precisely because we can see how people dealt with problems in the past before our current technology was invented. And can be very useful too in the event our current technology fails.
Jon Townsend is a really nice guy too, met him a couple of times at the Living History Expo in Kalamazoo MI.
If you plan to continue processing your own wood I would recommend using your ax to make a back-up handle to replace the current one either out of necessity or just to swap out and protect your current.
If you have the opportunity to get an ax better suited for splitting that I think you'll be surprised how much more efficient it is!
Something I learned from a bushcraft channel, if you jam an axe into a log, turn the jammed log/axe over and drop the log onto the axe. It worked for me, so I pass the knowledge on.
It may not be the smartest thing to do with a traditionally made tomahawk, but with an ordinary choppy axe it should be absolutely fine
Axes made for chopping wood are different from axes made for splitting wood and axe weapons are usually much weaker and not suited for chopping firewood.
Due to certain circumstances, I had to move into my parents' basement and this winter with the prices going up we couldn't afford to heat our house regularly. Basements are cold. Like you I took the opportunity to start behaving and sleeping in "adventure mode" and instead of it being a miserable time it has been quite fun. Good video, and great attitude towards life and the challenges it throws at you. Much respect!
As soon as we had our stove installed, Dad has been gathering wood and one tip that he share with me is that some types of wood, like pine, splits better in winter. And after a storm, we would find people having their trees cut down and we found that it's easier and cheaper for the tree cutting company to give the wood away rather than pay to have a different company take the wood off their hands. Enjoy!
Be mindful of creosote build up when using pine, that can cause chimney fires.
I guess that’s also why people had big families back then, they just needed all the hands they could to get everything done! That was a really thought provoking video, makes me more grateful for what we all have nowadays. Thanks!
You've hit the nail on the head. And prior to the Industrial Revolution, a household was the basic unit of economic production in a society, and everyone worked, and everyone's work mattered in a life-and-death sense.
That, and there wasn't really much to do when it got dark.
Hey Kramer, we live on an island and heat with wood. Aside from the tips on gear others have given - my big tip is to use a cart! Or even a wheelbarrow, but I prefer a cart with four wheels myself and carts and barrows certainly would feel more period as well as being a lot easier that your dolly. Plus they are just super handy to have around!
That or use a sled when there's snow on the ground. We do that at my house to bring wood from the pile to the basement window for our wood furnace.
@@norvillerogers4047 , Here, historically, the loggers did all of their hauling of the big logs out of the woods in the winter, as it was easier to sled them out then to load them on a cart to move them to the river.
I started boycotting ambient heating on 27th December. This morning I went to wash my hair, and I realised my old shower heat was unbearably hot 😊 I hear where you are coming from on the way we take heat for granted. I have to say I am considering starting a log pile now for next year, but I am making quilts. You are right - people working together enhance life to living rather than just surviving. Proud of you for getting up and finding a third way
It makes you really appreciate how our ancestors were functioning way back, cool video Kramer!
We used to heat with wood, when I was young I often stood outside in all weathers and helped my father to cut and chop wood. To prevent the ax wedge from slipping off the handle, small metal wedges can be driven in at the top and the wood widened. Alternatively, you can also hammer other small metal objects in, the main thing is that you don't split the whole handle with it, but only widen it at the tip. Then there's the problem, when the first blow doesn't go straight through and you have to hit log and ax several times to drive the ax through... then it sometimes helps to turn the whole thing around and let the weight of the log do the work. Simply turning around and banging the blunt end of the ax on the chopping block is often more effective and easier than trying to drive the ax through from the top down. And the last tip - wedges. They don't have to be particularly pointed or sharp, other pieces of wood are often sufficient, the main thing is something that you can apply in a wedge shape to an existing crack in the wood and then drive it in, several next to each other. In addition to the axe, we always had a heavy hammer and metal wedges with us, which worked great. I like your channel very much and I wish you the best of luck for your future projects. Greetings from Germany.
Just want to mention being careful using green wood. It will put tar in your chimney and CAN cause dangerous fires. Make sure to check your chimney and/or have it cleaned out before next winter.
