Economic Collapse - A Survival Guide

With destabilization in the Middle East and a convergence of man made and natural disasters many folks are feeling an urge to do "something" to prepare. Preparation for an unseen Economic Collapse is as personal as dieting. Each person approaches the task on their own terms and each gets a certain, often predictable, series of results from their approach. In order to fully grasp what you are up against with survival preparation and economic collapse, check the stats on your dieting strategies and success rates. Before you get too depressed, look at the strategies and success rates of those who have been successful. The cycle is easy to recite, but a little more difficult to apply, especially to survival. Motivation, action, commitment, self discipline, and consistency until it becomes an effortless lifestyle change. To work through this predictable series of events, most people have to fail multiple times before getting it right. Ask any smoker or ex-smoker with regards to quitting, it ain't easy. The kicker is that refined sugar and flour is more addicting than cigarettes. First, if you are only now thinking about creating an independent life style apart from the support system that has fed you, transported you, and provided you with Supersized Happy Meals and plasma screens, step out of the aisle so that those who can fit through the door and slide down the inflatable raft can make it. Don't worry, you'll be help enough....on a spit. For those of you who have had a gnawing feeling that you should do something but couldn't find the time or opportunity and trust that the first responders are gonna come and help if things really do go bad, keep watching those survival you tube videos put out by "primitiveskills". You won't really know how to do the skills, but you'll believe you can and, apparently, your comfortable with that. The majority of you folks will be responsible for clogging the major routes of transportation well enough to protect the rural areas for a few extra weeks from the shiftless predatory "survivalists". These are the folks who plan on "just headin' out to the country, woods, oz, who knows where. Due to their limited or lack of in depth training, they find themselves dependent on processed foods, manufactured ammunition, even machinery. They are so addicted to these luxury items that they will break in to homes and even kill folks to have them. The rioting and looting will eventually spill out in to the rural areas. The government crack down or other forms of mob rule will impose restrictions on travel, curfews, and impose martial law in the larger urban areas. Rioting and looting will still occur. This scene has played ad nauseam in the Baltic States, South America, Haiti and the revolving country names of the political jigsaw puzzle collectively known as Africa. Closer to home it's happened in Louisiana after Katrina. We have documentation of societal economic collapse and the predictable patterns of cultural fall out in our current news stretching back to when Nero played his fiddle. Luckily, we also have examples of how folks made it through these hard times and don't have to re-invent the wheel. Victory Gardens, local bartering, strong community, a work ethic that ties hard and smart labor with ones own personal freedom, not a government hand out or hand in (your pocket). are a good foundation. Missing is the realization that we are intimately tied to our landscape. The health of our soil and our land is a direct correlation to our own health. It's long past time to bring back a sense of stewardship. instead, those who work the land to promote health all around are going to see this one through. Those who rely on tokens and public transportation have simply become too specialized a subspecies and share their fate with other species that become too specialized in a changing environment. Say hello to the Saber Toothed Cats for me, okay? So what's the plan? First, address immediate action, then intermediate action, and then you'll be able to address long term action. Immediate action: Remember that Attitude, Shelter, Water, Fire, and Food are the order of the day when it comes to securing your immediate survival needs. Do you have a secure shelter and a weeks supply of water, firewood, and food set aside? If not, there is your first course of action. Be smart and acquire items that will last for years and require not electricity to prepare or store.

Next, your intermediate plans: Extend your Immediate Plans to last for a year or more. Add to that an assumption that you cannot rely on government agencies for help or support. Even now, first responders will normally take well over five minutes to get to your house once called. That means a person shooting you has five extra minutes to keep shooting after you calmly dial the police and, ignoring all those fascinating exit wounds, you inform the dispatcher of your situation. If you thing the response time is going to get better when the infrastructure is strained...then you either never met a state worker or you are one (denial is NOT a river in Africa). Your fire arms and ammunition should be used to acquire meat as well as defend your family. A shotgun and knife are the two best home defense weapons. Handguns are fun, easy to negotiate around corners and a blast to accessorize, but they usually leave survivors who either need to then be treated or who turn around and press charges. Your gardens should be well established and diverse. Communication equipment and procedures for you, your family, and your close community members should include escape routes, rally points, and emergency procedures.

Long Term Plans: Caches in five gallon buckets buried through out your landscape or your escape routes should include shelter, water, fire, and food or the equipment to acquire them. You are studying and practicing herbal medicine and seed propagation for a "medicinals" garden. You have planted your orchards and have coordinated with others in your intentional "sustainability community". You are aware of what they will grow and raise and how you intend to barter with them. First aid training up to and including Wilderness EMT is important. Learning how to make acorn flour and how to can, dehydrate and pickle are important as you work toward being able to grow your food nearly year round and store food to get through the winter. All of this can be done in the guise of a trendy movement, like "permaculture", or "hobby gardening".

If you develop a healthy work ethic and cultivate an attitude of connection to the landscape, stewardship, and a sense of adventure, then a coming Economic Collapse will just seem like another growing season, hunting season, tree tapping season, ice fishing....ahhhhh, you get the point.

