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hey everybody,
I'm new to the forum today. I actually had a question to begin my days here on this forum: I was wondering where the best survival school is in california? I want to learn all the wilderness skills so badly, but don't know where to learn or how to practice them on my own in southern california? anybody have any advice? Thanks so much!
-jeremiah
Nice forum Name, Jeremiah: welcome.......The forum police will have a cow if you don't do the Introduction thingie.
what's the intro thingie?
Go to the main menu and there is a section heading for that. They want to know roughly how old (14 or 84) you are. Outdoor experiences, that type of thingie.
It's under General. If you click on the Blue chevrons they will expand to other sections.
License, registration and proof of insurance, please.
Intro section:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14
Dapiek Absaroka, you ol' liver eatin' son of a biscuit. welcome to the forum!
I know it is "NOT" a school in S. Calif. but if you don't get a better offer. You might consider hireing on with an Alaska Guide for the season. It is hard work, but you would learn by being around others. I REPEAT: very hard manual labor.
well i'm much abliged!
what type of work is it? What would I do?
Well, it depends on the outfitters style of operation, but basically you'd be doing all the grunt work. The style I was taught in used horses and/or rafts to access camps. So, I learned how pack horses and row rafts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremiah Johnson
Beyond that you'll learn how to set-up tight dry camps, probably both semi-permanent camps with canvas wall tents, so you'd learn how to build frames etc...for tents etc... then you might learn about setting up smaller lighter "spike camps" that will keep you warm and dry.
You'd be living in the wilderness for weeks or months so you'll learn all about getting cold and wet, then you'd learn about staying warm and dry. You'd learn about game animals and fish. How to field dress them, how to quarter them, and pack them out on horses. Or you'd learn how to bone them out and pack them yourself. You'd learn the proper way to handle the meat so the clients have good table fare back at home.
You'd learn how to deal with bugs and bears. Build fires in seconds, etc...Bascially you'd learn how to keep yourself and your paying clients safe in Wilderness areas. All of which you can later apply to playing survivalist.
Good Luck
does it pay well?
Well, I have been doing it for 15 years, and I don't see me ever getting rich- financially speaking. But, if you live simply- you get by. The bottom line is priorites and lifestyle. If you understand the difference between your "wants" and your "needs" then it pays well. If your priorities are financially driven than it doesn't pay well. In general, when someone asks me for a job in this field- if they ask about pay, I don't hire them.
Because the rewards are not $$$, the rewards are skills. Its the school of hardknocks buddy. It ain't going to be easy. But, you'll come out with money in your pocket at the end- far better than paying for some school in Cali...were you may end up with no skills and shelling out $$$ instead.
What Montana said, plus fix Coleman stoves, lanterns, pack Moose & coribou meat on your back though swamps, up mountains and down, paint outhouses, peel potato's, you get the idea.
You might start at $50.00 a day of 12 to 16 hour days, as a packer/camp grunt. As assistant guide $100.00 to $150.00 per 24 hour day (your on bear guard all night). As a Lic. Registered Guide $175.00 to $225.00 per 30 hour day ( you now have an assistant guide, clients, packer, and bears to manage. As Bush'pilot/Registered guide you make lots of money- but it all goes into fixing the damn aircrafts. You end up old and poor with a dumb'arse smile a mile wide.......:)
And a poodle.Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeak
Ninja poodle.
JJ, I think it's something to consider, if you're serioius about it. No other way to get that kind of experience. THink about, no expenses while your out, so everything you make, you keep, except for Uncle Sam's portion...
Is it too late for me to sign up? :)
Unless they pay you cash as a contractor. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aurelius95
Really, the biggest thing you'd learn, is to how to think like a survivor. You'd learn to try and to make nothing into something- Be it turning an old tin can, a piece of a coat hanger, and some bailing wire into a flute for a wood burning stove pipe so the tent doesn't smoke up. Or, figuring out how to clean fouled spark plugs for an outboard so you can get you and the clients out of the rain and back to camp.
Basically, your mind and the stuff you packed in is all you have. You gotta figure out how to get by when stuff goes wrong because resupply or a mechanic is not feasible. That can't really be taught- but it can be learned.
Have you ever had somebody all worked up to learn the skills and a week into the "adventure" have reality set in and flake out on you? To me that seems like a huge risk that the experienced guys have to consider. Do you test some of the guys out before you hire them?