There is no good knapping rock local to me, natives here used petrified wood. Its so incredibly hard to work with, I have immense respect for the people who made the petrified wood points ive found.
Maybe it's where I live but I can go to any river or stream bed, or road cut and find it everywhere. I do live directly at the bottom of the Edward's plateu drainage though. But those people pay for the land, they should have the right to keep it. You will find if you ask nicely, even offer to pay, most land owners are amenable to you clearing rocks from their land lol.
I know this is old video, but the dumbest questions are the ones not asked! With that being said. I'm not into napping (other then the kind on my couch) "yet", but sounds interesting to try! I have acquired a source for big chunks of soda bottle glass from where the bottles are made. Some weigh up to 1-2 #s. I got them for the blue green color. Would this make good napping material? BTW I enjoy the videos!
Here in north-central Texas, we have a lot of high-quality chert. The outside of the rock is generally yellow with a dark to translucent crystal interior. The flaws in the crystal are infrequent with many rocks producing more than enough flawless crystal to make a good point.
Very old post but if you're still following this channel, where abouts in N. Central Tx are you looking in? I'm just trying to get started and live in the same general area.
Thank you for this. Worldbuilding/game designing, and this helps a ton. Also, I noticed a lot of these are the same rocks that don't require transition metals in their formation. This is perfect, because I'm designing a world without "combat metals", and this allows me to create flintknapping without adding sources of metals such as aluminum and iron!
@@vandalianproductions Actually have a solid concept of progression of technologies for this world. A lot of stuff ends up being plastics and petroleum-based products. Age of Magic and Age of Plastic replace the Bronze Age, but postponed. A lot of "technology" like concrete, aqueducts, and things made from mineral construction are a lot "earlier" in the timeline, as is boating and woodworks. But that's because it takes longer to harness magic and plastics than it did bronze.
Hello Ryan - I have gotten to know you from the past few years at the Silver River Knap-in , Ocala, Fl. and I am a big fan of all your videos. You are a very good educator and fortunate to be such a skilled craftsman. I have learned a lot - thanks.
I live in the Flinthills of central US. The rock is usually a dark grey with little circular spots throughout. Most of the arrowheads I've found are a creamy white or pink. I find very few grey ones. Once I found an obsidian which shows just how far they traded.
Hey Ryan, I just wanted to say thanks for making these videos. My dad and grandpa were very knowledgeable on these subjects with my grandpa even having a large exhibit of native artifacts donated to a museum. Anyways, I regret not asking them to teach me how to knap stones and make bows, etc. They are both passed now so I will never be able to learn from them, but it offers some comfort that I can learn from you.
To put into perspective your comment on the trading napable rock. I live on an island off the coast of Alaska in the Pacific ocean with no chert or napable rock. My island is made of shale yet there are napped chert artifacts here. The ancestors of my island would kayak more than 30 miles one way on open ocean in the Shelikoff strait to trade and obtain resources(this does not include the many miles it takes just to get out of the bays where they lived). I have also been told obsidian artifacts have been found in New York, the material for which was quarried in Central Oregon.
I see that really black flint everywhere where I live in the uk. they’re awesome for skimming (bouncing stones of water). Im going to try and learn to nap I’ll be collecting some with the boy tomorrow 👍
I’ve seen the video when im started with flintknapping and now, the funny idea with finding high silica not knappable stone and try to make melt it to make something knappable seems like good experiment
Come on folks if you watch his video give him a like a thumbs-up subscribe to his channel. I have nothing to do with him. but the knowledge he shares. Is insurmountable. He's part of our tribe for sure
Ryan, I just want to thank you. I have tried making about 10 board bows and only 2 work. I cut out a stave after watching a bunch of your videos and the very first try at a primitive bow turned out. Thank you for all the teaching you have done. I find nothing more satisfying than shooting equipment that I have made!
Yeah I’ve given up making board bows. I’ve ended up just taking a thick and flexible branch and putting a string on it. So far my max poundage for one of these bows is 55 pounds
Board bows can be hit and miss. Cutting your own wood in its natural form is way better. Plus there’s usually better species growing around you than the very few crap generic species at the store.
@@MustObeyTheRules Since I wrote that I have moved back to Ohio where I am from. There is fresh cut Osage on one of the local highways. Straight as an arrow. Been trying to find out who owns the land right there to see if I can get some.
@@kborak that’s awesome. There’s all kinds of Osage to be had in Ohio. You’ll get your hands on some for sure if you ask some people. My bet is they’re posts that you saw laying beside the highway. Lots of people still use and install Osage fence posts to this day. They last for century’s.
.Excellent my friend, generally I look for it in the same places that I look for arrowheads. All around there are large flakes or rocks that they left themselves.
Lowkey I think schools should have classes for specific professions like craftsmanship, medicines, and cooking, but WITHOUT new technology, only using older things
When you assume... Thanks for taking time for educating us😎👍 The green obsidian is the stuff that gets the love from spiritual types. NM. has some cool rocks😎👍 😎👍❤🖖
Ive been over quite a bit of georgia and there is a lot of good rock hounding to do in the blue ridge mountains will edit to say not specifically for knapping but in general. Lots of beautiful specimens
I live along the White River basin. We had the Delaware and Hopi. We've got the orange flint. I'm certain we have chert but I'm not as familiar with it.
