Gadge

Another way is to get them to use Chicago screws rather than rivets. Dingo can do that, see their Rimfire Belt: http://www.dingogunproducts.com.au Or there are a couple in the Hellweg range that use snaps, look at the 72 and 72L, http://www.hellweg.com.au/pages/products.html Neither of these will be cheap, though. For all of the bits and tools to DIY, Lefflers in West Melbourne have the lot, http://www.leffler.com.au/ They have 'belt lengths' in a variety of colours and widths for very reasonable cost, and a good range of buckles and hardware. Making a belt only needs a few basic leatherworking tools, unless you want to get fancy with stitching or embellishments [stamped or carved patterns etc.]. It can be done with an edge beveller tool, hole punch, Stanley knife, cutting board and ruler.

Fortress cases are a solid unit, without excess weight, and locally made: http://www.fortresscases.com.au/ Weight is very much an issue these days, due to steep excess baggage charges. Buy your excess allowance in advance, via your airline's website; it's a lot cheaper than at the airport.

Yep, you've got it, steels are to maintain the edge without removing metal, and stones [carborundum, aluminium oxide or diamond] to reshape the edge [reduce the shoulder, or take the edge back to remove nicks] at much longer intervals. BTW, conventional stones are a bit painfully slow for taking an edge back, to remove major nicks/chips. Diamond bench stone, or better, a belt linisher for that job. Short steels that will fit in a day pack are available, but for a maintenance steel for home, one in the 250-300mm range is the go. F Dick make a range of steels that can be a bit bewildering [different cuts in round, oval, flat and square sections], but the standard cut round 300mm model has served me well for years. That will handle the longest knives [300mm blade] that I have, no problem. If you're passing through the Melbourne CBD, there are a couple of catering industry supplies shops in Elizabeth Street; Cuisine World at No. 245 or London & American Supply Stores at No. 483. Or a search for 'F Dick steels' on Google or FleaBay will bring up some mail order suppliers.

Well, I wouldn't use that 'sharpener' on a quality knife. Fine for cheapo kitchen knives, but that's about it. Diamond 'steels' are something to be a bit wary of; they tend to take a lot of metal off quickly. So you have to have your angles right. Steeling a knife is really a burnishing process, and shouldn't remove much metal at all. Stones are the go for that. For conventional butchers' steels, about the best ones around are the F Dick hard chromed ones. Not cheap, but top quality never is. There are a lot of 'plain' steels around, that have far too much depth of cut on them, and some of them are chrome plated over the top of this. Traditionally, the first task for a butcher on buying a new steel, was to take the cut back with emery cloth.

Just do a UK-restricted Google for 'Osram HLX 62138' . This is the 12V 100W axial filament bulb. Plenty around for under £5, just watch the postage; might have to buy a few at a time to make it worthwhile. That search brings up some discussions on UK hunting forums that are worth a look, too.

A 3-way will give off a significant amount of heat. They run at about 90-120W continuously, on 12V. So yes, you'll need some ventilation. A good rundown on the pros and cons of the different portable fridge types: http://www.exploroz.com/Vehicle/Accessories/Fridges.aspx 3-ways are a great base camp fridge, but not so brilliant if you're mostly on the road. As I mentioned on the other thread, I have an old Chescold 3-way, and it's good. They are Dometic/Chescold now, and still available. http://www.dometic.com The other popular brand back in the day was the Finch/Electrolux, which is now also a Dometic brand. These work a lot better at high ambient temps than the cheapos like the Aldi fridge, but that comes at a price. There is some risk in buying a secondhand unit, as they can fail completely when rust builds up in the pipework. The electric heating elements can burn out too, and are around $120 for the replacement part.

The most basic way is the 'stock removal' technique. That is, start with a piece of flat bar, of a suitable steel, and file/grind away the bits that don't look like a blade. A good online tutorial on the tools and basics [will need to sign up to see most of the pics]: http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?8666-Tutorial-Basic-knifemaking-tool-list Sources: Books/DVD's http://huntingbooks.com.au/equipment/knives http://www.bundukibooks.com/ Full range of supplies, books, etc: http://www.knivesaustralia.com.au/akc-homepage.html

This model is currently $229 + delivery from the two major local online GPS specialist shops, GPSOz and Johnny Appleseed GPS. Good value, these units. I picked this one as the best bang for buck ratio too. And they're all waterproof, except for the battery compartment. I also got a soft case for mine; good for protecting the display from scratches, and adds some impact protection. Here's a good feature comparo chart for the Etrex range: http://www.gpsoz.com.au/garmin/garmin_etrex_h.htm