Attended Classes?

[2Tired4]

Have you ever attended classes in survival? There are a lot of schools around the country and in the World that offer education in this area.

 

[oldsarge]

Military schools, yes. civilian schools no. I would like to attend a few just to get in some extra training. plus it's got to be fun!

 

[Woods]

There are a lot of people opening these schools. Most of them are ex military experts and their classes seem so much fun. For example, Dave from Dual Survival has a great program.

 

[Bojib]

I haven't attended one, but I'd like too.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


I occasionally host a one day Survival Woodsmanship class.

What can be taught about survival in only one day? Well, for one thing, how not to get into those circumstances depicted on those TV shows...!!

And secondly, hands-on learning about what gear to keep with you that will help sustain you when, for whatever reason, you cannot get back to base for one to up to seven days.

 

[firedancer]

No, but I did get my Wilderness First Aid certification last summer.

 

[jason]

I keep wanting to find some in the area, but time and money for one is rare right now. I attend a few seminars though, but most of it is things like dutch oven cooking, or there is one coming up for kayaker's to learn to identify problems in our area with plants and wild life. The wife and I did attend a kayak safety course before she got pregnant with our son.

 

[Gondor]

I read that John McCann offers these classes but his prices are simply insane! He charges around $1000 for a few days of his school. Who would want to pay that much.

 

[Pathfinder1]

I read that John McCann offers these classes but his prices are simply insane! He charges around $1000 for a few days of his school. Who would want to pay that much.

Hi...


You've certainly got a point there.

I guess that some people will pay almost anything just to say that they attended such-and-such school. I know that some parents will pay almost anything to get their kids in a "prestigious" pre-K school, for example.

 

[oldsarge]

You can go on line for a lot of info, take a good survival book out to the filed and start practicing. General knowledge is not hard to obtain. Site specific training for a given area needs to be researched well. I'd seek out an expert when looking for info about indigenous edible plants, locals wildlife threats, weather patterns and so on.

 

[Bojib]

I've done a lot of what Oldsarge said above.

There really isn't a choice in survival school nearby to me, I'd have to travel several hours to go to one. As with just about anything in my area, there just isn't anything local.

So, I went to the library and checked out some books, bought some off amazon, and have self taught myself several things. I have put together my own survival kits, and practiced with the items in them. I get them out every now and then and try to keep up with the skills, and only use items that are fairly easy to work with. You never know when you may be injured or panicked, and not be entirely capable to use items like you would on any regular day.

I've also self taught on basic navigation with map and compass, and some more advanced ideas as well. I also go out every so often to practice locating myself using resections, modified resections, dead reckoning, GPS, etc. I also will plan routes, obtain coordinates from the map, and attempt to deal with declination. In general, I use a compass with adjustable declination, but never know when I'll get stuck using one without it.

Still, I would love to be able to take some classes in these fields. I'm sure I could learn something new, plus it would validate whether or not I'm doing things right or just close to right. They can't be completely wrong, or I would notice that (hopefully).

I've also thought, if I could take a class and see how they are taught, I could at least come back home and teach the basics in my area. Things like GPS, Map reading, Compass, and basic survival ideas. Right now, I don't really have any idea on how to teach a class in those areas. I could probably wing it if I tried. I'd just like to know I was doing it right first.

 

[Grandpa]

Bojib, you might check with your area Boy Scouts. Two courses come to mind that might fit what you would like. Technically, you are probably as advanced as your trainers at this point but both courses would help you prepare and teach others. And, you just may pick up some technical ideas that would help as well.

The information I have is from our Council here. The council where you are may or may not have these courses or they may have even better ones.

The first class is "The Trainers EDGE". A one day crash course on Leadership training.
* How and why we train leaders and how to do it effectively
*What's important about communication
*How to plan a training
*Characteristics of a good trainer
*What kind of arrangements do you need to make
*What kind of technology works best in any given situation
*The latest in training methods
*Use of reflection and feed back
*How to get that EDGE into all we do (Explain, Demonstrate,Guide, Enable)

The second course is called Powderhorn, at least in our council. This is a week long course specifically for scout leaders of the older scout groups age (15-18) It covers the basics of outdoor scouting activities, such as canoeing/kayaking, Mountaineering/Rapelling, backpacking, primitive cooking, etc etc.

 

[Pathfinder1]

So, I went to the library and checked out some books, bought some off amazon, and have self taught myself several things. I have put together my own survival kits, and practiced with the items in them. I get them out every now and then and try to keep up with the skills, and only use items that are fairly easy to work with. You never know when you may be injured or panicked, and not be entirely capable to use items like you would on any regular day.

