The Best Made Customer: Johan Walters, Johannesburg South Africa Best Made has the best customers on the planet and to tell their stories we publish their answers to “The Ten Best Made Questions”. While war is being waged on the pitches of Durban, Polokwane, Cape Town, and Joburg, may we introduce Johan Walters, seen here patrolling the veld just outside Dullstroom (a fly fisherman’s haven in the Mpumalanga province) with his trusted Joe Mitchell axe in hand. - what’s the weather like where you are? Brilliant, Joburg is renowned for its clear skies all year round. In winter it’s dry and dusty, but summer is amazing. The big African rain storms come in the late afternoons and there is often a spectacular display of thunder and lightning. - what’s your most valuable piece of advice today? Stay out of debt. - what’s your sign? Thumbs up… everything is going to be OK. - what is the best thing your father ever taught you? How to “braai”. It is similar to barbecue but it’s a much bigger deal here in SA. If you can’t braai, your chances of finding a wife are pretty slim. - what is the best thing your mother ever taught you? An appreciation for any form of competence. - what skill, trade, craft, or hobby would you like to learn most and why? Glass blowing. I think glass is an amazing material, completely natural, bio-degradable and it has a sense of honesty and timelessness about it. I would love to shape red hot molten glass and see it transform into something beautiful, perhaps even design my own range of glassware. - if you could be outside right now, working, what would you be doing? Casting a dry fly to a rising trout! - what problem would you like solved? Getting my wife and I to live closer to the mountains of Cape Town. - what’s your favourite answer to a question? “Are you crazy?”  Johan Walters: I was born in the winter of 1980, Johannesburg, South Africa. My dad was a Springbok rugby player and my mom a beauty queen at Stellenbosch University. We lived opposite the Joburg Zoo and woke up in the mornings to the sound of cars, trucks and roaring lions. At school I played every sport that was offered, as well as classical guitar. When I turned 18 I decided to venture beyond our borders and travelled through America and Europe where I fly-fished, camped in the wilderness and drove ice cream trucks to pay my way.  Returning home I studied Industrial Design and eventually started my own design company.  Joe Mitchell was a gift from my incredible wife who believes that every man should be smart, strong and courageous. With my axe in hand, I can’t help but feel like I am that man! 
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The Best Made Customer: Johan Walters, Johannesburg South Africa

Best Made has the best customers on the planet and to tell their stories we publish their answers to “The Ten Best Made Questions”. While war is being waged on the pitches of Durban, Polokwane, Cape Town, and Joburg, may we introduce Johan Walters, seen here patrolling the veld just outside Dullstroom (a fly fisherman’s haven in the Mpumalanga province) with his trusted Joe Mitchell axe in hand.

- what’s the weather like where you are? 
Brilliant, Joburg is renowned for its clear skies all year round. In winter it’s dry and dusty, but summer is amazing. The big African rain storms come in the late afternoons and there is often a spectacular display of thunder and lightning. 

- what’s your most valuable piece of advice today? 
Stay out of debt. 

- what’s your sign? 
Thumbs up… everything is going to be OK. 

- what is the best thing your father ever taught you? 
How to “braai”. It is similar to barbecue but it’s a much bigger deal here in SA. If you can’t braai, your chances of finding a wife are pretty slim. 

- what is the best thing your mother ever taught you? 
An appreciation for any form of competence. 

- what skill, trade, craft, or hobby would you like to learn most and why? 
Glass blowing. I think glass is an amazing material, completely natural, bio-degradable and it has a sense of honesty and timelessness about it. I would love to shape red hot molten glass and see it transform into something beautiful, perhaps even design my own range of glassware. 

- if you could be outside right now, working, what would you be doing? 
Casting a dry fly to a rising trout! 

- what problem would you like solved? 
Getting my wife and I to live closer to the mountains of Cape Town. 

- what’s your favourite answer to a question? 
“Are you crazy?” 

Johan Walters: I was born in the winter of 1980, Johannesburg, South Africa. My dad was a Springbok rugby player and my mom a beauty queen at Stellenbosch University. We lived opposite the Joburg Zoo and woke up in the mornings to the sound of cars, trucks and roaring lions. At school I played every sport that was offered, as well as classical guitar. When I turned 18 I decided to venture beyond our borders and travelled through America and Europe where I fly-fished, camped in the wilderness and drove ice cream trucks to pay my way.  Returning home I studied Industrial Design and eventually started my own design company.  Joe Mitchell was a gift from my incredible wife who believes that every man should be smart, strong and courageous. With my axe in hand, I can’t help but feel like I am that man!