Three Days in the Woods

Survival Fire Making - Friction Fire with Hand Drill

Survival Fire Making - Friction Fire with Strap Drill

Using A Truckers Hitch to Tie a Bowline

Four Season Truckers Hitch

Oaks & Beech Plant Walk

Tracking Fundamentals: Direction Change

winter skills weekend

www.primitiveskills.com

Survival Fire Making - Friction Fire with Strap Drill

Apprenticeship Testimonial Mike Dimauro

One Match Fire Challenge

Identifying Bobcat

Winter Tracking with Emily

Wild Foraged Dinner: The Big Four

Quinzee Concepts

MPSS Music Video

The Apprenticeship Experience

Backpackers Survival Course

Snowshoe Making with Grandfather Ray

From Bees to Honey

Naked And Afraid pre/post Interview with Lisa Coray

Preparing Cattail Shoots

Bushcamp Construction

Mentoring Technologies

"Mentoring" is a word that gets thrown around just as recklessly as the words "education" and "learning".  The rote memorization of text and the spoken word is carelessly considered "learning".  The act of subjecting human beings to that practice almost exclusively, (when less than ten percent of the species actually thrives in those conditions), is loosely referred to as education.  "Mentoring" gets used to describe an adult showing up to be present with a child (any will do) as a guide and positive roll model.  The intent and follow through often produce great results on their own.  Intent alone accesses innate gifts and ancestral learning and sharing tools that include our emotions.  What if we looked hard at those words, "learning", "education", and "mentoring".  What if we could set aside protectionism, prejudice, doubt, and distraction for one moment.  What would the highest form of each of those words become if you let them roll around in your head a little until they mixed with memories, emotions, images from your own story with things?
Would you have every kid from five to eighteen years old learn to sit still for six hours a day? Would you lead them to believe this is the best way to learn?  Is the highest form of humanity gained by learning how to interpret and satisfy the expectations of the classroom environment?  Is our one highest success not the retention of standardized test material, but the subjegation to conformity and a brain wired to respond to external stimulii and a uniform code of expectation, even if it means medication?  Would you do this because it is what you truly believe our highest self is created by, or is it because it's "all you know"?

What if the model we call education and the act we call learning were only a few hundred years old and that model didn't consider how we elovleved to learn?  What if going out in the woods was fun for a reason?  What if being told to go outside was the best advice you could ever get regarding your education.  Could you imagine if tree climbing was just as valuable for problem solving to the tactile learner as quadratic equations are for the visual/intrapersonal learner.  What if students were identified, not as learning disabled, but by their learning styles, aptitutdes and interest?  Could you allow, in your ideal educational model, the ability for each student and learner to gravitate toward the teachers they learned from most in a pool of role models they share the same interests with, trust, and want to learn from?  Ideally, (not financially or structurally, those things should never come first) how would that look?  Would adolescent students experience a journeymans period, where seventh and eight graders explore the trades they are drawn to?  Would teaching strategies be learned in early childhood through peer mentoring?   As an extension of this, would the value of childhood friendship and heroes journey's be amplified as family and community encourage and guide it being well versed in mentoring technologies?

Change is coming.  The atrophied state of our psyche and diminished sense of connection and purpose are the driving force for that change for many in the beginning.  We know there is more than a monoculture trying to "make the grade".  We see fleeting examples of folks living their vision and we get inspired.   What if mentoring was more?  It is more. It is the tool box that evolves that fleeting sense of inspiration in to a full blown and passioante fire.  It's not a fire you have to "buy in" to or work toward annual yearly progess on.   It's what ever it is that gets you out that bed in the morning.

A mentor doesn't teach.  A mentor cultivates a learner to be an aware, proactive problem solver that manifests bounty by fulfilling their purpose.  The mentor is chosen by the apprentice more than the other way around.  Both are learning, but for real.  Real learning is that which gets inside and changes you.  Real learning is powerful personal growth and it is experienced and expected on a daily basis as is the dawn chorus of birds ahead of the sun rising.  The technologies we use to create this space take time to take root.  It might start with one person sharing them as they learn, but the support of an aware community versed in the technologies is essential in order to reverse the entropy taking place currently with respect to communication, awareness, and a sense of connection and community.