I live in the Texas hill country and there's a creek down the street from my house and it runs 4 miles. I've got an UNLIMITED supply of flint lol I found my first arrowhead not long ago and it set off the bug lol I'm addicted
nice video one thing you might mention do not heat treat in the kitchen stove, rock might contain mercy, arsnic or other nasty stuff be careful always heat treat outside and not in a pan you plan on eating out of. good luck happy knapping
I’ve been watching your videos for a long long time and seen a lot of them. Ive always wanted to build my own recurve which I am doing this year. Next step is flint napping figured I’d have to buy rock, you have no idea how excited I was when I heard Edwards l plateau... I can’t get any more directly in the middle of it here in TX.
This is a great video. I learned a lot from this and it has even sparked more interest for me in napping. Thank you for the video and for sharing your thoughts, ideas and experience with us. Subbed.
I know the pain. I used to live in Wilmington, NC and there was no natural sources of knappable rock. Until I found out that the trading ships used to use flint as ballast. They would dump it near the mouth of the Cape Fear River so they could take on a load before heading back to jolly old England.
@Charles Millson You would need to walk both sides of the river bank between Wilmington and South Port. I walked on the buffer zone near Carolina Beach but that was before the military closed off access to the public. There is also rhyolite in the Asheboro area. There are several people that sell it online. But rhyolite is extremely tough and not very easy to knap compared to flint or obsidian. Hope this helps.
I believe many arrows and spears were simple sharpened wooden shafts hardened over the flame. I have shot wood pointed arrows into a dead pig and they penetrated surprisingly deep. Love your channel, just found it last week, subscribed and been bing watching! Thank you!
A well sharpened stick does penetrate deep indeed since they're so thin and aerodynamic, but a broader cutting head will almost always kill faster with the same hit, reducing the chances of your prey running away so far you can't find them. With a sharp stick that essentially blocks it's own wound too, it's gonna be hard to track down your prey with such a small blood trail.
@@Ironpine27 wouldn’t just splitting the head into more heads increase the amount of blood or you could make the tip break off easily and that would allow more blood to flow out
@@jpthepug3126 Yes, there were in fact spears and atlats with detachable heads, although mostly to preserve the head instead of breaking the entire thing if the shaft is broken. Now making multiple heads is an interesting idea, but it would split the energy between each head, reducing penetration drastically. This is why multi-pronged heads are often seen on fishing spears, and small game arrows, but pretty much never on arrows and spears intended for bigger game.
@@Ironpine27 what about a spear/arrow with a thin rectangular hole carved from the head to the tail with some “pillars” that helps the arrows/spears not break
I'm about to start knapping so Ive been looking into this stuff. Appreciate all the good info man. In the KC area I mostly see winterset chert. It can turn from grayish/tan to dark black with white-grey bands or even dark red after heat treatment. Has neat fusulinid fossils in it too. It's really a pretty transformation. Unfortunately it's not a very easy rock to work with I've heard. Small nodes and fractures easy I've heard. I'll have to see for myself.
I live in upstate South Carolina. I’m a displaced Blackfoot. We have plenty of obsidian and other good rocks here if you know what to look for. Especially in streams.
I’m screwed. I live in central NC. Most of the natives in this area used Rhyolite but apparently it’s getting harder to find. I’m still holding out hope I can find a honey hole someday. Until then I have to stick to the beer bottles I find and rock I buy.
do u go to a local knap in? the people at knap ins can help for locating stone but take it with a grain of salt because nobody is going to tell u where they get their best rock but it always good to explore. try going to camp sites or hiking trails near the mountains or hell flank the out skirts of marrow mountain to see if the old dudes left anything. ive found my best rock at public campsites.
I was in Morrow Mountain State Park a number of years back, and the ground is littered with Rhyolite flakes. Never seen anything like it. Don't let the park wardens catch you picking it up to take home. Apparently that's a no no.
