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Recordings of Past Webinars

Emergency Preparedness Basics,
Session 1: What Am I Preparing For???

There is an old adage that says "Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail".
But unless you know what you're planning for, "failure" is still a very real possibility!

The first in our ongoing Emergency Preparedness series, this webinar will focus on helping you make a realistic assessment of the most likely emergency scenarios for your particular area, and how you and your loved ones can be best prepared should one or more of those situations arise. We will also discuss topics such as the Top 5 things you should ALWAYS have on hand, determining the probable government and local emergency services that may (or may not) be available, deciding when to leave and when to stay, and how to encourage neighbors and friends to be prepared, not scared.

There is no excuse not to be prepared — So let's all get started learning exactly WHAT to be ready for!

30 Day Unlimited Access to Recording: $25

Principles of Natural Camouflage

All too often the concept of Natural Camouflage is presented as little more than covering yourself with mud and ash, and basically just "getting dirty".
True Natural Camouflage is an Art, and is applied in very specific ways for very specific reasons! During this 90 minute webinar you will:

• Learn how the brain and eyes work together to see, and how to take advantage of that knowledge.
• Discover the 9 "S-entials" of moving invisibly on the landscape.
• See for yourself the difference between true Natural Camouflage and plain old "getting dirty".

30 Day Unlimited Access to Recording: $25

Webinar FAQs

What is a Webinar?
A Webinar is an interactive online workshop that will allow you to learn from Practical Primitive right in your own home! You can attend the LIVE broadcast at the scheduled time, meaning that you will be able to ask Eddie questions and make comments in real time as the workshop is going on, or you can watch a previously RECORDED version at a time that is convenient to you. Either way, you will have access to the recording for 30 days and can re-watch it as often as you like during that time.

How do I sign up to be a part of the LIVE broadcast & will I be able to ask questions?
Click on the "Sign Up to Attend Live" button below the Webinar you want to attend. You will be taken to a Registration page where you will need to fill out a bit of information, then redirected to the payment site.
One of the great things about attending the LIVE event is the real-time "chat" window at the bottom of the screen that allows you to ask questions or make comments at any time during the broadcast. There will also be a full "Question Period" at the end of each webinar.

How do I watch a RECORDED broadcast?
The day following a live event we will post a direct link to the registration page for the recorded version under that webinar's description.
If you wish to check out all of our past webinars, click on the "View Past Recordings" link on the right of this page to be taken to our Webinar Hub. Click on the "Past Meetings" tab to choose from any of our previous online workshops. "Register" for the webinar you wish to view, and you'll have access to that recording for a full 30 days! Once you have paid for either the LIVE or RECORDED version of a Webinar you will be able to access the recording as many times as you wish for 30 days. Simply click the link you recieved in your Registration e-mail or on the "View Past Recordings" button on the right of this page, click the appropriate "View Recording" button and watch away!

Why do you charge less for the LIVE version?
To encourage you to come! We want people to be there, asking questions and interacting with us during that LIVE event — it will make the whole experience more fun for eveyone!

Virtual Instrucion Videos

NOTE: These videos are connected to the YouTube website using "Active Content".
If your computer automatically blocks this, it is safe to run the needed scripts and allow the Active Content to play.

One-String Sling

Slings have been used for tens of thousands of years as weapons in both hunting and warfare. They are lightweight, easy to carry, and when it comes to harvesting small animals (like rabbits) slings are an ideal choice due to their speed, silence and accuracy.

This sling design was shown to us by our good friend Doug Meyer, and we love it for it's easy design and the fact that all it takes is a single strand of cordage to put the whole thing together. The sling in the video is designed to throw golf-ball-sized projectiles, but you can easily adjust the size of the pouch up or down by changing the width of the string folds.

Easy to make and fun to throw, this is a "can't miss" sling design — provided you practice your accuracy of course!