Tracking Survivability

A number of times I’ve written that we are only two things beyond our genetics; the environment we immerse ourselves in, and what we choose to focus on in that environment.  The caveat is that within the span of a single life time these two elements (each within your power to alter) will influence which aspects of your genome are more available than others.  Simply, the choices you make effect the behaviors and preferences of the next generation.  

“Survival” is a perfect subject to bear out how profound and simple this ‘’power” of yours (choice) actually is.  The concept of “living” apart from the concept of “survival” for our species is a new development.  Homo habalis, our first known toolmakers, were living within the context of an out door environment.  They relied on hunting, gathering, and traveling in response to what was seasonally available and they, like all other flora and fauna, had their population kept in check by the carrying capacity of the landscape.  “Life” and “Survival”, it is safe to say, were synonymous.   It is from this point (around 2.5 million years ago) that our brains began to increase in size.  

With the arrival of Homo erectus (1.8 million years ago) the cranium size of our lineage had doubled and was on the increase.  We reached the apex of strength and brain size in our evolutionary history in the species before modern man, Homo sapien neanderthalensis.  This is a species that is generally understood to have tool making abilities, as well as indicators of culture and ceremony, all supported by physical evidence.  Neanderthals existed over half a million years ago and had larger adult sized craniums and greater strength than modern man. 

The physiological forerunner of anatomically modern humans, Archaic Homo sapiens, evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago.  DNA evidence suggests that several haplotypes of Neanderthal origin are present among all non-African populations, and Neanderthals may have contributed up to 6% of their genome to present-day humans.  Anatomically modern humans evolved from archaic Homo sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic, about 200,000 years ago.

The transition to behavioral modernity, with the development of symbolic culture, language, and specialized lithic technology happened around 50,000 years ago according to many anthropologists.  Domestication began with agricultural practices some 15,000 years ago.  Interestingly, wherever agriculture became an alternative to other population controls the species flourished until the soils and resources were exhausted in that area.  The rich flood planes of the Middle East, are now dune and rock deserts.  This can be tracked in our migrations through the dust bowl of North America in to modern forestry/cattle dilemmas in the Amazon Basin and de-forestization ramifications around the world.  Haiti, with no trees, has lost nearly a third of it’s landscape to erosion and is dealing with malnourishment in 40% of their population.  From the perspective of a population that hasn’t fully depleted their supports (i.e. Most of North America) this would be considered “Survival”.

Empowering yourself with these bits of information may take you to uncomfortable places and ugly conclusions, but it is important to fully appreciate the value of your choices and actions to the contrary by recognizing the stark and very real alternatives. 

“Survival” is a temporary and unsustainable state.  It is meant to be a brief period of transition with a definable outcome. You either recover or you die.  The indicators of being in a state of “Survival” are fear, suffering, the feeling of hopelessness, frustration, or panic and elevated stress levels.  Awareness and compassion diminish and combativeness and/apathy increase.  Dehydration, malnutrition, injury and most commonly, the artificially and chronically triggered “flight or fight” response, are all indicators that one has ceased normal life processes and the body has entered a state of survival. 

Remember, “Choice” is often the difference between a survival response and wellness.  It is important to differentiate what causes this response from what happens to you when you are “well”.   You begin to experience a base line sense of joy.  You become relaxed yet aware, compassionate and artistic, and a sense of connection to everything and everyone around you guides you toward actions that cultivate wellness in others and the landscape.  We can emerge from this recent chronic state of survival simply by spending more time outside. First, being outside increases our awareness and slows our respiration and heart rate.  As our pace slows we notice more and disturb less of our surroundings.  This increases the ease at which we can locate and acquire shelter, water, fire, and food.  You sense of connection to the landscape increases, allowing you to respond proactively to subtle shifts in the wind, bird behaviors, and cloud patterns to avoid being caught in a storm or by a predator.        At night, you are no longer afraid of the shadows because they keep you safe, hidden, silent.  You are a shadow.  It is a peaceful, non-dramatic, exhilarating sense of belonging and wellness that washes over you when you are literate enough in the environment that sustains you.  You can’t get enough of it.  No matter how much you pour yourself in to the landscape you always feel like there is so much more to know, to learn, to experience.  Before long you want to encourage the landscape to reach its full potential as well.  It might start with bird feeders, but quickly evolves to encouraging plant and animal diversity and health.   Edge areas, edible forest gardens, medicinal plant propagation; these are just a few of the symptoms of a person recovering ownership of their own overall health. 