Alot of artifacts i find in southeast Michigan come from 3 main sources of chert. First: Is Onadaga chert from the Niagara falls area of New York state and the Canadian side also. Second: Is Kettle point Chert from the southeastern shore of Lake Huron in canada. Third source: Is Bayport Chert from Saginaw bay area of Lake huron. Bayport Chert is roughly 120 miles from were i find artifacts of it. Those indians would have paddled canoes 10-12 miles out to the Charity Islands to collect Bayport chert. These islands are made of limestone and the chert was found weathered out in the water. Diving without scuba gear to get it. So i think indians went to extreme efforts to get their precious material, truely amazing 👏 😮
thank you so much, man. just discovered your channel and website, this is awesome resources! inspired me to learn a new skill - i'm heading out right now to scout an area and hopefully find some rocks. will update back here soon
wow. let me just say, that was a lot easier than i expected! i grabbed my longboard, bought some supplies and traversed to the nearby river i live close to. everything was coated in a layer of dirt, so i only had the texture of the rock to go by, the color of everything was the same dusty brown/grey. despite this, within less than 5 minutes i had found a softer, sparkly quarty red rock that split nicely despite feeling grainy and was holding my first knapped piece. i continued to practice knocking pieces off my host rock and just getting used to the motions. i had found some driftwood and set up a bench along a larger volcanic rock, cleared a small area and made a sand pit so any shards that fell/shot off could be retrieved. eventually, the rock i was using (just a common black river rock here) to knap broke and held somewhat similiar edges, so i grabbed another and started knapping this one. it broke like expected, but into much larger, unusable pieces. the rock was too brittle to be worked. nothing like the clean flakes from the first one. inspired by this however, i went on the search again, and found another black river rock, the same like as the one i was working a second ago, except muuuuch darker and really smooth. this one was harder to work because it was so small, and i found that it really helps when you're not using a huge knapping rock! size doesn't really matter, it's just the angle and force of which it makes contact w/ the rock. after downgrading to a smaller knapping rock, i managed to start chipping off the harder rounded exterior of this black river stone and producing sizable flakes, and these blew me away! by far the sharpest flakes i had produced so far, and none of these rocks were even close to as glassy as the ones you had demonstrated in this video, but still had a SHARP cutting edge! i was playing with one of these black pieces and managed to slice my thumb hahaha. all in all, a good experience and i thank you! i saved a collection of usable pieces and the host rocks. i'm excited to learn how i can work these further.
Wow. Just learning and ready to start looking for rock. Turns out, I live on the Withlacoochie river in Hernando county, just on the edge of Pasco county. So do I just find these rocks in the river, or what? How do I find them. I have 12 acres and 1000 feet of river front on my property.
Almost all the points I found in my area in western NC were pure white smooth flint. I don't know if they were heat treated or not, but we do have a lot of the white smooth quartz here.
Im gonna go to turner falls in Oklahoma tomorrow, the only rocks near where I live (around Dayton tx) are on the road, ugly, and I highly doubt work for knapping. I want to learn flint knapping so hopefully I can gather a nice amount of rocks at turner falls.
Where I live there's flint everywhere. There's houses, walls, castles, prisons built from it. Beaches full of the stuff. Best stuff is deep in the chalk. I live in England on the south coast.
Looks like I’m going to have to go to Texas and get some good rock. I mean I live in Arkansas next to some glacial creeks and was at one time navigated by early Natives. They used some very gritty stone and some flint. Most of their tools such as Adze, and Tomahawks are the gritty type of stone, but I do have flint/chert tools also of the same style
Yeah I live on the east coast of S.C. so no rocks . I have found old stone points in fields and disturbed areas and have always assumed that points or stone had been traded from over the mountains.
I saw film of an Australian hunter on youtube who took a big flake off of a rock , it was kind of pointed, he didn't knapp it at all, he attached it to his spear and killed a wallaby. It made me interested in knapping.
This was really fun to watch! I am not into primitive hunting yet, but I used to be really into hunting for native American artifacts when I lived in Georgia. I'm guessing based on what you are saying there must have been a great deal of rock trade in the area I'm from. I've seen agatized coral and several other types of materials used all in the same sites!
Okay. Makes sense. I see boxes of rock for sale and I've always thought "Why??" I've lived in the Texas hill country my whole life. It's literally everywhere.
What about quartzite? I know some Native American tribes used it, and other people at different times and part of the world as well. I believe it was found in either Russia, or maybe a bit more towards Germany but they did find a quartzite spear tip stuck in a piece of mammoth bone. So we know it was used I'm just curious how good it is becasue I do know some good places to get it?
I'm surprised you didn't mention Wyoming when talking about where Obsidian is found. The Native people from Oregon used to travel to this area to trade for good Obsidian sourced from what was often called the "Black Ice Mountain" in the Yellowstone area. I know from being a Fur Trade Era reenactor and learning from Mountain Man journals and knappers in the Wyoming area that this occurred. Is our Obsidian NOT good?
I was a reenactor for over 35 years in the Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho areas, and the things I mentioned in my first comment seem to be common knowledge here among reenactors and knappers found at Rendezvous and in this area.
I know this video is old, but I have two quick questions. Hopefully you'll see this. Is there any specific way to make the first break on a rock? Something similar to needing a good shelf to flake? Secondly, I have several century old glass dump sites, and I've seen videos of guys knapping glass jar and bottle bottoms, which they recommend for cheap easy practice. Is that something you have any feelings about one way or the other, and would the techniques be the same (I'm assuming so)? I potentially have an endless supply of glass, of different colors, shapes, and sizes, and I'm wondering if it's worth trying.
I’ve gone through most of your videos and I haven’t seen you address that mysterious Native artifact...the bannerstone. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it’s usage and on the the purpose of other related artifacts like the boatstone.
@@huntprimitive9918 Not a good response. I would think you'd keep a content record of your videos and be able to point the reader in a better direction.
@@richardwiley5933 Thats asking alot of a guy who gives out free information to all who wish to seek it, its not like he is charging you, just go find it
This video is so great! I live on the westcoast BC and I'm looking for some knappable rock. Everywhere I look online people say that there's no flint or anything around, but it's near the fault line so there should be some igneous stuff right?
