How to Flint Knap Cobbles 

Got my first deer with a stone point this year opening day of bow.

Living by a river in an area without any true flint you don’t know how long I’ve been looking for this kind of video!

The way you so skillfully split those rocks is so satisfying

Thank you Ryan! EDIT: how you removed that cortex at the end is brilliant. Set yourself up with a beautiful piece to work. It is easy to see that one is watching a master at work.

Last 5 minutes of this video is golden, Ryan! I'll be coming back to this one.

This is the first video I've seen with you. I'm so impressed with the way you explained that, I straight away subscribed and will start from the beginning. Thank you so much 👏🙏😊

Absolute skill... this is insane. I hope others can see just how much skill youre showing in this video.

You do make this look easy, but after going out and starting to practice I realized how quickly my skills were progressing. Once you actually start knapping, making it look easy suddenly becomes a lot more attainable. Thanks a lot for these videos! They are a superb resource.

You have help me out so much ! Thanks brother me my son and my beat friend all Knapp now ! Great videos plus you put your heart in it man ! 🎩 s off to you bro

Bipolar is really good too for taking care of really rounded cobbles. Quartzite is usually really good quality stone if you can get cobbles or boulders.

Subscribed, great information man and no fluffy BS, just useful well spoken knowledge

This is the exact type of video I needed. Thanks so much. Big fan.

Once again you inspire. Great info brother keep them coming.

I found some fist size obsidian pieces last weekend hunting deer. It's all over the hill side out here in Idaho. I'm trying to learn how to work with it .

Ryan, you're an excellent teacher

I think it would be cool to see you do a vid or two on how to work something much more common/challenging Such as basalt or quartzite. With your skill and instruction it would be very helpful.

How do you know what, or, when, stones need heat treated? What's the indicator? Love the content. Always so informative.

Do you have any tutorials on how to make some of the points from the tribes of the Southwest like from the 1870s and 1880s

Who else is a kid and is interested in primitive and knapping

Hey, can you do a comparison table, of how much reliable a material is, for hunting with bow, I mean arrow heads made of: - Wood - Bone - Cobblestone - Flint - Obsidian - Antler - Iron/Steel Parameters might be: 1. How many shots one can do with a material, before the point completely breaks, in ideal. Wood 1 times, Obsidian 2-3 times, antler 6-8 times, etc. 2. How many times the arrow head can be resharpened, commonly. Wood 0, Obsidian 1-2 times, Cobblestone 3-4 times, etc. 3. How much time to make one arrow point with a material, when already experienced. 15 min per 1 arrow head, etc. 4. How rare/accessible material is, roughly. Rare, very rare, etc. I've seen you made some other comparison tables, and have a lot of experience with those, therefore can share a lot of useful/interesting info. I guess your subscribers will be interested as much as I am!

Seeing you spall the obsidian at 9:55, it reminded me of a tiny flake of rhyolite if found in Rutherford County, N.C. last weekend. Having lived in all three geographical regions of the state in 62 years, I've found rhyolite points virtually from one end of the state to the other. Yet, the only known deposit of the stuff is in the Morrow Mountain area, which lies in the Eastern Piedmont. It boggles the mind to think that Native peoples traveled such great distances to obtain it. I'd love to know if it was "quarried" at Morrow Mountain, then perhaps moved to other parts of the state in quantities large enough to not make a week long trip on foot necessary to get what they needed to produce points.

Southeast of Birmingham, AL around the caves there is obsidian !

This is such a great video, Ryan. Thank you for making it. 🙂

Living in a country that’s been swamp and delta for most of it’s history and the parts that wheren’t where sea but are now green pastures finding knappable stone is a challenge, same with finding antler(we have deer but all the places they live are basically public parks where everyone and their mother goes, so even though I’ve been countless times: not even a rabbit bone remains. I don’t want to buy things online, goes against my principal and it’s difficult to see who is a nice seller and who is the type of person that goes to riverbeds with their pick-up truck to basically steal everything there is to sell for profit. I don’t want to support that. So pebbles, cobbles and random garden decoration stones it is. It is hard, and it feels more like magic than a skill to me but I’ve managed to make usable tools, smooth quartz is slowly becoming my new friend hahaha.

Excelente trabajo.

only place i want to be is in the woods

Can you do a short but informative video of the use of copper billets? I wanted to buy one,and asked a long time friend and experienced flintknapper if a 1 1/8" would be a good size for a bopper.? I asked him what size he uses most. He said he uses 4 and sometimes 5 different sizes depending on what he is working on. So a brief tutorial on copper billet sizes would be GREAT!

i love your videos and something else i was thinking of could you do a primitive vid about boiling deer antler and making it into a arrow point?

Hi yeah new vid

Love it brother. Super talented thanks for the tips.

Wow youtube is working I actually got a notification happy days 😁

What do you do with all the extra flakes? Could you shape them into some arrowheads as well? Or would they be too thin?

Thank You Great Video

You could save the little pieces because you can make them squares and but on a club

Awesome! Thanks for the shared knowledge.

22:40 that’d make a great achulean hand axe 😊

So, just finished watching your video. My questions are: what stones in Colorado should I look for to test my hand at arrow smithing? How can I recognize those types of stones in cobble form?

