NB: section 1.7 (Majordomo commands) and 1.8 (unsubscribing) have been edited by Pär Leijonhufvud on 1999-04-07

1. The Primitive Skills Group -- general information.

Primitive Skills Group Guidelines

ALL NEW MEMBERS ARE ASKED TO READ THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES CAREFULLY!

To communicate with the group, send an E-mail with your message or question to:

Please note that you must be a member of the list to send post to it.

1.1. Purpose of the Group

The main purpose of this group is to provide a way by which all lovers of primitive skills can discuss various subjects related to wilderness ways.

1.2. Topics to be Discussed

Topics which you are ENCOURAGED to discuss with other group members are:

All primitive wilderness living skills such as shelter, fire, cordage, primitive tanning, natural foods, primitive living, primitive rafts & boats, primitive direction finding, primitive trapping techniques, weapons for wilderness survival, primitive hygiene, protection from insects, primitive weather prediction, fighting cold, primitive medicine, traditional dog sledding etc.
Subjects related to modern realistic wilderness survival, such as surviving when lost in the wilderness, or surviving unexpected emergencies after airplane crashes, broken down snow mobiles etc. , are also welcome.

Please note:

Discussions should be restricted to PRIMITIVE SKILLS only.

By SKILLS discussion, we mean sharing "How-to" information which help group members learn how to accomplish a particular physical task which is useful in a wilderness setting.

By PRIMITIVE discussion, we mean sharing info on skills which are possible in the short term using only materials found in nature, or at least available in the average recreational hiker's backpack.

1.3. Topics which you are DISCOURAGED from discussing with other group members are:

Topics dealing with religious, spiritual, persuasion, or belief- based concerns. For example, we do NOT wish to discuss subjects dealing with dowsing, natural apparitions, psychology, philosophy, gurus, prophets, spiritual leaders, or the particular styles or approaches of any particular survival expert.
Topics dealing with warfare. For example, we do NOT wish to discuss subjects dealing with explosives, survival fighting, revenge, combat methods, and so on.
Topics dealing with political or environmental issues. For example, we do NOT wish to discuss subjects dealing with whether it is right or wrong to kill animals, or whether a wilderness area should be protected, and so on.

All members are asked to help "enforce" the above guidelines with regards to topics of discussion.

1.4. Advertising

Unsolicited advertising of any kind by non-members will be severely frowned upon by all group members.
Unsolicited advertising of a service or product by members which is DIRECTLY RELATED to primitive skills may be acceptable as long as it is sent ONCE ONLY and for informational purposes only.
In direct answer to a question, reference to commercial sources of information, services or products is OK.
Personal opinion or judgment of members on a particular commercial product or service is much preferred to sending advertisement on same.

1.5. Group Netiquette

This is a high volume list, and current group members have asked that the following etiquette guidelines be followed whenever possible:

Please always rename subject headers when replying so that the header always matches the content of the message (helps store archives).
Please stick to one subject per message (helps store archives).
Please send "I agree with you", "Thank you", and "Bravo" messages which have no actual content through private E-mail (these are important, but clutter the list too much).
When replying, please quote only the passage which permits to follow the discussion, not the entire previous message (facilitates reading replies).
Note that there are two Reply-to addresses when you send a reply. One for the group, and one for the sender. Please delete one of the two (so the sender doesn't receive double messages).
Please keep signature files as small as possible (4-6 lines max). If possible separate them from the main text with a line containing two dashes and a space ("-- ").
Please avoid sending "funnies only" messages to the group. We all appreciate a good joke, and even more so when it is part of a message which has content too (prevents list clutter).
Please read at least the primitive-skills archive headers so you don't ask a question which has already been answered.
It is a good idea to read the introductions archive so you have an idea of who's who in the group.

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