This class is designed for he person with little or minimal survival skills or knowledge.
The following are the major topics you will learn…
Lost-Proofing – How never to get “lost” in the woods by developing a plan of action if you ever find yourself “temporarily unaware of where you are”.
Fire – 1-match fires, Fire Lays, Flint and Steel, Bow Drill
Water – How to obtain water where it appears none is readily available, and how to treat it for safe consumption, both naturally and with modern chemicals and equipment.
Shelter – Principles of shelter and shelter building, natural shelters, tarp and poncho shelters, debris huts. We will also cover clothing, sleeping bags , types of insulation, how it all works together and how you can make it all work better in ll situations.
Traps – Principles of trapping animals in a survival situation, including making basic, effective traps and snares such as the “Figure 4” deadfall, snare and the spring snare.
Knots – Learn the knots that will truly be beneficial in both a survival and general outdoors situations.
Food – How to prepare, cook, and preserve food in a survival situation. You will have the opportunity to learn and then correctly filet fish (optional).
Knives and Knife Sharpening – A knife is an important tool and learning how to choose a correct one is important. We will teach you that, as well as how to sharpen it, keep it sharp and maintain a perfect edge.
Survival Kits – How to build your own personal Survival Kit that will work best for YOU.
Plants – Become comfortable with using popular plant identification books. Then we will identify both edible and medicinal plants found in the area. We will then cover how to use and prepare the plants back at camp.
Navigation – Learn the secrets of Natural Navigation as well as the basics of modern navigation. Discover how to REALLY use a compass, understand topographic maps, take bearings both from maps and in the woods, and accurately measure distance without tape measures or other equipment.
Simulated Survival Situation – At week’s end, you will have the chance to put what you learned into action with a supervised “Survival Situation.” Our staff will be monitoring your progress as you put together a complete base camp as if you were suddenly thrust into an emergency survival situation. This has been consistently the part of the class that past students have had the most fun with and which gave students the most personal satisfaction.
This IS NOT a test but rather an assessment for YOU of the skills that YOU have acquired during the week and an evaluation by YOU of what skills you have mastered and what skills you may need to practice a bit more in the future. We will be making the rounds during this exercise but you determine how much or how little assistance you would like us to give you in carving a deadfall and spring snare trap, setting up your no match fire, building either a model or full scale natural shelter (that you have the option to sleep in that night if you wish), making rope from natural plant fibers, among other skills. Upon successfully completing the list of tasks you will be given you dinner….to fillet (or an alternate meal for those who do not like fish). That evening we will debrief by the campfire and shares experiences, lessons and advice.
Our goals as instructors are:
1. Have you learn the skills you want well enough that you can demonstrate and teach them to your friends when you get home.
2. Insure you have fun during the week like vacationing while learning new and useful skills.
3. Make you begin to think as a “survival person” …assessing a situation, determining what resources you have on and around you, deciding on a plan of action, improvising, and carrying that plan to successful completion.