Primitive Technology's handyman starts with a stone axe and a fire-stick, then painstakingly builds up a 2m^2 hut with a bed, fireplace, chimney and thatched roof.
Earlier videos in the channel show you how to make a stone axe and fire-stick as well as a technique for making poisonous black beans safe to eat (so you've got sustenance while you build your hut).
I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series — I'm betting he's heading for a run that gets all the way up to "How to make a browser with Youtube access so that you can watch these videos if you're lost in the jungle with nothing but your bare hands and a pair of fetching shorts."
I built this hut in the bush using naturally occurring materials and primitive tools. The hut is 2m wide and 2m long, the side walls are 1m high and the ridge line (highest point) is 2m high giving a roof angle of 45 degrees. A bed was built inside and it takes up a little less than half the hut. The tools used were a stone hand axe to chop wood, fire sticks to make fire, a digging stick for digging and clay pots to carry water. The materials used in the hut were wood for the frame, vine and lawyer cane for lashings and mud for daubing. Broad leaves were initially used as thatch which worked well for about four months before starting to rot. The roof was then covered with sheets of paper bark which proved to be a better roofing material. An external fireplace and chimney were also built to reduce smoke inside. The hut is a small yet comfortable shelter and provides room to store tools and materials out of the weather.
Building a primitive wattle and daub hut from scratch
[Primitive Technology/Youtube]
(via Waxy)
