How to make a fire Samoan-style: Bushcraft and Survival techniques

Recently in 2014 there's been Youtube channels trying to teach Samoan fire-making in survival vblogs. It's a wonder why all this time after decades of survival tv shows, not one candidate has ever made a fire in the simple and easy way shown in so many Samoan tutorials.

Almost 95% of people still think that spinning sticks between hands will make a fire, before their hands fall off, because of the old survival tv shows. It's possible it was a Boy scout or early Civil War military survival method that was learned from a Native American clan. The traditional drilling sticks for making fire though have to be prepared, which seems to not have been passed on well over time. A stick drilling into a stick from random raw sticks will take a good hour to make a dent if it's even possible to do that with soft hands.

"Survival techniques are taken from a wide range of native cultures and learned for good reason, because you never want to let new tech weaken you, soften ya up too much. It's important for many men to stay strong and knowledgeable"

The Samoan method is guaranteed, takes time to get the right sticks, but once you have it together, you'll get the needed fire. In the video he prepares the sticks with a knife for time purposes, but they can easily be prepared with a sharp rock or by rubbing them against a rock. As you can see the sticks are bare with no outside bark and it's possible even with the bark left on, it still might work depending on wood type. There is one step that needs to be elaborated on in this video and that's what you're building towards making when you push and pull making friction. When pushing into the wood to make it smoke you'll see at the very top end where you stop pushing, that you're making a small black ash coal. Push and increase speed to build on that ash coal. That ash coal is what demonstrators are transferring into the coconut husk (any wood tinder or dry grass can be used) to make the husk catch fire. In the video you'll see they can stop from pushing and talk a bit to the audience before the transfer. This is because the ash coal is big enough to survive. Stay safe and have a wonderful Bushcrafting Day.

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How to clean a Pig in the Pacific island Polynesian way

Video created by Nicolai Barca in 2010

This video shown below is one of the best videos online today on how to clean a pig Polynesian way. I've seen this cleaning method used in Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii, and Aotearoa New Zealand. This method is fast, easy, and traditional in the islands.

There are many cleaning methods out there online. Some hunters take the pig to a designated site where they have gear and a cleaning station setup, with a whole range of tools, chains, hangers, hooks, tripods, and various knives. They then begin by cutting off back-end legs to hang the pig and then go about their cleaning technique. Some skin the pig first so they can see the muscles to butcher-out only the pig parts they want. Most people don't like seeing or eating the head, but traditionally the Polynesians like eating brains and parts of the organs. Others clean the pig extremely different ways that seem more difficult, time consuming, and physically straining.

In Samoa, a young man is taught this and can do it very easily and without much effort, and with a single kitchen knife. There is no equipment needed other than a single knife in this Polynesian traditional method. This cleaning is done so easily, it's done directly after the hunt is finished where the wild pig went down. The "hair cleaning" methods are not shown here, as this video focuses on the delicate cuts around the innards so not to puncture organs.

This video is Hawaiian related. There is a method mentioned in this video where some cut a slit in the throat, to severe the cord when the guts are pulled, instead of finding the throat tube through the cavity. Cutting a slit in the throat, and severing the throat cord through the slit is how we (my family) does it, in this video he cuts the throat cord inside the body, either way its the same result.

Note: This video is a hunting and cleaning method video and may require you to sign-in to Youtube and verify account before viewing. [Learning to clean a pig]

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How to build a Wind or Bicycle generator for the home

There is technology out there that is so useful, so important, so helpful, but I doubt it will be on tv in the near future. This is one of those things that all generations should know about, like teaching your kid how to tie a shoe, or how to use the toilet. How to build and tweak a desktop computer is also a very easy thing to learn, just play computer games as much as I do, and it comes on naturally. 

I haven't done this project as of yet myself. In fact this blog post topic was chosen to research it further. Writing on something, turns the idea and topic, into a project.

