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| Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 | | 11:19 am |
| | Friday, March 19th, 2010 | | 5:10 pm |
Hunter-Gatherer Course
So I don't think I ever got around to posting about my Hunter-Gatherer course at the end of last summer. This was my second course at BOSS, the same school I talked about before. So that first course was light camping and a lot of hiking. We strung up poncho tents, slept with blankets, made fire with bow-drills that we made, and they fed us oatmeal and soup. We also learned a method of making cord, had a lecture on primitive emergency shelter-building, and killed and processed a sheep. But overall it was not specifically about "primitive" skills per se. This second course, Hunter-Gatherer, was. It was another 14 days. The first 4 days were spent making primitive tools & such (while living with the same kind of gear as in the first course), then the remainder involved going out into the field and living just with what we had made. Following are some details. It's been awhile, so I've probably forgotten and mis-remembered some things. The first day we played a getting-to-know-each-other game, had an equipment check, and then got right into skills with flint-knapping. Flint-knapping is the process of breaking, chipping or flaking tools out of stone. Our instructors provided obsidian and we all broke off shards for knives and saws. This is a very intricate process that takes a long time to master, i.e. those really pretty spearheads and arrowheads you see in museum collections, but rough-and-ready cutting edges are easy to make out of obsidian. It is ridiculously sharp! I actually sliced my thumb open when a chunk flaked open right under my finger. Next I think we got fire sets. The instructors had already gathered the materials and done a lot of the prep work, so they just needed a little shaving and they were good to go. These were hand-drill sets, meaning one stick gets spun in the hands while it sits on a baseboard. Wood is flaked off, heat is created, a coal is formed, and that is used to ignite a tinder bundle. It is hard to do. I have not been able to manage it so far. Practice, what! Then they passed out gourds and we all made bowls. Got to have something to carry water in when you're in the desert! The gourds taste terrible so they have to sit in several changes of water to get most of the taste out. I think the next day we went to our first base camp, in a mountain forest. My sinuses were terrible here, and I blew my nose incessantly. It made it hard to sleep and probably bothered by sleep-mates. We butchered another sheep. This time instead of just feasting on it, we made jerky to take with us. We also dried apples, and ground corn to make pinole. We also played with making bone tools out the sheep bones, but not seriously as we had other things to do. Also we learned a new, faster method of making cordage and made several strands of dogbane cord, which we subsequently used in making small animal traps. We made what are called figure-4 and paiute deadfalls, so called because when tripped the drop something heavy (we used rocks) on the unfortunate animal underneath. Our instructors also showed us some neat goodies, like the atlatl, or spear thrower, which most of us took a few attempts with. All of this activity took up the rest of our base camp time. After that we took off for a new camp in the canyons. On the way we passed a big ole rabbit, and we all chucked whatever we had at hand at it, but we all missed! More desert, less forest. However we camped by a stream/river. We set up our traps to catch rodents & such, and the instructors taught us how to hand fish. Basically you walk very slowly in the water, and very slowly ease your hand up under the bank or a rock, very slowly feel for a fish, very slowly wrap your fingers around it, then suddenly clamp down and yank it out of the water! Awesome when you get one. This process is for small fish. Big fish work similarly, but you have to grab them through the gills (which will kill them, so there is no catch-and-release with this process). We had a group breakfast and dinner everyday. Otherwise we did what we wanted. Mostly I wanted to sleep. Also it was a ridiculously long steep hill walk to water, which we had to get several times a day. I fished some, and we all checked our traps morning & evening. Dinner we cooked on the coals of our fire, and passed everything around taking little bites. There was not much food, of course, but it was good. After a few days we moved to another camp, where we continued doing pretty much the same thing. The fishing here was awesome, and there were also buffalo berries nearby, which were sweet and tasty. Once we had like 9 fish and a couple of snakes for dinner, which was a great meal! Also we had brought sheep fat and salt with us, which we slathered on everything. Not so good at home, but great when you're hungry. Later we moved again, to a third camp area, where we spent the night each alone in his or her own spot. The water here was a gross pool, with (non-human) parasites swimming in it. The next morning we walked out, over the Escalante River, past a great rock wall with old native drawings, and down to a delicious breakfast at a restaurant. We had bean soup and cornbread and salad, and it was delicious. Then we went back to the school, took pictures, said goodbye, packed up and left. The end! | | Monday, January 4th, 2010 | | 3:28 pm |
| | Monday, June 8th, 2009 | | 1:35 pm |
Last night I arrived home from the desert. It was hard, and I am glad to be done, but I am also glad I went. I will post more in detail about it later. | | Saturday, March 28th, 2009 | | 7:19 pm |
| | Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 | | 5:19 pm |
