Who Taught or Inspired You?

[pitdog]

I used to walk the dogs with my dad and he'd get me picking mushrooms and blewits, sometimes the dogs would catch a rabbit or pheasant and we'd take that home. He'd also get me collecting chestnuts and taught me about different birds and their eggs.
He also bought me my first knife, a cheap pocket knife that came with a water bottle, compass and pair of toy Binoculars ! I soon lost the knife and my grandad replaced it with a Victorinox SAK which I still have !!!!

This was my first dog, Jake a Cocker spaniel.....

And this is a young Pit( don't laugh ) with one of his favourite dogs Barnie the Airedale.....

This was the dog that caught the most rabbits, Coco a Bedlington terrier, don't let the looks fool ya he was mean and lightening fast !

And this was my first camping trip with my own family.....

Thanks for taking me down memory lane !

 

[SouthernCross]

Personally, my Father, Uncles, Brother in law and several Aboriginal elders.

Each contributed in their own way to my knowledge & love of the outdoors :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick

 

[AJ]

My father and maternal grandfather (who's mother was full-blooded Anishinabe). I learned woodscraft and hunting Native American-style. Spent almost all of my waking time as a youth in the woods.

AJ

 

[Todd A]

My Dad, Grandpa, and my Uncle and cousins who would come up from Georgia to visit every summer. Plus books, lots of books.

When I was 8 my parents built a house on land from my Grandparents. I took to the woods instantly, between my land, my families land, and a neighbor who bordered ours I had over 150 acres of woods,fields, logging roads, and streams as my playground.

My Dad encouraged me to love the outdoors. And I would strap on my GI canteen, Cub scout knife, axe, a book of paper matches, pellet rifle,and a bag lunch and disapear from dawn till dusk "out back". Every birthday and Christmas would bring me a new pack,tent,boots, mess kit..etc.

Now all grown up (sorta ) I am lucky enough to have my own few acres to play in, plus a lot of public land close by. And my son is happy to join me as my hiking/camping buddy.

 

[KintlaLake]

I'm grateful to my Scoutmaster, may he rest in peace, who many years ago patiently "kept it real" while leading a bunch of farm kids through the woods of northeastern Ohio and the mountains of New Mexico.

My thanks to a Montana smoke jumper with whom I became acquainted 31 summers ago. When he wasn't riding his Harley or making hot spots cold, this latter-day mountain man was sharing his woods knowledge with me.

Sears, Kephart, Hart...

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

I've learned something from all my family in one form or another.
I picked Poke, Plantain, Tangle Gut, Rhubarb, Ginseng and a bunch of other stuff with my grandmothers. Canning meat, vegetables, etc...
I fished, camped and learned to shoot with my dad.
I hunted with my uncles.
My grandfathers taught me trees, how to tell when it was going to rain by the trees, the smell of the air, etc...and a bunch of other stuff as well as knives and how sharpen my own.
An old man that used to visit my grandfather and bring my uncle catfish every summer taught me about listening to squirrels to tell you the location of deer.

The rest I've picked up on my own through trial and error and reading. I've always been a big reader. I also thank God for my vivid, detailed imagination and the ability to create stuff that comes from it. That has come in handy more than once.

I think the movie "First Blood" had a little to do with it too. It had been out for a few years before I saw it the first time. After that my dad bought me one of those "survival knife" kits (you know the one I'm talking about: hollow plastic or aluminum handle, etc...) and I stayed in the hills with it.

Now people call me when they have questions about what to do with a hide they're going to have tanned or what good knives are on the market. My nephews are begging to go camping with me (my camping, not their parents idea of camping--which involves a camper and a propane grill), my 4 year old son is playing with fire bows and has a plastic toy knife he carries around in an old sheath.

You f--kers don't do anything but depress me... (j/k)

Actually cats like Tony, Kevin and Joezilla are kinda in the bin in the back of my mind marked: "Dudes who just flat rock out with their c--k out."

 

[silenthunterstudios]

My father was always a woods walker, I picked up bits and pieces from him. It was never about the gear, just having a good time outside. Simplicity is the rule, and it has gotten him through since he was a kid. I love the gear and knives and guns, but all it comes down to is just getting out and having fun. You can do it with a Mora, or a custom whatchamacallit, but just make sure you have a good time.

I do have to admit, the old man has been right from day one. When I was looking at the latest auto, he was of the opinion that they looked like a couple boxes one on top the other, that the old timey revolvers had character.

