Enrolling in a survival school

[jeddah]

What's it like to study in a survival school? Is it better than just reading handy survival books? What are the things needed in a survival school other than tools and equipments?

[northernbushape]

It has been a few decades since I attended survival school. It was not called survival school and was not a publicly offered course. I did it through the forestry service as part of a youth recruitment and outreach program. I later went on to work for the forestry service in various sectors for the better part of 20 years.

It was 21 days and intensive! We lived on site in tents and it was a combination of study and hands-on training. 12 hour days with regular chores at night, for 21 days straight.

We did everything from learning to create fire with no modern devices - sticks and natural cordage, right up to mandatory 2 night, 3 days solo survival. Too much to list, but we did everything you may need to do in an extended survival scenario as it applies to wilderness.

I don;t really know how it compares to a modern day survival or bushcraft school as I have not attended one, but it was life-changing, empowering, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

If you have an opportunity to complete training from a reputable school, by all means do it. The skills you gain will serve you in many aspects of your life and not just in the bush. It teaches you to think outside the box and to recognize opportunity, and more importantly, to utilize that opportunity to preserve life.

Best to find someone with actual survival training such as ex-special forces etc, rather than commune types with weird spiritual beliefs as all that drum banging and praying to long-lost goddesses only serves to dilute the purpose of the training. There is a time and place for spiritual beliefs and rituals for sure, but in my opinion survival is not that time or place.

Sorry if I offended anyone with that last bit, but having walked the walk, I'll pick a seasoned mountain man or a well-trained marine over a flower child any day ... HOO-RAH!

Edit: Equipment ... they will let you know what you need. Some will issue gear and some will not. In my case we needed nothing and were issued surplus military gear which we were allowed to keep.

[HikingGuy]

The only one I know of is for the military, I have never seen it offered to civilians, would be nice if they did open it to the general public it might prevent a few of the hiking/camping accidents.

[DThewanderer]

I think that it is better to go to some kind of survival school or program then just read from books. Reading from books is great and a good program will have you do that but you will also get hands on experience from the experts.

[faye]

This is a good idea than reading survival books. I have never enrolled in a survival school before but I will consider it before camping in the wilderness. I will have to ask around what requirements should be needed in order to enroll.