What I'm going to do here is suggest strongly to research this very simple tech, as it will benefit you once it's been created. It's green and clean energy.

How to build it

There is no way I'm going to write a confusing manual on how to play with wiring, how to learn about generators and volts, and then make this post useless. I would buy the wind generator setup first. There are reliable wind generator products out there that give detailed instructions on setting up their product, and how to store that power into a power bank of batteries. Order and learn their setups first. Its not costly, there are ranches who use this affordable wind generator tech to power their equipment.

After that you can imagine that a bike generator is the exact same concept as a wind generator, except  you take the wind fan off, and connect the motor to a belt, which is connected to the bike wheel to make the motor generate power. It is possible to just pick it all up after watching some wind generator tutorials and asking some questions, it's all up to you. 

There are in fact 2 pretty confusing bike generator videos on YouTube for those inexperienced in wiring so watch out a bit. One video on the bike generator, the guy hooks it up to an alternator, which needs an individual power source to work in the first place. Don't do that one. The other one a guy with dreds gives a confusing explanation on wiring and personal circuits.

I'm going to only link one bike generator video so you can get ideas on frames. Building the frame for the bike so you can pedal is the only interesting worry after you know your generator setup. Obvious everyone can't weld, so look online for wood designs. 

Next post will be about Magnetic generators, something even more interesting. A little fan from a ripped apart power supply, and some magnets from a cheap outdated hard drive, can be very useful.

Good luck on your projects [Bike frame design idea]

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How to start Learning and Educating yourself?

How to Do it Guide Blog

So how to start learning huh? In all my years in grade school, not one teacher taught a full lesson on really "How to learn". It was always, "I'm the teacher, you learn what I tell you". Then came a lesson that was told to me, then I would memorize it, then a test would be given how much I had memorized, or how well I could calculate. This is general public school education though, luckily I had extra teaching, which is what's needed to make it. In High School education they will call this process of learning "The Scientific Method". In college after your head has been programmed to memorize information, applying your wits to stand out from the crowd will be needed. Many people can fail at this transition in their first years. 

The scientific method is a method of acquiring knowledge that involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings.

• Go full Nerd - research what is known, understand it, begin your own testing 
• Attack - role your sleeves up and think
• Start a Project - Play with it
• Gather more feedback - find more angles and opinions

There should be a Samoan or Polynesian word for "Brain storm it", to attack the problem with test and observation, because it's not always Science that the Scientific method is used for. It could be a small business project, an art project, an extra income project, a fitness project, or even a martial arts project. 

Starting your Project

Everything begins small, if it doesn't, you're probably not starting out right. I remember starting one project, and it turned into five separate ones, then back into a super project. It just builds and builds, and then in five years later, ya just have something awesome. 

The ability to run a successful project that gives out productive results is the goal. If you can run one successful project on something you wanted to learn, and get productive results, then you can do it again and again, and never rely on the efforts or the information of others to teach you. 

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How to start a Credit Union or Savings Pool

What is a Credit Union do you say? A Credit Union Bank is created by a group or community, very commonly to pool together funds, maybe for things like small business or project loans for your group members.

A Credit Union Bank is a very serious project, as it involves community funds, and federal approvals. This blog tends to lightly discuss various community projects, however ones like this involve educated efforts. This post is only meant to create the awareness of Credit Union organization. There are other "Savings Pool" projects that groups create, who may not go as far as creating a Credit Union.

What is a Credit Union by creditunionsforyou.com
A credit union is a member-owned, not-for-profit, cooperative financial institution formed to permit those in a specified field of membership to pool their savings, lend them to one another, and own the organization where they save, borrow, and obtain related financial services.

Members are united by a common bond and democratically operate the credit union under state or federal regulation. A credit union may be organized by members of a particular group in any of the following categories:

Community: A single, geographically well-defined local community, neighborhood or rural district where individuals have common interests or interaction.