A simple folder, a Schrade sharpfinger and an old Sunnys Suprlus German Mauser. Since he was a kid.

 

[fujita yuji]

Thanks for starting this great thread, Iboschi.

I learned how to use a knife, chisel, hand plane, saw, and other tools from my father.
Later on, more blade techniques from here WSS forum.
For metal working tools I learned by myself.

Wilderness and outdoor skills were learned through my own mistakes, some of them
were obtained by observing wildlife, for example where to put my feet on wind packed
steep snow slope. I learned it by observing animal track.

 

[valcas1]

Without a doubt, the man that inspired and taught me to appreciate everything outdoors was and is “My Dad” Peter J. Valkavich. I can remember from a very young age my father telling me stories about his adventures as a young boy growing up in Brooklyn NY, not what one would call the wilderness? My father at a very young boy would ride his bicycle from Brooklyn to salt marshes of Jamaica bay, there he would lie in the salt hay and watch migratory birds on the mud flats as the tide receded. He would lie still in the marsh and try to listen to the sounds of the shore birds or watch the spectacle of the black ducks silver wings as they landed into the flocks of feeding birds. He told me how he was always in trouble for coming home late for dinner. It seems his mother just couldn’t understand.

As a school boy he would bring his trusty 20 Ga. model 12 shotgun to school, broken down in a canvas bag. It would be stored in the shop teachers’ office and retrieved after his school day was over. From there he and a buddy would take the elevated train to the marsh and fill that canvas bag with oysters and a limit of ducks before the sun went down.

My dad was quite a woodsman hunting the Catskills for whitetail deer his whole life. But what he taught me the most was how to survive and thrive on the island that we lived. Long Island NY. Dad taught me how to hunt waterfowl, shoot archery, and fish the bays of Long Island.

This is where I got most of my outdoor experience. Growing up I spent most of my time outdoors, doing with my dad. Spring time was flounder season. It is when the magnolias bloom here. That was the time to take out the rods that we built over the winter in the garage and go catch flounder. Flounder went right into fluke season, then to bass in the fall. It was my dad who took me to the beach to witness the now illegal practice of haul seining striped bass right from the beach. It was truly amazing to see the amount of fish taken on a single run of the net.

It was my dad that taught me like his dad taught him how to carve decoys. We all went on to compete as a family in carving competitions along the east coast in the 80’s winning prizes in the world show in Ocean City, MD.

Although the times have changed from 30 years ago on Long Island it was these times with my father that have taught me the beauty in the outdoors. I have shared many a sunrise and many a sunset with my father. We would often discuss how there are many people who have never witnessed nature as she wakes up in the morning, we felt sorry for those people. It was my father that taught me the beauty in the swirl of a bass tail on the water or the flight of a bird. He taught me to be still and take in my surroundings. He was a great mentor.

It is now with my children that I try to do the same for them in a different time. The outdoors here on Long Island is much smaller than it was then. I spend my summers fishing with my children and the fall season teaching my son about hunting and walking the woods. I am not sure if I have the ability to convey to him what being outdoors is about the way my dad did for me. You see my dad had a certain contagious passion about being outdoors. I will try to make him proud of me while I teach my children.

It is unfortunate that my dad was taken from us to early in his life. He passed away 01/07/2009 after he fought long and hard. His adversary was pancreatic cancer. I hunted my last hunt with my father almost a year ago. It was the least I could do for him, take him out one more time to see mother nature wake up, share one last sunrise. We did, but it was a little different that day. We both knew it would be his last.

Thank you dad, for sharing with me something that you were passionate about and teaching me how to enjoy the outdoors along the way. You will never be forgotten.
R.I.P. Peter J. Valkavich Sr. 12/31/1940-01/07/2009

 

[STR]

For fixed blades I had help from neighbors growing up that made knives and knew them. For folders when I decided to try making those for the first time it was Ralph Freer who was really kind to me and went out of his way to aid me with tips and even some patterns shared and mailed to me so I could copy them. I was saddened greatly to hear of his passing. In the knife world he was one of my heroes. Bob Dozier has been very kind with his time and knowledge the few times we have spoken as well and so has A.G. Russell and Sal Glesser. Of course the list goes on as time rolls on and I learn and grow in life. After the things I've learned from my own stubbornness from OJT all garnered by being daring enough to dive into things I maybe shouldn't have done blind at times the forums have taught me the most even above and beyond what I gained from magazines growing up although those have contributed as well to the sum total of where I am today.


