Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Build Simple: A meditation on simple machines and ancient technology

  • January 13, 2020
  • Ben Osborne
Total
19
Shares
19
0
0
0
0
0
Total
19
Shares
Share 19
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words and photos :: Nicolas Teichrob

If you want something done, you do it yourself. If you want something done right, it’s worth considering the technological innovations of the ancient. Moving laterally across time for solutions to apply now is sometimes the simplest and best way to complete the task at hand. The “old school” can still teach us a lot. 

A year or so ago I embarked on a project to build my own heavy timber house in Ucluelet, BC. I was unsure of the specifics of how to accomplish this goal, but I had a desire to maximize my learning and problem-solving abilities. 

Because my greatest resource was time rather than money, building solo quickly became my best option. Working this way required a much-simplified approach, and I found myself relying on tools developed thousands of years ago by populations across the globe, including the First Nations of coastal BC. These are simple machines, and of particular interest in this context are levers, ramps, wheels, and pulleys. Some of these machines were being used prior to classification, but it was Archimedes around 300 B.C. who studied and shared the concept of mechanical advantage with the lever, which allows the output force to be greater than your input and/or in a different direction.

Applied to the building process and coupled with ropes, cables, and Prusik knots to capture progress, I was able to raise beyond-heavy pieces of wood by simply moving one step at a time, removing external pressures and allowing the machines to do the work. Capturing progress is to harness the work you’ve already put into the system so you can pause, asses, or reset a come-along (bolt and tackle) for example, and the Prusik knot, a simple symmetrical three-turn friction knot, is reliable and versatile for such a task. 

My extensive use of simple machines began when the weight of the wood slabs I was milling exceeded my ability to shoulder them. So I built a bicycle-wheeled cart that has since moved every single piece of larger wood 40 metres up my driveway and into or onto the house. 

The next rethought tool was the ladder, which works great as a ramp, and, along with a pulley, rope, come-along and Prusiks, helped get a number of 7”x7” beams up 15 feet in the air and negotiated into place. Pieces of old broomsticks used as rollers made each move across flat ground easy, and mats woven from salvaged beach ropes helped keep the beautiful Douglas Fir timbers protected from aesthetic damage during transport (while also decreasing friction and promoting sliding). As the house grew vertically, the step-by-step process became less about blitzes of brute force and more about patience and simplicity of thought.

As a civilization, humanity now faces an infinite number problems to solve, on large and small scales globally. I found that by looking to the past and to the land itself, I was able to tap into millennia of success and evolution and build my house alone. Perhaps other, larger problems our world currently faces could be approached in similar fashion. Maybe a step backwards is the right direction, and we should welcome the chance to remix old ideas now rather than banking on future advancements that can be implemented later. —ML 

This project is in great collaboration with Deutscher Architecture (http://deutscher-architecture.ca/) and Miskimmin Structural Engineering (https://www.miskimmineng.com/) and it is a privilege to work with such experience on this build! — Nic

Total
19
Shares
Share 19
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
CarGenerator reviewed by Mountain Life Media
  • THE GEAR SHED

The CarGenerator: Hassle-Free Backup Power for Days

  • January 9, 2020
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • Ontario

Megawatts of Protest on Georgian Bay

  • January 16, 2020
  • Mountain Life Media
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

New Normal at Tremblant

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 24, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Diana-Lee-Sunrise-SUP 1
    What SUP: Hardboard or Inflatable?
    • June 27, 2022
  • Nic-Groulx-Sam-Dickie-on-the-Great-Divide-Trail crop 2
    The Legend of Sam Dickie & the Cougar
    • June 23, 2022
  • Mason Mashon Photo - Xaays Canoe Journey ML 3
    The Great Canoe
    • June 21, 2022
  • Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-Summer-2022-spreads-cover 4
    ML Blue Mountains Summer 2022 Issue Out Now
    • June 22, 2022
  • The-Yin-and-Yang-of-Gerry-Lopez-still-2 5
    Friday Flick: The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez
    • June 17, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • The-North-Face_SS21_Vectiv_Trail-Run_Saunders-
    Gear Shed: Summer Trail Shoes
    • June 20, 2022
  • Property-Valet-HQ-group-Kristin-Schnelten
    Property Valet: Creating (and Managing) Beautiful Memories
    • June 16, 2022
  • 1970s-dual-suspension-MotoBMX-BRETT-TIPPIE
    Brett Tippie’s Old Bike Day
    • June 16, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
Morning rip with @jessemunden_ 🫡 #mountainlifer
Who’s having a multi-sport day?! 😆 @timemmett probably is.
Bruce County is much more than the Bruce Peninsula. We’re here to let you in on a secret: a thriving community nestled in Bruce County’s interior region, just waiting to be discovered. The village of Paisley offers something for everyone, and isn’t overrun by summer crowds.
The mere thought of a cougar or any other apex predator in our midst can turn a backcountry adventure into a psychological test of mind over matter. Luckily, our fears are mostly in our heads and few have experienced a negative wildlife encounter. But, for ultramarathoner @samuel.dickie, it got real. #Linkinbio to read more!
MAG DROP! 🤩
Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day (today and every day)!
Together with our partners we’ve picked our favourite summer trail shoes, in alpha order, for your crush-it summer. #linkinbio
Happy Father’s Day to all the RAD DADS out there!! 🙌
Join the Climb for Climate Challenge on @fatmap_official! Whether you’re gaining your vert on the climbing wall, the dirt trail, or the pavement, hashtag #ClimbForClimate in the title of your adventure, and @mountainhardwear will donate $1 to @protectourwinterscanada for every 20m vertical up to $5,000–100,000m. Signing up enters you to win: a 1-month membership to FATMAP premium and a $500 MHW gift card. (Challenge runs June 16-26.)
GIVEAWAY TIME! We've teamed up with @hydroflask.ca to give you a chance to WIN an epic prize pack! The perfect pairing for a SUP expedition or an adventure in the mountains! Prize pack includes:
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Morning rip with @jessemunden_ 🫡 #mountainlifer
Who’s having a multi-sport day?! 😆 @timemmett probably is.
Bruce County is much more than the Bruce Peninsula. We’re here to let you in on a secret: a thriving community nestled in Bruce County’s interior region, just waiting to be discovered. The village of Paisley offers something for everyone, and isn’t overrun by summer crowds.
The mere thought of a cougar or any other apex predator in our midst can turn a backcountry adventure into a psychological test of mind over matter. Luckily, our fears are mostly in our heads and few have experienced a negative wildlife encounter. But, for ultramarathoner @samuel.dickie, it got real. #Linkinbio to read more!
MAG DROP! 🤩
Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day (today and every day)!
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.