The spread of “dis-ease” has become the perceived “baseline” of many a chosen world view.  Wellness is the stuff of fairy tales and delusional noble savagery in the minds of those ensconced in the flight or fight paradigm.  Both wellness and survival take a lot of emotional investment and calorie expenditure.  The difference is in the wake that each leaves.  In one approach “those with the most toys win”, and in the other, we “leave it better than we found it”.   Because these approaches are expressed in different parts of the brain, one “frame of mind” does not make sense to the other until it is experienced.  Both are innate, naturally occurring strategies.  It is our choice to empower one over the other.  By creating stronger neural networks toward manifesting bounty (over the enforcement of fear based reactions in our brains) we improve our life, lessen the severity and frequency of the survival response, and are more apt to survive an actual survival scenario.  It is for this reason that survival “instruction” should start from a foundation of wellness and share skills designed to orient folks back toward their own platform of well-being.

  Too many schools share simple skills designed to get folks out of a high stress situation only to return to a chronic baseline of stress.  This is the result of addressing symptoms instead of root causes.  This path is easier, simple to understand, and quick.  It also falls far short of effective skill sharing and is the mark of ignorance, laziness or worse, neglect.  The good news is that we can make the internal shift from fear-based reactions to being proactive from a place of joy instantly.  We may stutter, stop, fall back to our old patterns when tired or stressed, but nature rewards healthy behaviors with beneficial emotions and results.  The defaults to old patterns lessen as one learns to laugh at themselves each time it happens.  Fear and uncertainty is gradually replaced by gratitude and curiosity.  Your physical skills and awareness will also experience explosive growth.  If you chose to be offended by this article that is lesson enough.  If you choose to try out some of these concepts, please share your results.  Learning through shared experience is the next logical step.  Only through the shared experiences of folks reclaiming their own expression of wellness can we begin to establish resilient and healthy communities.

Awareness: Key to Survival

The first thing that strikes an observer looking at the human body is that it is essentially an Antennae array with a life support system at its core. The nerve endings radiating from the spine reach out in every direction. The design is present in all species with a simple nerve ganglion rather than a complex brain. As a species, as any species, our survival relies heavily on our responsiveness to an ever changing environment. Failure to be responsive on an individual level means consumption by a predator, starvation, or demise due to climate or dehydration. Failure to respond on a species level results in extinction. As the cliche' goes, change is the only constant. Our bodies are designed to seemlessly interface with a healthy and ever changing environment because, over miilinea, less efficient interfaces were exterminated, culled out by natural processes.

Our survival is based on a simple two part mechanism. In fact, our nervouse system has formed itself, and has the ability to rewire itself, in direct correlation to how we utilize this mechanism. It is a mechanism utilized by the simplist of organisms, yet, in all of our haughty complexity, we over think the mechanism and fail to act upon it. Often, especially with our desire to control things like climate, food availability, comfort and even the size and standards of the design of our structures, our over-developed logical mind takes center stage. This is done at the expense of developing and learning how to use our entire nervous system, as an interface with the rest of the world, even the universe. Our atrophied senses aren't due so much to the lack of your ability to track by scent, or hear the landscape via echolocation like a bat. These things are all well established and have been accomplished and documented. There are even cases of individuals who lose half of their brain and manage to retrain themselves to speak, walk, and function in society through the deliberate re-wiring of neural pathways.