Survival and The Zombie Apocalypse

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse has become the hot theme over the last two years. It is a thinly veiled metaphor for folks of all walks of life to be able to express their growing uneasiness with the way they see things are going. In expressing our uncertainties through zombies we can cross all manner of political and social boundaries. The big plus is that they resemble humans and are already dead. So, in the spirit of taking advantage of this . . . movement, it seemed important to share some topics that might be worth exploring on your own. Our school doesn’t officially cover most of these topics. We do however practice a great deal of them as a matter of fun and “entertainment purposes”.

For those of you who have been through a survival skills course, you have probably heard of attitude, shelter, water, fire, and food as important topics to be covered. Firearms, lock picking, psychological warfare, escape from restraints, hotwiring, improvised munitions, and small group movement aren’t necessarily included in the basic survival package. They are, however, things to consider in an Apocalypse of the Zombie persuasion.

Just to be clear, we don’t condone any of the above training for folks unless being pursued by zombies. Some founding father type apparently said something about the government being afraid of the people as being freedom and the people being afraid of the government as tyranny. I suppose that would make being afraid of zombies perfectly healthy, maybe even sane in today’s current climate. So train wisely.

Remember that cell phones and televisions are transmitters that there is currently no real “Right to Privacy”, and only you are responsible for your own safety before embarking on such liberties. Be also aware that time is a real issue. Jobs, sleep, family and other obligations limit what you can learn. Make a list of skill sets you want to master, another list you want to be decent at, and a third list of skills you want to be familiar with. There is only so many hours before the brain sucking hordes come out of the ground. In short, prioritize and don’t advertise.

Your essentials list should be relatively short and have some aspect of escape and evasion included on it. This list is where you will be spending most of your training time and energy. It should also include some sort of defense training or strategies. Don’t be so self absorbed that you forget to network with valuable community assets on some level with regard to this list. This could be something as low maintenance as establishing safe houses along escape routes, or as involved as cross training team members and practicing reactionary drills. Remember that “one is none and two is one” when it comes to high intensity zombie interaction.

On the decent proficiency list, a transferrable/barter-able skill is important. Something you can do that few others can gives you value in high stress group dynamics. They won’t sacrifice you to the zombies if you’re the only one who knows field expedient short wave radio, or can repair firearms. Blacksmithing, EMT skills, a cross trained person in two or three of these areas is important. Strive to be that person.

Lastly, the list of skills you are lightly familiar with should be your largest. You train in these to gain a working knowledge of how things operate. Just don’t get fooled in to believing you know something just because you saw it on you tube or read it in a cheesy blog like this one. As an example, lock picking should not be on this list unless you popped open a pair of cuffs and a master lock a few times with improvised rakes, wrenches, and picks.

Zombies are arrogant and lack creativity, but they are well trained and their ego’s give them the illusion of command and control. It is only through your training and networking that you will prevent having your brains sucked out. If you already believe you know all this “stuff”, than you are exhibiting zombie behavior. Being hungry for more ways to increase your survival and the survival of your loved ones may be the only way to prevent the spread of the scourge and allow you to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Choosing Sides

I write this as more than just a motivated former Marine. I’ve run a survival school since 1989 and I consider myself an eager student of the subject (translated: I don’t mind how you choose to feel, I don’t have any money, and I willingly subject myself to black flies, mosquitoes, and self proclaimed “experts” who will tell you all they know without ever leaving the comfort of their living room chair). I do this because it makes me feel like the wealthiest man on earth. That brings me to the point of this article. I’m looking across the landscape and seeing a whole lot of people preparing for something. Their skill sets are impressive and many of them overlap. There are old school Red Scare types prepping with bunkers, caches, shelters, and firepower. There are back-to-the-landers with permaculture and the homesteading arts. There’s the New World Order types, the overpopulation groups, the folks with specific dates, etc. Heck, for the folks who can’t find the one ideal group to call home, there are zombies.

Well, with all of you folks choosing sides, joining up with co-ops, spec-ops, psy-ops, and the pyramids with the psy-clops, I figured I should choose a side too. Now, whomever I joined up with would have to be powerful. I’m a sore loser when it comes to living, at least when it concerns my family and me. So I needed some entity more powerful than zombies and the entire Red Army combined. I needed something that could provide food, security, and stability for me and the future of my folk; some entity that was tactically sound, reliable, and proven during the long haul. I didn’t want to be tied up with unnecessary logistics and unreliable communications. After running trough the short list and going over all the candidates, in the end, I chose the Earth.

For one, she’s bigger than all of the other groups…combined! She’s been sorting through species like folks go through cheap ballpoint pens. In a real “man versus wild” scenario, history demonstrates pretty conclusively who the winner is…every time. Now you folks of a conservative nature, don’t go tuning me out just yet (Teddy Roosevelt is still one of my favorite Presidents). You can’t expect to “Live off the Land” if you don’t have enough meat to feed your family. Besides, where do you go to “get away from it all”? The city? Really? Even if it came to cannibalism, do you think that the meat there is safe to eat? Toxins accumulate in the apex species of any environment. Think about it. Besides, even if you were able to stick to wild game, have you seen the size of the deer in New Jersey? They’re the size of Greyhounds (the dogs, not the busses).