We've rented a home with a wood stove for the past 8 years, and even when you do expect harsh weather it always feels like there's never enough, especially in the fast changing weather transitions from Winter to Spring. I don't know what wood prices are like where you are, but here it would be a massive expense to try and find even a full cord of dry, seasoned wood this late in the season. I don't blame you for wanting to go split your own for temporary use. It's one of the main reasons I start shopping for the next winter's wood in late May / early June. We also have forced air heating in the home, but this area is prone to power outages from windstorms this time of year, so a wood stove or fireplace is a blessing I never fully appreciated until we moved here.
The downside of course is trying to light and burn unseasoned wood (something I'm struggling with as we speak since we were gifted with a few cords of it from trees the owners brought down on the property). Kudos to you for turning misfortune into an introspective teaching opportunity.
Hope you get your heating fixed soon, but it is indeed a very interesting situation to explore skillsets that most of our ancestors probably considered basic common knowledge.
Big, strong and fluffy dragon hug for all of you.
I live in the same situation my heating unit pipes burst in December we have not had the money to replace them. I have been fixing leather gear like armor and making my girlfriend/ shield maiden a leather and chainmail shirt for New Hampshires renaissance fair in Fremont in may on the 13-14 20-21st. Also remaking my half plate armor using hardened leather and chainmail.
Great vid! Having split wood a lot recently, I can give you a couple suggestions:
1. Get (or make) a froe! It makes life so, so much easier. A froe and a baton can make short work of just about any straight-grain log. You used your axe as a froe on one of the logs, I saw; a froe would give you more torque so you can twist it and split the log once you get down far enough. Just don't try it on the knotty ones; you will get stuck.
2. Cut plenty of wood and to spare while the weather is warm, and lay it up in a dry place. You will absolutely thank your past self when the weather turns cold.
3. The more you split down your wood, the better it will burn. Kindling burns better than great big logs, as a rule. Get a great big bucket or basket where you keep your kindling--anything split down to the thickness of your thumb or about twice that should go there.
4. PINE CONES make great fire-starters! Natural tinder is everywhere.
I'm sorry your heater busted, but this is a great opportunity to get into practice of not having to rely on modern technology! You can do it!
Concur on all points. I never had to use fire to keep warm until relatively recently and had to learn all this stuff as an adult (I'm 70). What Kramer said about getting back to work is something most first worlders never think about, how much literal labor is required to do without modern conveniences.
The old line about firewood warming you twice is fortunately true.
@@markfergerson2145 warming twice isn't always a bad thing, especially if you run out before winter's end!
@@markfergerson2145 This is why I work for a Living History museum; I get paid to learn this stuff!
2. It’s actually better to cut wood 2 years in advance. Wood that’s been given a year plus to sit and season will make for better burning fuel, plus some of the new green stuff you collected that year because it will burn longer.
@@robbomegavlkafenryka6158 This is true. But not everyone can count on being in the same place for two years at a time. I'd say lay it up as far in advance as you can.
When we got an oven, mostly for look and feel since we have floor heating, we also started collecting dry wood and set up multiple stocks around the house. You should always keep some dry wood, in the garden, a special place or just your shed you wont know when you need a fire and may it only bee to cook water to clean it. I always keep a bag of wood and a gas oven in the basement just in case and i dont even have an oven to burn it
Completely relate! It was $1200 to get a load of oil brought to the house this year for my Grandma's house. She stays in the den with a space heater. We stay in our living room with a space heater. And the kitchen is between that stays warm enough. The rest of the house I keep at a temp that ensures the pipes don't freeze and I layer up. I made several Cloaks that also can be tied around the waist as a warm skirt. If I have to go outside I made 2 cloaks with wind breaker linings. That I wear over my clothes and a hoodie. Back when Trump took office and everyone was trying to move to Canada. Canadians said Americans would not survive their winters. We don't even know how to dress for it. Challenge accepted! Then I found you and all the garb ideas! O yeah! I got to it!
Love the video and cooking ones. Most days, I can't comment. Driving or you know, being an adult that sucks! So just know I am always here watching, learning, and contemplating with you! Thankful you are here and share with us!
~One Love~
id say its easier to warm up a modern house as they are made to be more energy efficient and less drafty. just leave interior doors open in the rooms you wanna warm up. i wager houses in the middle ages were fairly drafty so prolly had to spend more effort processing firewood
Really good point
An even better thing to easier heat up a space is to just inhabit one single room to heat up and to build yourself a smaller shelter inside that room, the smaller the space the easier it is to heat up. And a good sleeping bag and lots of cloaks and blankets helps alot too.
