Suggest ideas for the NEW low tech forum

Hey look, a new forum!
And permies is FULL of low tech solutions to problems.

If you post links to your favorite low tech threads, we'll see if they want to be added here!

Low tech is defined here as NON-electrical or gas technology. Hand and foot powered, wind and water powered, things like that are low tech.


To post a thread link, copy the whole address from the top of your browser, then paste it in a reply. If you can't do that for some reason, type the whole title of the thread, I'll find it.

I look forward to suggestions!
:D

I also love low tech...
For example I do my Hay still the old way and builder a Haybailer out of wood with a handle.
The square bailes are the same size then those out of the maschine.
Yes they are nicely packed even so they are a little bit more loose than the maschine ones.
They are awesome to handle and absolutely no power needed.
I would like to send you a picture,  but don't know how ( if someone could help me how to do so?)
Marlon

I put this in yesterday in response to the request for  votes on new threads, and one was mycelium insulation panels. Not that I know how to do this...but I saw a video once from a new company making "plastics" from mycelium. Their bragging points were that they used only agricultural waste for feedstock and their stuff would break down in an ordinary compost pile. (Some stuff like plastic silverware sold as biodegradable will only break down in a high temp industrial compost pile). They say they are providing all the packing material for Dell which is great. But there was a brief mention of insulation; I got excited and sent a query but got no response.
Here's my argument: Likely before long we won't have an industrial civilization. We must quickly chop our greenhouse gas emissions. Better than doing building heating this way versus that way, is to heavily insulate the buildings, even up to passivhaus level, so we NEED little or no heating. But what if there is no fiberglass or complicated (toxic?) foam? What low-tech insulation material WORKS and is sustainable? Maybe wool--I once visited a building in Vermont insulated with wool. It was an underground house and worked poorly but that doesn't mean wool could never work.  So I'm eager to hear what you find about possibilities for BIODEGRADABLE, NONTOXIC, LOW-TECH INSULATION. This could be a small business, seems to me, manufacturing insulation panels or batts out of mycelium. Apparently manufacturing fiberglass is a high-tech, high-energy, somewhat toxic process. I would think growing and shaping mycelium would not be.

Marlon Jugl wrote:I also love low tech...

I would like to send you a picture,  but don't know how ( if someone could help me how to do so?)
Marlon

Hi Marlon,  Welcome to permies!
Read this, it will tell you how to post pictures here
How to Post an Image on Permies.com

Mary Cook wrote:I put this in yesterday in response to the request for  votes on new threads, and one was mycelium insulation panels.

Mary: I was looking for threads that are made that I could add to the forum, you make excellent points about the mycelium insulation! If you started a thread on it, we could all learn about it. You said you don't know much on it, so post it as a question. If you post it, they will come! Check your PMs, I'm sending you something...

Lisa Kitinoja III,
Your post was moved to a new topic.

Marlon Jugl wrote:I also love low tech...
For example I do my Hay still the old way and builder a Haybailer out of wood with a handle.
The square bailes are the same size then those out of the maschine.
Yes they are nicely packed even so they are a little bit more loose than the maschine ones.
They are awesome to handle and absolutely no power needed.
I would like to send you a picture,  but don't know how ( if someone could help me how to do so?)
Marlon

Hello, Marlon! Sounds great!

I'm wondering whether your baler is similar to this one:

Perl--this is a great new forum! Low tech solutions exist for a lot of tasks, and we've only been able to ignore them because of our (temporary) access to large quantities of concentrated oil and petroleum.

My favorites:
Solar Glass Recycler (aka Fresnel Lens Glass Melter - FLeGM)
Show Us What You Are Hauling On Your Bike

Here are some threads I think could get added to the forum:

Bicycle powered kinetic log splitter?
Bicycle powered washing machine
bicycle powered well pump
Pedal-powered washing machine
Bean Threshing Machine
Removing dried grain corn from cob for grinding (Shelling Corn?)
Small-ish Scale Dry Bean Harvesting
Do you Low Tech?
Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life
Scythe and wheat production
hog butchering in the 1920's and other homestead photos
Juicers, Processors, Hand Crank Tools to last a lifetime?
Hand powered Corn Mills...Corona etc.
The Universal Food Chopper that made my baby food!
Best Non Electric Coffee Grinder
Has anyone built a Trommel for sifting compost?

Mary Cook wrote: one was mycelium insulation panels.

https://permies.com/t/181810/permaculture-projects/Mycelium-Core-Door

https://permies.com/t/177485/Homegrown-Mushroom-Mycelium-Insulation-Panels

Here's a few more:

https://permies.com/t/19901/Chinese-Wheelbarrow
https://permies.com/t/116581/Easy-DIY-fruit-picker
https://permies.com/t/136604/Interesting-inventions (would be worth bringing back to the fore!)
https://permies.com/t/130339/kitchen/Electric-Hand-Crank-Mill-Collection
https://permies.com/t/140347/weed-removal-tool
https://permies.com/t/140264/Custom-swale-cutter
https://permies.com/t/205807/small-tribute-family-tools
https://permies.com/t/102321/Small-homemade-gadgets