What do you think?

[Ole and Lena]

Ah yes! Another lover of a sharp blade. My wife quickly learned that there isn't a knife in the house (except butter knives) that isn't sharp enough to shave with. From my butchers cleaver and 14" brisket knife down to the little de-boning one all of them are sharpened on a whetstone and cleaned up with a sharpening steel both before and after each use. *laugh* I can't count the number of times someone has been helping me clean something and cut themselves with one of my knives. I always get the "Why in the hell would you have a knife that sharp!?" comment.

I've got a set of Forschner boning knives, Solingen skinner and Mora utility/quartering knife with a warning label written on the Rubbermaid box they store in until butchering time. "If you aren't good with a knife, do not touch!!! Even if you are, you may cut yourself!" Big block letters underneath "SPOOKY SHARP!"

 

[RichnSteph]

Most of my knives are hand me downs from my great grandfather and they've been in the family since they immigrated from Germany. All of them are carbon steel with time worn wooden handles and brass fasteners. The steel is **** hard and it takes a while to get a good edge on one but once it's sharp it'll stay that way. Using the whet stone and steel before and after each use is something my grandfather taught me. Probably not necessary but it's the way I was raised.

"Spooky Sharp", yeah I like that phrase. I'll need to brand that into my butchers block.

 

[Ole and Lena]

Hard to beat vintage German steel. They really made it right back then. The Forschner set I got pretty cheaply from an estate auction of an old butcher. They were still in factory packaging unused. 3 knife set with a curved, limber and straight/stiff boning blade and black composite handles. They are high carbon and relatively soft to take an easy edge. They make lightning work of boning a deer, elk or moose. The Solingen blade is a new made Chrome/Vanadium upswept fine point skinner/caper. I fitted a large piece of antler and rounded the base and added finger grooves. The steel is extremely hard and difficult to sharpen but will skin 25 deer without needing a touchup (I used to skin part time at a local butcher during deer season). Mora knives are just plain great tools. Inexpensive, high quality, great knives. They have a steeper grind angle than most knives and the Swedes really have stainless cutlery steel figured out. I also make gouges and chisels out of old Mora ice-auger blades. Doesn't get "mushy" like other stainless blades I've seen. They take the sharpest edge of any mass produced knife I've ever seen. Cheap enough to keep a few around for the shop, truck, barn, kitchen, etc.

 

[newfoundland]

Depends what an individual's idea of self sufficiency is? 500 years ago, our ancestors were all self sufficient since there was no power grid, municipal water supply, mains drainage etc. Shops and market stalls existed and many people were employed on the land. So they were in that sense dependent on their employer for wages, but equally he relied on them to successfully run his farm, so it was an interdependency. The only way the average peasant survived was by growing what he could, and if lucky, keeping a few hens or ducks, definitely snaring whatever small mammals he could. The only heat and light came from fire and the law allowed him to gather fallen branches on the common heathland and woodland. The only water available was from a stream, river or communal well.

When I see programmes like 'Alaska, the last frontier', I am shocked at how sophisticated a life these people strive after. Although they aim to be self sufficient, they have thousands invested in complex machinery and equipment. In order to acquire this and to keep it ticking over they must work harder and harder. The amount of food they deem necessary to get through a winter, I would say would keep a village going. The greenhouses and polytunnels would not disgrace a commercial vegetable growing enterprise.

There are simpler ways of self sufficiency. It is perfectly possible to grow all you need for a year without spending every waking moment at it. If you concentrate on seasonal vegetables you don't need to can vast quantities, you can use them as you need them mostly from the ground. A windmill to generate electricity would give you power to run a freezer and fridge. Cooking and heating can be by woodstove. A few chickens and ducks, and a dairy cow for milk, cheese and butter. Even allowing for repairs to structures etc, I think 2 people could quite easily maintain this lifestyle working for about 6 hours a day each.

 

[Ole and Lena]

OK, time for another self-sufficiency skill. Let's talk energy and all related topics (lighting, propulsion, irrigation, power tools, heating, etc.) If you have a reliable source of wood, great. If not, in a dry climate, dried manure is excellent fuel (the plains tribes utilized buffalo chips for most of their fire in summer months) that will suffice also. Regionally peat and herbaceous biomass can be useful.

There are many ways to utilize alternative mechanical and solar energy to perform various chores on your homestead. A quick google search on wind, animal, water and non-photovoltaic solar heating will yield more than I can post. Just be open to what resources are available at minimal cost. For example, several black painted 5 gal pails full of water can heat a cheap greenhouse made from poly wrap and pallet lumber overnight to give your tomatoes, peppers and brussel's sprouts a head start in cold climates. Be creative. Don't be afraid to experiment. You're clearly surviving as-is, elaborate on that process with as much free or cheap stuff as possible.

 

[newfoundland]

I love those innovative ideas, simple effective and cheap, if not free!