You mentioned the Carolinas does that include the Appalachian Mountains or just the piedmont and coast? I was planning on looking for rock around Grandfather Mountain and Lynnville Gorge. Waste of time?
There’s not really any naturally occurring chert where I am, but there are flakes and pieces that natives used that looks to be heat treated if I had to guess. It’s very waxy looking and has pretty vibrant reds,pinks, purples, and black. The colors seem to be in layers, but I have no idea where it comes from. I’m pretty sure they had to travel to get it.
The Carolina slate belt has some really good stone. higher quality slate in and of itself can make great tools but the good stuff is the rock that looks like novaculite. from what I figured out it basically is Novaculite but it's not because it was formed from slate instead of chert.
I live in Missouri is the Flint in our creeks knappable? Does it have to be heat treated? I know where there's several ancient Flint mines but it's too far for me these days. Thank you I really enjoy your videos you're awesome
Off topic, Gill, but, have you ever experimented with micro-flakes in the style, sometimes, found in Alaska? To my ignorant mind after viewing many of your vids. In the vein of this vid, I wonder if the reason was resource availability. Think it may have been response to climate freeze cracking what flint/chart was available??? Does freeze-cracking occur in obsidian??? Thinking out about why based on things learned from your vids.
Thank you Ryan. I live in western Ohio near Lima more in the country we have some woods. And we have fields that we farm on. I’ve started primitive things making knives and other tools out stone stone. Do you know any good rocks in this area? Edit: I haven’t found any yet but I’m going to keep on looking.
I live in Northeast Arkansas near the Mississippi River. Nothing but silt and sand here. Do you know of any decent chert in Western Tennessee or maybe the ozark mountain region?
I think I can recognize knappable rock well enough once I've cracked it open, but how do I tell which rocks are worth cracking open? Are there any tips you can give about how to identify good candidate rocks while they're still lying on the ground? Or do you just crack open every rock you find?
it's typically regional. You don't have to crack open every rock, just a few in a particular area. good rock isn't typically found inside one cobble alone, it will be in a whole formation
Hi Gill Danny here from Australia , i've been knapping for about 5 years , and wondering if you post to Australia , wanting some pieces for making arrow heads as i do bow hunt ,worked a lot with obsidian but would like to try some chert ? can you help at all.
Where I live I haven't found any very glassy looking rocks I have found alot of what I believe to be quartzite, most of it is on the beaches But I have never tried heat treatment before Definitely will now coz that stuff doesn't work great At least compared to glass its not good Edit: I live in south Africa westerncape gardenroute area If anyone knows of good rock spots near there it would be much appreciated information
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There is no good knapping rock local to me, natives here used petrified wood. Its so incredibly hard to work with, I have immense respect for the people who made the petrified wood points ive found.
"Getting harder and harder to come across because is everything is private land" that one hit home Ryan
*Capitalism*
@@PotionsMaster666 Wrlcome to nordic countries where capitalism meets high taxes and all mens rights.
just ask permission, most people say yes..... at least in the northeast here
Maybe it's where I live but I can go to any river or stream bed, or road cut and find it everywhere. I do live directly at the bottom of the Edward's plateu drainage though.
But those people pay for the land, they should have the right to keep it. You will find if you ask nicely, even offer to pay, most land owners are amenable to you clearing rocks from their land lol.
I know this is old video, but the dumbest questions are the ones not asked! With that being said. I'm not into napping (other then the kind on my couch) "yet", but sounds interesting to try! I have acquired a source for big chunks of soda bottle glass from where the bottles are made. Some weigh up to 1-2 #s. I got them for the blue green color. Would this make good napping material? BTW I enjoy the videos!
One of the greatest gifts man can give to man is passing on knowledge and you have given alot lot of gifts
This guy has taught me more than the teachers in my school has ever taught anyone
just saw this comment a year late. Thank you very much. Very glad I was able to teach or inspire!
I'm glad young bucks are paying attention to men like him. Watch and learn.
Thanks for the much needed information, Ryan!👍
I misread the title as identifying kidnapping rocks. Ok now you have my attention 😂😂😂. Oh knapping now it makes more sense.
Here in north-central Texas, we have a lot of high-quality chert. The outside of the rock is generally yellow with a dark to translucent crystal interior. The flaws in the crystal are infrequent with many rocks producing more than enough flawless crystal to make a good point.
Very old post but if you're still following this channel, where abouts in N. Central Tx are you looking in? I'm just trying to get started and live in the same general area.
@@cprpottsville Check local creeks/rivers, see what you find then source them farther upstream if you want to find it in formation
Been looking to do some nappping
Been artifact hunter
But never seenuch raw.
Keeping eyes peeled.
Graat video
Thank you for this. Worldbuilding/game designing, and this helps a ton.
Also, I noticed a lot of these are the same rocks that don't require transition metals in their formation. This is perfect, because I'm designing a world without "combat metals", and this allows me to create flintknapping without adding sources of metals such as aluminum and iron!
How’s your progress?
