I spent the weekend assisting Hank with his Primitive skills class, and as always, I probably learned as much as some of the students. Hank also called in Amanda from the Oxbow Center in Port St. Lucie, who is a fountain of information, both regarding Florida’s flora and fauna, as well as topics like blowguns, bow-making, and joy of joys, Paleo recipes!

The Primitive Skills class consists of flint knapping (turning rocks and glass into working tools), primitive fire-making, making cordage, primitive weapons (bows, atlatls, and blowguns), dead falls and snares, as well as a multitude of other subjects that fill in the gaps of knowledge, things like making glue from pine pitch in order to put handles on our flint tools or to hold feathers on out atlatl darts.

I chimed in when I could, and ran around gathering materials and setting up ahead of Hank, and for the most part, played THIRD fiddle to Hank and Amanda. This is NOT a complaint, I enjoyed everything I did, and got to learn from two very knowledgeable people while I “worked”. I found it amazing that two people from such different backgrounds can have such similar knowledge. What all three of us have in common is the drive to learn these things, and share the knowledge with others. It wasn’t long before Amanda and I started trading knowledge, tips, and tricks to try to one-up each other in a friendly way, to see who had the most obscure skill or knowledge.

I’ve made a couple bows in my time, nothing fancy, but almost as good as her. Almost. Sort of. In dim light, maybe. But unlike Amanda, I never made a blowgun or darts, or perfected the use of them. She made a bark basket (I’ve done that before using the same technique), then I used the leftover log to carve a wooden spoon.  As she crafted a blowgun dart, it was like watching someone make one who KNEW their life depended on the craftsmanship. It went on like that most of the weekend. I’m not saying she “won”, but I know of quite a few more things I need to work on now…and those blowgun darts….holy smokes! She was great to work with, and I’m looking forward to working with her again.

I did step up and walk everyone through dispatching and cleaning animals for consumption, as I did this regularly as a kid, and continue to do it still. Using one of my meat rabbits I brought along, I explained the method of dispatching an animal in a humane way, then proceeded, with a willing volunteer, to skin and dress the animal out, saving all the good bits. In a survival situation, the heart, liver, and kidneys should be saved and consumed, they offer a large amount of fat and nutrients not found in the rest of the carcass. When large predators bring down prey, they usually start with the intestines, as they offer the highest concentration of fat and nutrients.

One of the students had cooked rabbit over a spit before, and had stepped up to do it again. He and I wire-wrapped the rabbit to a long pole, the placed it close to the fire on two forked sticks. The spit was rotated about every ten minutes for about an hour and a half, with some salt and pepper liberally added about half way through the process.

The gall bladder, a small green sac of nasty fluid, was removed from the liver, simply cut away without piercing it. Then I skewered the liver, heart, and kidneys on a small sliver of a palm frond, and placed it near the fire to roast as well. These were rotated once after about ten minutes, and then shared with the more adventurous students (not everyone has a taste for innards), though I did grab a kidney and a bit of liver for myself.

The rabbit was a HUGE success, not only in flavor, but in acceptance. The students all tried some, and a few of them worked it over like scavengers as the night progressed. What I saw in the morning made me think a possum or raccoon had worked it over! Not much more than shreds were seen on the spit.

I believe the class was a huge success, like they always are. Unlike the last class I assisted with, the weather was dry, clear, and just cool enough to make you want to be outside. Everyone was helpful and friendly, and each brought some knowledge to the group to share and teach others.

If you are looking to expand your knowledge of survival, make yourself more “lost-proof”, or simply want to learn some lost skills like flint knapping, or primitive fire making, go to Green Earth Survival School and speak with Hank, and tell him FloridaHillbilly sent you. You won’t regret it.

If you live on the Treasure Coast, stop by Oxbow Eco-Center and learn about Florida from someone that lives it and loves it. Tell Amanda FloridaHillbilly sent you, (and how much you love his wooden spoons), you won’t regret that either.

Peace,
db