All of these things can be accomplished by all of us. In fact, we can increase operational intelligence by simply applying an understanding of this simple two part mechanism. Part one is awareness. Awareness is what allows the Tiger Shark to locate it's next meal, and the sea lion to escape safetly to shore. It is what made you understand the word "hot", and allows you to know what it means to be lost. Notice how awareness cannot be learned through reading about it in a text. It involves multisensory input and an emotional investment. Detrimental to this process is the voice that reads to us or expressses our thoughts as words inside our heads. Processing language, wether it is spoken or not, takes time, and removes the person caught up in the practice of such "internal dialogue" from the moment. Sensory input often illicits emotion, and it does so at an alrmingly fast pace. It is much faster than stringing words together inside your head. Because it is unfiltered, the information gathered to create heightened senses of awareness come in faster and in larger quantities than the logical mind can qualify. Thus we get "intuition", or "gut feelings" about something. Learning how to first recognize this form of comunication as valid, than questing to develop it even further is the first step in increasing you awareness.

But this is only half the picture. Actually, I'm lying. There is a third component that needs to be present to manifest this first part of the process and the second. Thes econd half f the two part equation for the survival of life on this planet is action. We have become as a culture dependent to the point of inaction. The "victems" of Hurrican Katrina waited for their government to save them and blamed the governement when they didn't respond. Our predictable and safe environment means we don't have to be aware and that we can assign blame to others for our food being late, our health being poor, our lives being miserable. Missing is first the awareness that our environment is not healthy, and second, the action to do something about it. Do you know how to train fleas for a flea circus? You out them in a glass jar and hold that jar next to a light bulb. The smart fleas move away from the heat source, the dumb ones die. The even dumber ones believe you actually use real fleas in a flea circus. The awareness level is not enough. Folks really did dance and play music as the Titanic sank. People really do deny the impending storm until it's too late. Inaction is a symptom of a broken two part system. Either the being is not aware enough to respond, or the organism in question is simply unresponsive to the situation. Both symptoms are indicators of lack of awareness, but only one is a symptom indicating lack of empowerment, and that is lack of action in the presence of appropriate awareness levels.

This brings us to the third and missing element. Faith. faith in self, the greater good, the idea of life as sacred, god, the magic jelly bean, whatever it is, faith is the one default mechanism that activates awareness and compels one to action, even in the face of the logical minds tenacity to remain in control. When you can step outside of that prison of flesh and logic and view your whole being as who you are beyond just a brain that dangles a meaty utility of limbs beneath it you quickly note there is so much more. We are, beyond even the confines of our mond-body connection, constantly interfacing and dialoguing with the environment we choose to immerse ourselves in and those things we choose to focus on in that environment.

To close, I must assure you that this is a simple process. It is not an easy one. Profound shifts in your reality take effort, and sometimes they take time. Profound simplicity escapes those whose brains have patterened upon complexity. They grow bored, frustrated, even angry that they can't satiate themselves with arguement, equations, or self engrandizing thoughts. Remember that it is your brain, not the other way around. Lose your mind and come to your senses. Become the hero of your own story and not the victem of somebody elses. Expand your awareness and have enough conviction to act based on what your awareness is communicating to you.

Our Apprenticeship, Mentoring, and Community at Maine Primitive Skills

We are winding down the first Apprenticeship experience here at the school. It was amazing. I wanted to plug our community in to eager learners from all walks of life for the type of long term mentoring experience I always wanted as a kid practicing outdoor skills. Imagine a place you could go to learn primitive skills in a nurturing environment surrounding by folks passionate bout all the skills and each of those people having overlapping areas of specialty. Our apprenticeship is centered on the needs of each individual who registers. Folks come from various backgrounds with many interests or concentrations. Through interviews and class time we get to know their learning styles, preferences, comfort zones, edge areas, and help them better define their own vision for skills development. The Mentoring and Community models, as well as the flexibility and distance learning strategies, allow folks the freedom to grow in the skills they are interested in by formatting their experience to suit their learning styles and obligations back at home. You may plan on staying on site, visiting often, or coming during the classes where you can “check in” with instructors on your journaling and/or the field work you are doing at home (with phone and internet contact). Not only is the cost of the Apprenticeship less than the minimum required courses, you can come to any course you’ve taken in the past and volunteer. Many folk stay for weeks at a time to work on skills between the courses they have chosen. The experience culminates in a Potluck at the end of the Mentoring weekend in the fall.. a closing potluck at the end of the “Mentoring Weekend” in the fall. But the community bonds that are formed make it more likely you will be back to volunteer, gain support as you start your own programs, even use the schools facilities and name to provide a venue for skills you want to share.

