Bone Tools, Sinew, Hides
Part of Hunting and Trapping
In a post-collapse world, every animal you kill represents hours of effort, calories spent, and risk taken. Eating the meat and discarding the rest wastes 40-60% of the animal’s value. Bones become tools, needles, and weapons. Sinew becomes the strongest natural thread and cordage available. Hides become clothing, shelter, containers, and trade goods. Organs, fat, and even intestines serve critical functions. This guide covers everything beyond the meat.
The Complete Animal: What You Get
A medium-sized game animal (deer-sized) yields roughly the following by weight:
| Component | % of Body Weight | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | 40-50% | Food (obvious) |
| Bones | 15-20% | Tools, weapons, needles, fishhooks, glue (from boiling), broth |
| Hide | 8-12% | Leather, rawhide, containers, clothing, shelter |
| Organs | 8-10% | Food (liver, heart, kidneys, lungs), containers (stomach, bladder) |
| Fat | 5-15% (seasonal) | Cooking, lamp fuel, waterproofing, hide tanning, candles |
| Sinew | 2-3% | Thread, bowstring, lashing, snare line |
| Blood | 5-7% | Food (blood sausage, pudding), soil fertilizer |
| Antlers/horns | Variable | Tools, handles, pressure flakers, buttons, toggles |
| Intestines | 1-2% | Sausage casing, cordage, waterproof containers |
| Hooves | 1% | Glue (boiling), rattles, buttons |
Nothing is waste. Every component has a survival function.
Bone Tools
Bone is harder than wood, holds an edge longer, and can be shaped into tools that are impossible to make from wood alone. The key tools from bone:
Needles
Sewing needles are among the most valuable tools in a survival situation. They allow you to make fitted clothing, repair gear, and construct shelters from hides. Without needles, you are limited to wrapping and tying.
Step 1. Select a bone splinter. The best source is the cannon bone (lower leg bone) of a deer or similar animal — it is dense, straight-grained, and splits into long, flat splinters. Strike the bone lengthwise with a rock to split it.
Step 2. Select a splinter roughly 6-10 cm long and 3-5 mm wide. It should be flat or slightly curved.
Step 3. Grind the splinter against a rough stone (sandstone is ideal) to shape it. Create a gradual taper to a sharp point. Grind both faces flat and thin. This takes 20-45 minutes of patient work.
Step 4. Drill the eye. Use a sharp stone flake or the tip of a knife to carefully bore a hole near the thick end. Rotate the tool back and forth — do not push through in one stroke or the bone will split. Drill from both sides to meet in the middle.
Step 5. Smooth the eye hole with a thin piece of sinew or fine sand. Rough edges inside the eye will cut your thread.
Warning
Bone needles are fragile. Store them in a protective case (a section of hollow reed or bone works well). Losing your only needle in a survival situation is a serious setback.
Awls
An awl is a thick, pointed bone tool used to punch holes in leather before sewing. Leather is too tough to push a bone needle through directly — the awl makes the hole, then the needle follows.
Making an awl: Split a leg bone lengthwise. Select a thick splinter 8-12 cm long. Grind one end to a strong, sharp point. Leave the other end thick for gripping. An awl takes 15-20 minutes to make and lasts indefinitely with care.
Scrapers and Fleshers
Flat bone pieces with one sharpened edge are used for scraping hides (removing fat and membrane). The advantage of bone over stone is that bone is less likely to cut through the hide accidentally.
Making a scraper: Select a broad, flat piece of shoulder blade (scapula) or rib. Grind one edge to a moderately sharp, slightly beveled edge. The edge should scrape, not slice.
Other Bone Tools
| Tool | Source Bone | How to Make | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishhook | Small splinter, rib | Carve J-shape, sharpen point, carve notch for line | Fishing |
| Pressure flaker | Antler tine, dense leg bone | Select a tine or splinter 10-15 cm long, round the tip | Flint knapping (shaping stone tools) |
| Chisel | Leg bone section | Split lengthwise, grind one end to a flat edge | Woodworking, carving |
| Buttons/toggles | Antler slices, flat bone | Cut cross-sections, drill holes | Clothing fasteners |
| Digging stick tip | Dense leg bone | Sharpen one end, lash to wooden shaft | Digging roots, planting |
| Gorge hook | Small bone splinter | Sharpen both ends, tie line to center | Fishing (primitive method) |
Sinew: The Strongest Natural Thread
Sinew (tendon) is the most versatile cordage material from an animal. It is stronger than any plant fiber of equivalent thickness, and when dried it shrinks and tightens, creating permanent lashings that need no knots.
Where to Find It
Two main sources on every large animal:
- Back sinew (backstrap tendon): Two long strips running along either side of the spine on the outside of the loin muscles. These are the longest, most useful pieces — up to 60 cm on a deer.
- Leg sinew (Achilles tendon): The thick tendon at the back of each lower leg. Shorter but very thick and strong.
Harvesting Sinew
Step 1. After skinning and butchering, locate the back sinew by feeling along the spine. It lies between the skin and the loin muscle, covered by a thin membrane.
Step 2. Peel the sinew strip free by sliding your fingers underneath and pulling. Use a knife only to free the ends. Try not to cut the sinew itself.
Step 3. For leg sinew, cut around the tendon at both ends (where it attaches to bone and muscle) and peel it free.
