COURSE DESCRIPTION

Whether adventuring in the outdoors or enjoying a book about adventuring in the outdoors, fire always comes up. In fact, it has been said that fire is directly related to every other survival priority. Not just survival, but most outdoor adventures are enhanced with safe, effective fires. It helps regulate core body temperature, boils water for purifying, cooks food, signals for rescue, makes tools, scares away the bumps in the night, and so much more. This is also one of the areas that I see most people struggle with, especially if they do not have the perfect situations and resources. There is a great deal to learn and master with fire, including basic principles about tinder, ignition tools, strategies, and techniques.

Teaching different methods of fire is, without a question, one of my favorite subjects. This 2 day series will be a culmination of over 30 years of professionally teaching pioneer, survival, primitive, boy scout, military, and every other type of fire hack. We will explore both modern and historical ways of making fire as well as looking at safety and dealing with poor fire situations. At the end of this series you will look at fire in a totally different way and will be able to achieve it with a tiny spark, sticks only, modern tools, pioneer tools, wet wood, windy weather, no wood, and more.”

Every class is slightly different based on what the mountain gives us, weather conditions, student interest and more. That being said, the core of the class stays relatively the same, it is just all the extras that get affected by different resources and times of year.

This is one of my most requested and sought after classes throughout the year. It is my absolute honor to keep the stories and skills in this class alive. Please join me in keeping them alive, and who knows, one day they may do the same for you.

COURSE TOPICS

1. Fire safety and basics
2. Pioneer and Heritage fires from around the world like flint and steel, cedar rolling, fire from bamboo sparks, trench matches, and other historical spark based fires
3. Modern fires like mastering the ferro rod, getting fire from wet wood, bullets, batteries, and other modern tools used by military, search and rescue, pilots, and seasoned outdoor professionals.
4. Primitive and indigenous skills from around the world like, bow drill, hand drill, pump drill, fire saw, cedar rolls and more.
5. Solar fire, ranging from modern to primitive; things like fire from ice cubes, convex lenses, fire from trash, parabolic fires and loads of other improvised ways to use the sun for fire.
6. Using fire as a tool and using fire to make other tools.
7. Cooking, baking, and preserving food with fire
8. Using fire with shelter and as a shelter. We look at fire lays from around the world that have been proven for centuries to make the difference in getting a good night’s sleep, preserving food, staying alive and chasing away the things that go bump in the night.

COURSE OUTCOMES AND DEMONSTRATED SKILLS

• Students will be able to identify and assess fire hazards and understand basic fire safety measures. Demonstrated Skills: Identifying fire hazards, implementing basic fire safety measures, understanding fire extinguishers and their use.
• Students will be able to start fires using traditional methods from different cultures around the world. Demonstrated Skills: Starting fires with flint and steel, cedar rolling, bamboo sparks, trench matches, and other historical spark-based fires.
• Students will be able to start fires using modern tools and techniques. Demonstrated Skills: Starting fires with ferro rods, wet wood, bullets, batteries, and other modern tools used by military, search and rescue, pilots, and seasoned outdoor professionals.
• Students will be able to start fires using primitive and indigenous techniques from around the world. Demonstrated Skills: Starting fires with bow drill, hand drill, pump drill, fire saw, cedar rolls, and more.
• Students will be able to start fires using solar energy. Demonstrated Skills: Starting fires with ice cubes, convex lenses, fire from trash, parabolic fires, and other improvised ways to use the sun for fire.
• Students will understand how to use fire as a tool and to make other tools. Demonstrated Skills: Using fire to shape and manipulate metal, wood, and other materials to create tools.
• Students will understand how to cook, bake, and preserve food with fire. Demonstrated Skills: Cooking and baking food over an open fire, using smoking and drying techniques to preserve food.
• Students will understand how to use fire in shelter construction and as a shelter. Demonstrated Skills: Building fire lays from around the world, creating and maintaining fires to provide warmth, light, and protection, and using fire to keep away predators and other nighttime threats.

LENGTH

2 Days / 1 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 can stay in one of our 20 person GP Medium tents when not running field exercises or may stay in their own tents, campers, vehicles or a primitive shelter. Our tents are complete with wood burning stoves for cold weather conditions. This is a shared tent for all students that wish to use it.
• Sanitation/Hygiene: A portable 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)
•     Poncho or Rain Gear
•     Outdoor Clothing and appropriate footwear
•     Folding hand saw
•     100’of 550 Paracord
•     Headlamp and extra batteries
•     Cooking pot and eating utensils
•     Single walled metal canteen
•     Insect Repellent
•     Sunscreen and sunglasses
•     Notepad and pencil
•     Small Backpack

Check Recommended Items 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 are all must have tools 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.