Customer Reviews

Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best work ever done, under one single cover, on the subject. For all the people that goes to the wilderness (hunters, fishers, backpackers, outdoorsmen), this book is a muust-have. For the people that want to really know the evolution of technology from the early, say "stone-age", standpoint, it's a fascinating work. Specially good the chapter on primitive weapons, with some of the best instructions on the atlatl (spear-thrower or, more preciselly, dart-thrower), the weapon that men of yore used to hunt big game in the stone-age days. I loved it, and I know you'll love it, too.

Written in traditional textbook form, this book covers dwellings to musical instruments. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for in my pursuit of "So if I were in the wilderness with a knife...", but it was still written very well, packed full of fascinating facts. There are detailed descriptions of simple weaponry and bow drilling, but it didn't tell me how to feather the arrows for my hickory bow. I can probably make a really good boomerang and decorate it traditionally; yet somehow if the need were to arise, I would not trust my proficiency with this time-honored hunting tool. There were some neat ideas for stringed darts and such. This book was very educational, and I am glad to have it, even if it wasn't exactly what I expected.

This is a good book, and it covers many things. My favorite is the projectiles section. It shows how to make different kinds of spear throwers among other things. very interesting. I cant wait to get out and try some of this stuff. It is not a survival book by any means, but it's not supposed to be a survival book. It is just what the title says; a book of earth skills, and it lives up to this name.

A good book for "reading" about primitive earth skills. If you're looking for a book that teaches, instructs, shows how to perform certain skills this may not be the book for you. Although there are some learnings here it may not be what you hope for. All in all a good book, well written with good outlines, this could be a good one for your reading pleasure.

If you are curious about what primitive technology is about this book will give you a good introduction. Lots of cool drawings and pics but don't expect step by step, hand held instructions for the multitude of topics covered in this compilation. If you don't know much about this stuff then some vocabulary may be new to you such as atlatls, celt, haft, biface, pecking and the list goes on. It was new for me but I found that my interests grew deeper and soon found myself buying books on flintknapping (did I have money for that...?) which I knew next to nothing about not too long ago. Inspirational in so many regards with some reasonable instruction from pics and words combined but I think these articles were intended for those with some background in the subject. Many short articles with great tidbits for the outdoorsman. A taste of this and a flavor of that by leading authorities whose expertise is compiled into one book. I recommend it highly not only for the curious but the outdoorsman, survivalist and tinkerer! I love that little knife in the middle foreground on the cover!

This book is an excellent resource for anyone looking to learn more about primitive skills and primitive technologies. It has very detailed and high quality information. The only problem is that there are a good bit of spelling and grammar errors, however these do not detract from the quality of this book. More people need to read this book and practice these skills and technologies so that this knowledge is not lost. This book is very practical as knowing more about primitive technologies increases ones ability to find more uses of the things that are all around us.

This is a pretty good overview and introduction, with good illustrations. The field of primitive skills has more advanced techniques that are not covered in this book.

This book is a perfect addition to your learning library if you are into primitive skills. It is very informative, though some of the articles are hard to follow, but it leaves it open for experimentation on your own, which I liked. If you get this book. Good luck with it all if you do decide to purchase this book.

The cover of the book is nice and colorfull but the content is too old with only poor and blurred black & white pictures, you cannot recognize what is being shown.

Loaded with history and skills, these two books are a must for any student of primitive living. Get both books, you wont regret it.