Ok, let me put it like this. My longest running hobby is chain mailing, I have been doing it for 7 years. 2 years after I started and make a few things, I learnt about anodized aluminium jump rings. I searched thoughout SA for them for another 2 years, no success, atfer which I consulted my trusted source, namely Steward from Dragon glass which has been doing chain mailing for 30+ years, and he said, you'd spend less timr opening up your own anodising plant and making them yourself than you would searching for them. There is 1 (one) company that does aluminium anodising in south africa, and they do copper plating and UV proofing. So finally I gave up, got fed up, and ordered from theringlord.com. Then after recieving them and marring the hell out of the first two jump rings with my pliers, it hit me that I will need some protective pliers. A further year passes searching for them in SA, found one company that sells flat nose nylon jaw pliers, but I need chain nose pliers, and their suppliers cant help me out, so I made several attempts at making my own by gluing shaped pieces of nylon to needle nose pliers using q-bond, and yesterday I gave up and ordered two pairs of BeadSmith chain nose pliers for the UK...see what I mean? A month from now I will be able to go on with something I that grabbed my attention 3 years ago, and not one thing was obtained in South Africa.