COURSE DESCRIPTION

This 3- Day Outdoor Survival Basics course is designed for outdoor enthusiasts and those who want to journey into the wild with greater confidence. We welcome all levels of participants, even those who are new to outdoor adventure. Students will learn the hard skills of wilderness survival along with leadership mindset, situational awareness and intuition training.

We take the most important elements of survival and self-reliance and focus on the core survival priorities. Students will be given hands-on training on how to build and use recommended survival gear. These are essential items to have with you at all times whether enjoying a day hike or even in your vehicle or at the office.

COURSE TOPICS

• Psychology of survival
• Priorities of Survival
• Lost proofing
• Animal encounters
• Basic knife skills and safety
• Whittle notches in a try stick
• The priorities of survival
• Proper clothing and gear
• Fire craft
• Survival shelters
• Water purification and filtration
• Knot tying
• Survival kit mentality and preparation
• Choosing and using tools for survival
• Signaling and communication

LENGTH:

3 days/2 nights

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 for long distances.

• Shelter Lodging: Students may stay in their own tents, campers, vehicles or a primitive shelter.
• Sanitation/Hygiene: A portable restroom and potable water will be provided at the main camp. There are no showers.

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 grocers.

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
• 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 the recommended survival 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 tools are a must have, 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.