Hi from South Africa
Hello everyone,
Thought I'd say "hi" before becoming too much of a lurker.
Stumbled on this forum while searching for some info... wow, what a wealth of knowledge and experience on here; I can see where my next few hours/days are going to be spent, haha.
So some info about me... based on the forum's guidelines:
1. Mid-thirties.
2. Male, married & have one little boy (4yo).
3. I live in Durban; on the east coast of South Africa.
4. Currently self-employed for just over a year. I work in the Health & Safety field, acting mainly as a consultant in the construction ('Built') environment.
I've worked for a couple of employers over the last 12 or so years, all in the H&S field; but across industry.
5. Prior to H&S I touched on marketing, but spent a few years in the outdoor adventure field doing team-building and a host of other, inter-related activities...eventually qualified as a mountain guide.
6. Regarding relevant training etc...whew, will try and summarise:
- Quite a bit relating to mountain guiding in South African conditions; I'm sure you can use your imagination re subjects/topics (first aid, hiking, trekking, rope work, survival, ice-climbing, abseiling, rock climbing, tourism.... plus all the business & people related unit standards).
- Not much in the way of military options for my age group in SA (looong story), but it has always been an interest and from high school I've always been interested in military-related stuff. With that in mind, when I worked in the outdoor adventure field, I worked for a gentleman who was a General in the Rhodesian SAS...I learnt a huge amount, and saw him as my mentor while working in the environment I was in (ran quite a few survival courses in that time too - I was an instructor, not an 'owner')... also attended Dr. Roger Greenaway's seminars when he visited here, mainly focussing on transfer of learning.
- Quite a bit of firearm related training over the last four years, from basic up to advanced... use of vehicles, buildings and low/no light (coupled to this I've been quite active in IDPA, but pulling away from it over the last 2 years due to unwanted 'training scars'). Training has focussed on handgun, shotgun & self-loading rifle.... I own a Glock19 (Gen3), and a Vektor LM5.
- Have also been involved in Combat Kali & Dumog, plus a 'Kembatives' approach to CQB - hand to hand, edged & impact weapons plus handgun.
- Recently I've been focussing on getting out and practising... involving my son at an early age is important to me. In a way this slows my progress, but reinforces old skills at the same time. Worth every minute of it seeing my lad getting excited to jump into the hammock etc.
- I've also done quite a bit of course facilitating over the last few years, something that I truly enjoy & after doing a personality 'test' have learnt I am more of a natural 'coach'... all to their own, and I have much to learn. Done facilitating & assessing courses.
7. Nature of prior experience:
- Terrains include those from coastline to mountains,
- Winter through Summer (bearing in mind our 'Winter' in Durban is often a balmy 25'C. Mountains go down to -15'C. Summer temps can reach into the 40'C mark).
- All year round while working as an adventure instructor, from a day or two up to a week.
- Personally haven't spent more than a week in the 'wilderness', but mainly due to time/life influence. If I could go back 20 years everything would be very different!
- Spent a month in the US with my wife; as a kind of 'celebratory' season before trying to have kids...hehe, but it was awesome! I'd love to come and do the through-hikes you guys have. Stayed first week in Florida with friends, then mainly in California...few towns, but enjoyed the Grand Canyon / Sequoia N.Park & Yosemite the most!!
8. Level of Experience:
- In my local environment, probably intermediate.
9. Your Preparedness Planning (type and level):
- Well our main issue is rioting/public violence and possibly lack or services (electricity / water).
- Far from 'prepper' status, but can manage for a couple of days quite easily.
Would prefer to be more in line with goals, but things are pretty expensive to bump up to the next level in terms of water storage / other forms of power etc etc.
10. Interests and Hobbies:
- Survival related, backpacking, firearms & related training, family time, camping...enjoy swimming & cycling when I get the chance.
11. Membership and Learning Objectives:
- Hmmm, haven't quite nailed that down yet; but happy to sit back and learn for now. Will gladly share knowledge if I think there's a place for it.
Well, hopefully I didn't over-do it; but that's me for now.
Thanks in advance for having me.
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Originally Posted by Antonyraison
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