Next offered on Saturday, April 5, 2025 from 9:30-5:30 at Blue Skye Farm in Puyallup WA, and in the meantime, check out our May 18, 2024 Wilderness Skills Training Workshop.
We start our workshops promptly with the most critical information everything else flows from: an overview of our order of emergency survival – with or without gear in town or wilderness. We’ll also discuss the most essential tools to carry with you depending on your skill level. For a primer, read our article on the Critical Order of Emergency Survival, and remember, survival requires multi-tasking, so during this time, we will also pass out materials for you to learn the “reverse wrap” method of making rope which you can work on during the powerpoint.
We will also discuss a big dilemma in survival situations: when to stay and when to go. We have a formula for you to decide, taking into consideration the amount of daylight, your available gear, your position relative to where you are and who you notified about your trip, and how “hungry, angry, lonely, tired and thirsty” you are. Depending on your score, you will either have to make shelter or navigate your way out of a mock survival scenario. Additional skills will include the the Top 10 Hazards to avoid, so that you never experience a survival situation.
The Bow Drill & Fire by Friction portion of the workshop runs in the afternoon and begins by showing you how to gather fire making materials, and walking you through the Best Way To Make A Fire which is critical for starting fire in the rain. We’ll view a variety of materials to see how they burn as tinder: various barks, seed down, leaves, laundry lint, and grass are used for different circumstances, and you can choose your own materials for a tinder bundle. The reason we always emphasize basic fire-making skills along with traditional fire-by-friction is that there’s no reason to bother making a bow-drill coal, let alone striking a match, unless you’ve prepared materials that will sustain your fire. The scenario will require you to choose the best natural shelter and fire location in the area, then see if you can start and maintain a fire in the rain.
To build your bow drill kit, we’ll start with a knife safety/efficiency training while reflecting the symbolism of the parts of the bow drill kit. In so doing, you may come to realize why this method of fire-by-friction was preferred (and superior even to matches) for lighting fires in cold and wet climates. It should only take 10 seconds to create a coal if your kit is well constructed. You will be using your knife to split a 3 inch piece of cedar to make your hand-hold socket, and do the same with your 12 inch piece to create a bottom board and 2 spindle “blanks.” You’ll carve a spindle to the perfect shape, mold your hand-hold into a comfortable socket, prepare points on your hearth in preparation for drilling, and carve one of those points into a perfect-sized notch where your coal will later be born. We will also stop to show you alternatives you would have to look for in the wilderness to make your fire kit without a knife, but again, it is critical that you use good material for your first kit in order to develop excellent form.
FAQs
Who are the instructors? Wolf Camp directors Kim & Chris Chisholm are leading the workshops this weekend.
What ages can participate? Workshops are designed for adults, but youth may enroll with a parent/guardian.
How should we prepare for the workshop? Please prepare as you normally would for a hike, including snacks, lunch, water bottle, 10 essentials, etc., but especially with appropriate clothing including rain gear and waterproof footwear.
Cost & Registration
Cost for this workshop is $145 for one person, and $120 per additional friend/family member registering in advance, with reduced tuition and scholarship options available by request.
Reserve your space by sending full payment via Zelle (preferred) to our email address as recipient, but be sure to include a note with your phone number, participant names, and workshop dates because Zelle does not automatically share that information, or call us anytime at 425-248-0253 ex 1 to register over the phone with a credit card.
Or Use PayPal/Venmo form below when it appears in January 1st to register online securely with a credit/debit card, or via direct withdrawal from your bank account.
Or email us to be put on our our list for the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.
Can we get a refund if we cancel? Our refund policy below only offers credit for future programs if you cancel: payments are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit is needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, epidemics, grid failures, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.
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