Survival Training

If you follow my blog or have read any of my earlier posts on survival training, you’ve probably heard me talk about training. Training in the skills you need to know is essential, because when the shit hits the fan is definitely not the time to try and become the master of wilderness survival. Get out there and practice in a safe environment when your life isn’t on the line. Get some professional hands-on training from skilled professionals.

I decided to put my money where my mouth is and get some professional training. I was trained by the military to survive in the wilderness, but that was over 14 years ago. I most certainly have lost some skills, and I know I’m weak on primitive fire-making and medicinal herbs. Therefore, when I saw that holistic survival professional, Luke McLaughlin was putting on a weekend class in Utah, I jumped on the chance to attend.

Luke McLaughlin was on the television show, Naked and Afraid where he had to survive 21 days in the wild with nothing but his skills, a partner, and one survival item. His episode landed him in the country of Namibia located in southwest Africa. His emphasis isn’t just on survival, but re-wilding and the survival of the earth. You can learn more about him here at his website: http://www.holisticsurvivalschool.com 

The training was supposed to take place over a weekend in the West Desert of Utah. I knew it wasn’t going to be an arduous ordeal where we’d be surviving on nothing; rather it was an educational opportunity to meet some new people, get back in touch with nature, and learn some primitive survival skills. Luke would be touching on two of the items I really wanted to learn more about (fire-making skills and herbal/edible plants), so I was stoked.

To set the scene, it had been raining off and on for the last two weeks leading up to the training. The weather forecast called for a medium chance of showers, and cooler temperatures and they weren’t joking. We got out to the site and started to set-up, and it rained off and on the entire day. The temperature dropped to the 40’s and we found ourselves sitting by the fire and socializing for the majority of the first night.

Snow dropped on us and the temperature dropped even further during the night, making for a restless sleep. I had packed for chill and rain, but obviously not for the kind of cold snap that occurred. The next day, it was sprinkling off and on, and we started talking about plants. Instead of just diving right into different plants that could be found in and around the mountainous areas of Utah, Luke broke it down into what kind of plants could be used medicinally based upon the type of issue occurring with your skin/body, and the taste/smell of the plant. It was almost a basic usage that would work the majority of the time and was great because you might not know what kind of plant it is, but based on some characteristics, you can surmise what it can do to help you. I would suggest attending his training for that knowledge alone.

It was shortly after that block that the rain started to pour down on us. We broke for lunch to see what would happen, but it was apparent that it didn’t have any intention of stopping any time soon. We had a couple folks in the group who were scheduled to fly out the next morning, and we didn’t want to get stuck up in the mountains and have them miss their flight. The road to get up to the site was narrow and muddy, and the rain was just making it worse. We finally decided to call it quits and reschedule for another time. Oddly enough, we made it down the mountain fine, but the car I was in got stuck in the mud on a dirt road near a field. We got out, but it took a lot of persistence and mud baths. 

The reschedule day was very nice with it being sunny and cool enough to be comfortable. This is when we went hard into primitive fire-making skills. Luke taught us some different wood combinations that work well together, and some to avoid. He broke down the steps and theory behind making a “nest” to put the coal into, as well as how to properly hand drill and bow drill. First things first, as Luke said at the class, DO NOT RELY ON PRIMITIVE METHODS to start a fire. They should be used as a last resort. That’s why it’s imperative that you have a couple different methods of making a fire with you. Everything has to be just right when using a primitive method. The materials and weather were ideal, and it took me 1.5 hours to get a fire going with a bow drill. Granted, it was my second attempt in my lifetime to try and do this (the first attempt was an utter failure) and there were a lot of hiccups and training moments. However, it was very elating to get that fire going finally. From now on, whenever I go camping, I’ll be practicing to try and get better. 

We finished up with more herbals and reinforced some of the knowledge that was taught on the first day. All in all, it was great training and I would recommend taking a class from Luke if you get a chance. He has a laid back teaching method, but is still very thorough. It’s obvious he knows what he’s talking about because he’s had to rely on his skill in real-life situations. Plus, he’s just an all-around cool guy with some fun stories. If you see him, asking what the bonus C stands for in his C’s of survival, probably one of my favorite and something I’ll take with me camping/hunting from now on.