With a fireplace like that you can't make your house energy efficient because the air (O2) to make it burn and then is removed through the chimney can only come from one place , outside where it is cold. That is why you only feel warm close to the fire. A fireplace in the old days was mainly used for cooking not for warming the house. You went to bed early and if possible in a box bed.
Good job dude!
Had no oil while living in the outer hebradis and it gets cold!
Hope you manage to get it sorted!
Wooh, there are some stories there I'd like to hear!
I live in a small house in the woods, in Kanada. I do use a woodstove to heat my place. Being in Kanada, we often have power outages, and, since I'm in the middle of nowhere, they take their damn time to fix my power. So, I have got some experiences with being without electricity for a prolonged period of time. Getting light from candles, melting snow on the stove, cooking on it, etc. It really becomes the centre of your world.
Thx for sharing your insights, i enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the matter. Most of us have pretty much grown up on the comforts of the modern age so its difficult to imagine having to go through that much just to stay warm. I think its a nice reminder that we need from time to time, that not evryone can enjoy our modern comforts and how much people had to go through in the past.
One trick with splitting wood is once the axe is firmly embedded, flip the axe/log combo over and let the weight of the log drive the axe in deeper.
Of course, for that you need an axe with a squared back end to do it safely.
I've seen a video about a reconstructor... a couple of years ago. I think he was from Russia, I think. He went for 2 years experiment for a hermit living from scratch - just some tools and animals to provide the stock. Generator only for blogging purposes - with a laptop and internet. Days and days of hard work and hard living. In a half-year he built a hut, started a garden, took care about his chickens and goats and started some pottery and woodcutting.
Excellent video, and very thoughtful as well! I grew up a woodcutter's son, so I've spent many a day splitting/hauling wood around, and I, too, have always fantasized about the "ranger life", so this video especially resonates with me somewhat.
One thing to think about in the future, if you don't mind me back-seat driving: if you find yourself needing wood but only have a tomahawk again: the handles are easily swappable. I wonder if it wouldn't be helpful to, while you're cutting wood anyways, find a fairly straight branch of appropriate size and just make a longer handle for the 'hawk head? It'll give you more leverage on your swing, and save some beating on your normal haft.
Granted, it's still not a true splitting ax, but it'd be _slightly_ better.
Improvise, adapt and overcome! We have a woodpile out back for just such an emergency, but much of the wood on the bottom is several years old and thus a bit rotten, so we typically have to keep chopping every so often to have a fresh supply on hand.
And the heavier the axe, the better!
Great video! I love the way you were able to take a negative, frame it positively, and use it to further your knowledge and develop skills. You also made me realize that I need to get my fireplace and chimney checked so I can use it if needed.
Cutting wood vastly underrated skill and great exercise. Right tool for the job makes all the difference. And something cathartic about splitting a log with a good sharp axe.
1. Commenting for the algorithm.
2. Fantastic video, especially the philosophical discussion of community, keep it up.
( Best David Attenborough voice ) “here we are witness to the rare and stunning ritual of the feral Kramer as he forages for wood. Heat, as well staying stylish and period correct, are important to this elusive creature. Let us watch now as the mystery of this most magnificent of rarities unfolds”
( cue National Geographic theme )
👏👏👏👏👏
I think it about a week before Thanksgiving last year when our furnace quit working. It quit on a Saturday, the technician couldn't come to look at it until Monday, and then it was another week or two until he could get the part to fix it. Our house didn't actually feel too terribly cold, our old gas stove was left on the whole time, we had a small space heater in the living room, and the upstairs isn't heated even when the furnace does work. It did feel a bit chilly for the first couple days, but I just put on an extra pair of socks and got some use out of my shawl. The outside temperature was mostly in the thirties and forties, and the temperature inside the house never dipped below the mid sixties. I can't remember the exact days, but in late November in New York state we survived about two whole weeks without our furnace.
Oil burner. I completely forgot you folks in NE use fuel oil for heat.
Oh yea. Bio fuel is causing alot of problems for burners not designed to run it.
Spent all of last fall felling trees and chopping wood while my dad installed two new fireplaces, just to save on electricity. This was in addition to use installing better insulation in the walls and ceiling.
