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I just bought a socketed billhook like the one that's hopefully shown in the picture below. I can find a handle easily enough. Can anyone give me a tip on how to fit it in a way that will give me confidence? Friction fit alone seems risky. The only time I did one I banged in a little nail above...

I'm staying with my girlfriend at her grandparents place a couple of hundred miles from Shanghai and I thought I'd post in here because I came across some stuff that no one but people on here would be interested in. Ha ha! The grandparents are old school rural people, so they largely live off...

https://youtu.be/RV20kM85GUY I'm going to post quite a bit here in this thread, so that some information is built up about bushcraft and traditional skills in China on here for people's reference. There's very little about. It will take a little while. Perhaps the most directly relevant bit of...

Hi all, this question is just for fun, really. I'm heading back out to my favourite spot in rural China again tomorrow afternoon, and am pondering how to make best use of the time there. Here's the question: If you spent a week in isolated, mountainous, forested countryside, and could pay a...

Hi there, I pop into the forum once in a while when I have something to ask, or I've been somewhere worth talking about. I've just spent a few days up in the mountains of northern Guangdong province, and thought I would share a little about it. The last two years I did trips to Guizhou province...

Hi there, I might be about to go on my second trip in as many months. My friends have invited me to join them for a week in Krabi, Thailand. I've never been there, so if anyone has any tips I'd be grateful. It's last minute (if I'm going it'll be wednesday!), so I don't have much time for...

Hi there! I used to be fairly regular on here, but haven't had the chance to get out much the last few years. The last ten days I was on a holiday/ trip in the south east of guizhou province, china. That area is well known for having a lot of ethnic minorities, forests, mountains, rivers, and...

Hi there, everyone. I posted before about a billhook I bought in China. I'm back out there again, and in the mood for tooling up. My billhook stayed in the UK, so I'll pick up a new one when I find a good source, but I'm also considering asking a blacksmith (assuming I find one) to make...

I just took these photos of hawkmoth caterpillars in the back garden and thought someone might want to see. Their camouflage is, frankly, staggering. From six feet away my first thought was that I was looking at a snake, then in a split second I saw that it wasn't long enough and thought that...

I've never used a bench grinder to sharpen or reprofile before, and was hoping someone could give me a couple of tips. I had a go at this adze today and it was harder than I expected. I had a practise on a tatty old axe first, and kept getting little dings while I was grinding it, even when...

This guy's work has had a brief mention on the forum before, but I thought I'd do a kind of mini review for those that aren't familiar with him. I borrowed it from the library, and it makes a really good read. As you can see from the chapter headings below, it's very comperehensive, but perhaps...

Not much of a thread, just thought someone might want to see what quinine looks like, and maybe ID a plant that Kenyans use for indigestion/ stomach upsets. They said that they still use quinine for malaria, though they said malaria isn't a problem locallly. They take it as an infusion. It looks...

Just thought I'd show you this because it seemed odd to me. I got it on holiday in Kenya, in a supermarket, for 60p. It seems like a decent quality knife, though I haven't sharpened it up or put it to the test yet. It's the same as the ones that people there use to take the tops off coconuts, so...

This is an adze I bought from someone near the hotel I was at in Mombasa last week. He was about 75, and still working at his little shop. Loads of people offered hand made keyrings with your name engraved on them, and they were all made by him. He also did small carvings, and used a pair of...

I've just got back from a fortnight in Mombasa on holiday, and thought I'd tell you all about a few outdoorsy-related things. I'll do a separate post about an adze I bought there under edged tools. Without leaving the hotel it was possible to see animals like yellow weaver birds, camouflaged...

<A HREF=http://www.guardian.co.uk>click here to go there</A>

Like Draven I'm interested in getting into air rifle shooting and was wondering if there's anyone locally (I'm in Cottingham) that could point me in the right direction or help me get a foot in the door. I'm going to ask in the air rifle club that I used to shoot at when I was a teenager about...

This article is about a Brasilian tribe that was found by an overflying plane. Amazing! The next time they flew over the people had painted themselves red and were brandishing weapons. I think it's brilliant that the Brasilian government tries to leave them alone, but all the same I'd love to...

Get lost (why I intend to) I've been thinking about why it is that throughout my life I've had this desire to go into the wilds and have adventures, and have come to the conclusion that it’s some sort of primal urge within me, and that I need to do it for the urge to be satisfied. Has anyone...

Is where? I should have added a question mark, to the title but I thought this would lure more of you into my trap! I say europe, rather than the world, because I want to go for an extended trip this summer (5 weeks?), but don't want to cause loads of pollution by flying to china or brasil...