Outdoor/Survival/Tracker School

J

jlouis976

Joined
Feb 25, 2008
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396
A good buddy and I are trying to find an outdoors course to take either this spring or summer. I'd be hard pressed to find a place on the internet with more experience about these types of courses.

I am looking for something that will teach quite a bit about tracking, as well as the general survival stuff. I am a fairly experienced outdoorsman...........but at the same time I know that there is so much more I can learn.

Ideally I would like to do something in the US. Preferably in the woods as opposed to desert type in environment.

So what courses have you guys taken and what were your experiences?

RAT?

Tom Brown?

Wilderness Learning Center?

Thank you for your thoughts and for being willing to share your experiences.
 
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http://www.ttos.us/ is where I really want to get some classes at. No personal experience there though.

I did a class with this guy http://onpointtactical.com/ it was interesting, it validated some stuff I knew and I picked up a few things. I have a pretty good outdoor background and experience in tracking though so there was noting there that was earth shattering, but I wasn’t expecting that. It seemed a thorough class that was a bit hampered by logistics of have to teach away from your home base.
 
jlouis976 said:
Thus far, these are the courses I have been looking at:

RAT's woodland course.

The Standard Trackerschool Course

The Basic Wilderness Learning Center Course
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No personal experience with any of these, the only thing I can offer is that I have heard Tom Brown gets into a lot of Native American mysticism. I have heard that you don’t learn a lot in the basic classes and that you can’t skip the basics and take the more advanced classes. To me that can be a put off depending on your skill level.
 
WLC.

I havent heard any first hand info bout RATs woodland school, just there jungle class, which is something I will do someday. I know a few guys who have done Martys school, and I like what I hear. Also Kevins a great teacher, so I wouldnt hesitate to do anything associated with those 2. Tonyms done a few WLC events, so hed be a good guy for you to chat with for a student perspective.

Im gonna try to do one this year. Maybe Ill see ya there.

Good luck in your search!
 
Holy smokes BOSS is expensive.

I've heard the whole mysticism thing about Browns courses as well........which stinks because if the courses were the way that they are presented online, i'd be all over it.

WLC sounds like it might be a great option from what i've read. I'm still looking around so please do not hesitate to throw out your personnel experiences or recommendations.
 
I think the trackers/survival schools that are most intriguing implement an immersion training that appeals to us. Toss us out there with someone with superior knowledge to teach us while we learn by our own hand, in the middle of nowhere. However, I think there are less expensive and equally as viable options as information on this is more readily available and more accessible than ever on the internet. I am considering a less expensive option in a local of my own choosing. Here's my idea:

Save some cash and read up on the material. Then plan your own curriculum and have a list of ideas to test in the field. Then you and your buddy take your significant others out camping to a relatively remote area, and have the ladies enjoy base camp and real food, and whatever comforts they crave; while you buggers spend three of four days with your knives and whatever you think you should take with you. Stick to an area on a map, and show your women where it is before you BAN them from the area. I'll bet you learn a TON and you'll have resources near if needed. Check in with them every day at the same time and if you're more than 2 hours late they know to start S.A.R. operations rolling. Perhaps someone can tell me this is a terrible idea. I've considered doing this for only a short time, but I think it is viable.
 
One thing to throw out there is that I'd really like to find a course that is physically challenging (if that is possible). Both of us are very active and we would like to do something that will push us physically while teaching us about the wilderness.
 
Iboschi said:
I think the trackers/survival schools that are most intriguing implement an immersion training that appeals to us. Toss us out there with someone with superior knowledge to teach us while we learn by our own hand, in the middle of nowhere. However, I think there are less expensive and equally as viable options as information on this is more readily available and more accessible than ever on the internet. I am considering a less expensive option in a local of my own choosing. Here's my idea:

Save some cash and read up on the material. Then plan your own curriculum and have a list of ideas to test in the field. Then you and your buddy take your significant others out camping to a relatively remote area, and have the ladies enjoy base camp and real food, and whatever comforts they crave; while you buggers spend three of four days with your knives and whatever you think you should take with you. Stick to an area on a map, and show your women where it is before you BAN them from the area. I'll bet you learn a TON and you'll have resources near if needed. Check in with them every day at the same time and if you're more than 2 hours late they know to start S.A.R. operations rolling. Perhaps someone can tell me this is a terrible idea. I've considered doing this for only a short time, but I think it is viable.
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Thats actually a pretty interesting idea. I've done a jungle course before and I'm comfortable enough to get around in the woods. I just didn't want to pull an Into the Wild and eat some junk that would kill me.
 
