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Why do you knap?

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nclonghunter:
This may have been asked once or more times over the years on here, but I have not seen it. I do a lot of self evaluation and ask why I do what I do, so of course I  wondered why I have began knapping;
I used to walk around plowed fields looking for arrowheads and of course was intrigued as to how they were made. Once you find a decent flake and try to make something it quickly becomes obvious you have no idea what you are doing. This was limited to days afield. I then evolved into an 18th century long hunter reeanactor and was drawn more into the Native American ways of survival. I decided one day to start reading and watching YouTube vids on knapping and have found a deep interest in knapping. Funny thing is, like most knappers I am filling up containers with good and bad points and no way to use them all. It is extremely relaxing and mind clearing to knap and I can lose hours without notice. But, how long can you keep making points with no use or need. I think a lot of knappers eventually get into selling or trading points to create another value for their time. I don't know and suspect everyone has gotten here by other roads and reasons. I wonder how much money and time I can spend to toss another point into a bucket. In comparison I think the money and time spent to go to a movie or some other "entertainment" may be equal if not more. So even though I am in the knapping paradox I see no reason to quit. 
What say you?

bowtarist:
Lyman, It sounds to me like you need to take up arrow smithing (fletching) now so you have something to stick those buckets of points on to.  >:D ;)

That is why I started knapping if I remember right. I was making primitive arrows and thought steel broad heads were kinda hoekey on something held together w/ sinew and pitch glue.   

;D dp

TRACY:
Always been fascinated by field finds as a kid. Flintknapping is just another part of my quest to make my own hunting tools to harvest game. I love to make points for no other reason than to say that I can. Primitive tools and technology is far from simple and I can respect those that did it for day to day survival.

Tracy

Lobo69ss:
Much as has been stated here, I spent a lot of time over the years hunting for ancient relics, leftovers from the past... I found a lot of different kinds of points & blades in farm fields & creeks as a kid & always wondered who might have lost them.  Time went by & I wound up getting involved in "rendezvous", who doesn`t want to be a mountain man? Well, that became a problem for me since there were so many other "mountain men", buckskinners, long hunters, traders, etc... As I started to explore other options, I joined a CW group.  Had to buy a new "proper" tent, uniform, weapons, gear of all descriptions... travel to different states for the "battles", that WAS fun, but rather expensive when you total everything up & realize that the "reward" or bounty for getting there amounted to a pound of black powder so you had no reason not to shoot it up on the field.
   Deciding to go back in time again, I went to the Rev. War time frame, & also some events involving the F&I era... again new camp, new clothing, new gear, more traveling... I enjoyed all the new people I was meeting along the way but somewhere I wound up buying a self bow & "Native" styled arrows, wood shafting, real feathers, stone points, but using modern arrows so that I wouldn`t hurt the "old school" stuff.
  I was talking to my grandfather, learning about our family history, something I`d been missing for many years at the family reunions & other get togethers.  Learning that he was Lakota, my grandmother mixed Nakota/Greman/Irish...   On the other side of the family, my grandpa was Pottawattami/English & grandma was Scots/Lenapi {Delaware}... Hey I know, that makes me a 100% full blooded totally authentic Mutt...
  Grandfather asked about the points I kept in boxes in the cabinet... wanted to know if I knew how they were made, or by whom?   I had absolutely no clue, except that they were all old stuff that I liked. He brought me a book he had showing the basics of flintknapping, & together we made up some copper, bone, & stone tools like were shown in the book. Went looking for rock to try it for ourselves... This was before Mr. Dole "invented" the internet, so there was no Youtube, no photo tutorials to follow, just trial & error {lots of errors}We were semi successful in that we didn`t bleed to death & actually did wind up with a couple bird points & small knives that we could say that we`d made...
     Reset the Wayback Machine...  Now when I attend living history events {much closer to home} I use a wall tent that belongs in any time frame from the Romans to today, dress in buckskins that I`ve harvested {& eaten} the former owners of, learned brain tanning & leather working along the way & have become a little better at this knapping thing... I lay out my own self bows, arrows I`ve made from scratch {they`re ugly, but will send a shaft in something close to the right direction if I do my part},fletched in Turkey feathers {that I`ve also eaten after a good hunt} & hafted in stone with points that I`m not too embarrassed to admit that I made.
  Knives are still a little harder for me, I`m the first to admit that my thinning efforts leave a bit to be desired, but a slightly thicker blade is less prone to breakage & leaves more room for future resharpening{beveling works wonders}.  If I`m able to sell enough over a decent weekend to pay my up front costs for the event I`m a happy camper.
 It`s not unusual for me to do a quick wire wrap on a small point {the edges abraded for safety} & string it on a thong to give to a youngster who sits & watches as I make purty gravel... Sometimes I give away a dozen or so over a weekend, but when I see the kids faces as they show their family &/or friends their new treasure, it`s worth it to me... I`ve also wound up with a few kids who keep comming back to events they know I`ll be at so that they can try their hands at this knapping thing... That`s an even better feeling when they finally get some good flakes to run & they make their own version of an arrowhead...   
  All it took was a simple question from my Grandfather...  I miss that old man

nclonghunter:
Derik, I have a bunch of river cane shafte and some hill cane I got at he Classic from PatB. You are right I need to start putting some arrows together and hunting with them. To take a deer with a self made stone point and bow would be awesome.

Thanks for sharing your journeys to the knapping group. Each of us have a story as to how they got here.

 Lobo, I like your family connection with you Grandfather getting you going. Interesting he had a book on knapping already. He had an interst but no one to share it with until you got involved. Very cool story, thanks. Do you still have that book?

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