So what do I mean?

Well, my grandfather was a farmer. In WWII he threw potatoes at the German torpedo bombers. He was a merchant marine on one of the supply ships to Europe (the kind they referred to as “Kaisers Coffin’s). He was a hard speaking, levelheaded man who taught me the importance of good soil and a sharp aim. He shared that it’s okay to kill a groundhog to protect your blackberries as long as you eat it (the groundhog . . . and the blackberries). He raised nine kids, and an assortment of fruits, vegetables, and livestock, and stayed married to the same wife his entire life. He also taught me the lessons his parents learned during the depression about calorie investment versus calorie expenditure, and the importance of keeping a productive landscape. We hunted deer because we planted and took care of the plants, shrubs, and trees that the deer ate. We always had fresh eggs, a source for meat, milk, and veggies. It was hard work that benefited his kids and their children. Heck, I suppose it’s benefiting my kids now, as I see them enjoying their lives amid a landscape of people too busy worrying about a mythical future to do something in the present to change it. I’m not talking about pretending to kill zombies or starting a small garden. Those things are nice and all. I’m just talking about getting back in touch with what worked. Assume for a minute that your great-grandparents were really good at living a healthy and productive life without things like electricity. Imagine it takes more problem solving to get your food and heat sources every day, and that a healthier diet and more active lifestyle make you sharper and more robust (individually and as a species) than the diet and activity level in today’s world. Now couple that with a wild sense of stewarding the landscape. Lets get totally crazy and assume that there was this scientifically founded and religiously supported idea that the landscape’s health is directly related to the health and prosperity of your tribe, or “nation”. One last thing, and pardon me if this will make your brain explode at the absurdity of it all, but let's add the idea that we have today’s technologies, and that these technologies allow us to increase individual backyard productivity to allow for year round backyard food production in the contiguous United States.

Hmmmmm . . . with these wacky elements as part of the package, do you see where preparing for some futuristic event could get you into some really cool projects that will increase your survivability, and decrease your dependency? Beyond that, it will build a community of folks who support each other with complimentary skill sets, gardening, foraging, livestock, and hunting diversity. There will be an increase in bartering potential, and an increase in security. Before you know it, we will increase the quality of our lives, building something that used to be called “neighborhoods”, where folks talk to each other, share news, get in arguments, watch each others kids and yell for them all to get home when the street light came on. We would begin to build a real community of folks who plant with an eye toward what their neighbor might be planting so there would be good garden trades in the fall. We’d plant apples for pies and for the turkey and venison that come after them.

This stuff isn’t that old. Granted, the folks that still do it are few, and many don’t want to share what they know with strangers, but it hasn’t been forgotten. I’m siding with the Earth because the landscape is a direct reflection of my own health. The way this land is worked depends on whether I view it as a “resource” or an “investment”. More, it shows folks how near-sighted or far-sighted I’ve been; how selfishly or selflessly I’ve spent my days.

So, I can fire a rifle a bit, still learning how to pickle, and make soap, even getting a forge up and running. All that’s good. I'm learning and teaching wild edible plants, how to make bows with stone tools, listening to bird alarms and tracking indicator species to be a better hunter. More than that though, I’m having fun. Lets face it, we have this big looming event that’s coming (or not) and we get into all of this excitement about skills, and plants, and gardens and guns because in the end, it’s fun. Imagine if it were as simple as that. You work hard at something you enjoy doing to ensure the health and survival of your kind, and as a result you're rewarded with a deep sense of satisfaction and fun, and a sense of competence. It doesn’t take a survival expert to give you the importance of that vehicle. You already have it. It’s parked in your brain right next to the self-doubt and distraction cars. Which on do you plan on piloting when it comes to surviving the coming apocalypse? Maybe your apocalypse is already here. Either way, I’m having fun. Let me know how it turns out. Oh yeah, and watch out for those zombies.

For videos, "how to" articles, and information on classes visit http://www.primitiveskills.com

Survival Teaching Story on Attitude and Perspective

“I need a rattle.”

The thought came to the snake faster than the warming rays of first light. Thus, it was sluggish and didn’t quite stick at first. It wasn’t until the energy of the new day soaked though her scales and stirred her blood that the idea compelled her unblinking eye toward her once magnificent tail. The sight brought the drama of the hawk and the drop, the scramble to find cover and the pain, all rushing in. She even shook her tail, but the expectant buzz was replaced by a dull thudding noise. No thankfulness entered her heart this morning. She did not feel a sense of gratefulness for surviving the attack. Any feelings of appreciation were now muffled by the feeling of remorse at the loss of her beautiful tail. The grief was just too all encompassing. It was hunger that drove her from her shelter.