I've also self taught on basic navigation with map and compass, and some more advanced ideas as well. I also go out every so often to practice locating myself using resections, modified resections, dead reckoning, GPS, etc. I also will plan routes, obtain coordinates from the map, and attempt to deal with declination. In general, I use a compass with adjustable declination, but never know when I'll get stuck using one without it.

Still, I would love to be able to take some classes in these fields. I'm sure I could learn something new, plus it would validate whether or not I'm doing things right or just close to right. They can't be completely wrong, or I would notice that (hopefully).



Hi...


You're obviously a fast learner. I think you'll do well in the out-of-doors.

 

[Bojib]

Bojib, you might check with your area Boy Scouts. Two courses come to mind that might fit what you would like. Technically, you are probably as advanced as your trainers at this point but both courses would help you prepare and teach others. And, you just may pick up some technical ideas that would help as well.

Thanks for the idea. That's something I'll check into. I grew up in the cub scouts and boy scouts. Those were some great times.

I don't know how it will work out with them though. I've attempted to donate some camping gear and volunteer time to the local troop before, but for some reason they wouldn't take either. I never did figure out exactly why, but I think it has something to do with a local geocacher who works with them, he doesn't really think much of me, and I don't know the reason for that either. People really confuse me sometimes.

 

[Bojib]

You're obviously a fast learner.

I don't know about that. It took some time and several different books on the subjects.

The map and compass stuff was easier to learn because I worked with my dad right out of college. He is a land surveyor and engineer. Surveying uses the same basic principles, just much more accurate equipment.

The rest, really was a lot of reading and practice.

 

[oldsarge]

a local geocacher who works with them, he doesn't really think much of me, and I don't know the reason for that either. People really confuse me sometimes.

He probably feels like you're going to steel his show. I've run across folks like this, they posses certain skills and think they are Gods gift to the art of whatever. "This is the way it's got to be done, This is the equipment you have to use". Unless it pertains to safety, there are multiple ways of getting things done. It sounds to me like you have good skills to teach. Start small, maybe offer to some church groups to teach basic land navigation. Kids love this stuff!

Brunton has a instructors kit for compass and map reading. It come with everything you need to put together a class. It may be pricey for some but I think it's worth it. I'm considering getting one myself.

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=2753

http://www.opticsplanet.net/brunton-classic-field-compass-educational-kit.html

http://store.bruntonoutdoor.com/navigation/education/8900c-24-students/

http://store.bruntonoutdoor.com/navigation/education/8900c-12-students/

 

[ppine]

There are some great teachers out there. There has definitely been renewed interest in survival type training. I would like to hang out with Les Stroud some time (Survivorman).
A lot of the local people that offer classes seem like posers so I have never taken a class.

 

[catspa]

No, but I did get my Wilderness First Aid certification last summer.

Did you take the NOLS/WMI class? I just got back from the one at Seattle REI and it was great. I'm recommending it to my team members.

Returned late last night to 6-8" of fresh snow.

I think a lot depends on your personal learning style. I've been to classes where I didn't learn as much as I hoped, not necessarily because the instructors were deficient, but maybe because the venue was distracting, or lots of information was covered in a short time, or I wasn't at my best as a student. Sometimes later, studying the course literature at a slower pace has improved my take on things.

Also, I'd point out that often the class consists of the instructor(s) saying, "this is what I do" or "this is what my agency does" without opportunity to experiment and compare alternate methods. That's great if the students' situation closely parallels the instructor's, but not always the case.

Search and rescue teams run into that a lot when attending fire service training. I recall a class in a neighboring county where the instructor said "never ever, no way no-how, attempt to move a patient with suspected c-spine injuries - don't roll or shift them at all, just leave them in the position you found them." That's good advice I guess, if you're gonna have an ambulance with a backboard and 2 paramedics on scene in 5 minutes. If you're hours or days away from the trailhead on an exposed ridge in the middle of an ice storm, not so much.

So I try to talk to previous attendees and get an idea about the instructor and the content before I go.

Parker

 

[racoon]

I'm new to this forum and survival techniques. I think I will get all the literature I can find AND take a survival class if I can afford it. Knowing me, I probably would not (or could not) understand instructions and be successful with them. Having hands on would be accomplished with an instructor!

 

[Dura Mater]

I have taken classes and they're great if you have a good instructor. However I have never left a class and felt like I was ready to be lost in the woods. Those skills need to be practiced until they are second nature, the whole muscle memory thing. The other point to consider is that skills are perishable. Being outdoors and doing things the hard way helps you prepare for those scenarios. Even if you have man made tinders in your pack that are super cool try to make a fire without them. This way if you ever do need to "survive" you won't be behind the eight ball. I've never needed to survive and sure hope that continues.

If you can't afford classes there are still great free online resources to learn from.