www.microplace.comThis is a website run by people from eBay. It is a microfinance site. You make a donation, it gets passed on to a microfinancing agency in a poor country. They use your money to give small-business loans to poor people. This allows the poor people to better their lives. They pay the loan back to the agency. The agency, via MicroPlace, pays you your money back, with interest. It is simultaneously charitable giving and investment. I like this. www.kiva.org - This website also passes money on to microfinancing institutions, also via loans. However, they do not pay you back interest, and you must pay them a processing fee. | | Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 | | 11:25 am |
| | Sunday, March 1st, 2009 | | 1:20 pm |
So the newest trend in the world of EMS is firing people for blogging about patients, even when those patients aren't actually identified. So I've culled all patient-care information from my LJ today. Which is too bad, as it's probably the most interesting stuff in here for the last couple of years. | | Friday, February 20th, 2009 | | 7:08 pm |
I am signed up to take this course: http://www.boss-inc.com/0214Day.html at the end of May. It's a 14-day desert hiking & survival course. Map & compass, fire from sticks, that kind of thing. Check it out. I am looking forward to this! | | Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 | | 8:33 am |
| | Monday, July 28th, 2008 | | 10:28 am |
Saturday Claire and I went a-walking on this trail around a nearby lake. At one point we were standing on some rocks looking at a tiny waterfall, when Claire says "Jason, there is a snake behind you." So we scooted out of the way, then turned to look at the snake. It started jumping around, and we realized - it had caught a little fish, and was trying to eat it. The snake dragged the fish away from the water, and was trying to get it in his mouth. But his mouth was tiny, and he was still unsuccessful when we moved on. Claire looked his kind up on the internet later and thinks the snake probably managed to eat the thing eventually. Anyway, it was very cool. Made me wish I had a camera. | | Monday, July 7th, 2008 | | 7:38 pm |
| | Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 | | 9:42 am |
| | Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 | | 7:18 pm |
This weekend Claire & I went to the beach. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, ate Cold Stone's ice cream, and swam in the ocean. Claire also dug in the sand and collected sea-shells, while patiently suffering my incessant forays into the waves. Once this morning I got totally flipped over by a wave, in a kind of underwater cartwheel. It was great. I had much fun. | | Sunday, June 8th, 2008 | | 5:45 pm |
Today I saw a little squirrel curled up in the roots of a tree, resting. Cute. | | Friday, June 6th, 2008 | | 7:22 pm |
Here are some things I've been thinking about. None of them are medical.
1. I am big into numbering things on LJ. It's a lazy way of organizing the page. I like it.
2. Swimming: I having finally gotten fairly smooth (though not fast) with freestlyle. Now I am working on breast stroke. Today, for the first time, I swam one full lap of breast. 27 strokes for 25 yards. I will keep working on it. (As a comparison, freestyle I swim 14 strokes to 25 yards).
3. I read today an hypothesis that science has had such drastic success since the 17 and 18 hundreds not because of The Scientific Method, but due to the open-source nature of the scientific community, which allows each scientist access to all the work currently being done; whereas in the past people were limited to their own experience, or to the experience of a few people they know. I find this interesting.
4. People always talk about how animals are afraid of humans, as if humans are intrisically separated from nature. It occurs to me that animals are probably scared of people because humans are inside all the time, and have nothing to do with them. If some stranger wandered through your home, you'd probably freak out too. People that hang around animals in a given area regularly are often accepted by them, i.e. animal field researchers. The rareness of this, I think, probably has less to do with the animals than it does with how uncommon it is for humans to really spend much time with them. 5. I think I might like to take a survival or tracking course somewhere. They tend to be expensive, though. Maybe.
6. I think it might be interesting to start a cadet program at work. This would involve letting high-school-aged kids ride on the ambulance and do basic patient care activities. Educational, like. We have a lot of volunteers riding already, though. So maybe not.
My thoughts are petering out. So, fini. | | Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 | | 2:26 pm |
Here is an interesting link to do-it-yourself medicine. Be forewarned that it's an end-of-the-world type document. It's still interesting. Also contains the most morbid description of a medical procedure I've ever seen, in the childbirth section under the heading "What happens if the baby cannot be delivered?" http://www.endtimesreport.com/Survival_Medicine.pdf | | Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 | | 7:53 pm |
Here is an old-time country doctor. His work hours are crazy. But look at the range of treatments he provides! I wish family physicians and pediatricians were more like this today. EVERYTHING gets referred to a specialist anymore. See prior rant. http://www.life.com/Life/essay/country_doctor/sec1/page1.html | | Monday, June 2nd, 2008 | | 12:22 pm |
Several things:
1. Addition to hunter-gatherer post: hunter-gatherers generally sleep 8hrs per 24 like we do, but not necessarily all at night, and not usually in one 8-hour stretch. Also, not normally alone or in pairs; large groups often sleep close together.
