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Survival and Self-Reliance with Jason and Jess
$325.00
Wilderness Survival, Self-Reliance & Situational Awareness with Colorado Mountain Man Jason & Wildkind Jess
Description
Survival and Self-Reliance with Jason and Jess
2-Day Wilderness Survival Skills Course for Beginners and Outdoor Enthusiasts
Join us for a powerful two-day course designed to help you build confidence and self-reliance in the outdoors. Survival and Self-Reliance with Jason and Jess is ideal for beginners, hikers, campers, and anyone who wants to learn practical wilderness survival skills to be better prepared for emergencies, outdoor adventures, or unexpected challenges in nature.
Whether you’re planning a backcountry trip or simply want to feel safer exploring the outdoors, this course gives you the tools to respond to real-world survival situations with knowledge, clarity, and purpose.
What You’ll Learn
Essential Survival Skills
Gain hands-on training in foundational skills such as shelter-building, firecraft, and water purification. Learn how to prioritize your survival needs, construct emergency shelters, start fires with multiple methods, and find or filter clean drinking water in the wild.
Situational Awareness and Outdoor Mindfulness
Develop a deeper understanding of your environment through situational awareness and sensory mindfulness techniques. These skills help you stay alert, make better decisions under pressure, and enhance your experience in the natural world.
Holistic Survival Approach
Instructor Jess Caldwell introduces students to holistic survival, combining practical skills with mental resilience, emotional regulation, and community connection. You’ll learn how maintaining a positive mindset, staying calm, and using mindfulness can directly impact your survival outcomes.
Preparedness for Today’s World
Led by Jason Marsteiner, founder of The Survival University, and Jess Caldwell of Wildkind Outdoors, this course prepares you for the challenges of today’s unpredictable world. You’ll walk away with modern survival skills rooted in experience, and a grounded understanding of how to live more confidently, resourcefully, and self-reliantly—both in the wilderness and in life.
Course Topics Include
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Emergency shelters for various environments
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Fire-starting with modern and primitive methods
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Water sourcing, filtering, and purification
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Self-rescue strategies and signaling for help
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Gear selection, use, and packing considerations
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Environmental awareness and safety practices
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Mental preparedness and emotional regulation in survival scenarios
Who This Course Is For
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Outdoor beginners and nature-curious families
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Hikers, backpackers, and campers
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Preppers and homesteaders
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Anyone interested in becoming more self-sufficient and resilient
ACCOMMODATIONS
If students do not wish to camp with us, the town of Cripple Creek is a short 15 minute drive from our location and Woodland Park is 30 minutes away. Students will be responsible for making their own reservations with nearby hotels. We do have a central community campfire location with a few designated campsites but mostly offer dispersed camping. Students will be able to drive their car within 100 feet of the main camp and will not have to hike gear long distances.
- Sanitation/Hygiene: A porta potty restroom and potable water will be provided at the main camp
FOOD AND WATER REQUIRED
Water will be provided but students will need to bring their own food. We recommend quick field expedient meals such as freeze dried hiking meals or MRE’s. They can quickly be made at our primitive camps and won’t slow down the learning process. However, students may bring any food that they wish to cook over the campfire or on their own personal camp stove.
Food can be purchased locally at nearby facilities. Walmart and several local eateries are within a reasonable driving distance.
SUGGESTED GEAR LIST
We do not provide students with gear unless they have purchased it from us ahead of time. Not much gear is needed for our courses, though good equipment does speed the learning process up greatly! Gear does not have to be purchased from our store to attend the course, but we recommend survival gear of equivalent quality.
- Fixed blade knife (Preferably a full tang bushcraft style knife WITHOUT a serrated edge, 4”-5” blade length, no double edged daggers)
- Ferrocerium rod
- Poncho or Rain Gear
- Outdoor Clothing and appropriate footwear
- Folding hand saw
- Overnight Camping Gear: Tent, sleeping bag, ground pad, etc
- 100’ of 550 Paracord
- Shemagh or large cotton scarf
- Headlamp and extra batteries
- Cooking pot and eating utensils
- Single walled metal canteen
- Sunscreen and sunglasses
- Insect repellent
- Small Backpack
CLOTHING REQUIRED
Warm outdoor clothing, warm gloves and hat, outdoor boots and wool socks. Cotton clothing is highly discouraged in the mountains! Wool will keep you warm even when wet and synthetics will dry faster. Layers are important in Colorado. You will want a water wicking base layer, an insulating mid layer, and a waterproof breathable outer shell. Check out our Clothes Layering Basics if you are unsure of what to wear.
Check Recommended Gear List for more details!
If it is still not clear what gear is needed for our survival courses, then we have assembled a complete kit that is still high quality but for a budget friendly price. All the items in this kit were hand selected by our instructors to be the best bushcraft tools on a budget. This survival kit is a useful starter kit that can be used in all of our courses. These must-have tools are at a good price. It’s a great survival kit, bug out kit, go bag, or use it as a solid foundation to build a kit that perfectly fits your needs. With this kit and our training anybody can survive like a king in almost any environment!
NOTE
Due to the different levels of prior experience and knowledge among students in each class, individual outcomes may vary. Weather conditions can also be a factor in changing class content slightly. Nonetheless, our instructors will always endeavor to be as accommodating and consistent as circumstances will allow to ensure students get the best training experience and value for money.
Start Time: 9:00AM
End Time: 5:00PM