She saw the other snakes stare and turn to each other. She kept to the low places and the corners, wanting to remain unseen, unnoticed. Her imagination built conversations between the snakes she passed, each one mocking her for her lost tail, her lack of awareness. She found a pocket gopher; it’s heat guiding her to the den. A coyote passed by and all of her attempts at rattling did nothing to break its stride. She remembered the respect her beautiful tale commanded. Again, snakes are staring, whispering. Entering the den she found her mark and feasted. While her belly was full, her heart remained empty. She fell asleep in the den. The scraping of claws startled her from her mournful sleep. A badger, taking advantage of the cool shade the hole provided, or looking for food, started to burrow toward her. He used his razor sharp claws to widen the entrance. She rattled, and nothing. She coiled, and nothing. The darkness and lack of noise left no other option. Badgers eat snakes. She struck at the center of the darkness and hit. She did it again, and again. The wall of fur paused, then stuttered before shuffling backwards. Hope faded as the mass stopped at the opening, the only avenue of escape.

The life giving sun was leaving. She had to get out or she would never survive the cold night of the desert. Slowly she inched near the badger. Not until she was close did she realize it was dead. As she crawled over the body, more snakes were whispering and staring from the rock. The burden of this was too much. Seeking counsel with the matriarch, she headed toward the sandstone ledge that housed the elders.

She was careful to hide her tail when other snakes came with in sight, but her arrival was not unnoticed. The clan mothers seemed unusually happy to see her. The elders greeted her warmly. When at last she saw the matriarch, the voice of the wisdom keeper startled her. “Why do you hide that amazing tail”, she asked. Sliding closer to examine the young snake, the Matriarch continued. “Your scars are the stuff of legend. For the last two days your story has been shared. Your encounter with the hawk, how you survived the fall to Earth, your standing up to the coyote with out flinching, and most amazing of all, your battle with the badger. Your tail holds the story of all of these things louder than any words. You should hold that tail with pride.”

Of course, snakes cannot really speak. And, even if they could, they would rarely find the energy to share this sort of thing with each other. However, the story is too important not to be told. Therefore it is up to us to find the story within ourselves when we find that our scars are holding us back, or that our tails have been nipped. These things that we believe are being told of us should be heard in a way that frees us, empowers us, becomes our badge of wisdom borne of hardship, not a prison of shame, grief, or inaction rooted in a story of shortcomings.

Folks come to our school to learn survival and we give them a list of priorities. At the top of that list is “Attitude”. After coming to classes for a year or so, they find that the list of priorities applies to more than just survival. It applies to a full and empowering life regardless of what is thrown your way.

This story was given to me after a Cherokee Elder made a statement at one of our classes. All he said was, “I need a rattle”. By the time I walked from the winter classroom to the office, the story rushed in. I typed it out as fast as I could before it left me. Now it is yours.

Primitive Skills as foundational to Permaculture

Primitive Skills-The foundation for Permaculture

Go to the window and look at your landscape. Can you identify each plant, shrub, and tree along with their edible, medicinal, and utilitarian uses? Can you name each bird and animal, their behaviors relationships and current location? Are you aware, based on the evidence provided by plant species and conditions, animal tracks and sign, elevation, and drainage, of the soil quality and characteristics? If this sounds too far fetched, it’s because you’ve been raised in an artificial landscape superimposed on the real and natural one. Our ancestors knew all of these things as a matter of survival. More so, their diet was healthier, their craniums larger, and their concern for the environment based on a direct correlation and relationship with the health of their community. At a glance our “primitive” ancestors could predict the weather, locate water, read the tracks and sign of insects, and animals, interpret the language of the birds, and read the forested landscape to determine what plants, medicine, cordage, dyes, and tools could be gathered. They could also tell the health of the ecology of the area. Can you?

Imagine you did know the answers to the above questions. How would that change your behaviors? Would you eradicate all of the mint for one year of tea? Would you harvest all the sweet fern in a rush to stock up on diarrhea medication? Of course not! Saving seeds, drying herbs, and cultivated the land for more diversity has been going on since long before the bronze age. The “care taker attitude” has been expressed and well documented in the history of this land and every continent by it’s indigenous cultures.

This in depth “native” knowledge of the landscape has had important historical ramifications for our success as a species. Arguably, whether you are a “back to the lander”, “prepper”, in to “nature education”, or just want to get in touch with something real and important, there is nothing as effective at addressing the foundational skill sets to all of these approaches as primitive skills.

Our ancestors refined their relationship with the landscape over countless generations. Motivated to be efficient and successful by their own mortality, hunter-gatherer nomadic tribes were a far cry from the club toting dolts portrayed in cartoons and insurance commercials.

So, lets get to the nitty-gritty details. How does this look? What are the ways that would make our landscape a biodiverse wild “garden” that would sustain multiple layers of life for generations to come?

First, start with the people. We use the “Thanksgiving Address” as a structure to build awareness and community from. Caretaking your landscape is no exception. What talent can you tap in to in your community? What would they feel motivated to do and how would they feel most valued? Our programs rely heavily on work-study and apprenticeships so that the people are learning as they share their skills and hard work. The key to make sure they are valued, because all hands are certainly needed.

The soil, our unspoken wealth, needs to be addressed next. Test your soils in different locations and map out what you need to do. In most cases it makes sense to adjust what you grow than to adjust the soil. Exceptions include things like high bush blueberries or other high yield or important species that you just can’t do without.

