Wilderness Survival Skills

Finding yourself in the outdoors without a knife or a tool — faced with a simple task you usually take for granted — can be quite a surprise and a challenge. Perhaps you need to cut some material, punch a hole, or hammer a stake into the ground. Finding an appropriate rock for the task [...]

Within all survival techniques, there are 5 Outdoor Basic Survival Skills that everyone who ventures into the Outdoors should understand and be fully aware of their potential need and use. This is a just brief outline, not a full explanation of all the requirements and items required in each category.  One of the most important [...]

Here in Montana I practice and teach classes on primitive or stone age skills–which is to say, camping with little or no gear. We build shelters that are warm and comfortable without a sleeping bag or blanket. We start fires by rubbing sticks together. We harvest and use edible wild plants, make baskets, and tan [...]

Sleeping outside in a primitive survival shelter with no tent and no sleeping bag?! In the rain? Are you crazy? This idea may indeed seem crazy and a bit daunting to many of us. However, with a couple of hours, proper materials and the right mindset, constructing and sleeping in a primitive survival shelter can [...]

Cordage (rope and string) can be made from many different fibers including (Bast) Dogbane, Milkweed, Nettles, Hemp, Flax; (Leaves) Cattail, Yucca, Agave, Douglas Iris; (Bark) Willow, Maple, Basswood, Cedar; (Root) Leather Root, Beach Lupine; (Whole stem) Tule, straw, Juncus. Each material has specific requirements for extracting and preparing the fibers, but there are only two [...]

From microwaving popcorn to roasting potatoes around a car’s hot exhaust pipe, humans have developed a variety of cooking methods by which we render food safer, more digestible, and more palatable.  Rock boiling is one of my favorite Stone Age (pardon the pun) methods.  Some alternatives for boiling food are energy intensive and more difficult [...]