I forget exactly how I stumbled onto ETS...I believe it was after talking with a friend about possibly going to one of the survival schools - I think he was talking about BOSS...I THINK it was in about 2000, but I can't be sure (we never did go to BOSS).

Well, I was doing some surfing for similar sites...and found ETS. I got hooked pretty quickly (and from here, found links to ledmuseum and then candlepowerforums - so all my favorite stuff on the Web is really inextricably linked for me).

I was a contented lurker for a long time...after 9/11, I began to find a great road map on how to tackle things, one step at a time, from the folks here at ETS. I think the first thing I did was make a "fire grab bag" - and while my wife thought it was funny, it made me feel good. And so has each step I've taken since.

I remained a lurker until the blackout of '03, mainly because I didn't feel I had anything to offer/add to what was being discussed - but then I wrote in to talk about the part of the blackout that I saw, and what things I'd learned from ETS that served me well, and what I needed to improve.

I've always been a combination of gadget oriented and outdoors oriented. I grew up in a semi-rural area and our summers were always spent car camping and canoeing, so in the back of my mind I'm convinced I'm quite an outdoorsman, although my daily reality puts that more in line with Rainman's assessment of his driving skills ("I'm an excellent driver. Excellent.")

So, ETS for me is a great place to see other peoples' kits, get fantastic advice on how to prepare for the various potential problems, and see how a group of smart, mature-acting (well, mostly) folks tackle what we see as common problems. It also give my deskbound Walter Mitty side an outlet.

So thanks to all the great folks here at ETS, and especially Doug and Chris.

Dave