Map the understory, but include the tracks and sign as well as the important herbaceous plants. Garden pests equal meat on the table. Finding the balance will help you optimize populations of plants to attract mammals as well as provide your community with food and medicine.

Pay special attention to shade loving plants and their relatives. A healthy tree that is allowed to grow increases in value over time. Be sure to make the most out of the trees you do have to remove. Milling or using raw timbers to make out buildings, raised beds, fire wood, charcoal for your forge, ash for soap making. Like the natural world and our native ancestors, the key is maximizing a return on energy investment.

Weather, the sun, the moon and our intuition also play a role. Just like the “thanksgiving Address” we expand our awareness across the landscape with the intent to create bounty and leave more for the future generations than we found.

Trailing with Track and Sign

Just added three more courses to the 2011 calendar...

Primitive Cooking

16 July 2011 (rain date: 17 July)

Humans have been cooking food for a long time, possibly 200,000 years or more. Aboriginal people learned to use the heat of cooking to detoxify food, break down molecules our bodies can't digest, and increase the pleasure of eating by enhancing flavors. Primitive cooks around the world created hearty, nutritious meals without the use of metal pots and pans, stove tops, ovens, crock pots, and the like. They had many different methods of cooking food that maximized nutrition while, when necessary, reducing toxins and antinutrients that may be present in the food. This day-long class will examine several methods of cooking that do not require modern kitchenware, including the aboriginal equivalents of the crock pot, grill, boiling pot, and baking pan. This class is a perfect companion to any wild food classes you may have participated in and furthers your "bushcraft" skills. A lot of organic, wildcrafted, and/or free-range foods will be consumed as part of the class and the day will culminate with dinner cooked entirely with aboriginal technology. Given the need to make and tend fires throughout the day for this workshop, a rain date needs to be kept open (the following day) for inclement weather. Price is $125.00 (which includes the price of food) and class is limited to 10 students. Class begins at 9:00 am and ends at 6:00 pm or whenever the evening meal is completed. If you are interested in enrolling for this class, please contact the Maine Primitive Skills School (207-623-7298) or visit http://www.primitiveskills.com/registration00.html.

Healing with Plants, Fungi, and Lichens

29‒31 July 2011

Coping with and recovering from illness, injury, and debility has always been part of being human. And for these complaints, plants have served as the major source of medicine. This class will examine the use of wild plants, fungi, and lichens for healing injury and supporting the body. Students will learn a suite of species that grow in New England that can be used for many common ailments, such as colds, infections, gastrointestinal upset, headaches, dermatitis, insomnia, etc. Methods of collecting will be discussed, as well as directions for making infusions, decoctions, poultices, salves, tinctures, and smoking mixtures. Throughout the weekend, various stories and examples will be shared demonstrating how plant-based medicines have preserved life and influenced aboriginal and contemporary people. Healing with plants provides people and families with another avenue of self-sufficiency and furthers connection to the landscape. The class will be taught by Arthur Haines (who personally uses plants, fungi, and lichens for all medicinal needs). Class will be offered at the Delta Institute of Natural History in Bowdoin, ME (click here if you need directions). Price is $180.00 and class is limited to 10 students. Class begins at 7:00 pm on Friday and ends at 12:00 pm on Sunday. If you are interested in enrolling for this class, please contact the Maine Primitive Skills School (207-623-7298) or visit http://www.primitiveskills.com/registration00.html.

Fall Foraging

30 September to 2 October 2011

This hands-on class is designed for those with with an interest in self-sufficiency, human health, and a deeper relationship with plants. Foraging provides many avenues of connection with nature and fosters a greater appreciation of the many things that local landscapes can provide for us. It has become increasingly clear through many independent studies that diets rich in wild foods promote health and defend the body from many of the debilitating ailments that plague modern societies (e.g., obesity, diabetes, arthritis, coronary disease, periodontal disease). Students should expect to spend much of the weekend outside identifying, collecting, and preparing wild plants for food (so be prepared for weather and uneven terrain). Class will focus on gathering plant foods and medicines that are appropriate for the season (nuts, legumes, fall roots and tubers, and wild rice--as available). Throughout the class, simple tools will be used and reference will be made to primitive and contemporary methods of processing plants. As well, wildcrafted medicine and utilitarian plants will be discussed to provide a more holistic understanding of how plants can positively affect our lives. Wild nutrition is both a link to the past and a gateway to a sustainable future. This class will be taught by Arthur Haines and will be offered at the Delta Institute of Natural History in Bowdoin, ME (click here if you need directions). Some locations will be visited off site so please be prepared to carpool short distances from the property. Price is $180.00 and class is limited to 10

Foraging for Food, Medicine, & Survival Tools Pt. 3-Resources

Foraging for Food Medicine, & Survival Tools Part 2-Medicine & Foraging ...

Foraging for Food, Medicine, & Long Term Survival Tools Pt. 1-Food

Survival

(Part 1 of 6 "Developing a Survival Attitude")

Survival. The very idea of being placed in a survival situation evokes deep feelings. The reaction it stirs in you indicates a great deal about how you would react to an unexpected situation where lives may be on the line. Could you accurately assess your ability to survive in a real survival situation? Do you have “What it takes”? And what is, “what it takes” anyway?

