Low Impact Living - 2

Tools For When the Lights Don't Come On.

(I originally subtitled this piece “Tools for the Evening of Our World¹” but Substack won’t let me use a footnote in a subtitle, so I put it here instead.)

Way back in the 1970s, faced with the apparent threat of immanent nuclear Armageddon and societal collapse, I entered survivalist mode, drew exclusion zones on maps around urban centres, power stations, military bases and the like, wondering where would be safe to go. Fortunately, I realised nowhere would be safe to go and stopped worrying about it.

However, among other slightly more useful things that I did during that time was to start thinking about what tools might be most useful in the future and drawing up lists of stuff to acquire.

Now, forty years on, slightly surprised that I am still here but also very pleased, I think that preparing for disaster is not a bad thing to do, given the increasing number and types that we see unfurling or ongoing across the world, pretty much every day. In many ways, preparing for disasters, whether large or small, builds more self-reliance into households, communities and bioregions.

Looking back at my old tools lists with the benefit of many decades of practical experience of living on relatively little², I thought I would present some of my favourites here. Perhaps you might choose to suggest your own, through comments, which could be added to the list.

1. The Wheelbarrow.

I have mentioned this remarkably simple yet effective piece of equipment before, yet it merits considerable praise as a supremely simple and effective machine, a worthy combination of two technologies, allowing mere humans to move bulky or heavy loads with relative ease.

Apparently invented by the Chinese some 2,000 years ago, Europe had to wait another thousand years before getting the idea (following a religion that insisted we were meant to toil and suffer on Earth might have had something to do with that). So prior to that (and also for some time after), Medieval Europeans had to manage with a handbarrow, originally a flat bed with pairs of handles at each end, so two people had to carry the load between them.

The first technology employed on the wheelbarrow is the wheel and axle which is a much more efficient way of moving a load rather than dragging it. The user must exert enough energy to overcome friction between the wheel and the surface and also between the axle and the bearings. They must also use sufficient strength to overcome the inertia of the load (basically the mass) but once this is moving, on a level surface, only the friction needs to be overcome.

The second technology employed in the wheelbarrow is the lever, in this case, the handles, running through the body and pivoting at the axle, which act as a fulcrum. The closer you can get your load to the fulcrum, the less weight you have to lift at the handles. This is especially noticeable when moving a single, heavy object like a boulder.

My wheelbarrow. probably the simplest and best labour saving device ever invented. Mine is on its third tyre and second body. The pipework frame should last a lifetime.

The Chinese developed a much wider variety of wheelbarrows compared to us in the west- we seemed to go with one pattern and more or less stick to it. So in China, for some barrows, the wheel was enlarged and placed in the middle of the bed, meaning that by distributing the load around the wheel, the wheel in effect takes all the weight- clever stuff.

One notable advance that we did follow, at least at first, was the handcart, though this seems to have died out. With a larger bed set between two wheels on an axle and pulled, rather than pushed, this allowed for heavier or bulkier loads to be moved with relative ease. Generally though, a handcart requires a wider and smoother path and becomes hard work if going up hills. It lacks the manoeuvrability of the wheelbarrow and more or less died out, probably as we got more interested in petrol engines and dumper trucks.

There is a point to be made here that a lot of the success of the wheel depends upon having a road or path on which it can wheel...³ This was certainly more true in the past when the wheel might lack a tyre and just be wood or metal, in which case, the larger the wheel, the more uneven the ground that could be traversed⁴.

With today's, modern inflatable tyre, much more uneven surfaces can be tackled. The general rule is that a low inflation (softer tyre) is best for bumpy surfaces and higher inflation (firmer tyre) works best on smooth surfaces.

If we design our surrounds and low impact settlements to make use of contour and close-to-contour paths, then it is far easier to move stuff about by hand. If you do need to go uphill with a full load, you can tie a rope around the front frame and enlist a suitably well built helper to pull. Here at Penrhos, over the decades, I have used a wheelbarrow to move truly enormous quantities of materials of a great variety of types.

Punctures can be repaired relatively easily and tyres can be replaced when they finally wear out. The wheelbarrow body, which can take a lot of stick when moving repeated loads of stone, is also replaceable, making this piece of equipment an ideal low impact, simple machine.

2. Grandfather's Drill

This reminds me of the old story of Grandmother's Seeds. The farming family sowed the new varieties of seed because if the conditions were right (not too wet, not too dry etc. etc.) the crop would be heavy but they always sowed some of Grandmother's seed as well. Although not as productive as the new varieties, it could cope with more variable weather, so when the new varieties failed, say because of persistent rain, Grandmother's seed still produced something⁵.

Grandfather's Drill. Note sturdy construction, bevel gears, spring loaded 3 nose chuck, here fitted with maximum size 3/4inch drill bit. Speed is changed by moving the winding handle's axle to the hole on the right. Axle held in place by spring clips. The other hole, further to the right, is for the steadying handle which, as is often the case, has chosen to be absent from this photgraph...

This drill was my grandfather's and was passed on to my father and so to me. Assuming my grandfather bought it in his thirties it is now about 90 years old and still going strong. It has minimal parts and is of very solid construction. It has a three point, spring loaded chuck and can accept modern high speed drill bits. The chuck fits onto a threaded shaft and at some point I may well swap it for a modern, four point chuck.

It also has a two speed drive, the speed being chosen by changing the position of the axle of the main drive wheel, which engages with one of two sets of cogs, giving the different speeds. The axle of the drive wheel is held in place by spring clips, meaning it is quick and easy to swap speeds.

