If you're in a survival situation and you don't have a fire-proof and water-tight pot or canteen, cooking and water purification suddenly become much more difficult. This is why Les Stroud ranked “a pot to boil water” in his top 5 most important items for a survival pack — pick up a copy of Issue 21 for our full interview with Les. If you find yourself without a modern metal pot, you can always do what primitive cultures have done for millenia: make your own clay pottery.

The YouTube survivalist behind Primitive Technology is experienced in creating pottery, and even built a large kiln which we featured in a previous article. In his latest video, he updates his bushcraft furnace with a fan blower to drive more air and generate more heat, much like the bellows used by blacksmiths.

The blower impeller is driven by a manually-operated shaft and a pull-cord similar to that of a pump-drill fire starter. A clay housing draws in air from a small opening, and channels it into the fire above.

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The silent host then experiments with firing pottery from three types of clay mixtures:

• Clay painted with iron bacteria
• Clay painted with wood ash
• Clay topped with a brick of iron bacteria, charcoal powder, and wood ash, which melted over the clay to coat it

Check out the full video below to see the steps used by Primitive Technology to construct the kiln and pottery. Don't forget to check the video description for a detailed explanation of the materials and steps.

Written by Patrick McCarthy