I do Civil War re-enacting, and I do the same thing. When hurricanes hit Florida, and we had no power, and no AC, no lights, etc, brought out candle lanterns, blankets, and water as needed, and books to read by candlelight was delightful. Up at Fort Clinch, in a winter cold snap, camped on the kitchen floor for one night, and spent time feeding the fire in the fireplace. Second night, in the officer quarters, feeding the fire, trundling in the firewood. Camping at Brooksville, 24 degrees, wool blankets, greatcoat, and blankets under me on the camp cot. Portelet was 100 yards away.
Good job making do, thankful I have dry seasoned wood for the wood stove here. A proper axe and some wedges for next year might be something to consider. Love watching your channel. 🌝
I would submit that "comfortable" is a subjective term. To one, it may mean ready heat, food, etc. To another it may mean the satisfaction of being able to provide some measure of those things oneself.
Great comment! Thank you
Can't watch st the minute but downloading so it counts
Yep, downloading with YT-Premium seems to be quite a nice revenue for creators in comparison to "just" watching
Well if you think about it, not much has changed really. Homesteaders who don't rely on modern means of utilities, know what season to be gathering/harvesting for the long cold winter. Peasantry in medieval times were no different. They weren't catered to like the nobility/well-to-doers, they were always busy doing day-to-day work, always preparing for the coming winter. Planting in spring, always chopping wood, tending animals, mending clothes, repairing tools/house/fencing. That's why you as an adventurer could barter for a room and a meal just by chopping wood. Wood was always a needed resource no matter the season. :D But I'm absolutely positive you already knew that Kramer!
Oh man, sounds like you have a Redwing Blackbird singing his lungs out right next to ya. I love those little birds, one of my favorites here in the Pacific North West, always a good sign of a healthy wetland area. Unfortunately, so are the bugs 😝! I know that in Scandinavia it was common to have "box beds", where the bed was enclosed in what looked like a small wooden cupboard, with either actual wooden doors or heavy wool rugs being used over the side while the occupant slept. My guess is it has to do with the ease of keeping such a small space warm with a charcoal bedwarmer or even just body heat, instead of the entire room throughout the night with wood. I think it's a genius idea!
I live in a neighborhood where the electricity often goes down. In the winter that also means the boiler won't click on. I have been researching ways to keep warm in the winter that are fairly cheep. Keep yourself warm first (invest in wool and silk clothing from the thrift store and wool blankets), keep the cold out (bubble wrap on the windows and blankets and / or tapestries on the walls), heat one room or make a tented space. I have invested in Crisco to make a small cooking burners. Having a method to boil water or heat some stones also adds another way to help keep one warm. I'm happy you kept a positive spin on how to deal with your situation.
Many years ago I faced the same problem ... oil burning boiler ran out of oil the day before Thanksgiving, I could not get oil delivered for 4 days. [In New England, so it was cold.]
I went out the back door to the wood pile and brought in logs for the wood stove. I had cut and split them a couple years earlier. I was able to keep the main part of the house warm enough for me and my children.
We did not view this as a crisis, but as an adventure. We were prepared, and though it wan't luxury, we did quite well.
It actually took more effort to get the boiler primed and started again than it did to get the wood stove going!
Community and family were so important! It is also a consideration that a lot of vital seasonal tasks happen at the same time and you can't possibly do them all yourself even with the skills and tools.
Once it stops being quite so cold and windy, I'd like to use this year to cook more of my meals over the fire ring out in the yard instead of on the stove.
Fun thing i learned with chopping wood, if you have a big piece of wood and a small axe(just wood being a bit big for the size of the axe), you can flip it around once it's stuck in, and use the weight of the log as the force to split it, granted the guys doing it had a wood splitting axe, so I'm not sure
hey just want to say i love what you do and love your content! keep it up
I had 2 similar situations last year. It is so gratifying when you're in the middle of things realising how you are able to cope with things
For years I lived in an old miner's cabin in the gold country of California. We had wood heat, no electricity (the power didn't come that far out) We did later get a propane stove and propane fridge, and eventually installed solar and wind generators which made the well a lot easier to deal with (electric pump and a gravity feed plumbing system)
While I am sorry that you're dealing with this hardship for now, I must say that I appreciate that you have thrown yourself into dealing with it. It goes with my motto, "start where you are, use what you have, do what you can"
This brings me back to my childhood. My grandfather had only a single woodburning stove in the livingroom for heat.
As much as a I want to pooh-pooh movie Gimli for carrying so many different kinds of axes (especially the two-headed one), I have to admit that a thick camp logsplitter in addition to the thin battleaxe would be necessary adventuring kit. Bah!