Theres a large field of obsidian just off I 80 in central nevada. Persjing Co. West of Ry patch Reservoir. 30 miles North of Lovelock. Go across dam heading ne from dam a mile or so the field should show. It's an easy 6-8 square miles.

Do a video on knapping Novaculite. Arkansas sharpening stone native to Arkansas

Found some knapping marks on jasper and/or agate in the pnw some points as well. A couple of these pieces I'm curious how they were going to turn them into points with the rounded Coble edge on a couple of these pieces I've found. I'd like to be able to turn what I've found into what they were trying to accomplish making if that makes sense.

South-east of Birmingham AL is said to have obsidian !

Love the video and the directory just turned out a little thick but nice point out of gorge town flint. What I have is pretty clunky with lots of inclusions in it so it's hard to spell out effectively do you have any suggestions

I wish they would say the direction how they hit the rock straight down at a angle into the rock or straight into it

Is there good stone in Michigan?

Not knowing rock, how would one learn which cobble is worth keeping and which isn't? Is it just a matter of knocking a flake off and looking at it?

Now you've gotta make a macuahuitl, haha!

1:47 “Who can guess what that is?” *Me who just went to Glass Butte to collect Obsidian:*

How necessary is it to heat treat flint before knapping? How much for how long should it be heated???

Great video. Thanks!

im in florida what counties have you found rock?

Awesome stuff, do one on Tuscaloosa gravel......any help is appreciated.

Kentucky here

Have you ever tried aluminum billets. I find they work well

I’m unable to go down to the directory as you suggested I’m on a 7 gen ipad

This I would thank you for sharing

Hey Ryan I have watched a few of your videos about flint napping and I was wanting to make some arrow heads. I was wondering if you could tell me were I can find some rock. I live in the mid west. Thank you and have a good day.

Very nice. Great video

So we have this thing called the Midwest it's between the East Coast and West Coast I believe you all call them fly overstates do you know what kind of rock we would use?

Would gravel rocks be knapable too? Like the dark gray ones that you find in most places?

? The stone you are using,? Is cook a stone,or is a raw stone, ?

Have you ever worked rhyolite? I don't think I've seen you make a video with it yet. I just found a pretty decent piece in my parents rock bed and I've been trying to find some comprehensive videos as good as yours.

What do you mean by heat treated stones? What’s the difference and does it help?

Where can I find some in New York

Do you have any videos specifically about making arrow heads out of quartz? that's the only thing I can find in southern Indiana.

Wow 4 pieces out of one rock .I’ve seen you get 2-3 first time I’ve seen 4

When the American school system failing gets to me, when a civil war will happen, when civilization collapses, I will use this video. Thanks for this information.

Hi Tan or anyone else who would know. Is there knappable rock in New England?

Should my legs be really brused afterwards?

Hello @HuntPrimitive , I have tried to make a Recurve bow 3 times, but every time I steam bend the bow, when I string it the curve on the limbs bends back into place.I was wondering if you could help me understand why this is happening.I also suspect that it might be because of a knot in the wood, but I would like to know from a professional, Thank you.

There’s only one way to see if a cobble will work :)

Maybe make a copper culture arrowhead

Wait but if that’s so shiny and looks almost like glass, and breaks like glass, - doesn’t that make it a flint stone, not a cobblestone?

Skills xtream❤️👌❤️

I have a couple of obsidian

What kind of rocks could I find in Central Texas?

Hahahaha you answered my question 😊

Hey gill, what rocks could I find in the north Midwest area? Think like Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Can anyone tell me where I can find some flint in Illionois I am a beginner and I need to find some rock any help will be appreciated

so i have another question if you might indulge me once more in your opinion what do you think would be easies to start with making a hafting style flint knife or an arrow head? i mean cause my brain would tell me to start with a flint knife its bigger and may be more forgiving but that may be just me.

What if the cobble is perfectly round? How do you make a platform?

His voice reminds me of Bruce from Family Guy

😊

There is ZERO to knapp in maryland. Pa is okay to find stuff. but maryland sucks. i have to buy all my rock. so its cheap tx rock for me.lol

can you do a step by step easy thik wick

You don’t really need to learn the types of rocks just break once with small crystals structures and you will learn from the sound they make it if they are good or bad

Wish I didn't live on the east coast

Wish you would talk more

When he said "Go look for your own rock" I felt that 😢😔😩

Kentucky here

I started with stone and bone. Two kiddie pools filled with destroyed chirt later, I had made my first arrowhead. It was lopsided fat and ugly. Seven years later and I can make very effective blades for arrows, spears, and knives. I do love using my stone hammer stones and antler tools but I have now added a copper pressure flaker to the other side of my main antler billet. Copper is truly more efficient but not quite as forgiving as antler for me

Ryan not only are you skilled in your chosen art but you really are a fantastic teacher. Thanx

Hi

I would 100% watch a knapping live stream

That white rock you split i have seen sum but when I break it it’s not black inside it just white and brittle

Where do you find these types of rocks? How do i find rocks like obsidian in the woods?

Yeah I think that will kill a deer

That is just amazing. Yeah, you do make it look easy! And thank you for sharing!

A-fucking-mazing. Wow!

Amazing!

Absolutely awesome great job Ryan keep up the great work and how about trying to knapp some quarts or quartzite points and some really low grade and quality stuff to see if it can be done!!?