why take my 101 workshop ??

1.) Why take my survival skills 101 ( or anyone else’s for that matter ) ?  

For the uninitiated, this workshop may spark a lifelong interest in survival skills / living with the land. You may want to further your skill sets by taking more advanced workshops from me or other instructors. If it doesn’t spark an interest, that's ok too. The least it will do is give you the skillset to survive a temporary emergency if that were to happen in your life. 

For the experienced outdoors person, I am sure you will pick up a fact/skill or two that you didn’t know and that skill could be the one you need in a bad situation. I have yet to go to a workshop, no matter what level, that I didn’t pick up some useful information. Also, my workshops are open and interactive which provide an atmosphere where we all gain information from each other. 

My guarantee, if you don’t feel that you gained $75 worth of skills and information from this workshop I will refund your money in cash at the end of the day.  

The next Primitive Survival skills 101 will be December 7, 2019 in Fluvanna county, Va. 22963. 


2.) I have been visiting family in upstate NY this week.  I took a hike today in the Minna Anthony nature area which borders the St. Lawrence river. It is an amazing place to walk/scout and so different than my home base of central Virginia. Although different, there are quite a lot of utilitarian/edible plants in NY that are in Virginia. I would say that the friction fire materials here are fewer than in Va. but there are certainly enough to cover our needs. Any time you are in a new territory, take a hike and see how you would fare in starting friction fires and finding food. It is a great mental discipline and it will keep your skills sharper. 

3.) I am drying out some sumac for my next fireboard. Finding new fireboard materials is one of the most fun things for me. I recently got a coal with a yucca spindle and Red Spruce fireboard. Red Spruce is very similar to Hemlock and they are both found in the Allegheny Highlands. Red Spruce mostly grows above 4,000 feet of elevation where most of the other good trees don't. Learn to ID this one and give a try. I think the Red Spruce makes 18 native ( Va.) trees that will work for friction fire. 

4.) I found a really nice Chicken in the Woods mushroom last week. This is one of my favorites as it has good taste/texture and it has no poisonous lookalike. Mushroom season is peaking now so get your ID books out and start hunting. There are 6 pretty safe bets in Va., learn those first before you move on to the hard to ID ones. Chicken in the Woods, Hen in the Woods, Black Trumpets, Lion's Mane, Morels and Puffballs. 

5.), Thank you for reading and please like us on Facebook !!  My Facebook page has regular posts on friction fire, edible plants and general survival info.