@@vandalianproductions Actually have a solid concept of progression of technologies for this world. A lot of stuff ends up being plastics and petroleum-based products. Age of Magic and Age of Plastic replace the Bronze Age, but postponed. A lot of "technology" like concrete, aqueducts, and things made from mineral construction are a lot "earlier" in the timeline, as is boating and woodworks. But that's because it takes longer to harness magic and plastics than it did bronze.
Hello Ryan - I have gotten to know you from the past few years at the Silver River Knap-in , Ocala, Fl. and I am a big fan of all your videos. You are a very good educator and fortunate to be such a skilled craftsman. I have learned a lot - thanks.
I live in the Flinthills of central US. The rock is usually a dark grey with little circular spots throughout. Most of the arrowheads I've found are a creamy white or pink. I find very few grey ones. Once I found an obsidian which shows just how far they traded.
Hey Ryan, I just wanted to say thanks for making these videos. My dad and grandpa were very knowledgeable on these subjects with my grandpa even having a large exhibit of native artifacts donated to a museum. Anyways, I regret not asking them to teach me how to knap stones and make bows, etc. They are both passed now so I will never be able to learn from them, but it offers some comfort that I can learn from you.
To put into perspective your comment on the trading napable rock. I live on an island off the coast of Alaska in the Pacific ocean with no chert or napable rock. My island is made of shale yet there are napped chert artifacts here. The ancestors of my island would kayak more than 30 miles one way on open ocean in the Shelikoff strait to trade and obtain resources(this does not include the many miles it takes just to get out of the bays where they lived).
I have also been told obsidian artifacts have been found in New York, the material for which was quarried in Central Oregon.
Very cool
I see that really black flint everywhere where I live in the uk. they’re awesome for skimming (bouncing stones of water). Im going to try and learn to nap I’ll be collecting some with the boy tomorrow 👍
I’ve seen the video when im started with flintknapping and now, the funny idea with finding high silica not knappable stone and try to make melt it to make something knappable seems like good experiment
Been waiting for this video
Come on folks if you watch his video give him a like a thumbs-up subscribe to his channel. I have nothing to do with him. but the knowledge he shares. Is insurmountable. He's part of our tribe for sure
Ryan, I just want to thank you. I have tried making about 10 board bows and only 2 work. I cut out a stave after watching a bunch of your videos and the very first try at a primitive bow turned out. Thank you for all the teaching you have done. I find nothing more satisfying than shooting equipment that I have made!
Yeah I’ve given up making board bows. I’ve ended up just taking a thick and flexible branch and putting a string on it. So far my max poundage for one of these bows is 55 pounds
Board bows can be hit and miss. Cutting your own wood in its natural form is way better. Plus there’s usually better species growing around you than the very few crap generic species at the store.
@@MustObeyTheRules Since I wrote that I have moved back to Ohio where I am from. There is fresh cut Osage on one of the local highways. Straight as an arrow. Been trying to find out who owns the land right there to see if I can get some.
@@kborak that’s awesome. There’s all kinds of Osage to be had in Ohio. You’ll get your hands on some for sure if you ask some people. My bet is they’re posts that you saw laying beside the highway. Lots of people still use and install Osage fence posts to this day. They last for century’s.
@@MustObeyTheRules Lucky for me they were cut by ODOT. Just, trying to find the land owner is a pain lol.
.Excellent my friend, generally I look for it in the same places that I look for arrowheads. All around there are large flakes or rocks that they left themselves.
I belive that every school should teach things like this
Lowkey I think schools should have classes for specific professions like craftsmanship, medicines, and cooking, but WITHOUT new technology, only using older things
Thank you for this valuable bit of information. Knapping is truly a lost art.
When you assume...
Thanks for taking time for educating us😎👍
The green obsidian is the stuff that gets the love from spiritual types.
NM. has some cool rocks😎👍
😎👍❤🖖
Ive been over quite a bit of georgia and there is a lot of good rock hounding to do in the blue ridge mountains will edit to say not specifically for knapping but in general. Lots of beautiful specimens
I live along the White River basin. We had the Delaware and Hopi. We've got the orange flint. I'm certain we have chert but I'm not as familiar with it.
I live next to a creek right on top of the ridge line in NW Ga and I make tons of arrowheads out of many different types of rocks =)
I live in the Texas hill country and there's a creek down the street from my house and it runs 4 miles. I've got an UNLIMITED supply of flint lol I found my first arrowhead not long ago and it set off the bug lol I'm addicted
Great stuff man, glad to see another video
nice video one thing you might mention do not heat treat in the kitchen stove, rock might contain mercy, arsnic or other nasty stuff be careful always heat treat outside and not in a pan you plan on eating out of. good luck happy knapping
I’ve been watching your videos for a long long time and seen a lot of them. Ive always wanted to build my own recurve which I am doing this year. Next step is flint napping figured I’d have to buy rock, you have no idea how excited I was when I heard Edwards l plateau... I can’t get any more directly in the middle of it here in TX.
Very lucky
Thanks. That answered my questions about usable rock for Knapping.
This is a great video. I learned a lot from this and it has even sparked more interest for me in napping. Thank you for the video and for sharing your thoughts, ideas and experience with us. Subbed.