I feel for ya up there in the far North. We down here in Texas territory don't do real cold.
From October 22 to January 23 we didn't have heat. We put up plastic on all our windows and I thrifted thick blankets to cover our windows. For our bedding I placed fur blankets down. I did buy a throw rug for the living room. We saved 1000$ in heat. Mid January we bought oil but keeping it at 60-65. We use to have it 70+. I learned to shop for winter clothes not expect to wear summer clothes all year long😅.. now I actually enjoy the heat at 60-65 and comfy sweaters and cozy blankets. Not the same level as your heat but I learned a lot this winter. I would love to have a fire place one day and chop wood for it. It's not easy so your doing a great job!
A fun new scenario, haha. Wood skills in order.
I am reminded when our water heater was kaput for over a month …. Using a “turkey fryer” and kettle on the deck to get enough hot water for baths …. And warming wash clothes in a slow cooker for bucket bathing
My mental model of medieval "indoor" is this it's like the outdoors but without the wind and rain. Even with a fire somewhere in the building, you dress for the season, even indoors.
A couple years ago, the place I worked at was maybe a 12-minute drive away from home with traffic, and it was great. Then at one point, my starter went out and I couldn't drive. That 10-12 minute drive turned into an hour+ hike. But that hike went alongside a lake full of ducks, through a nice neighbourhood, and briefly on a hiking trail through a copse of woods with a little bench halfway through to rest on. Not to mention it gave me an opportunity for some much-needed exercise, as the job I was doing was an office job. For that entire week before I was able to get my car fixed, all my coworkers kept telling me how sorry they were and offering to give me rides home, and I was like, no, this is WONDERFUL. Not only have I taken my primary mode of transportation for granted, but it gives me a chance to just be out in nature by myself for a little bit each day. Plus I felt better throughout the workday because of the physical work I put in just to get there. After my car was fixed up, obviously I went right back to exclusively driving to work, but I was very appreciative of those few days to give me a glimpse of the life of an adventurer.
ive been through hardships and still am. But theres never despair. Ive got the forethought of even when im not solving the problem right now for any reason, theres always a solution to enact tomorrow.
U r still in modernity. Its cold inside? How did u manage that? Has your house got no thermal insulation? Have u got no blankets? Turn your pc on and play a new game - that processor needs to be cooled down from 90 degrees.
Add fans to your hear sources - circulate the air around more. Blow the warmth at yourself while staying away from the heater, doing what needs doing.
As a person who grew up chopping and bringing in firewood, I have to say you're off to a good start, keep at it and it will get easier
Down here in Norway it's very normal in the countryside to have a section of the garage set off for firewood that we chop during autumn, to have it ready for winter, even if we have a lot of electric heating. Last year I chopped about 15 ton of firewood for my father, by hand (it's good training too, despite sore hands afterwards).
Tip for getting good wood. Put a bunch of already chopped wood by the fireplace if it's lit, as it dries out the wood without you needing to do much.
Came here from Shad...
The primary heat for our house when I was a kid was a wood stove until I was 18 and left home. It looked like a 50 gallon drum on it side with short legs and a flat panel on top. It wasn't made of sheet metal, it was made of cast iron about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. It was in the basement of our ranch house. We didn't have fireplace.
Dad was a carpenter and was a bit of a tinkerer. He closed it in with sheet metal and added it to our house's ducting system. He added a blower fan, and we had forced wood heat throughout the house. Later, he added a water tank, and we had wood heated hot water (in the winter). Anything to cut the electricity / oil bills.
We would cut and split wood in the late summer and early fall. We would stockpile more than we needed. That was the key. We cut wood when we didn't need it, laying it in for when we did.
That said...
Chopping wood... Axe / Hatchet / Chainsaw.
Splitting wood... Wedge and Sledge Hammer / Maul
Dad used to yell at me when I tried to split wood with an axe. You're gonna break the handle.
Bring it home.... a pickup truck. Kids riding in the back on top of the load of wood. I rarely got to ride inside the cab of the truck when I was a kid.
Yes... I live in the rural South...
Chopping wood that looked challenging. I appreciate how you adapted what you had to get the job done. It is so satisfying when you do things yourself and not take the easy way (making a phone call for wood to be delivered) granted there are certainly times and people who would need to make that call due to health, not having such resources available, and so on. There is no shame in doing that either when taking care of yourself and family.
