How did you get into WIlderness skills/bushcraft/survival?

Brian Jones

Brian Jones

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What inspired you? In another thread, Trent Rock, a BFC member, posted this hilarious and entertaining story about his first knives, how his tastes changed, and how Johnny Rambo got him interested in survival. Some of you have seen it. It got me thinking: what first caught your attention and got you interested in this?

Here's Trent's post:

Trent's 4th Shank (Ode to Johnny Rambo)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5283057&postcount=1
 
I guess my answer is simple, my love for the outdoors since my childhood as a Boy Scout. Getting older, guns, knives and hunting.
Scott
 
I have always loved the outdoors, but this place has exposed me to more things than the previous 39 years, as sad as that may sound. Been doing a lot of lurking here, and a lot of trying the things mentioned here on my own. All I can say is:

Thanks all! :thumbup:
 
i have hunted many of the last wild places on earth, one day i was alone on the alaskan tundra i realized that i needed to know more about how to take care of myself and my family on these trips. i read some books , bought ron hoods tapes, started to check out these forums. the knowledge grew from all the good folks that share on the various forums, went into the woods and learned about fire and shelter by myself, taught my children to take care in the woods. there is a never ending amount of information no matter how much you learn there is always more.

i did not fall into the trap of the mega-survival knife but looked at what others were carrying bought a couple of the beckers to try, bought a couple of the moras to try, bought a couple of saks to try, bought a couple of machetes to try, a woodsmans pal, gransfors hunters axe, my hunting blades changed, having field dressed an elk with a leatherman on one occasion when i lost my fixed blade, i started carrying a couple of different knives. liked the knives of alaska brown bear combo as a good pair of blades that will do my tasks, they have been my companions over the past few years, i have used a couple of tents and shelters over the years many supplied by outfitters. i still have not decided what i would like best for a tent but some of the kifaru models look good to me.

i always have a one handed trekker in my pocket and a military match attached for my basic gear.

my story,

alex
 
I grew up hunting and fishing and running around in the woods. I feel pretty comfortable in the woods and wild places, however, after joining BFC and tripping on WIlderness and Survival Skills, I realized how under-prepared I am when I go off the beaten path! Always a knife or two on me, but not much else. Hell, before I started lurking here, I had no idea what a PSK was or that anyone even carried one!
So I guess I owe my interest in wilderness and survival skills to the members of this forum that make it so interesting. Most of the topics brought up are interesting and pertinent and worth reading. So thanks, guys for keeping it fun! :thumbup: -Matt-
 
Grew up hunting and fishing. I've spent alot of time in the big woods of northern Michigan and the U.P.
 
Growing up in Colorado, I camped, hiked, hunted and fished a lot. I used to think nothing of hiking the Continental Divide and not seeing anyone else for days. Survival was natural, at 14,000 ft there wasn’t anyone else around to help you. No cell phones, GPS or PLB’s back then either.
Always carried a SAK. The bigger the better!

When First Blood came out, well, I had to have one of those knives! I couldn’t afford a Lile, so as soon as Buck came out with the 184, I had one. What a boat anchor. I loved it!
The SAK rode along in the front pouch though, got used more than the big Buck.

Lived in Utah and Washington state at times. Variations on the outdoor theme I had known.

Long story short, came to live in Alaska years ago. Thought I knew all about ‘survival’. Thought I knew about hiking, hunting and fishing too. Ha!

This was a WAY different deal than I was used to.
First off, I had never carried a gun with me when I backpacked or hiked before. There aren’t too many animals that can easily kick your *ss in the states. So, up here I always have my lightweight .44mag with me. {Had a .50 cal at one time, wasn’t man enough for it!}
The good thing is that we don’t have anything poisonous that bites or stings here.

The Altitude here is easy compared to the Divide, but everything else is much harder. For one thing, you really can use a machete up here!
Weather can be really horrible.
Some animals view you as lunch.
Mistakes can get you killed really fast here.

It’s great!

The thrill of wilderness/bushcraft/survival got really stoked again once I moved here.

