what did everyone think then?

[Gary]

 

[JakeR]

I know what you mean Gary, i kinda like collecting knives for their beauty and enjoy using lots of them, i wouldnt buy a knife not to use it, but i still like collecting! (My Bison Bushcraft is in the post) ):

 

[Stew]

In these cases I find it better to run THEN laugh. At least you're a safe distance away...):

From the sound of it, if he had laughed before running, the fella wouldn't have been able to catch him anyway!!

 

[Paganwolf]

does that mean i have to take your birthday prezzie back then kim! :rolmao: so you know the shiney suits im on about then Gary and Bison Bushcraft knife, I have the Bushcraft and have another custom jobby coming from Roger, I love it to bits ive got plenty of knives (aint we all :?: ) but the bison is class as is the Guy who makes them

 

[boaty]

To give an example: my brother is a bricklayer and I've seen him do very good work with seriously rubbish equipment when he had to. It may have took him longer (and involved a lot more swearing) than if he had his own tools but because he really knows his stuff he can still do a high standard of work.

Excellent point!

A point related to this is that it is very hard for a beginner to learn new skills with rubbish kit - very often bad habits are formed to compensate for the faults in the equipment (for example, I've fought hard wi' t'committee to allow the beginners I've taught to row to have access to decent boats)

Course, really excellent kit doesn't have to cost a fortune; my favourite example is the Swedish Army Trangia - simply the best!!

 

[Paganwolf]

I bought a swedish mess kit from Gary at Bearclaw, Excellent service it all came the next day, ive used it a couple of times very good bit of kit i agree with you completely ..

 

[Kim]

does that mean i have to take your birthday prezzie back then kim! :rolmao:

There is nothing in this dimension that could separate me from my bivi bag Mister, so don't even think about it.

Re Knives, there does seem to be an ethos around bushcraft that it's the one must have, hence the onus placed on them. It was really good to watch Ray's programme and see alternatives being used. Of course, a knife is one of those items that you'd much rather be with than without, but to place too much faith in any one piece of equipment is to underestimate your own self reliance, and that's a mistake, because when all else fails the one tool you're left with is you and it's best you get to know that one first.

 

[Gary]

Wise word! :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

 

[Paganwolf]

There is nothing in this dimension that could separate me from my bivi bag Mister, so don't even think about it.

I was talking about the white stilettos i bought you :rolmao: there goes the surprise :shock: ill never understand my self if the psychiatrists cant do it then what chance do i stand :?: but as usual you are totally right human nature is to adapt and overcome, when i was a maintenance supervisor my favorite quote was "cant we make one" and you know what we usually did , may be interesting to go out and try and make say a bow or hand drill set with no tools just what you find

 

[Gary]

Paganwolf think back (all those years - know its hard) to when you were a sprog - did you take saws and axes and knives out with you to build a camp in the woods? Did you need the latest great fire making machine to light a fire?

Was it fun in those days?

Here is a thought (yes smoke is coming from my ears) maybe in over complicating things we take away a lot of the fun and the surprise - would our pleasure at building a good shelter be greater if we didnt have a high tech bivi bag to fall back on? Would our confidence be swelled or lessened if we could carve a bow drill set and light a fire without a knife be it a £10 frosts or a £200 whatnot?

 

[Kim]

Sod the philosophy, I'm not making a bow drill with my teeth, I'm taking a bloomin knife with me): ): ):

 

[Paganwolf]

True

 

[Roving Rich]

Blyme, talk about a thread getting side tracked !
We live in a consumer society, no 2 ways about it. Hence we are all obsessed with new toys, myself included.
If we only learn one thing from Rays series then it should be we don't need the latest gadget, we can live happily without it. It was not always this way.

Now i'm off down the shops to get some new batteries for my gore tex knife sheath warmer ):

Rich

 

[JakeR]

Re Knives, there does seem to be an ethos around bushcraft that it's the one must have, hence the onus placed on them. It was really good to watch Ray's programme and see alternatives being used. Of course, a knife is one of those items that you'd much rather be with than without, but to place too much faith in any one piece of equipment is to underestimate your own self reliance, and that's a mistake, because when all else fails the one tool you're left with is you and it's best you get to know that one first.

I knew Gary would love that!

Good point though Gary, about the woods when you were younger, i think as we grow up we need more things to entertain us. Our minds become less amazed by simple things, because we except more things as mundane. This isnt a bad thing though IMO.

 

[Adi007]

GoreTex knife sheath warmer ... I want one!

 

[JakeR]

Perfect for winter days! Careful Adi, don't start thinking about another Kydex project

 

[jakunen]

I knew Gary would love that!

Good point though Gary, about the woods when you were younger, i think as we grow up we need more things to entertain us. Our minds become less amazed by simple things, because we except more things as mundane. This isnt a bad thing though IMO.

Not necessarily true.

For me one of the greatest things in life is finding wonder in simple things, the sunrise over the Sahara when I'm doing a camel safari, finding a rare orchid or other flower half way up a mountain in Slovenia, the azure lightning flash of a kingfisher hurtling upstream, watching a dipper feeding its young by Lough Erne in County Donegal, seeing an otter playing in the stream.

Yeah, I've got a kitchen full of gadgets, I've got a number of computers in the house that I've networked together, etc., but for me getting out into the countryside and seeing these natural sights just reminds me how cluttered modern life is, and recharges my soul to face the world of IT again. it's the modern world I find mundane, the natural world still delights the child in me.

 

[JakeR]

Misunderstood...I agree that those things are absolute joys, the real simple joys, but when it comes to enjoying neature in the sense Gary mentioned i think it is harder to do so without a good knife! (IMO anyway). Those things you mentioned are rare, and so we dont have the feeling of "mundaneness" as it were. Its only with the things that we enjoy often.

:biggthump

 

[jakunen]

Ok, may be I did take it a bit too literally. But even so, even things that I enjoy on a regular basis I don't personally find mundane, probably due to my nature of being an artisan at heart. But you can enjoy the thinsg Gary mentioned without modern tools as Ray showed.

As a kid growing up in the wilds of Kent, we did build shelters using flint or glass tools, yes even back in the 70s the countryside was littered, and ok, as we didn't knwo any better we just used to break off branches but we were kids who hadn't been tought how much damage we were doing to the trees.
Even only 10 years ago I did the same. Going away for a couple of days with the very bare minimum I could carry in my pockets, using natural tools and building a shelter, sleeping in a natural bed of bracken and heather, and foraging and fishing. It's only now that I carry a good knife every time I go out into the wilds.

I do sometimes long to camp that way again, but I've grown too used to my creature comforts - thermarest, sleeping bag, etc.
Maybe we shoudl let the child in us out once in a while and camp rough now-and-again to regain those heady, innocent days.

Coo, I'm feeling quite wistful now...

 

[al]

collecting pine resin the other day took me back to thetford forest when i was a boy,making dens and finding a suitable stick to go and shoot german paratroopers with or darthvaders storm troopers, better than any video game ,as for the kit thing i watched a doc about the weta workshop people from the lord of the rings team , real craftsmen ,very talented people and very interesting but found myself drawn to the different swannis in the backgrounds etc which anoyed me ,think we`re all guilty of it at times, but then the people at grimes graves wouldnt turn down a numatic drill would they,cheers