A credit union is owned by its members. The credit union is a separate legal entity and a sponsoring company or organization has no jurisdiction or authority over the credit union. The sponsoring company or organization is simply the “pool” of consumers from which credit unions get members. To operate, a credit union must have a board of directors, a credit committee (or loan officers) and a supervisory committee. The credit union members elect these officials at an annual meeting.

What a Savings Pool is by Le.org.nz
A savings pool is a group of people who cooperate to boost their purchasing power without incurring the interest costs they would otherwise pay over a lifetime. Members use pooled funds in a fair and balanced way to support their own projects. Those of us who borrow money can pay a very high price for our dependence on bank finance. 

The interest charged by banks for a home purchase, for example, can cost us, over the term of a mortgage, up to twice as much again as the actual cost of our home - sometimes even more. Interest is a largely avoidable cost. It is possible to fund business activity or purchase a major item without having to save the full cost in advance, apply for a bank loan or pay vast sums of interest. 

Money need not be a privilege I have to pay for. I can contribute as a member to the savings pool, creating with others a pool of free money: money I have a right to use when I need it. 

Contributing collectively results in a pool large enough to enable major purchases. When I want to buy some item, I ask the pool to buy it first and to give me immediate interest-free use of it, contracting to buy it from the pool over time. When I want to pay off a debt, I ask the pool to settle it, contracting to pay the pool over time. Whatever the pool puts at my disposal - goods, property or money - I match the benefit received by continuing to contribute throughout the payment schedule. My group and my family avoid thousands of dollars of interest payments with a little teamwork. 

This post will update again later.

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5 Helpful Tips for choosing a College 2020

The College scene has changed quite a bit since I was young which is class of 1998. In fact it's completely different from when we were young. The top colleges back then were firmly listed from top to bottom like a trendy music top chart. Our first computer used Windows 95, and the game Contra on Nintendo competed with a new Sega system. Those days are long over.

In order to choose a college today it's great to do personal research, but consulting reliable advice from someone with experience, is the only way to go. There are so many problems with educational systems, so if a young person today is confused, it's for good reason.

There's more pressure today to "get into a good college" in public high schools, which is odd since a "good college" is one that applies to your budget, your interest, and your preferred atmosphere of learning.

Tips for the College Arena:
[-] When going off to a college find one that specializes to your future field of choice. Try not to go to college in America Kentucky and study to become a Chinese historian, don't learn French literature in California, or Polynesian Archaeology in Norway. It's very simple, learn Japanese History from at least a University in Japan, learn American History from American regions with great History, and learn Art from a talented Art school.

[-] To get down to the point, do not to be fooled for a college who just makes a good television commercial and talks a sales game. If a school or region (new city) is only 50 years old, charging 300,000 dollars and up for a degree, be cautious. 

[-] Watch out for For-profit colleges. There have been colleges with University labels promising a job, which require new students to sign a contract. The offices appear like any educational office, they put up a standard for new students, asking people to apply, appearing like a University, and then they setup an appointment. After all that application and background mumbo jumbo posturing, then comes a contract. The contract is simple, pick a course and pay like college, the trick is though they get paid no matter what. Once the contract is signed a person owes that amount regardless if they graduate, sometimes around 25,000-50,000 dollars at least.

[-] Have an awareness of the international college arena. They say "the hardest thing about college, shouldn't be having to be pay for it", yet that's why some people don't go to college. Where there's a will, there's a way. College doesn't cost the same everywhere, keep that in mind, and careers in Construction, Engineering and Mechanics, Architecture, Graphic Arts, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Biology or Marine Biology, are taught very well in many places. 

[-] Health and Safety is a real issue. Its not a good idea to spend 4-8 years in a toxified area. There are city and urban areas today which have good local University reputations who also have Health and Safety concerns. Health and Safety concerns can be high pollution in the city streets, on beaches, poor water, high homeless rates, high public servant incident rates, high crime rates, racism, gang violence, and recently some areas have tripled rents on Apartments next to colleges.

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