Knives you make in the field
They don’t have to look prey they just have to work!
John Elden Gibbons
The ultimate goal of a person who is at one with nature is to be able to live with only a knife. But, what if you don’t have a knife?
The next step is to learn to make the knife. The best primitive skill you can learn is Flint Knapping. You learn to shape rock to make a knife, a point (arrowhead), or an Ax. Along the way, you could make drill points, burins (chisel points), scrapers, or an adz.
Two blades I made from obsidian.
A close-up of an obsidian blade hafted with natural cord and pine pitch. This is a utility knife.
Now the bad news. It takes special material to make a blade like this. These materials are usually not available when you need them and must be treated with heat to work (I.E. Chert).
However, a great knife can be made from the common freshwater mollusk shell. Just serrate the edge with a stick or grind the edge on a rock to sharpen.
Some other methods of knife making are to use a piece of glass. You can also make a knife with common river stones fragmented by bashing it on another rock – discoidal (protect your eyes). This is just an overview, I suggest going to a Flint Knapping gathering to learn more. I love these events and maybe I’ll see you at one. Remember, It takes time to learn the skills and time to make things.