Step 4. Lay sinew strips on a flat surface to dry. They dry in 1-2 days into hard, translucent strips.
Using Sinew
Dried sinew must be processed before use:
As thread: Peel individual fibers from the dried strip. Moisten them in your mouth — wet sinew becomes flexible and easy to thread through a needle eye. As it dries, it shrinks and locks stitches tight. No knots needed at the end — the shrinkage holds.
As lashing: Wrap wet sinew strips around joints (spear point to shaft, axe head to handle). As it dries, it contracts and creates an iron-tight binding. Apply a coat of pine resin or hide glue over the dried sinew for waterproofing.
As bowstring: Twist multiple strands of sinew into a cord. A two-ply sinew bowstring is stronger than most plant-fiber cordage and more resistant to moisture.
Sinew Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Tensile strength | 2-4 times stronger than plant fiber of same diameter |
| Elasticity | Moderate — stretches under load, returns to shape |
| Water resistance | Poor when untreated — weakens when wet. Coat with fat or resin |
| Shelf life (dried) | Years if kept dry |
| Best applications | Sewing, lashing tool heads, bowstrings, snare triggers |
Hides: Beyond Skinning
Once a hide is removed and fleshed (see Skinning Methods), it needs to be processed into a usable material. The two basic options:
Rawhide (No Tanning)
Rawhide is simply a dried, untanned hide. It is stiff, hard, and extremely tough.
Step 1. Flesh the hide thoroughly — remove all fat, meat, and membrane.
Step 2. Stretch the hide on a frame (a rectangle of branches lashed together) or stake it to the ground, flesh-side-up.
Step 3. Let it dry completely in shade. Drying time: 2-7 days depending on thickness and humidity.
Uses for rawhide: Containers (parfleche), shield covers, drumheads, lashing material (cut into strips when slightly damp — it shrinks as it dries, creating permanent bindings), shoe soles, small boxes.
Brain Tanning (Soft Leather)
Every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide — a fact that indigenous peoples have known for millennia. Brain-tanned leather is soft, flexible, breathable, and comfortable against skin.
Step 1. Remove the hair. Soak the fleshed hide in a wood-ash solution (ash from hardwood fires mixed with water) for 2-5 days until the hair slips easily when pulled. Scrape all hair off with a bone or wood scraper.
Step 2. Prepare the brain solution. Mash the animal’s brain (or any brain — all work) into warm water until it forms a creamy paste. You need roughly the brain of the animal whose hide you are tanning.
Step 3. Soak the de-haired hide in the brain solution for several hours or overnight. Work the solution into the hide by hand, squeezing and kneading.
Step 4. Wring out the hide and begin working it. This is the labor-intensive step — you must stretch, pull, and flex the hide continuously as it dries. If any section dries without being worked, it stiffens permanently. Use a stake, rope, or frame edge to pull the hide back and forth.
Step 5. Smoke the finished hide over a smoldering fire (not open flame) for 1-2 hours. Smoking waterproofs the leather and prevents it from stiffening if it gets wet later. Use rotten wood or punky wood for dense, cool smoke.
Warning
Brain tanning is a multi-day process that requires constant attention during the drying/working phase. Plan for a full day of physical labor for a deer-sized hide. Do not attempt it when you have higher-priority survival tasks.
Fat and Tallow
Animal fat is critically valuable and often discarded by inexperienced hunters.
Rendering: Cut fat into small pieces and heat slowly in a container over low heat. The fat melts into liquid (tallow for hard fat, lard for soft fat). Strain through cloth to remove solids. Rendered fat stores for weeks or months without refrigeration.
| Use | Method |
|---|---|
| Cooking | Direct use as cooking oil/grease |
| Lamp fuel | Pour into a container with a fiber wick |
| Waterproofing | Rub into leather, wood, or cordage |
| Skin protection | Apply to skin to prevent chapping and windburn |
| Hide tanning | Mix with brains for tanning solution |
| Candles | Pour tallow into molds with wicks |
| Pemmican | Mix with dried meat and dried berries for long-term food storage |
Organs and Odd Parts
- Stomach: Cleaned and dried, serves as a waterproof container or cooking vessel (fill with water and hot stones for stone boiling).
- Bladder: Waterproof pouch for carrying water or storing rendered fat.
- Intestines: Cleaned, turned inside out, and dried — used as sausage casing or lightweight cordage.
- Blood: Mixed with fat and cooked as blood pudding. High in iron and protein. Can also be used to bind soil for simple adobe-like construction.
- Hooves and antler bases: Boil for hours to extract hide glue — a strong adhesive for tool-making and fletching.
Key Takeaways
- A properly utilized animal yields tools (bone), thread and lashing (sinew), clothing and shelter material (hide), fuel and waterproofing (fat), and containers (organs) — in addition to food.
- Bone needles and awls are essential for making fitted clothing from hides. Take time to make them well.
- Sinew is the strongest natural thread available. Harvest back and leg tendons from every large animal and dry them for future use.
- Brain tanning produces soft, wearable leather. Rawhide (untanned) is better for rigid applications like containers and lashing.
- Render all fat into tallow immediately — it is too valuable to waste and spoils quickly if not processed.
- Adopt the mindset: if you cannot name a use for a body part, you have not learned enough yet. Everything has a function.