Hi All

I found a link to this site googling for good nylon cord (550 paracord) in NZ, and just kept coming back over the weeks.

Always been into Tramping / camping since my Dad took me bush for 5 days in the Coromandel (back when they had 4 "real" huts! ) - up the Rangihau end. He stuck a couple of beers in the river and said "thats if we deserve it at the end!" They didn't touch the sides and I promptly fell over (I was only 12yo)!

From then on I enjoyed the whole self contained all-on-your-back feel. Have mainly done Ureweras,Coromandel tracks, SI bike/kayak trips, some Great Walks and hiking overseas with girlfriends.

Then I had kids.... !

So just the other day when looking for 6yo reading books in the library I glanced in the recently returned books and spotted SAS survival guide by Lofty Wiseman and something clicked again. I got out about 10 books that day mainly on NZ plants / bushcraft/ knots and couldn't put them down. All the interests and more I had as a boy came flooding back. I was never a scout - that was too organized for me,  so I had not so much of the knowledge on bushcraft/skills, just an enjoyment of the bush. I do remember small tidbits my dad had fed me e.g. using supplejack as a replacement pole for a dome tent, sticks in my mind.

So, in my mid 40s, call this what you will :) - I feel the pull again. I've never hunted - My dad taught me hunting for crayfish not animals.

Been around guns most of my life with my dad (he was a handgun collector) and early work (air force). Have just applied for my license. I now want to be more self sufficient in everything. Less reliant on my gadgets. And I want to get my family into it- slowly at first, as they like the inside quite a bit!

Probably no different from quite a few people here, I guess.

My bushcraft interests are pretty much everything, but at present mainly:

-Hunting

-Non powered hunting weapons/techniques . Snares/traps, Bows, slings, (maybe air rifles ) - I like the idea of catching with my own power - I've only done this in the sea at present.

-Plant lore / general bush knowledge.

-Rope / shelter / fire craft

Cheers All, and sorry for the book sized intro.

Mark