This type of drill is usually described as a breast drill but I like using it vertically, applying pressure to the top handle via a shoulder, one hand holding the side handle and the other turning the drive wheel. Once you get the hang of it its easy and very quick. In wood it drills as quickly as a power tool for very little effort. I've also drilled metal of various thicknesses, using a sharp bit, the slow speed, vegetable oil as a lubricant and applying as much pressure as safely possible; its slow but works.

Being off grid and not having a generator or cordless drill/drivers at the time (they hadn't been invented then) I built our first home hear using this drill and still use it for some jobs.

Like grandmother's seeds, grandfather's drill is well worth hanging on to.

3. Spiral Ratchet, Pump Action or Yankee Screwdriver.

My Dad got a small one of these back in the 1960s and seemed pleased with it. As a kid, I could never really get the hang of it. It wasn't until I started work at Theatre Y Werin (the Peoples' Theatre) in Aberystwyth as resident stage carpenter that I really got into them.

This is the full size version, as demonstrated by Robert De Niro in Terry Gilliam's masterpiece, the film Brazil (if you have never seen it, check it out- as relevant today as it was back then). At the theatre in the late 1970s (again, pre-cordless drill drivers), the Yankee was the tool of choice for driving multiple screws. Once you get the hang of it, it is a revelation. In many situations its easily as fast and sometimes faster than a modern drill driver. I put in thousands of screws using a Yankee when building sets over a decade or so.

Yankee or pump action or spiral ratchet screwdrivers. From top to bottom: 1. My old faithful from theatre days, 1970's, still functioning, with selection of bits. 2. An even more ancient version but very solid, acquired from junk shop, awaiting renovation. 3. A relatively modern, medium sized version. 4. My father's smaller version from the 1960s, with good selection of bits.

A spring loaded chuck means its easy to choose different heads to suit different sizes and types of screw.

Again, I built our first home using this driver and still use it for some jobs today, particularly dismantling ancient stuff. I find I can apply far more torque using the Yankee (in its retracted position) than I can get from a modern drill driver. Its also much better at staying in the slots of slotted screws whereas the drill drivers will all too easily slip out.

4. Lawnmower/exercise machine.

I have wide, wheelchair access paths around my main growing beds and polytunnel and for a couple of decades chucked down woodchip or sawdust when available and then crawled about, annually, weeding, as the material broke down. In the end, bored by the repetition for no real product, I gave up on that, let the grass grow and made use of this push mower, inherited from my father-in-law, Jack, a keen gardener (many thanks Jack!).

Push lawnmower/exercise machine. It works. It’s simple.

This dual purpose device does what it should, requiring no fuel other than a human being. It must be about 30 years old now, is simple to maintain and keep sharp (watch fingers!) and can be lubricated with vegetable oil. It has three height settings depending upon how severe you want to keep your grass or how much effort you want to put into it.

Which leads me to its dual purpose nature. It functions very well as an exercise machine, doing useful work while you get fit. I use it as a HIIT device (High Intensity Interval Training). This means that after doing something not too strenuous as a warm up, I push the mower like the proverbial clappers for about half a minute, (the faster you go, the easier it is), then get my breath back for a couple of minutes, then repeat⁶, doing three or four cycles in all. Apparently, HIIT works best for those of us who are over 60, rejuvenating our mitochondrial DNA by up to 60%, which is nice, for those of us over 60 (under 60 you only get 40% rejuvenation).

The regular cutting of the paths favours clover over grass and so the nitrogen content of the cut material increases over time and makes an excellent addition to the compost heap. Win-win-win!

Thanks for reading. As always, your feedback is most welcome. Especial thanks to all loyal subscribers, you are much appreciated. Till next time, Hwyl! Chris.

1. The Earth will roll on and on around Sol for a long, long time after we are gone so I am using “Our World” here to refer to our time on the planet and what we’ve done to it.

2. That is, compared to many other residents of the fifth richest country in the world- when compared to many other residents of the many poorer countries in the world, I am and always have been immensely wealthy and privileged, even when I was “poor”.

3. Marshal Mcluhan was very clear about this, arguing that in fact the road is the important bit (the medium) that allowed for the full development and use of the wheel, allowing for the extension of the physical capabilites of us humans. See here for Mcluhan’s novel take on media and human extensions.

4. Although it seems that the early British chariots, some with small diameter, solid wooden wheels, sprung axles and sprung chariot beds, were able to move about freely and rapidly on the South Downs (and elsewhere), which had already had a few thousand years of tree clearance and grazing by animals to a smooth lawn. Julius Caesar describes British chariots harassing his legions during his brief “invasions” of 55 and 54 BC, in his Gallic Wars. On British use of chariots in battle, see also Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5.29.1-2 and Strabo, Geography 4.5.2. Note that they didn’t have roads to wheel about on so whadya make of that Mr. Mcluhan, eh?

5. This is also a good argument for retaining landlines…

6. I first heard about this on BBC's Dr. Michael Mosley's Just One Thing podcast. You can check out some details on the programme here. The series is excellent for simple things to build into your daily routine to improve fittness, health and wellbeing. I particularly liked the episode reccommending eating one square of dark choclate a day…However, as you continue with the series you realise that in fact it isn’t Just One Thing at all, it is dozens and dozens of things. I’ll stick with the dark choclate. And the mower.