Carving a Perfect Bowdrill Notch

Whether you are doing bowdrill or hand drill, taking that extra bit of time to carve a perfect notch can mean the difference between quick and easy success, and a long struggling effort that leaves you exhausted and is just as likely to end in failure as anything else.

In this video Eddie takes you through a simple step-by-step process to easily and safely carve a properly sized notch into your bowdrill fireboard. By following these instructions you will learn how to make each and every notch you carve virtually identical and virtually perfect. The perfect size, the perfect shape, the perfect place on your board — the Perfect Bowdrill Notch every time!

Flintknapping — Popsicle Stick Drill #1:
Force & Accuracy

One of the most difficult aspects of flintknaping to teach (and to learn) is just how hard to hit the rock. Eddie struggled for years with how best to get this concept across to new knappers, and it used to be a matter of hitting a whole lot of rock until the student "got the feel" of things. No longer!

Thanks to an "a-ha" moment while trying to teach Julie how to knap a few years ago, the popsicle stick drill was born. Through the use of cheap and readily available popsicle sticks, leaning the proper force needed for flintknapping is now a much less frustrating — and much less expensive! — process.

For several years now we have been using this technique to teach Proper Strike in our Flintknapping workshops and have seen students make amazing improvements to their abilities in a very short time. Whether you use this exercise as a learning tool or as a way to warm up before you start hitting on rock, try it. You WILL see an improvement in both your strike and your accuracy!
(As seen in our 9 Step Knapping: Flintknaping Made Easy DVD!)

Flintknapping — Popsicle Stick Drill #2:
Using the Correct Part of the Billet
& Reducing Overstrike

Striking your rock too far into the piece, or "overstrike", is one of the most common reasons for breakage in flintknapping. Many new knappers don't realize exactly how small a section of billet should actually hit the rock — it's just the very tip!

Building on the accuracy you are developing through Popsicle Stick Drill #1, this second exercise will help you learn to use only the very tip of the billet when striking your piece, and dramatically reduce your instance of breakage due to overstrike.

Students who have attended our 9 Step Knapping workshops and participated in our Secrets in the Stone Intensive Skills Program will be familiar with this drill, and those who have continued to make this exercise a part of the skills practice will tell you what an amazing difference it makes! So grab some popsicle sticks and give it a try!
(As seen in our 9 Step Knapping: Flintknaping Made Easy DVD!)

Bowdrill Fire — Proper Form

When it comes to making friction fire with a Bowdrill set, proper form can make the difference between a long and tiring struggle to "power through" to a coal, or easy and effortless success in a minute or less.

Once you understand the principles of proper form, you will discover just how simple and reliable bowdrill can be, no matter what types of wood make up your kit. It is the use of these techniques, along with carefully carved kits, that allows us to teach bowdrill to almost anyone in less than 30 minutes.

Combine the information provided in this video with our step-by-step photos and instructions on How to Carve a Perfect Notch and you'll go a long way toward improving your speed, efficiency and reliability with bowdrill fire.

Flintknapping: Arrow Points from Bottle Bottoms

While not all of us are fortunate enought to live near good sources of flintknapping rock, there is one thing we can always find plenty of: glass bottles!

Glass is a fantastic and inexpensive material to knap, as it flakes (almost) exactly like obsidian and can be found in almost every dumpster and recylcing can around.

This video takes you step-by-step through the full process of turning a glass bottle bottom into a finished arrow point. The entire reduction process is detailed so you won't miss a thing. Now get out there and raid your recyclables, and give it a try!

For in-person instruction on making arrow points from bottle bottoms and other materials, be sure to check out our Arrow Points: From Bottle Bottoms & Beyond workshop.

(Now a "Special Bonus Feature" on our 9 Step Knapping: Flintknaping Made Easy DVD!)

Shooting the Longbow
June-09

This past June three students came to our 1 day Shooting the Longbow workshop without any significant previous experience shooting a bow. When they arrived, their major goal was to be able to hit the target consistently by the end of the workshop.
What they got was so much more! After just a single day, check out what they were able to do!

