Tom Brown Jr. course?

Joined
May 22, 2006
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I am a big fan of Tom Brown Jr. from reading his books, so now I am thinking about attending some of his camp/courses. Now, being that it would be by far the most expensive and challenging experience, organization wise, I was wondering if there are some people here who did it and have some thing to say on that issue, especially which of his courses do you think are most valuable, and whether they are worth the money and time invested.
Thanx!
 
If you have little or no skill, The Standard course is an excellent overview for introductory skills. You won't see much of Tom, but the instructors are very good and the classes are presented in various ways. Some are classroom style, some are hands on, some are demonstrations. There is little wasted time. Bring a basic bushcraft knife, you don't need the big "tracker" knife. Bring your own sharpener. I have been to four of the courses, all have been interesting but there are so many directions for a person to choose you should wait until you have taken the required standard course. The Tracking courses I hear are outstanding. If you look online, many of the schools now credit having gotten their start as students of Tom Brown. On the other hand, there are many who find Toms Philosophy courses as unessessary and trivial when it comes to learning about straight on survival.
Since you have read Toms Books, you should know Toms Basic wilderness survival book is mostly what is taught in the standard course. if you are comfortable already with the basics, there might be other schools that will teach you more advanced or specialised skills without relearning what you already know. By comfortable, I mean actual experience, not just reading and thinking,... I could do that.
 
I've been to about 5 of the Tracker School coursed over the last 10 years, and I've seen Tom Brown less and less as time goes by. Still, I learned some valuable skills.

I would take the Standard course, and then specialize in the skills that only Tom's school teaches, like the Scout courses.

The primitive skills classes are taught by a variety of different schools, most with a MUCH better student to teacher ratio.

I took the Scout Class in 2004, and did a little write up...
http://www.wanderingones.com/scoutclass/ScoutClassPage1.html

A great school in the NW is Earthwalk Northwest, taught by Frank Sherwood, former head instructor at the Tracker School
http://www.earthwalknorthwest.com/index.htm

Clint Hollingworth
The Wandering Ones webcomic
http://www.wanderingones.com
 
Clint, I enjoyed your write up on your Scout class experience. Nicely done.
 
I'm taking an Advanced Survival and Advanced Tracking class in October. Than I will be able to take the Scout class. :D

Ron
 
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