Hello. I know nothing about bushcraft. Well, I've encountered some occasionally, and my Dad has tried to teach me his knot tying skills (but it keeps leaking out again), and obviously, I've watched Ray Mears' programmes. But in reality, I know nothing about bushcraft.
My first introduction to the subject was discovering a copy of 'How to Survive' by Brian Hildreth (Penguin, 1976) somewhere on a book shelf when I was a kid. I was most interested in the parts with diagrams of shelters and different kinds of fire, but never got much farther into it than that.
Then Mr Mears came along many years later and I could see someone actually doing this stuff. Very interesting, but still I was not moved to go out into the cold and damp. You see, I'm a creature of home comforts. I like soft living and while I can work as hard as the rest, I usually do so with the expectation of a hot shower to scrape the muck off at the end of the day. Living in it for days or weeks at a time never appealed.
So what are you doing here? Well, I'm still fascinated by the art - well, mostly the science - of bushcraft. I found this forum two years ago and asked about water purification, which then led on to a discussion about immunological rigour and the standards of cleanliness in modern society.
But what are you really doing here? I've decided to develop this nascent interest of many years into a proper hobby/past-time/thing what I does and see where it leads me, which could be nowhere, but I'll find out.
Okay, so who are you? You ready for the sob story? I turn 30 in two months and am unemployed (one of the very first casualties of the recession, too, so I've got tenure!). I would like to say that this experience has not rocked my boat, but in all honesty, I may be slightly insane right now. Judging from this post, that might mean multiple personality disorder. Shut up. No, you shut up. My saving grace? No wife or kids to pay for, although there are 3 dogs in the equation, which is a lot like having 3 highly mobile, furry toddlers around your ankles all the time.
I live in Warrington, Cheshire, about five minutes drive from the Ferry pub where I often go to look at boats.
Yeah, whatever. So what's with this username? Oh, I don't know! It's so hard to dream up unique usernames these days. I think I once read a website that listed Roman names and this one was supposed to mean 'dark haired' or something like that. As a literal description, it appealed to me (I ain't blonde). Also because a quick google revealed very little about it. So there you have it. But if you ever meet me in the horrible flesh, it's Mike.
My first introduction to the subject was discovering a copy of 'How to Survive' by Brian Hildreth (Penguin, 1976) somewhere on a book shelf when I was a kid. I was most interested in the parts with diagrams of shelters and different kinds of fire, but never got much farther into it than that.
Then Mr Mears came along many years later and I could see someone actually doing this stuff. Very interesting, but still I was not moved to go out into the cold and damp. You see, I'm a creature of home comforts. I like soft living and while I can work as hard as the rest, I usually do so with the expectation of a hot shower to scrape the muck off at the end of the day. Living in it for days or weeks at a time never appealed.
So what are you doing here? Well, I'm still fascinated by the art - well, mostly the science - of bushcraft. I found this forum two years ago and asked about water purification, which then led on to a discussion about immunological rigour and the standards of cleanliness in modern society.
But what are you really doing here? I've decided to develop this nascent interest of many years into a proper hobby/past-time/thing what I does and see where it leads me, which could be nowhere, but I'll find out.
Okay, so who are you? You ready for the sob story? I turn 30 in two months and am unemployed (one of the very first casualties of the recession, too, so I've got tenure!). I would like to say that this experience has not rocked my boat, but in all honesty, I may be slightly insane right now. Judging from this post, that might mean multiple personality disorder. Shut up. No, you shut up. My saving grace? No wife or kids to pay for, although there are 3 dogs in the equation, which is a lot like having 3 highly mobile, furry toddlers around your ankles all the time.
I live in Warrington, Cheshire, about five minutes drive from the Ferry pub where I often go to look at boats.
Yeah, whatever. So what's with this username? Oh, I don't know! It's so hard to dream up unique usernames these days. I think I once read a website that listed Roman names and this one was supposed to mean 'dark haired' or something like that. As a literal description, it appealed to me (I ain't blonde). Also because a quick google revealed very little about it. So there you have it. But if you ever meet me in the horrible flesh, it's Mike.
