Sent in by Lonewolf (I’ve got still more snow to shovel if you can believe it. It’s now a state of emergency here in this entire area):
Stores were empty. People were out of work. How were they to survive? The only way they could do so was by endlessly recycling all the used stuff that had been manufactured before the energy crisis. At first, after the initial economic shock waves, people were selling their stuff on internet auctions – when there was electricity. Then, when it became clear that lack of reliable transportation made delivery of the goods problematic, people started selling stuff on street corners so they could pay their rents and mortgages and buy food. But, after the currency collapse, that didn’t make sense either, so people began just trading stuff, refurbishing it, using it however they could in order to get by. The cruel irony was that most of their stuff consisted of cars and electronic gadgets that nobody could afford to operate anymore. Worthless! Anybody who had human-powered hand tools and knew how to use them was wealthy indeed. And still is. Richard Heinberg’s Letter From the Future
I share that vision of the future, perhaps within 2 years. My wife and I are deliberately buying old human powered tech. Our plans include the assumption that there will be no gasoline, and no electricity. I am doing a kind of “proof of concept” run now. For over a month I have cut, hauled and split my wood by hand. No chain saw, no truck, zip. (I am still looking for the best hand saw for cutting wood, I don’t think a 36″ bow saw is the one. Suggestions welcome.)
Grinding my flour, eating out of storage staples. Cooking on our wood stove. It works. It is pretty hard to get off every grid, but we are heading toward it.
So far as I can see, this has done me a lot of good. I have lost weight and my stamina is increasing. Maybe the best thing to do is the best thing to do for your health.
We have to figure out how to live like the Amish without propane and electricity. Maybe ultimately no outside inputs. It could easily get that ugly.
“I don’t think a 36″ bow saw is the one”
The two-person crosscut saw is best, i believe. You can get ones that can be one or two-person.
NOW, you have to learn how to sharpen the tools….that’s a good skill to have, btw.
Tree
I found someone selling military surplus two-person cross-cut saws and I bought all of them (five). They are top-notch, and I got them dirt cheap. I could probably swap them for 5 acres of land in the future. They’re not for sale now though, they’re part of my long-term planning.
I’m like you – obtaining hand-powered tools, although I don’t think I will personally use them as much as my descendent’s will. I intend to build everything in advance to last at least two generations or more, but it will require maintenance.
My fuel stocks will be depleted as required and then I switch over to hand-powered.
All the Amish I’ve investigated use a lot of electricity and propane! Many run generators to power their tools, but probably have the know-how and experience to do without. Propane refrigerators, lights, and cooking too.
Tool sharpener, cobbler, bow maker, all good skills to learn…
Oh and my god!
Have any of you checked out the prices on Quality files lately!?
Definite tools to have…NEW
Tree
A 30″ bowsaw is easy to use but of course the two-man crosscut saws probably beat all. However a stone axe might be best of all. They sharpen themselves and once you get the knack of all the pecking and sanding to shape and fashion it, the stone part of it can be made in about 8 hours. At least that’s the time frame the stone axe maker gave me and he has been making them for years, different sizes for different needs.
It’s great to have lots of wheat berries in storage, but one needs to ponder what will replace it when it’s gone? I’ve tried for years to grow wheat. It’s easy to grow, but the threshing is the hardest part of all, even if the variety is supposedly hulless. They are all difficult to thresh when doing it 100% manually. I’m looking to barley now as it’s an easy grain seed to grow, thresh and winnow manually, as is corn which really doesn’t need “threshing”.
For files, maybe the right sandstone would work.