***Material Removed***
3. I have a crush on cute waitress at the Moonlight Pizza. This amuses Claire. ***Material Removed***
4. House fire at work last night. It was raining. People are always setting their stuff on fire in the rain. It must be a special talent.
5. I swim fairly regularly. A few times a week. Yesterday swimming went swimmingly, as I was suddenly better at several things. Outdoor pool is being overrun by summer swimmers, but lanes of indoor lap pool are still mostly available.
6. Went to court today, to testify in drunk driving case (not mine-work related). Defendant pleads guilty, so we left pretty quickly. Paid $2 to park in parking deck.
7. Lots of calls at work last night. Ate dinner at 930pm; other truck did not eat until 1045pm. Finally got to bed and stayed in bed at 130am. Up at 730 for shower and to court. Sleepy. Napped this morning after court. Will nap again soon. | | Sunday, June 1st, 2008 | | 4:11 pm |
Hunter-Gatherers
I have been reading online about hunter-gatherers lately. I happened across some articles about them, and have taken some interest in their lifestyles. Here are some interesting things I have found; most are related to activity and health: 1. I will put this one first, because if true, it is a pretty awesome feat. Supposedly, women in many hunter-gatherer societies can prevent pregnancy without external contraception. That is, if they don't want to get pregnant, they don't. I don't know if this is correct, though. The article I read cited "Silberbauer 1981," I am unfamiliar with this person.
2. Adult hunter-gatherers generally live/lived to a mean age of 72 or so, same as modern first-world people. Their life expectancy was much lower though, like around 25, due to high infant mortality. Most deaths are due to GI illness, followed by trauma and various fevers. Degenerative and related diseases like heart disease, stroke and most cancers are almost un-heard-of.
3. "Hunter-gatherer" was the original term. It later became "gatherer-hunter" as studies were published showing that plant foods dominated forager's diets. Now it's "hunter-gatherer" again, as it was noted that the gatherer-hunter studies grouped fishing and collection of insects, reptiles and etc. under gathering, and used a too-limited group of sample populations. At any rate, 90+% of these people got 50+% of their calories from meats, but a hunter-gatherer also generally had over 100 different plant foods in his or her diet (compared to today, when there are probably not 100 fresh plant foods in most grocery stores). The meat, naturally, was all lean, as there were no fat, domesticated animals around. Much was eaten raw.
4. Hunter-gatherers generally averaged a VO2max (measure of maximum oxygen consumption, i.e. maximum aerobic capacity) at levels only slightly below those of our olympic athletes. They also displayed about a 20% greater power output than us, and have been noted to be significantly more agile than us ("us" referring to settled, civilized aggriculturalists).
5. Hunter-gatherers walked many miles per day in search of food, which was good for them. Amazingly (to me, at least), many hunting groups could actually chase prey such as deer until the animal dropped from exhaustion. That's pretty astounding. Yet, overall, hunter-gatherers had much more leasure time than we do, averaging only 3-4hrs a day of work, the rest being free time. Interestingly, this refers to contemporary hunting-gathering groups, who live on lands considered unfit by aggriculturalists, indicating that they would probably work even less if they had decent land to live off of.
6. Hunter-gatherers generally have far sharper senses than hours. This refers not only to their being more attentive to their surroundings, or their tracking skills and knowledge of the natural world, but also such feats as seeing Venus in broad daylight, or accurately tracking the positions of stars visible to us only by telescope.
7. "Pure" hunter-gatherers (i.e., those who have not adopted any significant aggricultural activity) generally form small, egalitarian bands, or tribes of no more than 150. No specialized leaders or administrators. Decisions are made by consensus, and social standards are enforced through relationships, i.e. those behaving inappropriately are shunned. Men and women are generally of equal status; often there is no division of labor between the sexes (there's generally no real specialization in these societies at all, other than the natural semi-specialization that comes from some individuals simply being more talented at certain tasks than others). Rape is rare. Intraspecies violence in general is rare, and generally related to personal matters such as vendettas, as opposed to war. Children are often raised communally. As non-aggricultural societies produce no surplus, there is no concept of wealth, and food and other items are shared.
There's other stuff, but this is good for now. |
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