March 21, 2012 will mark the start of the second Apprenticeship Program at the Maine Primitive Skills School. The Apprenticeship includes the opportunity to stay on site between April 30th & October 15th and will concentrate on building Earth Living, Awareness, Tracking, Philosophy, and Mentoring skills. The program requires attendance of at least five of our 5 day programs (Tracking, Awareness, Earth Living, and Philosophy, Plant Intensive), as well as one winter skills program and one of the mentoring programs. Three weekend courses will be used as instructional labs. Weekly person to person or phone interviews regarding practice components and dirt time are also a part of the program. Cost includes these elements and is $2, 300.00. That’s $960.00 less than the cost of taking the minimum required courses together outside of the program. There is a 12 person limit.

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM DETAILS!

With folks already registering for the 2012 year starting in the Spring, it promises to be an exciting journey! The kick off is a pot- luck dinner at the Maine Primitive Skills School Augusta campus on Saturday, March 24th at 6pm. From there we’ll meet each other and map out personal interests and what you would like to emphasize during the experience. Recognize that your interests may change as you go through the courses and get a better understanding of what each discipline has to offer. The 5 five day courses and the dates you plan to attend will also be worked on, and we will schedule your monthly one on one and weekly phone interviews as well. Each participant is invited to stay in the dorms during and between classes provided there is room. Due to the limited infrastructure, only four can stay for more than a week at a time between classes , and we’ll attempt to fill that calendar as well during the pot-luck. Tenting space is available the entire time. Apprentices will be able to come early and participate in acorn meetings before classes and also share in the debrief after classes end. This is valuable experience in mentoring technologies and the invisible school will prepare you for your own instructional time in the late summer and fall when you can apply the technologies you’ve been working on in front of a “live” class. This experience was designed to preserve the intensity of successful Tracking based programs found in the East while implementing the community building models so successful on the West Coast. The goal is a “best practices” forum where you are challenged, involved, and allowed to develop your own passions in primitive skills. Your journals and sit spots will represent stark growth rings as you awaken connections to the landscape and increase your proficiency in the “hard” and “soft” skills of our ancestors. There are parts that are tough. We believe without the struggle of getting your first coal with a hand drill, or the experience of sleeping COMFORTABLY in a debris hut for the first time, your voice as someone who shares these skills will lack the strength of your experience. You will, however, be supported by a community of fellow learners just as dedicated as you are.

MORE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q:WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES TO SIGNING UP FOR THE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM?

ASIDE FROM SAVING MONEY ON THE COURSES INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM,YOUR ATTENDANCE TO STAFF FUNCTIONS AND INVOLVEMENT AS AN “INSTRUCTOR IN TRAINING” APPLIES AS HOURS OF WORK STUDY. ADD TO THAT THE WEEKLY CONTACTS, AT HOME AWARENESS EXERCISES, FACE TIME WITH INSTRUCTORS AND SPECIALIZED HARD SKILLS SUPPORT AND MENTORING INSTRUCTION AND YOU CAN SEE WHY SLOTS ARE FILLING SO QUICKLY.

Q:WHAT IF I WANT TO SPECIALIZE IN AN AREA?

THERE IS PLENY OF ROOM TO TAILOR YOUR PROGRAM TO YOUR NEEDS. MANY FOLKS WANT TO USE PLANTS, TRACKING, LONG TERM SURVIVAL, AS THE CENTERPIECE OF THEIR EXPERIENCE. DURING THE POTLUCK IN MARCH,WE WILL EXPLORE YOUR INTERESTSAND BEGIN THE DESIGN PHASE. YOUR PROGRAM WILL REFLECT YOUR INTERESTS AND USE YOUR STRENGTHS TO ADRESS THE CHALLENGES YOU WANT TO WORK ON.