Through the years my knives have gone from small,[SAK], to large, [184], to smaller again. Most of my fixed blades are around 4”. My current fixes are a Benchmade 152 Ritter, Fallkniven TK2, a couple of RATS, a Talonite blade, machetes and so on. I did feel the need for a larger knife recently, {shades of Rambo?}, so I bought a Fehrman Last Chance.

Brian, you were right, this is a great, great knife.

Once a year me and a couple of friends go out and spend a few nights with just our knives and survival kits. No tents, sleeping bags or packs.

It totally sucks and is miserable.

The 4” knives work just fine thank you.

It’s like Survivorman without the camera gear.

The memories are great and the skills improve every time.
 
Jeepnut22 said:
I have always loved the outdoors, but this place has exposed me to more things than the previous 39 years, as sad as that may sound. Been doing a lot of lurking here, and a lot of trying the things mentioned here on my own. All I can say is:

Thanks all! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hey Jeepnut - I think 2400+ posts suggests you've been contributing a lot more than lurking!!!

Personally I always loved nature and became convinced that I would become a scientist at a very early age (around 5 or 6). At first I was to become a geologist, then a paleontologist, then it was Jacque Cousteau. Eventually I became a freshwater biologist and now am getting into marine ecology (Jacque wins!).

My best friend and I at age 7 would spend every minute we could in the small forest around our town. We did the usual goofy things like trying to hunt squirrels with regular playing darts (these seemed to work better then paper airplanes with a nail taped to the front end); fashoning a rather successful trap using an old parakeet cage that we found in my friends attic. The problem isn't so much as catching the squirrel as it is getting a very angry squirrel out of a parakeet cage...

My uncle Paul was the outdoorsman of our family and he introduced me to a 22 rifle, a 410 shotgun (which I always screwed up by calling it in his presence a 10-4 shotgun), dirt biking and fishing. Unfortunately he died at the early age of 42 and when I was about 11. He was the marlborough man to me though and I'll never forget him.

My parents then divorced and I moved to northern Ontario with my mother. As soon as I turned sixteen I got my hunting license, bought my own 22 and stepped up to a single shot 12 gage shotgun. I had a bunch of buddies that loved to camp. We outfitted ourselves with really old army surplus gear and took on the world - and all of its back flies. Oh yeah - I did buy one of those $6 rambo knives with the hollow plastic handle topped with a compass. I don't remember whatever happened to it, but it became aparent even in my youth that is was junk right after I bought it.

In highschool I got involved in martial arts, and my instructor was really into winter camping which he introduced and mentored me in. I was able save up for 2 U.S. army -25oC down sleeping bags which I put together and slept on top of three of those blue foam sleeping pads. We slept in a lean to fashioned with spruce bows. We pulled our gear on tobogans and I fashoned my harness from a weightlifting belt I had. Those camping trips in Northern Ontario still really stick with me. I remember during our winter camping, my TKD instructor pulling out his buck 119, which looked very different to the knock-off swiss army knife I was used to. I asked him about it, and he just said - this is a real knife. I sure as heck couldn't afford a $40 knife so I remained in awe of his cutlery for about 10 years until I bought my own 119. I still think his words ring true about the 119.

When I was in graduate school, I fell in love with backpacking and too many girls. I lived in Winnipeg, which had great parks on its eastern and western borders. One of the cool things was that when you went east on the border of Ontario, you found yourself in the Whiteshell park, a typical Canadian Shield area with cold, clear waters, granite rock faces and pine trees. When I decided to go to west, bording on Saskatchewan - Riding Mountain, was a completely different ecosystem with swamps and wildlife teaming with elk. Both parks were within a 2 to 2.5 hour drive, just different directions.

So after buying the 119, and then a delica and then a bad experience with a a Schrade I went to the internet to research the next step on cutlery. I found this site and have learned a bunch since. It is really great to converse with other members with similar interests, greatrespect for the outdoors and a willingess to share their experiences and knowledge!
 
My dad and grandad always used to take me hiking.

