This Australian man works in the wilderness slowly building amazing technologies from human history, all while shirtless, shoeless and alone. His videos come out very rarely, but when they do they’re a calming treat in the increasingly fast world of internet memes and social media.
In one video, he taught us step by step how to build a hut with a tiled roof, out of nothing but his surroundings. If the zombie apocalypse ever does come, I want this guy on my side.
#1 He creates all of his tools from scratch, there are videos showing him making stone axes and clay pots. He doesn’t use a single piece of modern technology to aid him in anyway, only the camera to document it all.
#2 With that axe, he’s able to chop down the local trees for the structure of his hut. It’s a long process, which is why videos take him months to complete.
#3 With simple architecture, he builds the frame of his house out of nothing but logs and vine. It seems sturdy immediately, as he cuts no corners.
#4 The start of a kiln of sorts, he’s shown in previous videos how he bakes things in fire to harden the clay and make them stronger.
#5 He has to build up the area so that he can eventually fit enough tiles inside and to create the immense heat necessary.
#6 A trench is dug underneath to keep the fire in, with him constantly feeding it with kindling and sticks. It already looks impressive, but it’s just another tool.
#7 He then forms his tiles out of a mixture of clay and other minerals he finds in the river bed. The process is tedious, as he must make enough to cover his whole hut.
#8 Just drying them out so that they keep their form after he takes them out of the vine, he’ll bake them in the kiln next.
#9 The tiles fit two high, meaning he can bake twenty at a time. They must be left in there for around four hours to gain the strength needed.
#10 In all, he fired 450 roof tiles, with some breakages happening from drops or cracks. That’s almost four full days of just firing clay, not counting the time it takes for him to form them all.
#11 He also made 15 curved tiles for the apex of the roof. These gave him a bit more trouble, but were needed for the top of the structure.
#12 The completed roof, where you would expect him to stop. The amount of work to make this is staggering – remember, he digs all the clay with his bare hands and a stick.
#13 But it’s not the end, for that’s not a completed hut. Here he has made a fire-warmed floor in part of the structure, which he can sleep on at night. It has a chimney sticking out the back of the hut, and is lined with rocks that absorb the heat.
#14 He then digs enough mud and clay to build the walls of the structure. Again, he does this by hand, mixing water collected in homemade pots with the ground.
#15 Leaving an opening for a door, he fills in the entire frame with the wall substance. His tile roof and walls will keep him perfectly dry even in a rainstorm.
#16 For good measure, he adds a door that swings open and closed. A stone walk-up and opening for his fire-bed is seen at the foot of the doorway. For more amazing creations, check out the rest of his page.
14 min Video
Primitive Technology: Tiled Roof Hut