Biologically, or genetically, there is little more we can do beyond physical training and learning in a contrived environment. Worse, we could “read up” on survival skills and theory and give ourselves the illusion of understanding. This would allow us the dangerous assumption that, because we read it in a book, or saw a few videos on the internet, we have “what it takes”. This elusive internal quality has little to do with book learning. Even folks trained in survival skills perish in the same conditions that untrained individuals find themselves surviving. So, where are you in this spectrum?

Beyond our genetics we become who we are based on only two variables. The first is the environment we immerse ourselves in. The second is what we choose to focus on in that environment. Here are two examples to illustrate how profound these two simple components can be in creating different results for members of the same species.

Since he was young, Brad was an avid outdoorsman. His father and Uncles would take him fishing and hunting. His family was involved in Scouting. When Brad shot his first deer at thirteen, the community rallied in celebration. As a young man, Brad took up Rock Climbing, Hiking, Backpacking, and Snow Shoeing. He loved knives, rifles, archery, and camouflage. Brad learned gardening from his grandparents. As a middle aged man, Brad often reflects on his exploits, especially those times where he had to spend a few unplanned days and nights in the forest due to poor judgment, weather, or unforeseen circumstances. These memories came to him with a sense of fondness. All of this gives Brad little comfort now, at 2am. Strange groups of people stare as he walks by. Towering apartment buildings and confusing, dark streets make him feel like an alien as he tries to locate the building he was supposed to meet a friend at. They all look the same to him. Brad struggles to keep the welling panic at bay as he realizes the enormity of South Philly.

Mark, a product of Chicago, would have felt more at ease in this neighborhood. He yearns for the familiar hum and rhythm of the city. A steam shrouded sidewalk grate would indicate warmth. A church steeple might mean a shelter near by. A fast food joint would almost guarantee a dumpster full of food. Marks’ sense of order, his ability to read street signs as well as subtle body language cues, all of his finely honed urban survival strategies are failing to serve him in this alien northern woodland environment.

Brad, with all of his woodsman skills is just as lost in the city as streetwise Mark is in the natural world.

Provided they are not injured and can breath, both men require five basic elements to ensure their survival. Four of these are physical needs. The fifth, the most important element, determines how they and, more importantly, you would react in a similar situation. The first four priorities are a need to find shelter from the elements, drinking water, a source of light and heat (fire), and last on the list; food.

The fifth element; that which will compel them in to action or cripple them into complacency, is “Attitude”. Attitude is nothing less than how you view yourself in the context of your “reality”. How you view your commute, your job, your relationships, even the power and the will you believe you have to change a situation…or not. It is the reason some walk away from an event while others perish, frozen in their uncertainty and fear. It is the amount of ignorance and fear that we focus on that is our greatest undoing in the end. It is the opportunities and actions we seize that is our saving grace as well.

None of this takes place without the initial choice. In fact, it could be said that choice is one of the two “Parents” of a healthy survival attitude. But lets explore this concept within the context of your own reality. In the second paragraph of this article there was a statement, “Beyond YOUR genetics you become who you are based on the environment you immerse yourself in and what you choose to focus on in that environment.

With that in mind, lets first focus on your environment and how it shapes you. How much of your effort, intellect, and problem solving skills go directly in to providing you with adequate and safe shelter against the elements as well as protecting you from the threats in your environment? Does your landscape demand that your awareness is developed around these things, or is having a roof, climate control, and a warm bed an assumed component of your reality?

At the Maine Primitive Skills School we have a saying, “Convenience kills”. In the environment you find yourself in, if you are not actively problem solving to address your survival needs you will lack the ability to do so in a real situation. Since most of us lack the means or the will to modify our surroundings, we are left with the second component of what shapes us; what we choose to focus on in that environment. This piece makes increasing your survivability easy and fun.

During your daily routine, envision different “call to action” scenarios where you have to come up wit your own shelter, water, fire, and food. On the commute, where would you acquire these things if you were snowed in, or you were stranded on a specific section of roadway with no help available? At work, you are hit with a natural disaster the knocks out power and isolates your people from the rest of the world. What materials would you utilize and how long would they last? How would you plug in different personalities to create an optimal chance for all to make it through? Developing these questions as part of your overall routine shifts you from being the victim of someone else’s story to becoming the hero of your own journey.