Q: Is there a lot of physical labor involved?

A: Some. Each persons experience will manifest differently. Learning by doing is an important aspect of the school. In the beginning garden prep and later, wood for heat are things that need to get done. This will be a part of the program, and will not interfere with the rest of your experiences. Yes, the tuition will cover the classes and the on site option is available between the sap running time, as that is the only time there would be water available. The garden piece would be a small part of it as the apprentices will become delegators of weeding and wood splitting, stacking, etc. for the work-study and volunteer folks. Most of the concentration would be on learning the skills and the methods of sharing them.

Check out the testimonials of last years apprentices at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4GJx2VjIzc

E-MAIL AT MPSS@GWI.NET

Urban Survival

In any survival scenario, and every scenario is a survival scenario on some level, one of the key factors to success is defining and recognizing the risks. Once you are made aware of the risks, you can focus on risk avoidance, assessment, management, and resolution. The Urban Landscape has more risks to deal with than any naturally occurring environment. The variable that skews this perception is our level of familiarity with that environment. We learn from an early age to stick our fingers in outlets or walk blindly across a busy street. In contrast, the numbers of our species are few who know how to prevent hypothermia without a thermostat or lighter. Fewer still are the number of folks who can accurately identify f the relatively few harmful plant species in their environment and the treatment for accidental exposure to them.

We'll start with recognizing some of the more common hazards on the Urban landscape. Once these are identified, we can explore methods of avoidance, risk assessment, and management.

In an Urban Survival scenario the first and most common risk will be human beings. Human beings, as a collective species are very adaptable. They rely on their intellect, opposable thumbs, and varied diet for success. However, on an individual level they have become so specialized, that if we were to categorize them on perceptions and behaviors, they would warrant further division in to separate sub-species. The most specialized sub-species and the one that presents the highest degree of risk to your personal safety is "Homo sapien urbanis". This particular breed of human has been cultivated in an overpopulated state where competition, aggression, a fast pace, and a genuine disregard for the well-being of others have been cultivated for generations. These attributes have been honed in a culture of fierce competition for a perceived limit on time, opportunities, and materials. In this environment, Homo sapien urbanis have evolved in to the veloci-raptor of the umbrella species. Field marks include quick, darting eyes, a pace faster than the surrounding landscape, and short bursts of activity and communication done in rapid succession. Behaviors include an efficient and interrogative style of exchanges designed to profile any new member of its species for weakness or possible value. While meat is the preferred diet of this sub-species, it will consume anything that is quick and easy to procure. It has an expectation of immediate gratification, and has refined its awareness and cunning to satiate this expectation. It's ability to plan and set long rage goals focus nearly exclusively on self and offspring. The reptilian portion of this sub-species' brain is highly developed. As a result of its high stress and fast paced life, this apex species has become overwhelmingly dependent upon the urban infrastructure. In a survival situation where that infrastructure begins to fail, this highly specialized predator will be quick to attack any perceived asset or keeper of said asset. Homo sapien urbanis projects intense predatory energy where ever it goes and is easily detected upon the landscape. While its peripheral vision is poor, it's capable of detecting the faintest hint of weakness and is quick to notice movement.

Contamination of water is the second most imposing threat in an urban survival situation. The collapse of supporting infrastructure means pumps will stop and pressure will diminish in many of the water and sewer lines. Depending on the specific disaster, raw sewage or air may be all that comes out of the faucets in our homes and businesses. Life sustaining water will become a priceless commodity. Urban environments have no available ground water supply due to pavement, concrete and vast networks of underground electrical, transportation, and service networks. If the disaster is in the form of a viral or bacterial epidemic, or if the devastation creates a situation where bodies are left decomposing for long periods of time, finding potable standing water may be nearly impossible. Run off water from city roof tops and other sources will also be contaminated due to pollutants that have accumulated for decades on roofs and the droppings and chemicals the water will make contact with.

