Sociology
As you can see, our goal is to have as much
information here as possible. As we find links and information, we will be
adding it to this page; so check back often. If you have information on one of
these topics, we ask that you share it with us so we can add it here. Most of
the information on these pages has been gleaned from other people; we
appreciate them sharing with us.
Survival skills
The making of temporary shelters
Fire
-Making
-Carrying
-Primitive ovens
Staying warm
Being prepared
A four-ounce first aid kit
A survival kit
Direction and Orientation
Celestial guides
-Sun
-Stars
Keeping a course
-Detours
-Base lines
Travel over various terrains and in various conditions
Travel weather
Primitive weapons and hunting tools
Weirs
Spears
Bows
Arrows
Boomerangs
Bolos
Slingshots
Living off the land
Dining on wild plants
Recognition and use
Roots
Ferns
Nuts
Grasses
Mushrooms
Beverages from
Fruits
Berries
Leaves, stems and shoots
Bark
Poisonous and irritating substances
Common edible
Tracking, hunting, fishing and trapping
Butchering
Hide tanning
Leatherwork
Seafood strategies
Water
Finding
Water from plants
Muddy, stagnant or polluted
Dangers
Storage and preservation of food
Basket making
Rope, string and cord making
Hazards to survival
Walking out
Sitting it out and signaling
Fossil fuel free living: Fostering freedom from fossil fuels through the development of:
Eco-dwelling: Incorporating both traditional and visionary ecological building methods (cob, straw bale, thatch, natural plaster, passive solar) into our buildings
Alternative power methods
Human powered
Animal powered
Wind powered
Passive (not active) solar
Water
Access
Purification
Storage
Waste treatment
Distribution
Irrigation
Plumbing
Pressure
Waste disposal
Ecology
Ecological sustainability
Preserving endangered varieties of plants and increasing the number of growers
Storm water management
Saving heirloom seeds
Permaculture
Minimum effort for maximum yield
Maximization of diversity
Redundancy
Multiple back ups and alternative sources
Multiple functions for all elements
Understanding and working with natural energy systems
Autonomy in housing, energy and living
Building local economies and food links
Agriculture
Backyard gardening
Indoor gardening
Homesteading and low-tech farming
Minimizing mechanization or switching to alternative powered machines
Reducing or eschewing chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
Sustainable forestry
Animal husbandry
Health
Sanitation (what do you do with waste when you can’t pump it?)
Nutrition
Naturopathy
Low-tech medicine
Blacksmithing and metal working
Construction and engineering techniques
Low-tech and human powered tools: The collection and development of low-tech human powered tools along with the requisite skills to replicate them.
Class A – tools that require only human energy for their manufacturing and use. (Stone spearheads, arrowheads, grinding tools, baskets, animal skin clothing)
Class B – tools that require an external power source for their manufacture but human power for their use. (all basic metal tools like knives, hammers, saws, wood planes or drills)
Class C – Tools that require only human energy for their manufacture, but harness an external energy source. (wooden plow drawn by a draft animal, sailboat, firedrill, windmill, watermill)
Class D – Tools that require an external energy source for their manufacture and also harness or use an external energy source (steel plows, guns, steam engines, internal combustion engines, jet engines, nuclear reactors, hydroelectric turbines, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines) are considered low priority.
Specific technologies
The fabrication of paper
The fabrication of cloth
The fabrication of clothing and shoes
Boat building
Long-term cultural preservation: preservation of information in forms which are retrievable regardless of social or technological changes
Chemistry
Physics
Astronomy
Geology
Geography
Social knowledge (democratic decision making; basic principles of psychology; historical and cross-cultural knowledge)
History
Literature
Music
Sheet music
Recordings that can still function in a low-tech society (i.e. hand-cranked gramophones)
Fabrication and use of “primitive” instruments
Defense strategies