Loved the video and mindset!
Great video! I like to do this a lot! I love reflecting on the past to provide me some perspective on the present. We are extremely blessed to love the way we do, but we take that granted all the time
Plenty of people have already given you advice of woodcutting, so I won't, but I noticed you tended to cut the bark off your logs when splitting.
Don't waste the bark scraps, they make great kindling for getting a fire established.
With practice banking a fire you will be able to keep a bed of coals glowing for weeks at a time, so you won't have to start from scratch each day.
You could move the cattle inside to keep the place warm.
A tip for chopping firewood.
When you get the axe stuck enough to be able to lift the log, flip the axe so it faces blade up and hit the chopping block with the spine of the axe. This is generally more effective because the log has more mass then the axe, thus the log gets driven onto the axe and split.
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Not sure how well that is gonna work because of the round back spine instead of the flat back spine of wood chopping axes.
I live off grid and split my own firewood. Quick trick you can try...
After your first strike to set the blade. When you swing it up for the pound strike, spin it over so it will land on the head.
Aim for the near side edge of your splitting stump so your handle won't hit.
Very astute to point out that communities were necessary for comfort, but beyond that it should also be noted that the other answer to doing everything by yourself is that you've also got your ten strong sons and daughters who have a split of the chores as well.
Very good. Well done. Excellent information for a lot of folk. :) I've used my Forester's Axe, medieval type bearded, one each, to split wood. Hard working tool that one. Always a good thing to have a go at emergency operations even when there isn't one. Thank you! :)
hey heres a trick for using a small axe more effectively oce you get it jammed in a log turn it around and let the wieght of the log drive it through and another tip try putting a piece of leather at the back of the tomohawk head so it stays secure during winter
Hey Kramer...few time watcher first time commenter. You speak well of your situation, heat is a clear and present need. How we grow accustomed to our predictable lifestyles while 'camping' in another fashion. I appreciate the medieval view of immersion. I use wool blankets, long fires and, yes, a staff. However...we must remember and honour the MANY around the world who have NO choice but to live in the medieval way due to political - economic - geographic situations. Not throwing shade at all...just a reminder that what we do for fun - others do for true survival...Cheers! Great content!
I grew up in a really cold house, it was hell. My mom is always saying how sorry she is that we had to live like that. But we didn't know then that we had it rough, that's the secret to getting by.
This is awesome! Makes me wish I could go camping outdoors. I´m a city boy but I love the adventure.
I liked the reflections you shared. When you need to start doing a basic survival task like cutting wood for the fire it makes you think of all the modern comodities we are used to and think on all our ancestors and their day to day activities just to carry on. And then you think on their dreams, their hopes, their ambitions and realize that they were not any different from you and me, just a different context
I am a firm believer that a froe would be a good investment if splitting a lot of wood.
Learning how important community is when it comes to survival can be a tough lesson when you are forced into it without warning.
I'm lucky enough that in my church/religion, we participate in experiences meant to prepare us for emergencies or just general self-sufficiency. During one such experience I got to experience a community rallying first hand during a hike for just the women in the group, where I was injured and struggling to keep up, and they came together to help me get through it. If it had been a real scenario, and I had been alone, it could have easily devolved into a life or death situation. Do I want to experience it again? Not really. But I have grown an appreciation for survival skills and social ties that I didn't have before.
Our solar hot water heater went out in January and we had no hot water for a month. We boiled water over a fire when it was warm outside and on the stove when it was cold. Everyone who knew thought we were nuts and suffering. We made do with what we had and planned on hot water needs so we only had heat water 1 or 2x a day.
Nice video
Thank you for sharing all that cool stuff! Especially for wood chopping techniques
I saw a tip where if you have an axe that's too small, you wedge it in the top and turn it upside down so that the axe is below the log. Then you strike it down onto your splitting platform so that the weight of the log lands upon the axe. The log being heavier than the axe, and therefore providing better splitting power
In the early medieval house they didn't have chimneys They either had a smoke hole in the ceiling or the smoke seeped its way through the thatch of the roof. The fire would be centrally located in the room Thus the room would be much warmer than you think, because the heat would radiate all around much like a campfire does, Fireplaces block some of the heat and channels much heat up the chimney. Oh and the medieval house would also be a smoke house to preserve meat by hanging it in the rafters of the house.