Death by dehydration is only a few days away. The symptoms of this condition are a lack of judgment, apathy, and combativeness. Add to this the stress of a system in collapse and millions of people in a small area vying for a limited water supply and the results are predictable.

A third risk to survival in an urban environment is starvation and disease. Malnutrition, combined with stress lowers the bodies immune system. In an overpopulated environment without adequate sanitation or plumbing, disease and malnutrition go hand in hand. Many models exist regarding this relationship in countries where western ideas of societal structure have been applied and have floundered due to lack of infrastructure or a rich enough environment to support the existing populations. These examples can be found in Africa, South America, and in some areas in The United States.

The first threat, people, may seem the toughest. Luckily we happen to be people, so we blend in and are well versed in their behaviors, body language cues, and motivations. The issue is failure to predict behaviors, being unaware during potential risky situations, and lack of avoidance strategies. Folks should focus on bounty, health, and balance all the way up until the point of system failure. After that, it’s time to bring out the warrior mind. Keep this part of your psyche available as an advisor. As a tracker, or even a wildlife program aficionado, we know what happens when large amounts of biomass (crowds) accumulate. They attract predators. Thus, the avoidance procedures are easy; avoid crowds and be cautious around larders. Furthermore, hide and disguise your own larders of food and water. This may also mean masking you good health. Inevitably you will have to choose between the environment you are most familiar with and moving to an uncertain rural area with fewer support systems. You will also be entering the territorial range of an entrenched local population of Homo sapien ruralis. Not only do they have a more developed sense of awareness about their landscape, they tend to rely on community bonds more than the predatory reptilian packs of Homo sapien urbanis. Some pre-scouting before these decisions become necessary is heavily advised.

Fresh water procurement and storage are essential to survival. Ownership of water, as discussed before, can attract predators. Hiding caches of potable water should be done early and often. Remember that water weighs roughly 9lbs. per gallon. Plastic containers outgas and degrade over time and are not recommended. Glass and metal containers, in that order are preferred. Cisterns, if feasible are a good idea. Water filtration straws and a means to boil water, such as a hobo stove, or other device that doesn’t rely on power supplied by an infrastructure that may not be there is also advisable. If you are under-prepared or your stash of water is compromised, raid the water storage tanks behind most toilets as fast as you can before the masses realize they are out. You have about a six to eight hour window before folks will come out of their initial “shock behaviors” of looting, or fumbling through the rubble and they begin to realize what you are up to. Again, in most cases, shelter and fire are easier to come by in a city reduced to rubble. Water will be the new commodity and, as a survival necessity, it will be worth killing for.

If you’ve seen our recent youtube videos, you already know how malnourished we are as a species and the resulting chronic diseases. In a collapse of infrastructure this is particularly devastating to the concentrated populations of people who rely on shelves of food at grocery stores. Avoid these areas at all costs. A years worth of dried goods and canned food is a wise investment. It doesn’t have to be done all at once either. One shouldn’t ignore the wild foods either. While toxins accumulate in all mammals in city environments, we are the apex species. As such, toxins accumulate in their highest concentrations in us. That rock dove (pigeon) may seem too dirty to eat now with a belly full of calories, but go without for a week and that banded birdy will seem like a turkey dinner with an anklet.

This should start your wheels turning. Out here we believe it’s too late for most of you. But those who start walking around their 9-5 routine with the idea of shelter, water, fire, food, escape routes, and networking may make it out. If not, you might see other people through whatever disaster might befall you. Just remember that the most common tragedy is living in fear of something that may never come. This is often done at the expense of missing out on the excitement and joy of this amazing and temporal existence. How do you live a joy filled life where preparation is the byproduct of living fully? Well, that’s the question. If I answer it, than I take it away from you, if I don’t answer it, than I’m being selfish. Truth is, we each have to come to that one on our own. Until then, be the hero of your own journey, not the victim of someone else’s.

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.