Arthur Haines introduction

Survival Fire Making : Friction Fire with Bow Drill

Survival Fire Making : Friction Fire with Strap Drill

Track Aging Techniques

Track Interpretation Skills

Track Identification Skills

Introduction to the Six Disciplines of Tracking

Wilderness Survival-Power Snare

Rolling Pencil Snare

Greased String Dead Fall

Broken Stick Dead Fall Trap

Split Stick Deadfall

Split Stick Deadfall

For more information, instructional videos, details about our staff, school, or courses, please visit http://www.primitiveskills.com

Breaking the Cycle

There is an idea that a simplistic, happy life is ignorance. At first I thought it was steeped in racism, but then it occurred to me that it was more a lack of awareness when a certain paradigm came in contact with sustainable communities of equal intellect who consciously chose to live within the parameters of their landscape. In the last article if you got the idea that we are raising our kids like we raise our foods, a vast monoculture of standardized minds conditioned to respond to stimulus rather than initiate creative and intrinsic problem solving skills, than you'd be right. The institutions, born out of the industrial revolution and based in getting as many folks through the program as possible, are self perpetuating. The teacher is a product of the system that he or she facilitates. The obvious results are unquestioned, even embraced. The answer isn't change, it's catch phrases extracted from research done by fellow educators, and documentation to cover ones butt in case a "radical" challenges the idea that real learning happens in an artificial, sedentary environment where there is no intrinsic reward, emotional investment, or cultivation of natural curiosity. We see this institution take bright eyed, eager college graduates who have a passion for life and, in the same amount of time it takes an elementary school to subdue childlike curiosity and produce a glassy eyed disinterested middle schoolers, that same teacher has moved from the center of the room interacting with each student at their own level to a position behind a desk in the back of the room. We blame development for this, but again, culturally, this has been shown to be inconsistent. Well adjusted, very curious, and socially responsible adolescents abound in nomadic cultures around the globs. The impossible task of developing whole human beings in a classroom with a twenty student to one adult ratio degrades in to a cosmetic shell game. Each "seasoned teacher" knows they have about 185 days to cover the material the state requires, the district requires, the Principal requires, the parents, IEP, RTI, and standardized testing requires. Factor in grading and what's left is designated time for mentoring, challenging, and eeking out the innate curiosity about the world. Actually, what's left is a frazzled shell who fails to give up until retirement, and too often dies within the first five years after that. So how to we break free of this relatively young model of cultivating minds to conform and perform in a post industrial society? Do we really want to? School was not started with Plato and Socrates, as is normally touted. These folks had students wander the landscape and share from their direct experience. The model we work with today first manifested in Germany about 500 years ago in an effort to train members of agrarian cultures for jobs in the city. Dewey and Ford refined the process. To this day we rate our workers with grades. Grade A or "Meets the Standard" means you can perform the task well. You may be suitable for management. Grade F, and your the guy they send into the mine to see if the canary is still alive. It made sense 500 years ago. We didn't understand the many ways a person learns, or how the brain makes neural connections. Besides, the way we did it before, the invisible school, was compassion based members of our extended family allowing us to experience hardship, failure, and success in a supportive community of active and aware learners. How does one measure that? So, if your interested in breaking the cycle, for your kids, your self, your class room, your community, it's pretty easy. It's also supported by the latest in brain research and thousands of years of evolutionary processes. The latent, sometimes atrophied parts of your brain designed to utilize childlike curiosity are still in there! How many of you used to make forts as a kid, pretend to be an animal, make a bow and arrow or spear, have adventures? This genetic predisposition is nothing less than the whole bodies programming to interface with a multidimensional and dynamic organic landscape. In many educational institutions, if these traits can not be subdued by behavior modification through parental and teacher pressures, even peer pressure, than the child is medicated. Outside, these children flourish. They tend to have quicker responses, higher awareness, and an insatiable curiosity compared to the sedate industrialized minds that have "surrendered to the game". After all, the convenience of the game is what makes it alluring. Jump through the hoops, do what your told, write neatly and be on time, quiet, and respectful, and you will be handsomely rewarded. If not, hmmmmm. Sadly, the 10% who flourish in the contrived cells of the public school environment are rarely fully challenged themselves. They "do the work", but yearn for something more engaging. In fact, most students would rather be outside, or participate with more of their senses in meaningful interactions with their environment. We know this, and have known it with increasing realization since the early eighties. Most of the efforts to bring real learning in to public schools falls flat as a fad, again, due to brain patterning on the old way and convenience. "Convenience kills" doesn't only refer to a sedentary life, but a sedentary routine, mindset, awareness level, perspective, passion, body, and being. Movement, joy, pain and the sense that one is the hero of an amazing story instead of the victim of (fill in the blank). As a mentor, I would rather have a sneering, "How do you know" over a "Why do we have to learn this" any day. The first is based in inquisitiveness, the latter is based in a sense of futility. How does this all relate to "Breaking the Cycle of Empires"? By focusing on our species' true source of wealth, the health and well being of our children (collectively and as a community) and the environments they're raised in, we change the paradigm. The world of talented mechanics, engineers, farmers, midwives, herbalists, naturalists, and so on becomes an endless resource of mentoring talent. There is a LOT more though. We have to reclaim some of the wisdom we threw out with our pre-industrial ancestry. Cultural tools that bring awareness to a point of compassion, connection, and empathy, grief recognition and resolution technologies that strengthen the community, and whole person experiences designed to increase understanding of the world and ones role in it that are based on first hand interpretation are just a few of these elements. The rest are coming in the next article. Until then, push buttons, take people out of their comfort zone, and have at least one adventure each day that is not only worth writing about, but worth reading. For more information, instructional videos, details about our staff, school, or courses, please visit http://www.primitiveskills.com