When I was a kid going on hikes was one of the recreational things we did. We never had a lot of $$ so a lot of times we'd go hiking on the weekend my brother, mom, dad and I. He'd also take us swimming or we'd go to museums or historical sites in the state. Every Sunday just about we'd go shooting.

My dad was never much into camping but he loved hunting and we started tent camping out where we deer hunted all the first week of the season and I think that's what got me into camping.

Then I was in college in Forestry and that exposed me to backpacking and stuff but of course back then I didn't have any cash for any equiptment. Always amazes me how much money even poor college students have these days. I still have my 27 year old K Mart Tent we used to carry back in places:thumbup: We stayed in it on our honeymoon too!

After we graduated and got jobs the wife and I started backpacking, and of course where we live now several hundreds of acres of woods right behind and across the road from the house.:D
 
my dad spent about 24 years in the army... he is a hardcore outdoorsman and has always taught me about being prepared... i grew up useing knives and guns.. we camped, fished and hunted regularly...:o
 
I spent a lot of years in the Boy Scouts, then camping and hiking with my friends. I also have spent my entire life fishing from the bank so I've always had a bit of a hike to go fishing.

I also spent a bit of time in the military. Formal survival training comes in handy.... :)

I enjoy being prepared and having the right tools for the job.
 
Well, my back yard as a boy was woods in S. Louisianna, and my summers were spent on my grandad's place in Mississippi. Then there was the Boy Scouts.
 
Talking to and being around some of the Native American people in North Georgia. Most of them were mixed White and Cherokee. One of them took me around Dahlonega and showed me all of what was his ancestor's land. He also showed me craft skills and some leather work. I pretty much went out and found these natives and asked them a bunch of questions. I would talk to them for a good while. Well, they did most of the talking. From one man I learned about the traditional Native American meaning of animals. That's what led me into nature. It's very tied in with the Native culture in so many ways. Then I took things a step further and took some survival classes.
 
One Christmas when I was around 8 or so my Dad bought me a Bowie knife kit and we sat at the table and put it together that day. We also made a fringed leather sheath for it (if I remember correctly the fringe came from slicing up a pair of my mom's mocassins!) and I've been hooked ever since. That knife now resides happily in a drawer.
 
My Oldman was an avid outdoorsman and would take me backpack hunting for two weeks a year upstate NY by Big Moose near Stillwater at a place called Little Rapids, we had a Doctor friend that owned the property and he would fly us up at the end of the year to close up his lodge and we'd pack out for two weeks of sustenance, (not sure if I spelled it right) huntin' and hikin'.

Did it with him for seven years, till he died when I was 15, on the same plane that flew us up there.

I learned a lot in those seven years and I've always lived in a rural area which gave me the opportunity to practice my skills and later teach them to my daughter.

Those things and the desire to survive when everything goes wrong brought into it.
 
I've just always been drawn to the beauty and solitude of the woods and the beauty and utility of knives. The rest has been a natural progression.
 
I think my main inspiration came from watching a guy called Les Hiddins (otherwise known as the Bush Tucker Man) on TV as a kid. Hiddens was an officer in the Australian Army who was assigned to research survival in Australia's north, and he made a series of really interesting programs about it. The emphasis was on finding edible plants in the bush, but he'd also talk about finding water, the dangers of crocodiles etc. Hiddins came across as this very down to earth knockabout type of guy, but he was also very knowledgable in his area, often describing plants in significant detail and giving their scientific names. The other thing about the shows was that there was always plenty of panoramic shots of Australia's wilderness taken from a helicopter, which I think was very inspiring to me as a kid living in the suburbs.

For those interested, there's at least one Bush Tucker Man episode available on google video, here:

http://video.google.com.au/videopla...=36&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=5
 
My father is a real mountian man, He has had me & my brother in the woods (hiking, hunting ,fishing, camping,traping) since we were about 5yrs old (32 now) I've been hunting by myself since I was about 10yrs old;) So I feel pretty good when I'm in the bush ! Then this forum has helped alot ! I've learned a lot from here :thumbup:
 
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