Primitive Technology

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Primitive Technology is a YouTube channel run by and starring John Plant. Based in Far North Queensland, Australia, the series demonstrates the process of making tools and buildings using only materials found in the wild. Created in May 2015, the channel has gained over 7 million subscribers and over 500 million views as of May 2018.

Video Primitive Technology

Background

Plant describes his subject as a hobby, and he lives in a modern house and eats modern food. He stated in a comment on a January 2018 video that he owns the land on which he films the videos. He states on his website that he has no Aboriginal ancestry and has not received training from the Australian Army.

In a correspondence with Michelle Castillo of CNBC in 2017, he stated that he was in his mid 30s. He also said he went to university and received a Bachelor of Science degree but "didn't do anything with it", and instead mowed lawns for a living while making Primitive Technology videos on the side. He stated his affinity for subsisting off of nature began at a young age: at 11, he would make huts by a creek behind his house using only natural materials.

Maps Primitive Technology

Description

Each video guides viewers through the progress of one or more projects demonstrating the techniques and methods he uses to create tools or buildings. As he explains on his blog, he builds "completely from scratch using no modern tools or materials", only using what he can source from his natural environment, such as plant materials, clay, soil, and stones. Episodes of the series contain no speaking, and only minimal ambient sound. Text descriptions of actions on-screen appear in the closed-caption feature.

Primitive Technology: Tiled Roof Hut - YouTube

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History

Plant created the Primitive Technology channel in May 2015. The first video was uploaded on 1 May 2015. Since that time, each of his videos has garnered millions of views. The channel amassed over 5.4 million subscribers and over 350 million views by September 2017. As of April 2018 it has over 7.6 million subscribers and over 530 million views.

For the first two years of the channel's existence the man in the videos remained anonymous. In June 2017 he identified himself as John Plant when he complained to Facebook that his videos were being stolen as a result of people reposting them on the website, and that the practice had cost him thousands of Australian dollars.