Cycle of Empires

Every great civilization follows a pattern. It is a redundancy that is lost to the generations who have yet to live it because it spans multiple generations. It is a cycle that provides important clues to our Nations development and the development and end result of a "Global Economic Community". The Great Gardens of Babylon, The Empire of Egypt, the Heart of Greece, Rome, and so many others, once nestled in fertile river valleys, were able to expand their power and influence far and wide. Each time, the success of the people was attributed to technology, the mind, the government...but never the lush habitat's that supported the raw material, the food, the leisure time to think these great thoughts. We see this on a micro scale in our cities. Young and vibrant at first, the city attracts the artists, the business folk, the entrepreneur. A young city is exiting, vibrant, full of story rife with opportunity...Newark, Watts, South Philly...these places are not what they used to be. Any elder not shut in to their own apartment behind five dead bolts can tell you, things were different. The cycle is inevitable when following a certain perspective. It comes when we forget our interconnection with the landscape. The environment is a reflection of our own health and stability. When we are out of balance, our physical reality reflects this in the way we deal with it. Currently, there are children who fear the woods, are told to never go outside without shoes, have never walked under a star lit sky looking for the big dipper. We expect 30 acres worth of biomass to appear in a bag in a drive through in less than a minute without a thought. Our standard of living and our numbers are so out of synch with the amount of energy consumed by other apex species, that many of them are already gone, and many more are on their way out. Wolves, Tigers, Lions, Leopards, Jaguars, Cougars...they are lessons to the limits of carrying capacity on the landscape and what happens when the capacity is exceeded. Sadly, their demise may do little to stop what seems to be a runaway train. Folks seem helpless, just smart enough to realize the futility of "going green" or to frightened to explore the history and science of what happens to any species that overspecializes, overpopulates, or exhausts it's "resources". In the surviving oral tradition of cultures on every continent the "caretaker" attitude was ingrained in the young through the wisdom of the elders. The idea of living with the awareness that our actions effect the unborn future generations is evidenced in story, song, and legend. Yet, we pattern on things that replace the hunt and the gather. We see no value in the ones who have gone before, they can't even set the clock on the DVD player. We have turned our wisdom keepers in to cute and cuddly grandparent's at the very best, and folks to be marginalized at the other end of the spectrum. Today it is hard to find a true Elder. We see a lot of folks at the end of their life, bitter that they worked so hard to "make a living" that they realize only at the end the gift of truly being alive and present. As a result, what was already hard to hear in the innocents and arrogance of youth, is impossibly drowned out by the technology we plug in to. We hear endless stories of tragedy and disaster on the news and then are told during each commercial break that we would only feel better if we bought "this" product. Look around, people are in debt and still buying the next item that will surely make them happy, fill the void, provide the distraction from that certain annoying nagging on their conscience. Rare is the individual who is secure enough in their own identity to be able to sit alone without distraction, without T.V., music, or the Internet, and just quietly enjoy being present. Instead, we shop and work, not for our families directly, but for a person or people who have often conflicting motivations and a less than intrinsic rewarding goals. We come home too tired to a family to distracted by after school, extra meetings, the television, whatever, to sit and share stories around the table (modern version of the campfire) and just be present with each other. Our communities are dependent on distant communication rather than face to face exchanges. The results are institutionalized minds that perceive more out of fear, grief, or hopelessness rather than the heroes journey so common in our ancestral traditions. This is all part of the cycle of nations. It has a predictable ending, but only if the perceptions that perpetuate it continue. We know the consequences, we know the base existence of the survivors of these "decrescendos". So why don't we, the most intelligent (and humble) species to grace the Earth do something to prevent this formula from playing it again on an unprecedented scale? It's not greed, or laziness. It's brain patterning. We expect doors to be a certain with, burgers to taste a certain way, time to be at a certain pace and meter, routines to be regular and interuptions to be few and addressed quickly. Whenthese things don't happen, we feel uncomfortable. When the car doesn't start, or the power goes out, or the cook gets our order wrong, we feel slighted, uncomfortable, wronged. We have become shackled to our convieniences. Without need, time, or familiarity, many have lost the hunger and skills to gather food from the landscape, and with that, the connection that lanscape provided. A sense of purpose, belonging, and deep rooted community is becoming a rare commodity. And we continue to attempt to fill the void with "stuff". But don't be sad, there is a way out....a way to break the cycle(and no this is not a sales or religious pitch). And, it's free, it's personal and it's something you can share or keep to yourself. In fact, it starts with developing your own awareness and making a choice to commit to unplugging from "the Matrix" and reconnecting with what is real and important in your own life..It's hard, but it's always worth it. Remember, convienience kills. This will help as we explore some options in the next article.

Primitive Skills at Common Ground Fair '10

Maine Primitive Gathering 2010

Click to Play

Wilderness Survival and Primitive Skills Instructors from all over the Northeast converge to share skills with the public. http://www.primitiveskills.com

Birch Basics - Wilderness Survival Uses

Training Master Survivalist & Trackers in the "Old Way" pt.1 "Frog Asking"