Just speaking as someone who spent a couple years with an axe in upstate New York, chopping trees and splitting logs: I wouldn't dream of using a tomahawk for that, but you did pretty good...
I hope the weather stays more fairer for you and if it does the grass will green up and the trees should have knotting on them ( iam a real tree studier and I know every tree locally by me 😂 Chopping wood is hard work
I get what it's like. I moved into my new place 3 years ago in January.. and I didn't know it was only wood heated. It was a chilly winter. I had to chop up branches and find scrap wood because there was a lack of good wood for sale. The next year I did some work but I was late to start and the wood was too wet to burn well, so the house pretty much never got above 15c. Thankfully, your body does up its metabolism a couple weeks in sustained cold. I notice it every year, because even if it is heated well, those mornings are cold.
This year I had enough wood but it wasn't split fine enough for the smaller stove to burn at peak efficiency, so I had to chop it down to size every morning with the kindling. Next year I better get this figured out. I got myself a Hultafors 3/4 felling axe as a camp axe that's got a light enough head to swing for hours and a head grind that can split and chop. I absolutely hate using chainsaws, the smell and noise is annoying. I much rather swing an axe and use a saw - it's healthy exercise anyways. It's definitely worth getting good tools, or you'll pay for it in more ways than one.
Just looked at my room temp.. 11 degrees. Apparently after a winter of adaptation I consider this warm enough to not need a fire.
Good message brother, Id be ok if we could back to that kind of living.
Yes! It's always good to take advantage of a hardship and make it into an opportunity to learn something useful! ;) BTW, I have often seen some people chop the axe into the log, then flip it, smacking the stump with the back of the axe so the log's momentum rams it onto the blade (in cases where the log is heavier than the blade).
always good to learn skills you might need to rely on in an emergency, but also as you said, we have modern solutions to fall back on... for now. So don't put off ordering enough wood for a full winter in your area to have on hand, just in case for next year.
I’m 100% down to start an off the grid town. Everyone helping out with their specific craft.
Besides a splitting maul or splitting axe for home use, a great kit axe would be the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe. Old Swedish design, still handmade in Sweden. Great size for throwing in your pack or strapped to the outside, and will chop, cut and split much better than a tomahawk. A cheaper alternative would be a Swiss military surplus hatchet, Adler hatchet or one made by Bison, a German company. All wooden handles to fit the aesthetic. Also, if your tomahawk handle is coated in polyurethane or some other artificial “protective” coating then you need to scrape it off, Most axe companies do that now because it seals the wood, but it gives blisters. Scrape or sand it off and use boiled linseed oil for all your wooden handled tools.
Brother i must tell you, having been on the road across my country, by myself, comfort is only a concept that we get use to. When all you have is a blanket and the wilderness to rely on, all of a sudden that haystack is really comfortable 😂
From 11/30/11 to 12/2/11 the Los Angeles area (and much of California) experienced hurricane-force Santa Ana winds during a cold snap (around 45 F during the day - yeah, yeah, that's cold for us). Our neighbor's tree fell over and ripped the riser off our roof. For those that don't know, the riser is what connects the electricity on the outside of your house to the inside of your house. Kinda necessary and requires an electrician to install and the electric company needs to certify it. Millions were without power so it took over a week to get an electrician out to fix it. We were without power for 11 days as a result. Fortunately, we had 1) neighbors that let us run power cords so we could use our refrigerator, stove, and a few lights; 2) it's an old house without central heating - the floor heaters run on natural gas, so we had heat; 3) an old phone that plugs directly into the wall, no electricity needed; and 4) camping skills. We basically camped inside the house for a week and a half. Once the kids accepted that TV and video games weren't going to happen for a while they had a blast making blanket forts in the living room. It wasn't too bad and could have been much worse.
🎩Hi getting firewood keeps you warm 3 times. Cutting, splitting then burning. Did it for 15 years. Now gone modern and use coal. The boat can be 30C by the burner and 15C in the bedroom. We also boil water and cook on the burner. I’m always wearing my “adventuring” cloths as they are warm and very practical and don’t forget a woollen hat.
🎩Hi I would always advise wearing industrial boots when using an axe. Wood can fly anywhere and so can the axe. Don’t go for steel tips, your toes will freeze. Mine are ceramic, they are a lot lighter too. I’m sure you have enough know how to disguise them.
Great video!