Iboschi said:
I think the trackers/survival schools that are most intriguing implement an immersion training that appeals to us. Toss us out there with someone with superior knowledge to teach us while we learn by our own hand, in the middle of nowhere. However, I think there are less expensive and equally as viable options as information on this is more readily available and more accessible than ever on the internet. I am considering a less expensive option in a local of my own choosing. Here's my idea:

Save some cash and read up on the material. Then plan your own curriculum and have a list of ideas to test in the field. Then you and your buddy take your significant others out camping to a relatively remote area, and have the ladies enjoy base camp and real food, and whatever comforts they crave; while you buggers spend three of four days with your knives and whatever you think you should take with you. Stick to an area on a map, and show your women where it is before you BAN them from the area. I'll bet you learn a TON and you'll have resources near if needed. Check in with them every day at the same time and if you're more than 2 hours late they know to start S.A.R. operations rolling. Perhaps someone can tell me this is a terrible idea. I've considered doing this for only a short time, but I think it is viable.
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I didn’t want to steal folks thunder but after looking at some of the curriculums this was my first thought. I have some friends that have a lot of knowledge in certain areas and it would be fun to just have close friends doing this with folks teaching what they know. I think you would just have be disciplined enough to have an itinerary and follow it. You can put as much physical exertion in there as you think you can handle and then add some more.
 
I did the basic course at The Wilderness Learning Center. I am planning on taking the advanced this summer. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have regarding the course. They spend 1 day teaching trapping, but every night around the campfire is more learning. Bobby, one of the instructors is a highly experienced trapper and really spent alot of time with me at the end of the day on trapping and tracking. I still email him with questions every now and then. I took that course 2 summers ago and still maintain the friendships I made there! Great people!!!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577035&highlight=Wilderness+Learning+center
 
jlouis976 said:
One thing to throw out there is that I'd really like to find a course that is physically challenging (if that is possible). Both of us are very active and we would like to do something that will push us physically while teaching us about the wilderness.
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There is always the BOSS course, but that is in the high desert in Utah I believe. But I have heard that course has eased up a bit since that guy died a few years back..

Alot of places won't tax you physicaly with out knowing your ability or skill set. That is why courses like The WLC basic is set in a camp enviornment. They teach you first and you practice in the field. All of this is done with 3 delicious meals a day. It is much easier to absorb what you are being taught on a full stomach and rested mind.
After you pass the basic course they are more confident in taking you into the woods on a more taxing excercise like their Advanced course.
 
I took the Oregon Firearms Academy courses and thought they were great!

Really, top notch instructors. Ex Special Forces types. They don't do a lot of tracking, but what they DO offer that many schools don't is something you may not have thought about; Wilderness Survival in a Hostile Environment. In other words, getting from point A to point B while surviving in a situation where there may be others who want to either take what you have, take your life, or both. Something to think about.

The area they train in is HUGE and beautiful. You are pretty much in the middle of nowhere and will not see any others outside your group.

Best of luck in your choice.

Carl-
 
I'm not opposed to learning from someone in person with greater knowledge than myself. I just have a hard time forking up $1500 or more for a 4 day intensive class. I appreciate the importance of learning from an instructor in person more than any other method for some topics. Having someone show you a plant is more effective than seeing a picture of said plant and then picking it out in the wild. I think perhaps taking some single day classes in different subjects such as edible plants and inedible plants, animal tracking, etc., and then doing your own intensive as I outlined in my earlier post might be a frugal and yet really beneficial way to "Do it Yourself" with some authentic expert influences. I think single day courses are more readily available than most retreats and cost much much less. Just more food for thought.

Thank you jlouis976 for introducing this topic. It has really coalesced some of my own thinking and brought together some plans for this upcoming year. I am going to try my plan, thanks in part to this thread. We are going to plan it out this month for spring or fall of this year. I am researching local day classes this week to get some edible plants knowledge, and probably a tracking class. I have some experience already but would like some more. I think we could even make our own curriculum on this forum for our independent outings. I would like to focus less on survival skills and focus more on primitive living skills. I know I can do 4 days alone. I would like to work on the knowledge that I can live indefinitely in the wild.
 
I have spent MANY nights alone in the wilds, backpacked and hunted solo quite a lot and would put my skills up against most, but there is still much to be learned that cannot be taught, or more importantly EXPERIENCED in a day course.

There are many things that I certainly COULD learn during a day course, but spending multiple nights in a lights out Bivvy situation is something that you are probably not going to learn from a mainstream wilderness survival school during a one day class.

Carl-
 
I took the basic course from the Wilderness Learning Center and learned lot. Bobby talked a lot about trapping but there was not much in the way of going out in the woods and identifying tracks. You can only cram so much into a week course. But, I had loads of fun, learned a lot, and note that Marty's tendency is towards plants.
 
There are many things that I certainly COULD learn during a day course, but spending multiple nights in a lights out Bivvy situation is something that you are probably not going to learn from a mainstream wilderness survival school during a one day class.
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That is something you can really research on your own and learn by your own experience. Sleeping outside isn't a big deal in most situations. If you're going out in sub freezing temperatures you should take some serious precautions but otherwise there isn't much risk.
 
Wherever you decide to go, check oout the reputation of the school. Look at the instructor Bios, read up on the material covered and how many hours of instruction there are in a day, find out how many students are in a class, ask if meals are included and what is served, see how much of the class is lecture vs hands on and determine what is best for you. Anyway you cut it, you're investing good money into practical life insurance. Make sure you get your money's worth.

We always encourage possible students to shop around before signing up with us. Good luck with your search.
 
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