I know the pain. I used to live in Wilmington, NC and there was no natural sources of knappable rock. Until I found out that the trading ships used to use flint as ballast. They would dump it near the mouth of the Cape Fear River so they could take on a load before heading back to jolly old England.
I'm in wilm area can u give me any pointers on where to find the English ballist
@Charles Millson You would need to walk both sides of the river bank between Wilmington and South Port. I walked on the buffer zone near Carolina Beach but that was before the military closed off access to the public. There is also rhyolite in the Asheboro area. There are several people that sell it online. But rhyolite is extremely tough and not very easy to knap compared to flint or obsidian. Hope this helps.
I believe many arrows and spears were simple sharpened wooden shafts hardened over the flame. I have shot wood pointed arrows into a dead pig and they penetrated surprisingly deep. Love your channel, just found it last week, subscribed and been bing watching! Thank you!
A well sharpened stick does penetrate deep indeed since they're so thin and aerodynamic, but a broader cutting head will almost always kill faster with the same hit, reducing the chances of your prey running away so far you can't find them. With a sharp stick that essentially blocks it's own wound too, it's gonna be hard to track down your prey with such a small blood trail.
@@Ironpine27 wouldn’t just splitting the head into more heads increase the amount of blood or you could make the tip break off easily and that would allow more blood to flow out
@@jpthepug3126 Yes, there were in fact spears and atlats with detachable heads, although mostly to preserve the head instead of breaking the entire thing if the shaft is broken. Now making multiple heads is an interesting idea, but it would split the energy between each head, reducing penetration drastically. This is why multi-pronged heads are often seen on fishing spears, and small game arrows, but pretty much never on arrows and spears intended for bigger game.
@@Ironpine27 what about a spear/arrow with a thin rectangular hole carved from the head to the tail with some “pillars” that helps the arrows/spears not break
@@Ironpine27 actually you know what I’m going to design a arrow that is wooden and maximum blood loss
I'm about to start knapping so Ive been looking into this stuff. Appreciate all the good info man. In the KC area I mostly see winterset chert. It can turn from grayish/tan to dark black with white-grey bands or even dark red after heat treatment. Has neat fusulinid fossils in it too. It's really a pretty transformation. Unfortunately it's not a very easy rock to work with I've heard. Small nodes and fractures easy I've heard. I'll have to see for myself.
I live in upstate South Carolina. I’m a displaced Blackfoot. We have plenty of obsidian and other good rocks here if you know what to look for. Especially in streams.
I’m screwed. I live in central NC. Most of the natives in this area used Rhyolite but apparently it’s getting harder to find. I’m still holding out hope I can find a honey hole someday. Until then I have to stick to the beer bottles I find and rock I buy.
do u go to a local knap in? the people at knap ins can help for locating stone but take it with a grain of salt because nobody is going to tell u where they get their best rock but it always good to explore. try going to camp sites or hiking trails near the mountains or hell flank the out skirts of marrow mountain to see if the old dudes left anything. ive found my best rock at public campsites.
@@seanarthur2001 Nothing like nosing around old campfires looking for knappable rocks 👍🤣
I was in Morrow Mountain State Park a number of years back, and the ground is littered with Rhyolite flakes. Never seen anything like it. Don't let the park wardens catch you picking it up to take home. Apparently that's a no no.
I'm just looking to get started, thanks this video is great
excellent, best of luck and enjoy your knapping journey!
That was awesome! Hot dang, love that piece from Pasco! How about the stuff up in Brookville?
Alot of artifacts i find in southeast Michigan come from 3 main sources of chert. First: Is Onadaga chert from the Niagara falls area of New York state and the Canadian side also. Second: Is Kettle point Chert from the southeastern shore of Lake Huron in canada. Third source: Is Bayport Chert from Saginaw bay area of Lake huron. Bayport Chert is roughly 120 miles from were i find artifacts of it. Those indians would have paddled canoes 10-12 miles out to the Charity Islands to collect Bayport chert. These islands are made of limestone and the chert was found weathered out in the water. Diving without scuba gear to get it. So i think indians went to extreme efforts to get their precious material, truely amazing 👏 😮
thank you so much, man. just discovered your channel and website, this is awesome resources! inspired me to learn a new skill - i'm heading out right now to scout an area and hopefully find some rocks. will update back here soon
wow. let me just say, that was a lot easier than i expected!
i grabbed my longboard, bought some supplies and traversed to the nearby river i live close to. everything was coated in a layer of dirt, so i only had the texture of the rock to go by, the color of everything was the same dusty brown/grey. despite this, within less than 5 minutes i had found a softer, sparkly quarty red rock that split nicely despite feeling grainy and was holding my first knapped piece. i continued to practice knocking pieces off my host rock and just getting used to the motions.
