Many years ago, there was a story about a guy who went back to nature with his family, in the "Foxfire" series of books, if I am not mistaken. They lead as primitive a lifestyle as one can imagine, high up in the mountains of Northern California. In the series, he shared pretty much all the aspects of how he had done it, right down to how he made the little bit of money he needed. I have no idea how his story ended, but, he chose a flintlock rifle, because it limited the store bought aspects of his shooting to about nill. He could and did produce his own powder, and a receipe was included for those wanting to try it. Seems to me he recovered one ingredient from the ashes in his fires. He also noted that he had found a green stone about the size of a baseball near a river bottom, that made excellent spark. He later learned it was jade, and quite valuable, but, was mostly consumed by that point. He really didn't care, either.
He had a wife, and kids, and I have often wondered how the story ended. He had been at it for about a decade when the story was published.
Best,
Ted