STR

 

[DWK2]

My father and a friend, www.johngoddard.info/ My father passed away but John is still inspiring people.

DancesWithKnives

 

[the lone gunman]

I used to walk the dogs with my dad and he'd get me picking mushrooms and blewits, sometimes the dogs would catch a rabbit or pheasant and we'd take that home. He'd also get me collecting chestnuts and taught me about different birds and their eggs.
He also bought me my first knife, a cheap pocket knife that came with a water bottle, compass and pair of toy Binoculars ! I soon lost the knife and my grandad replaced it with a Victorinox SAK which I still have !!!!

This was my first dog, Jake a Cocker spaniel.....

And this is a young Pit( don't laugh ) with one of his favourite dogs Barnie the Airedale.....

This was the dog that caught the most rabbits, Coco a Bedlington terrier, don't let the looks fool ya he was mean and lightening fast !

And this was my first camping trip with my own family.....

Thanks for taking me down memory lane !

I always thought you shaved your head, but you never had any hair,Did you?

 

[Masteroffajitas]

My brother in law, who is more like my brother taught me a good deal this summer.

 

[pitdog]

I always thought you shaved your head, but you never had any hair,Did you?

Very little, LOL !!!!

 

[warrigal]

Wow what a thread.
My Gran ma ( Mums mum) gave me my first knife a "Souvenir" little single blade slippie ( about the size of a SAK classic) with mother of pearl scales. At age seven, I knew about it from early 6 but wasn't allowed to "have" it till I was 7. Her husband was a farmer and He had the biggest influence on me. A old style gentleman, quiet, calm, friendly, never ever yelled at us kids ( the dogs? well that was different) he would talk to anyone and man, he just knew everything, I miss him heaps. Uncle Les (His son) gave me my first 22 a two piece bolt "lithgow" Very similar to a Winchester model 39 when I was ten. I was wandering the farm collecting the bounty on rabbits. When I first joined Scouts one of the little training pamphlets I was given had a survival kit in side a matchbox straight after doing that I made one in a wristwatch ( I still have the case and some of the bits) Also got my first Sak which I also still have.
The town I lived in at that stage had a historical village I used to stand and watch the Blacksmith for hours amazed at how he could take a bar of iron and turn it into anything.
I finally attended a survival course when I was 34 ( they aren't all that common here in Oz ) and the instructor was ringing me for advice for the next 6mths. He'd ring, my wife would answer the ph and ask how much did you pay him for his "instruction"?
Carl

 

[Rick Marchand]

Grizzly Adams, baby.... nuff said.




My folks weren't into the woods much

 

[PrimitiveMan]

Mom is now 88 and still going.

Things improved for her at about age 18 or so.

She is the only one left of 6 siblings (two brothers lost in WWII)

Lives in a big Victorian house she refuses to leave. Finally got her to stop driving.

Carl-

 

[RoyalM]

My father helped me build dens or shelters when I was young, my grandfather helped educate me as to how to look after tools and why you should buy quality. Lastly my uncle used to watch all the Rambo and Arnie films when he baby sat me so all of these guys in one way or another helped form who I am today.

On tv I watched Bush Tucker man and then later on Ray Mears.

 

[desmobob]

My Mom!

My dad was NOT an outdoors guy at all. Neither was my mother. But she saw that at a young age, I was very interested in the outdoors, and she got me things like a subscription to Outdoor Life magazine and outdoor books as gifts at birthdays and Christmas.

By doing so, she also taught me that by reading and research, I could learn to do just about anything I wanted to.

Thanks Mom!


Stay sharp,
desmobob

 

[Snow]

I learned alot from several Military instructors, but im mostly self taught. Lots and lots of books, and practice, and of course this forum and others.... Kinda a combo of all of the above.....Stories from old timers always help too. The elders are wealth of information on living through hard times....

Grandpas died when I was really young, and my pops was not around much (military)

This guy right here did his part. I have had a late start getting into outdoors activities, including hiking, camping, survival, bushcraft skills, etc. Jake actually took me camping for the very first time. I have learned a lot from him in person, as well as from many others on W&SS through their threads. I am always inspired by people like mistwalker and pitdog who post about their bushcraft trials and adventures weekly.

Thanks guys! :thumbup: