We live with technology

I'm amused when someone talks about how primitive man lived without technology. Some act as if everything before the computer was the dark ages. Then there are those who really don't think technology got going until the industrial age.

Humans have always been tool using animals. Stone age tools might not look like much to modern man, but they got the job done. Stone knapping is a sophisticated skill. It wasn't just any stone either. They had their favorites and knew their properties. Stone age man constructed a whole tool kit out of stone. They made cutting tools, scraping tools, pounding tools, grinding tools, arrow heads, spear heads, and so on.

Bone, wood, shells and natural fibers were formed into everything needed to provide food, shelter and clothing. Combined with the mastery of fire, man had the technology to take over the planet. We didn't just jump to the industrial age. Everything was built on what went before.

While it is possible to go into the woods with nothing and survive, it takes a vast practical knowledge of primitive skill. Also, we lived in tribes, communicated and worked together. That may have been more important than the tools themselves. We still use those interpersonal skills today. A single person in the wilderness is at a great disadvantage.

If you must survive in the wilderness, a few modern tools make all the difference. A good knife, a way to easily start a fire, a waterproof tent or even a tarp, make all the difference. Add is a cooking pot and a water bottle and you've really got something. Imagine trying to transport your drinking water across a desert in a pottery jar.

My goodness, if you want to get really fancy, add in some fish hooks, cordage, and wire for snares. For total luxury buy a cheap sleeping bag. For less than $100 you've put together a survival kit that once took the skills of a whole tribe to put together.

You don't have to build a survival kit from nothing, like they did in the stone age. A quite trip to a big box store can outfit you in pretty good shape.

Now all you have to do is to know how to use the wonderful modern equivalent of a stone age tool kit.

-Sixbears