How is it Done?

[nanajo]

Hello everyone! Anna told me this would be a good place to post this info, and suggested the membership might appreciate it. I own a book called "Back in the Day: 101 Things Everyone Used to Know How to Do" and a lot of the things inside the book sound like things the folks on Pern would know about/how to do. I'll try and post bits as often as I can - therre are quite a few - but I'll do my best not to overwhelm/annoy anyone with these bits!

Take care,
Nikki

[nanajo]

Use a Bow and Arrow

In essence, shooting a bow and arrow is simply using the tension of a strong to propel a thin shaft with a pointed head at one end, and flight-stabilizing vanes at the other, through the air at high speed to hit a target. In fact, developing your archery skills to the point where you can hit bull's-eyes time after time takes years of practice and perfect technique.

1. Imagine a line drawn from you to the target. This is your "shooting line".
2. A person who is right-eye dominant should hold the bow in the left hand; those who are left-eye dominant should hold the bow in the right hand.
3. Stand in a comfortable, relaxed position with the toes of both feet in the shooting line, feet shoulder-width apart, and weight spread evently. Sometimes, an open stance is used by opening the front foot and placing the back foot on the shooting line.
4. Place the nock of the arrow firmly onto the bowstring, just above your handgrip. Make sure that the index fletch on the arrow points away from the bow. Place the arrow shaft onto the arrow rest.
5. Place your index finger above the second and third fingers below the arrow nock. Curl the fingers around the bowstring so that the first joint of all three fingers are in line. Keep the back of your hand as flat as possible and tuck your thumb into your palm.
6. Place the bow hand into the grip of the bow with the center line of the V between thumb and index finger. Keep your arm locked straight, with your elbow rolled slightly out.
7. Lift your head and address the target. Push out with the bow arm, and then raise both arms together into the firing position. Draw the string back until your thumb is against your neck, your index finger is firmly placed against the jaw, and the bowstring is touching chin and nose. Keep the front shoulder in its normal position, and the drawing elbow high, to engage your powerful back muscles. The position of the head and body should not move.
8. Move the bow arm to aim. The bowstring and edge of the bow should be parallel. If not, the bow is tilted away from vertical.
9. To release the arrow, all three fingers must slip off the bowstring at the same time.
10. Follow through: when performed correctly, your hand should move backward, as the back muscles pull the arm back and the fingerrs come to rest beside the neck. Hold the position of the bow arm, head, and body until the arrow hits the target.

WARNING
Archery is dangerous. Seek proper training and equipment before attempting this activity. Shoot only on a safe archery range, and ensure no one is in front of you before you shoot.

[nanajo]

Forge a Sword

Early swords were manufactured using a pattern-welding process, which is highly specialized and takes many years of practice to gain proficiency in. Here are the basics, assuming you have access to a forge in your neighborhood.

1. Case-harden six thin wrought-iron rods by high-temperature shallow infusion of carbon, followed by quenching.
2. Heat the rods until they are red hot, then twist them together.
3. Heat the single twisted rod until it is white hot, then hammer flat to make the center of the blade. (Hammering is a very precise skill. You must hit the metal with a totally flat hammer head to avoid making lots of dents that cannot be removed later.)
4. Fold two long rectanglar strips of steel into a V to form the edges of the blade.
5. Forge-weld the steel Vs to either side of the center rod in a white-hot fire, leaving six inches of iron rod at the end for the handle.
6. When the blade is cool, use a grindstone to file the sword until the blade is sharp and the body is smooth.
7. Temper the blade by heating it and then plunging it into cold water.
8. Make a hole in the center of a rectangular piece of iron, then heat and hammer until it is concave. When cool, thread it into the handle and weld to make a cross-guard.
9. Wrap a strip of leather around the handle.
10. Polish the whole sword and decorate with elaborate carvings the signifies ownership and clanship. Choose a warlike and noble name for your prized weapon.
11. Lubricate the blade with sheep's wool. The natural oils in the fleece (lanolin) will prevent the blade from rusting. Alternatively, use acid-free wax.

[nanajo]

Make a Flint Cutting Tool

Beyond any other invention, it is arguably the flint tool that first set humans apart from beasts. Early humans discovered that flint chips away in a predictable manner if it is struck repeatedly with a certain force, and from a certain angle. This discovery enabled them to hunt, farm, fight, and later, to leave a written record of their lives and times on stone tablets.

Today, there is substantial interest in recpturing the lost art of flint toolmaking, known as "flint knapping".

1. Select a large piece of flint.
2. Select a smooth pebble or stone that fits comfortably into your hand.
3. The stone acts like a hammer, and will help you break down a large section of flint into a smaller, more workable piece. Use it to break the flint down roughly into the appropriate shape. The hammering action sends ripples of shock waves through the flint, causing it to chip away.
4. To create a thin, sharp-edge, use a sharp section of moose or deer antler. Striking at the correct angle and with the correct force will enable you to chip away at the tip of the flint in order to sharpen it. A downward "push" against the edge of the stone with the antler will flake off smooth sections from the outside edge.
5. The size of the flint you produce depends upon the purpose you wish to use it for. Larger flints were used as spear heds, while smaller flints were used as scrapers to clean animal skins or to pierce small holes in leather so that it could be stitched.

[Hope]

What an incredibly cool book! Thanks for posting these interesting bits!

Re: the sword: Does it mention how to make the iron rods in the first place?

[ginnystar2]

Well written, I just had a twig of additional questions on a bit of information, on

Use a Bow and Arrow

Questions:
[*] How to make one, on Pern, the bowstrings and keeping it dry, and arrows. A hold craft like pottery making, or
[*] Getting hold of supplies, and would some be trade able, say a wood work making staved found some that could use for other things.
[*]Training, would that be Combat, or Gard or local level.
[*]Tips used for hunting, defense, practice.
[*]What would make the best for the other end (mind know word just can't spell.

Info.
Splitting of a example of a feather = four bits.
Long Bow, and how strong or its going to break.

[Anna]

Ginny, Nikki is just transcribing what's in a book she has, not actively researching these topics and modifying them to fit on Pern. That's our job, as the writer, to take this basic information and use it as best we can. So she won't be able to answer those questions for you. But if YOU find the answers, please share them with us!

[ginnystar2]

I shall see what I can come up with, and I am working on what you ask and ask a question via there.