i had found some driftwood and set up a bench along a larger volcanic rock, cleared a small area and made a sand pit so any shards that fell/shot off could be retrieved. eventually, the rock i was using (just a common black river rock here) to knap broke and held somewhat similiar edges, so i grabbed another and started knapping this one. it broke like expected, but into much larger, unusable pieces. the rock was too brittle to be worked. nothing like the clean flakes from the first one. inspired by this however, i went on the search again, and found another black river rock, the same like as the one i was working a second ago, except muuuuch darker and really smooth. this one was harder to work because it was so small, and i found that it really helps when you're not using a huge knapping rock! size doesn't really matter, it's just the angle and force of which it makes contact w/ the rock.
after downgrading to a smaller knapping rock, i managed to start chipping off the harder rounded exterior of this black river stone and producing sizable flakes, and these blew me away! by far the sharpest flakes i had produced so far, and none of these rocks were even close to as glassy as the ones you had demonstrated in this video, but still had a SHARP cutting edge! i was playing with one of these black pieces and managed to slice my thumb hahaha.
all in all, a good experience and i thank you! i saved a collection of usable pieces and the host rocks. i'm excited to learn how i can work these further.
Learned so much from you, Ryan! Thank you! Now I have an idea of what to look for now. Instant Sub, I want to learn more from you.
Wow. Just learning and ready to start looking for rock. Turns out, I live on the Withlacoochie river in Hernando county, just on the edge of Pasco county. So do I just find these rocks in the river, or what? How do I find them. I have 12 acres and 1000 feet of river front on my property.
I got excited when he said North Carolina of course we are the area with no rock yay for us
Dude you are sic with it for posting this video and tyvm good looking out seriously
Almost all the points I found in my area in western NC were pure white smooth flint. I don't know if they were heat treated or not, but we do have a lot of the white smooth quartz here.
i remember sending you a photo of some quartz that I tought It was some flint
South of Tampa is the land of sand.good vid Ryan hope to see ya one of these days
Im gonna go to turner falls in Oklahoma tomorrow, the only rocks near where I live (around Dayton tx) are on the road, ugly, and I highly doubt work for knapping. I want to learn flint knapping so hopefully I can gather a nice amount of rocks at turner falls.
Wish me luck lads
I live in east coast. Found this hudeg piece of obsidan. Thought i kind of worry of cutting myself knapping it as a beginner
People have been teaching this stuff from word-to-mouth for hundreds of thousands of years and now it’s on RUclips
this was exactly the vid i was looking for
Where I live there's flint everywhere. There's houses, walls, castles, prisons built from it. Beaches full of the stuff. Best stuff is deep in the chalk. I live in England on the south coast.
Any body know any good rocks in iowa or the midwest
Lucky you, the flint mines there are amazing. I watched Will Lord go there and retrieve a piece. With permission of course.
Looks like I’m going to have to go to Texas and get some good rock. I mean I live in Arkansas next to some glacial creeks and was at one time navigated by early Natives. They used some very gritty stone and some flint. Most of their tools such as Adze, and Tomahawks are the gritty type of stone, but I do have flint/chert tools also of the same style
I wish I had started Knapping while I lived in AZ. Good rocks everywhere. Here in KY there is a lot of good stone but it is so much harder to find.
Yeah I live on the east coast of S.C. so no rocks . I have found old stone points in fields and disturbed areas and have always assumed that points or stone had been traded from over the mountains.
I saw film of an Australian hunter on youtube who took a big flake off of a rock , it was kind of pointed, he didn't knapp it at all, he attached it to his spear and killed a wallaby. It made me interested in knapping.
This was really fun to watch! I am not into primitive hunting yet, but I used to be really into hunting for native American artifacts when I lived in Georgia. I'm guessing based on what you are saying there must have been a great deal of rock trade in the area I'm from. I've seen agatized coral and several other types of materials used all in the same sites!
I live in a place called sand mountain, so finding knapping flint is act of God.
I'm on Maryland eastern shore , the only stone got here on a truck
I ordered a large box of the coral like 4 weeks ago idk if I messed up or it’s just taking a long time. Tim Hurd
Okay. Makes sense. I see boxes of rock for sale and I've always thought "Why??" I've lived in the Texas hill country my whole life. It's literally everywhere.
What about quartzite? I know some Native American tribes used it, and other people at different times and part of the world as well. I believe it was found in either Russia, or maybe a bit more towards Germany but they did find a quartzite spear tip stuck in a piece of mammoth bone. So we know it was used I'm just curious how good it is becasue I do know some good places to get it?
There’s a place in Death Valley called Crater Sulphur Mine that has a ton of jasper
Great video very informational thank you very much Gene Gorringe Mi 👍✌️🇺🇲🇬🇧
I'm surprised you didn't mention Wyoming when talking about where Obsidian is found.
The Native people from Oregon used to travel to this area to trade for good Obsidian sourced from what was often called the "Black Ice Mountain" in the Yellowstone area.
I know from being a Fur Trade Era reenactor and learning from Mountain Man journals and knappers in the Wyoming area that this occurred.
Is our Obsidian NOT good?
I was a reenactor for over 35 years in the Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho areas, and the things I mentioned in my first comment seem to be common knowledge here among reenactors and knappers found at Rendezvous and in this area.
I live along the river in Putnam County and occasionally you can find good knapping rocks, but that is rare.
Excellent video!
I know this video is old, but I have two quick questions. Hopefully you'll see this.
