Flint knapping is the art of turning stones into sharp weapons or tools. These can include knives, arrowheads, axes, spears, and things of this nature. This is a very simplified version of flint knapping, and most people will say the art is the technique used to make them.
Flint knapping has been used since about the beginning of mankind. Remnants of them have been found all over the globe, and many used the same technique even on the other side of the world. Arrowheads, spearheads, and even axes have been found in areological digs from most native tribes and all the way back to the stone age. Guess we know how the stone age got its name.
My personal rant for most doomsday preppers comes when they insist no one could survive without a modern metal knife. They have a specific type picked out that is the best and rarely do two of them agree on which one is best. These doomsdayers are convinced if they lose their knife, they will die because they do not have the tools they need to survive. Really? I have been able to make a knife from a rock for as long as I can remember. What do they think people used before modern knives? Did they just magically get through, but we can’t today? Light sabers? Oh, maybe beaver teeth? Okay, I know, not important to this discussion, but a character type to consider if you are writing an apocalypse book, doomsday characters, or post-apocalyptic.
Now on to the how-tos. Most people will go to the river to find rocks. Granted, they can be found in many other places, but the average person will go to the river first. There, they will look around for a good-sized rock. Next, they will need to see if it is a good rock for flint knapping. This will require two more rocks, one that is bigger than the rock you want to flint knap, and one for hitting, the one you wish to use as a tool or weapon.
Next, the rock you want to test is placed on top of the larger rock, and the other rock is used to hit it to see if it breaks off into flakes or shards. These flakes should be reasonably sharp, and the flakes should be easy to predict the direction it will break if you break it at an angle close to the side. If your rock is roughly the size of your handprint, you will likely get a knife, possibly a spearhead or two, and many arrowheads out of it. It could also make an ax and many arrowheads.
After you have made sure you have the correct type of rock, you break the stone into the sizes you want, as above, a knife and arrowheads, or an ax and arrowheads. Once you have as many pieces as you intend to use, you then test each piece to see if it will hold up. You do this by seeing if you can snap the piece with your fingers. Do not test on the edges; test the middle to see if it holds up. If it breaks, don’t use it. If it holds up, you can use it.
After you have your pieces selected, you will shape it with what is called pressure flaking. As a child, I always saw this done with a soft rock, like sandstone or shale. However, antlers are the most common things used, and there are modern copper tools also. You use these to break off tiny flakes to shape the rock. The most commonly known pressure-flaking shape is the arrowhead. At least it is the most well-known shape where I live.
The best stones for flint knapping are … Can you guess the first? Flint! Some others are jasper, obsidian, chert, and quartz. However, there are a few other types.
As I said above, I’ve been able to do this for as long as I can remember. It is not a hard skill to learn and can be picked up quickly in a post-apocalyptic setting. However, the early attempts of anyone will not be as good as later attempts. Learning how to better balance out the edge and make things more uniform takes time. So while they are not hard to make, the better quality ones will take more practice and skill.
A side note, unlike modern knives, you can’t twist a stone knife. It will break. You need to make clean, precise cuts, unless your character uses it as a weapon and intends to leave shards in the other character.
This is just an overview. If you would like to learn more about how to properly strike the rocks to make flakes, pressure flaking, finding the suitable stones, or a step-by-step tutorial, you can find all that in the show notes.
Fun fable: I have Native American roots, and growing up, whenever we made stone knives, my father would tell us the story of the Pebble People. The story goes that as the first people were learning to make knives, arrowheads, and axes, they broke so many rocks in their learning and mistakes that they made pebbles here and pebbles there.
As they grew and taught their children, and as families moved, as they did to follow the food or make a new home, they made pebbles there too. They became the pebble people and were the ones to teach everyone else how to make knives and weapons until the whole world was filled with them. That is why, no matter where you go, you can find pebbles because the Pebble People were there.
What could possibly go wrong:
Likely to go wrong: Your character cuts their finger on the flakes. I can’t even count the number of times I have done this.
Likely to go wrong: Your character finishes knapping and goes to walk away, only to step on one of the shards. It is never fun to get a splinter, let alone a stone splinter.
Possible to go wrong: Your character goes to cut something and slightly twists the knife while cutting, and a shard breaks off the knife.
Possible to go wrong: When your character shoots an arrow with an arrowhead, it hits a bone and shatters inside of whatever was shot.
Unlikely to go wrong: Your character does not believe that stone knives are worth anything and will break it doing something they know will break it, just to prove it isn’t good. This is foolishness, but some people act like that.
Unlikely to go wrong: Your character has a flake break off, and because of the way they were holding things, it goes into them like a stone splinter. That would likely happen if it was in their lap.
Improbable, but technically still in the realm of possibilities: Your character misses the rock they intend to break and hits their finger instead, breaking the finger. This would require some real force.
Improbable, but technically still in the realm of possibilities: While breaking the stone into smaller pieces, one of the pieces flies back at your character, taking out their eye, their jugular, or even cutting off their big toe.
Helpful links to learn more:
Flint Knapping 101:
Picking Knapping Stones:
https://youtube.com/shorts/8ea0HKr3iPQ?feature=share
How to make stone knives:
https://surviveafterend.com/how-to-make-a-knife-in-the-wild/
https://homesteading.com/how-to-make-a-knife-survival/
https://goknapping.com/pages/making-stone-bladed-knives
https://www.wildernesscollege.com/making-arrowheads.html#:~:text=At%20its%20most%20basic%20level,flakes%20into%20the%20intended%20tool
