The Early Years

S

siguy

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Aug 26, 2006
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these pictures were taken the same summer that i read My Side of the Mountain , when i first was inspired to get out in the woods (which was also the first time i was inspired to want a knife).

that summer, when i turned 8 years old, my uncle (freshly in the air force at that time) bought me the smallest set of BDUs he could find. i was still swimming in them. i wore them constantly though.

in the first one, you can see that i am wearing my BDU pants with a fisherman's hat, along with my utility belt. the belt was an old leather belt with two pouches on it: the backpocket from my dad's jeans, as well as a sock.
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a better shot of my utility belt:
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here you can see the winter boots that i wore all summer...
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here i'm sitting playing with a tiny plastic tree...
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hope you enjoyed, and happy holidays everyone!!
 
rambo kinda had a similar affect on me, so , unfortunatly enough, my main use knife back in the day was a rambo knock-off.
 
THis thread brings back many memories! Yes i too loved My Side of the Mountain, and also was a Rambo freak! Soo cool... Happy Holidays all!
 
Thanks for the post. I also loved that book when I was younger. I recently picked up the trilogy all in one volume. It was cool to read it again (and the sequels, which I had never read).
 
I still have my 18th printing (April 1969) of My Side of the Mountain that I got from the school book club when I was ten. That's when it all started for me too. :D

Jeff
 
thanks for the comments everyone. i still break out my side every once in a while for a read through...my copy is looking a little haggard though.

farnsrocket, i do! i had forgot about that until you just mentioned it. i owned several from that series. it took me until i was through the 6th or 7th one for me to figure out just what a boxcar was...someone showed me a picture. i had imagine a really huge packing crate before then...
 
My side of the mountain was one of my insperations. My fifth grade teacher read it to the class, I was hooked. That was back in 1975.
 
Great pics! Thanks for sharing them.

My Side of the Mountain was a great book. I used to read it to my students when we were studying different biomes.

For outdoor survival books for kids, I'd suggest a series by Gary Paulsen. Hatchet is the first one where a kid crash lands in the Canadian forests and has to survive with the aid of his hatchet. There are a few sequels but the best one in my experience is one called Brian's Winter where he has to stay put through the fall and winter. Great read and it could be the thing to get a 4th or 5th grader thinking about heading outdoors.
 
Great pics!

my first book was Bradford Angier "how to stay alive in the woods". Used to be my dads, i still got it, its pretty frayed though.
 
Aww!! How cute.:D:p

Great pics Simon. I dont have any of me anymore. They were lost in a fire. You see a long time ago, digital cameras and computers didnt exist.:eek: No back ups either, so Jake as a youngster is lost forever.

Reminds me though, I was a BDU freak too. I would tramp around in my OD BDUs all day every day. I had a duck hunting vest I wore all the time too. I was SUPER into Army Surplus gear. I wish I still had some of that stuff. I had gas masks from WW2, ammo cans, BDUs, a really impressive patch collection, Berets, Bayonets, medals, all sorts of stuff. My father was a retired Marine, and fueled my gear obsession early.

Brings back memories of playin in the woods, reading boys life, and building forts with my SAK Tinker. Great memories. Thanks for bringin em back.:thumbup:
 
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