Is there any specific way to make the first break on a rock? Something similar to needing a good shelf to flake?
Secondly, I have several century old glass dump sites, and I've seen videos of guys knapping glass jar and bottle bottoms, which they recommend for cheap easy practice. Is that something you have any feelings about one way or the other, and would the techniques be the same (I'm assuming so)? I potentially have an endless supply of glass, of different colors, shapes, and sizes, and I'm wondering if it's worth trying.
WOW awesome information thank you!
I found a huge flint nodule in my backyard once when I was a kid and couldn't figure out what it was for a long time.
Nice examples thank you
I’ve gone through most of your videos and I haven’t seen you address that mysterious Native artifact...the bannerstone. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it’s usage and on the the purpose of other related artifacts like the boatstone.
I am pretty sure I talked about it in one of my advanced atlatl videos.
@@huntprimitive9918 Not a good response. I would think you'd keep a content record of your videos and be able to point the reader in a better direction.
@@richardwiley5933 Thats asking alot of a guy who gives out free information to all who wish to seek it, its not like he is charging you, just go find it
Can you do a quiver build video if there isn’t already one
Florida is filled with usable beer bottles (except Bud Light).
You should make more small game videos like the rabbit one
Great video. Thank you, I always wondered
This video is so great! I live on the westcoast BC and I'm looking for some knappable rock. Everywhere I look online people say that there's no flint or anything around, but it's near the fault line so there should be some igneous stuff right?
There is quite a bit of jasper in that area. And quartz / agate too.
Thank you this was really helpful
I have seen it in almost grey blue with white cortex , brown tan , and black . They are all over the hill sides and creeks .
You mentioned the Carolinas does that include the Appalachian Mountains or just the piedmont and coast? I was planning on looking for rock around Grandfather Mountain and Lynnville Gorge. Waste of time?
There’s not really any naturally occurring chert where I am, but there are flakes and pieces that natives used that looks to be heat treated if I had to guess. It’s very waxy looking and has pretty vibrant reds,pinks, purples, and black. The colors seem to be in layers, but I have no idea where it comes from. I’m pretty sure they had to travel to get it.
Very informative...subbed.
The Carolina slate belt has some really good stone. higher quality slate in and of itself can make great tools but the good stuff is the rock that looks like novaculite. from what I figured out it basically is Novaculite but it's not because it was formed from slate instead of chert.
I love these primitive videos man!
Very informative, Thanks
I live in Missouri is the Flint in our creeks knappable? Does it have to be heat treated? I know where there's several ancient Flint mines but it's too far for me these days. Thank you I really enjoy your videos you're awesome
Some creeks in Missouri have incredible flint stones for kidnapping. Where I live in S.E Missouri, not so much.
Off topic, Gill, but, have you ever experimented with micro-flakes in the style, sometimes, found in Alaska? To my ignorant mind after viewing many of your vids. In the vein of this vid, I wonder if the reason was resource availability. Think it may have been response to climate freeze cracking what flint/chart was available??? Does freeze-cracking occur in obsidian??? Thinking out about why based on things learned from your vids.
Where i live in england you see this "perfect" rock all the time, i got tons of it in our nearby park and in my garden so i consider myself very lucky
I live in the Ouachitas, near Hot Springs, threr are native mines , where they queried.
Shale is quite popular in western ny
since the pine comb ike n bad of paper, i found a rock that actually has spirals like a pine comb. and coral fossil i think. thank you
Thank you Ryan. I live in western Ohio near Lima more in the country we have some woods. And we have fields that we farm on. I’ve started primitive things making knives and other tools out stone stone. Do you know any good rocks in this area?
Edit: I haven’t found any yet but I’m going to keep on looking.
Head east! Go check out Nether farms!!
@@jamestoth1145 I don’t have my drivers license yet so I can’t but I’ve definitely thought about it
Shout out to the squirrels in the background
Thank U so much for the advice
I live in Northeast Arkansas near the Mississippi River. Nothing but silt and sand here. Do you know of any decent chert in Western Tennessee or maybe the ozark mountain region?
You ever use flint from southern Illinois. We got some nice stuff.
Man thank you so much for this info
I think I can recognize knappable rock well enough once I've cracked it open, but how do I tell which rocks are worth cracking open? Are there any tips you can give about how to identify good candidate rocks while they're still lying on the ground? Or do you just crack open every rock you find?
it's typically regional. You don't have to crack open every rock, just a few in a particular area. good rock isn't typically found inside one cobble alone, it will be in a whole formation
Hi Gill Danny here from Australia , i've been knapping for about 5 years , and wondering if you post to Australia , wanting some pieces for making arrow heads as i do bow hunt ,worked a lot with obsidian but would like to try some chert ? can you help at all.
2:20 Video starts here
Where I live I haven't found any very glassy looking rocks
I have found alot of what I believe to be quartzite, most of it is on the beaches
But I have never tried heat treatment before
Definitely will now coz that stuff doesn't work great
At least compared to glass its not good
Edit: I live in south Africa westerncape gardenroute area
If anyone knows of good rock spots near there it would be much appreciated information