The Timberhitch

There's an old saying, "If you don't know knots, tie lots!" Luckily, for those of you who would like to learn, there are a few basic knots that will cover almost every situation.

Since knots can be difficult to learn via written instructions, we shot this video as a companion piece to our August 2009 Skill of the Month.

The Timber Hitch, also known as a Bowyer's knot, is extremely versatile, and a great knot to secure a line or begin a lashing. We use it tie on on bow drill cords, tie on bow strings, tie up a hammock, and of course it can be used to drag big logs, which is where it got it's name.

(Interested in having free, step-by-step instructions for a new skills project come to your inbox?
Be sure to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter, Practically Speaking.)

Natural Camouflage

During a Stalking & Natural Camouflage workshop we held down in Texas our friend Michel (who happens to be a professional film maker) brough his camera along and shot some very cool footage. This is a brief compilation of some of that footage that he put together for us.

There is at least one person "cammoed up" in every shot but the last one. How many can you spot?

Flintknapping: Improving Your Strike Accuracy

If you want to begin to increase your skill level in Flintknapping, one of the most important things you must do is work on your Strike Accuracy. As Eddie always says in the 9 Step Knapping workshop, the rock will do exactly what it's supposed to do every single time. And if you hit it where you intend to, it will do what you want it to do too!

This video contains a simple exercise that will, with practice, greatly improve the accuracy of your flintknapping strikes. Eddie is using a copper bopper billet, but you can use traditional tools such as antler to the same effect.

Matt Neary — Archery Pimp

July 2008: Our first 2-day Archery Fundamentals workshop. A New Yorker, a Jersey Boy, a Colorado mountain man and an Amazon Chick from Oz gathered to learn the art of shooting a bow.

By noon on the second day folks who had never done more than hold a bow in their lives were shooting pie plates out of the air!

Julie happened to have the little Kodak EasyShare camera on hand and snagged a couple of video snippets of our Brooklyn boy, Matt, as he shot his first (but definitely not last!) aerials.

(Sorry for the poor video quality on this one, but it was all we had at the time, and Ryan dancing in the background was just too great not to put on YouTube!)

Eagle Spring

In April 2008 we traveled to the Catskills to visit our good friend's, the Wrights. While hiking up near the top of their mountain our dog Hugo found a muddy puddle to drink from, and an idea took hold. Eddie & Mark found some digging sticks and proceeded to dig out a hole about the size of a basketball. The water came pouring in, and our mountin-top seep was born.

The following day we returned with some proper tools, enlarged the hole and lined it with some of the flat stones that are everywhere up there. After scooping out all of the water a few times to get rid of the mud and other flotsam, the water ran as clear and as sweet as any you've ever tasted.

Just as we were finishing up a great Eagle flew overhead — the first eagle Julie had ever seen in the wild. We christened the place Eagle Spring, and it has become a rest stop and water haven for all the animals (2-legged & 4-legged) that live there.

(Want to try this yourself? Here are step-by-step photos & instructions on How to Dig A Seep.)

Building a Log Cabin Fire Structure

Often overlooked, the log cabin fire is an excellent structure to build under almost any circumstance. More stable and easier to construct than a teepee fire, the log cabin will provide you with plenty of heat, lots of light, and a great bed of coals.

And it's easy! Just remember that you always want about twice as much of the "small stuff" and tinder as you think you'll need.

(Follow these step-by-step photos & instructions on How to Build a Log Cabin Fire Structure.)

Bow Drill Fire with Night Vision Eyes

Using our night-vision video camera, we filmed Eddie spinning up a bowdrill coal on a very dark, moonless Spring night. So dark that he could not even see when his notch was full, or if a coal was there!
You can hear Julie, Seth & Mark, who are watching on the Night Vision monitor, directing Eddie as to how the coal is coming along.

Watch as the coal comes alive, becoming visible via the Night Vision several seconds before it can be seen with the naked eye. Very Cool!!

(Special thanks to Seth for putting this video together for us.)