Long time survivalist/prepper, new to this forum- hello from Oxfordshire

[XRS001]

800Wp solar, 300amp hours of traction cells from a golf cart (wet maintainable) & 750w turbine. Running lights charging laptop.

Had a diesel gen which ran on a veg oil conversion (diy). For a washing machine.

Raeburn M F for great & hot water.. all packed into a 60ft boat.

So, your off-grid living was on a barge? Again, that makes you an authoritative source here.
If on a barge, can we assume you had little or no growing space? So any good off grid food sources?

Thank you ☆

Narrow boat* 45×6' cabin shared by 2 adults & 2 children..

I manged to grow a melon!, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, and courgettes on the roof using grow bags. On the bank we grew potatoes in tyre stacks, herbs in containers & a couple of bug pots with currant bushes. A movable annual feast!

We were by a huge reed bed where I collected typha flowers ( delicious like baby corns) & typha pollen (superfood), nettles & cleavers. I also planted 50 Salix viminalis (willow) for fuel & poles which I still harvest. No I don't own the land. Its now owned by a wildlife Trust & I know the manager.

Wetlands are where the majority of forage staples are & have the potential to clean our water.

[XRS001]

800Wp solar, 300amp hours of traction cells from a golf cart (wet maintainable) & 750w turbine. Running lights charging laptop.

Had a diesel gen which ran on a veg oil conversion (diy). For a washing machine.

Raeburn M F for great & hot water.. all packed into a 60ft boat.

So, your off-grid living was on a barge? Again, that makes you an authoritative source here.
If on a barge, can we assume you had little or no growing space? So any good off grid food sources?

I forgot..

And Shii take mushrooms grown on logs. Fantastic food, can be dried easily.

You need hardwood logs water and shade.
Supplies and advice from here:
https://www.annforfungi.co.uk/shop/

[XRS001]

So what do people do on this yearly camp?

And any youtube preppers on it.

None at all

[GillyBee]

I've been to a few bushcraft festivals so I get what you mean by the difference between a primitivist and a survivalist.
The former seem to wear festival clothes made of home tanned skins or handmade felts while the latter dressed in modern cammo and liked to have lots of knives/machetes etc on show. The primitivists meanwhile were teaching flint knapping or DIY bronze casting to make your own knife.

[Arzosah]

The primitivists meanwhile were teaching flint knapping or DIY bronze casting to make your own knife.

Phil from Time Team wonderful stuff!

[Arzosah]

Now I know, that as you've only been here for a day, you're not pulling Arzosah up on a spelling mistake, are you?

**waves at itsy **

Seriously, in terms of the last 900,000 years, I know that the cooking of food stretches back almost that far - I seem to remember tools giving access to marrowbone, and it's theorised that that helped brain evolution. Don't ask me for references as per our usual practice but it's a great subject!

[XRS001]

Now I know, that as you've only been here for a day, you're not pulling Arzosah up on a spelling mistake, are you?

**waves at itsy **

Seriously, in terms of the last 900,000 years, I know that the cooking of food stretches back almost that far - I seem to remember tools giving access to marrowbone, and it's theorised that that helped brain evolution. Don't ask me for references as per our usual practice but it's a great subject!

Evollutionary Human brain development is directly linked to carnivorism.

"A key brain-trophic element in meat is vitamin B3 / nicotinamide. The supply of meat and nicotinamide steadily increased from the Cambrian origin of animal predators ratcheting ever larger brains. This culminated in the 3-million-year evolution of Homo sapiens and our overall demographic success."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... %20success.

[XRS001]

The primitivists meanwhile were teaching flint knapping or DIY bronze casting to make your own knife.

Phil from Time Team wonderful stuff!

I'm not a great napper, but I know people who make amazing flint items. I have a collection of flint blades chipped from a nodule used mainly for demonstrating how good flint blades are

I have demonstrated copper casting of arrow head using a pair of cuttlefish shell moluds. The original blank for this mould was a flint head. The result was a direct copper copy.

Medical herbalism and plant based field /medicine and 1st aid.

Atlatl dart making and throwing is always a fun thing to learn & the Atlatl predates the bow and arrow and was the goto hunting tool of our ancestors.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/23 ... n-thought/

Things of use made from birch bark (can be as thick and durable a leather). I made my sone a tinder box for his birthday.

My old knife is a Finish Pukko which I am retiring after 20 years of service. I have just bought a Heinnie Haynes Damascus Steel 156 blade blank which I will put a custom handle on.

https://heinnie.com/blade-blank-156-damascus/

I'm fascinated by Otzi, the ice man found in a glacier. He was in possession of stone working tools, bronze axe, partially made arrows analgesic medicine, a bag to carry fire and tattoos marking meridians for a prescription for acupuncture pain relief. He represents a very advanced culture with trade, highly skilled artesans, advanced medicine and agriculture. His stomach contained Ibex jerky and einkorn bread.

[XRS001]

I've been to a few bushcraft festivals so I get what you mean by the difference between a primitivist and a survivalist.
The former seem to wear festival clothes made of home tanned skins or handmade felts while the latter dressed in modern cammo and liked to have lots of knives/machetes etc on show. The primitivists meanwhile were teaching flint knapping or DIY bronze casting to make your own knife.

You won't see me in anything that makes me stand out. No cammo, no skins. I'm the grey man, mostly quiet, avoid Bushcraft gatherings.

Why make a knife with bronze when Japanese or damascus steel is superior?

[steptoe]

Foraging is a hopeless prospect for many of us, especially townies. My idea of foraging would be raiding the bins behind Greggs or robbing the local allotments*. It still counts.

Hey jen you can find loads of goodies round town lol i mean food not bin diving mind you i like a skip just ask my wife lol , i have been known to turn the car round and go back to check a skip lol ,well why do you think i got the name steptoe lol .

I am not sure if the site is still running but a young guy i thnik it was on a hugh fernley show was doing a map of all the wild fruit trees through britain he was asking people to send him ie as close as possible the name of the road and place the tree is so like cherry lane 3 miles down there is a huge pear tree and so on , we found some huge pear trees right outside the roman remains place and as it was on open land we just went over with out extra long extended telescopic picker hehehe i got over 50lb of big and i do mean big pear some big as your hand .

I am not sure where you are jen but look it up as i say the guy was doing a map of fruit trees and well right near the harry potter studios on waste land there is a 200ft long row of wild plum trees we use to hit that every year , we would get 40lt bucket fulls and we made some lovely wine from them