The Rake

THE MAN WITH NO PLAN B

Source: Mike Horn, wearing his Panerai watch, starts a fire during an expedition.

In his late teens, Mike Horn recalls, “I was in the South African Special Forces, fighting the war in Angola”. As a soldier during the final years of the two-decades-long South African Border War, “I led a very exciting life. Although war is not a game” — Horn says he hates armed conflict — “there’s a little bit of excitement in it. You get an adrenaline rush when you feel afraid, uncertain. I kind of started liking those feelings. I asked myself, how can I get that in a more productive way, where I don’t have to hide from people who want to shoot me?”

After leaving the military, studying and subsequently taking up a job in sports science, Horn’s day-to-day existence became rather pedestrian. “I was working for a family company, I got a little bit of money maybe too early in

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