The Advanced Wilderness Living Skills is an extension of Building a Primitive Camp, delving deeper into more advanced primitive technology and building onto the skills already taught. A great smorgasbord of topics will be covered on this adventure!
Natural sleeping bag or debris hut.Shelter: Build a natural sleeping bag, also known as a debris hut, using only mother nature's resources and the principle of trapping dead air space in insulation.
My sister Katie taking shelter under a quickie lean-to in the rain.
Hand drill & fire plow in action.Advanced Fire by Friction: Make fire using the hand drill technique and by fire plow, a method used by the local Iroquois Indians. Both of your fire making sets will be created from a wilderness environment.
Transporting Fire: Coal extenders or "fire carriers", used by primitive peoples to carry their fire from camp to camp will be discussed and demonstrated.
Creating Light: Light up the night with a fat lamp made from a coal-burnt wooden container, natural cordage and rendered bacon fat.
Figure-four, Paiute deadfall and Rolling snare.Primitive Traps and Snares: Learn how to procure food in a real survival scenario by setting a Figure-four and Paiute dead fall or Rolling snare. Recognizing wildlife sign, location, baiting, de-scenting and hiding of traps will be discussed. Make and throw a Rabbitstick; an effective hunting tool for small game.
Natural Adhesives: Make pitch glue from pine sap, charcoal and scat and hide glue from deer hide scraps to seal cracks in coal-burnt wooden containers, primitive pottery and tightly woven water-carrying baskets, amongst many other uses.
Stone-pit oven and tripod smoker.Traditional Cooking: Cook a variety of food including fish and potatoes in a stone-pit oven and learn how to preserve fresh meat (beef) by drying it into jerky. Steam-pit bake fish in zucchini and forage for wild edibles. Dinner is served!
One of your outdoor classrooms in the Adirondacks.Take your long-term wilderness living skills and self-sufficiency to another level and become immersed in nature's bounty!
(Note: an afternoon meal is provided on the second day of this course.)